Hidden Gem & Worth Seeking Out Places in Luxor

Deir el-Medina (Village of the Tomb Builders)

The village of the artists who carved and painted the royal tombs — with their own jewel-like painted tombs and a Ptolemaic temple.

Luxor

Medinet Habu (Temple of Ramesses III)

The best-preserved mortuary temple of the west bank — vivid reliefs, painted ceilings and the battle against the Sea Peoples.

Luxor

New Gourna Village (Hassan Fathy)

Hassan Fathy's mud-brick village of the 1940s — the birthplace of 'architecture for the poor'.

Luxor

Ramesseum

The mortuary temple of Ramesses II — the fallen colossus that inspired Shelley's 'Ozymandias'.

Luxor

Temple of Mut (Precinct of Mut, Karnak)

The quiet southern precinct of Karnak — a crescent sacred lake and rows of lion-headed Sekhmet statues.

Luxor

Temple of Seti I at Qurna

The mortuary temple of Seti I at the northern edge of the west bank — refined reliefs and almost no visitors.

Luxor

Tomb of Ay (West Valley of the Kings)

The tomb of Tutankhamun's successor in the remote West Valley — with a rare hunting scene in the marshes.

Luxor

Tombs of the Asasif

Late Period and New Kingdom tombs in the valley before Deir el-Bahari — vast chambers and reliefs that look back to Egypt's golden ages.

Luxor

Tombs of the Nobles (Sheikh Abd el-Qurna and el-Khokha)

The liveliest painting of ancient Egypt — banquets, harvests, craftsmen and hunts in the tombs of Theban officials.

Luxor

Valley of the Queens

The necropolis of queens and royal children on the west bank — home of Nefertari's tomb and the colourful tombs of Ramesses III's sons.

Luxor