Private Luxor Day Tour from Safaga Port

Your ship docks at Safaga and Luxor is about 3 hours inland, holding the greatest concentration of monuments anywhere in Egypt. This is the single long day that gets you there and back. Your private Egyptologist meets you at the port and takes you straight to the temples. You walk Karnak, the largest religious complex ever built, then cross to the West Bank for the Valley of the Kings, the temple of Hatshepsut, and the Colossi of Memnon. Lunch at a local restaurant is included before the drive back to your ship. It is a packed 10-to-12-hour day with real driving on either side, run privately so the pace and the timing are yours. Ideal for Safaga cruise guests who would rather see Luxor with an expert than skip it.

1. 1

   Port Safaga

   2 hours

   Start your Safaga shore Excursion,Your guide and manager will be waiting for you outside the Cruise docking spot. They will be holding a sign showing your name. It will be quite easy for you to identify them. Then drive by air-conditioned vehicle to Luxor, Start Luxor Trip from Safaga port.

2. 2

   The Karnak Temple

   2 hours

   You arrive in Luxor after the desert drive and step into Karnak, where a forest of 134 sandstone columns in the Great Hypostyle Hall rises above you, some standing 21 meters tall. Built and added to over roughly 2,000 years, it is the largest temple complex ever raised. Your Egyptologist walks you past the sacred lake and the avenue of ram-headed sphinxes, unpicking which pharaoh built what and why. It is the kind of scale that photographs struggle to convey, so you feel it best standing among the columns.

3. 3

   Valley of the Kings

   1 hour

   You cross to the West Bank and into the Valley of the Kings, the hidden burial ground where pharaohs were laid in tombs cut deep into the rock to foil robbers. You enter the painted chambers, their colors still vivid after 3,000 years, while your guide reads the scenes on the walls. The standard ticket covers three tombs; the tombs of Tutankhamun and Seti I require separate tickets (about $5 to $25 USD). Time here is focused given the cruise clock.

4. 4

   Temple of Hatshepsut

   2 hours

   You stand below the temple of Hatshepsut, its terraces rising straight out of the cliff face at Deir el-Bahari, built for the woman who ruled Egypt as pharaoh in her own right. Your guide tells her story and the attempt to erase her from history afterward. On the way back you pause at the Colossi of Memnon, two seated statues 18 meters tall that once guarded a temple now vanished. Then it is the long drive back to Safaga in time to board.

• Wheelchair accessible
• Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
• Suitable for all physical fitness levels
• May be operated by a multi-lingual guide
• At time of booking, Cruise ship passengers must provide the following information at time of booking: ship name, docking time, disembarkation time and re-boarding time

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.