Luxor Highlights Shore Excursion from Safaga - Temples and Tombs

You will visit the old necropolis of ancient Thebes on the West Bank of Luxor. We will take you to the spectacular Valley of the Kings, where up to now, 63 tombs have been found varying from a one chamber crypt (KV54) to a tomb with 120 chambers (KV5). You will be able to visit 3 tombs with the entrance ticket. The tombs of Tutankhamen and Seti I require separate tickets (not included).

We visit the rock hewn mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut. After the death of her husband, Thutmose II, Hatshepsut took the reign as either co-regent with or self-proclaimed Pharaoh instead of Thutmose III. Either way, she was a skillful warrior and strong ruler re-establishing trade routes with foreign countries. Prove of her successes and accomplishments are written on the walls of her memorial Temple at Deir El-Bahari.

We stop at the base of the magnificent Colossi of Memnon, two immense statues guarding the ongoing excavation of the palace of Amenophis III. The statues are actually likenesses of Pharaoh Amenophis III. Memnon was a hero of the Trojan wars, said to be the son of Eos, Goddess of Dawn. Because of an earthquake in 27BC, one of the statues was damaged and due to forces of nature, was said to "whistle" or "sing" at dawn.

You will visit the Karnak Temple, the second largest religious temple in the world after Angkor Wat in Cambodia. Construction of the first temple complex started about 3,500 years ago and stopped in the Ptolemaic era. The Karnak Temple is a collection of precincts for Amun Re, Mut and Monsu and contains holy lakes, hypostyle halls, obelisks, pylons and shrines. Within the walls is a separate open air museum that requires an additional entrance ticket, as does the Mut precinct. Your guide will lead you through the temple, sharing the historical highlights and giving you plenty of time to wander around between the ancient walls.

You will drive by the Luxor Temple, dedicated, not to a deity or pharaoh but to the Rejuvenation of Kingship and center of the Opet Festival. In ancient times, the Karnak and Luxor Temples were connected by the sphinx alley which is still being excavated. Many pharaohs were crowned here, either in reality or theoretically (like Alexander the Great who claimed he was crowned in Thebes but probably never visited the ancient capital).