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Best Things to do in Luxor (2026)

Once you have seen the headline temples and tombs, Luxor rewards slower exploring. Walking a stretch of the Avenue of Sphinxes, the 2.7-kilometre processional road between Luxor Temple and Karnak, helps you understand how the East Bank monuments fitted together. On the West Bank, Deir el-Medina, the village of the craftsmen who built the royal tombs, offers small, beautifully painted tombs and a human-scale view of ancient life, usually without the crowds.

Luxor is also the natural base for day trips along the Nile. North of the city, the Temple of Hathor at Dendera is one of the best-preserved temples in Egypt, with its roof, crypts and painted ceilings intact, and it pairs well with the Temple of Seti I at Abydos, famous for its fine reliefs and the Abydos King List, on a long full-day trip. South of Luxor, the Temple of Horus at Edfu is a near-complete Ptolemaic temple that can be visited by road or as a stop on a cruise. These trips are best done with a private car and driver or a tour, leaving early to avoid the heat, and they make a good contrast to the busy sites closer to town.

5 places · Updated November 12, 2026

Our top 3 things to do in Luxor

  1. Avenue of Sphinxes Ancient processional avenue and walk, East Bank, Luxor Temple to KarnakThe 2.7-kilometre ancient processional road lined with sphinxes that links Luxor Temple with Karnak, excavated and reopened in 2021 as a walking route.
  2. Deir el-Medina Ancient workers' village and tombs, West BankThe West Bank village where the craftsmen who built the royal tombs lived, with their own painted tombs and a small Ptolemaic temple to Hathor.
  3. Dendera Temple of Hathor day trip Day trip from Luxor, Dendera, Qena GovernorateA day trip north of Luxor to Dendera's Temple of Hathor, a superbly preserved Ptolemaic and Roman temple with painted ceilings, crypts and rooftop chapels.

Thing to do

1. Avenue of Sphinxes

Ancient processional avenue and walkEast Bank, Luxor Temple to Karnak

The 2.7-kilometre ancient processional road lined with sphinxes that links Luxor Temple with Karnak, excavated and reopened in 2021 as a walking route.

View details — Avenue of Sphinxes

Thing to do

2. Deir el-Medina

Ancient workers' village and tombsWest Bank

The West Bank village where the craftsmen who built the royal tombs lived, with their own painted tombs and a small Ptolemaic temple to Hathor.

View details — Deir el-Medina