The West Bank and the Valley of the Kings - Full Day Tour

In the morning, you will be picked up in an air-conditioned vehicle from your hotel in Luxor. Accompanied by a guide, you will be taken to the following archaeological sites:

• Valley of the Kings or Wadi el-Muluk: It is a valley in Egypt where tombs were built for the Pharaoh and powerful nobles of the New Kingdom. The valley stands on the west bank of the Nile and consists of two valleys, East and West, with the majority of the royal tombs situated in the East Valley.

• Queens Valley: It is a place where wives of the pharaohs were buried in ancient times. It was also known as Ta-Set-Neferu, meaning ‘the place of the children of the Pharaoh’. The valley is located near the Valley of the Kings. Here, along with the queens of the 18th, 19th and 20th dynasties, many princes and princesses were also buried with members of the nobility.

• Temple of Queen Hatshepsut: Also known as ‘Dier El Bahari’, it was established by Queen Hatshepsut, the only woman who ruled Egypt in the Pharaonic history. As you approach it from the distance, it is as of you are looking at a modern building that has been carved out of a mountain. Dier El-Bahari was commissioned by Queen Hatshepsut as a funerary monument to honour her father, Tutmose I and herself.

• Ramesseum: It is a funerary temple of King Ramesses II. On its walls is recorded the famous battle of Qadesh. Ramesseum built his fabulous mortuary temple on the site pf Seti I’s ruined temple where he identified himself with the local form of the god, Amun. The remains of the complex include a royal palace and a large number of mud-brick granaries and storerooms, as well as a small temple dedicated to Ramesses’ mother Tuya and wife Nefertari.

• Madinet Habu Temple: It is the funerary temple of King Ramesses II with military and religious motifs. The entire Temple of Ramses III, palace and town is enclosed within a defensive wall. Entry is through the Highgate, or Migdol, which, in appearance resembles an Asiatic fort. Just inside the Highgate, to the south, are the chapels of Amenirdis I, Shepenwepet II and Nitoket, wives of the god Amun. To the north side is the chapel of Amun. These chapels were a later addition dating to the 18th Dynasties, by Hatshepsut and Tutmose II. Close to the temple is the remains of a Nilometer. These 'flood warnings' were positioned strategically along the river to determine the position of the river every year.

• Deir El Madina: It is a community of workmen and their families, supervisors and foremen and their families, all dedicated to building the great tombs of the Egyptian kings. You will be served lunch on this tour.

After exploring the historical sites, you will be dropped back to your hotel in Luxor.