Luxor West Bank Half Day Tour: Valley of the Kings, Hatshepsut and the Colossi

Included and Not Included

The listing includes the English tour guide, hotel pickup and drop-off, lunch at a local restaurant, and all taxes and service charges. Entrance fees sit outside the base price unless you pick the option that names them, and the listing shows no add-on price, so confirm the total before you pay. Tips are optional and paid in cash. A guide in Spanish, German or French costs extra as an add-on.

If you skip the entry-fee option, you buy tickets on the day. The Valley of the Kings takes card payment only, so bring a card for the EGP 750 general ticket. The listing tells you to bring cash for optional tips and for extra tomb entries beyond the three covered by the general ticket.

One reviewer notes the tombs were chosen for the group in advance. If you want to pick your own tombs, a private option such as the Private Valley of the Kings, 4 Hours gives you that control.

The Mandatory Extras Question

The listing states no mandatory extras on this tour, which puts it ahead of some rivals. On the Hurghada bus day from Book Tour Egypt, the lowest option carries mandatory transport taxes and entrance fees of €60 per adult on top of an $18.22 base. Here the only decision is the entry-fee option at checkout.

The practical advice is to work out the site fees yourself, EGP 750 for the valley, and the Hatshepsut ticket at 440 EGP on the temple page or 360 EGP on the Deir el-Bahari site page, and compare that against the option total before you book. The packing note stands either way. Bring cash for tips and any extra tomb tickets, and a card for the valley gate, which no longer takes cash.

Pickup and the Crossing

Your day begins with pickup from your Luxor hotel. There is no fixed departure time on the listing. Check availability to see starting times, and expect a message by email or WhatsApp the day before with the exact pickup time.

You join a small group for the drive across to the west bank of the Nile, where the burial ground of the New Kingdom pharaohs waits. Royal burials here run from roughly 1550 to 1069 BC, and the valley holds over sixty tombs plus about twenty unfinished ones across an East and a West Valley.

Valley of the Kings

You enter the Valley of the Kings with your guide, who explains the burial rituals and the decoration before you go in. Guides are not permitted inside the tombs, so the storytelling happens outside the entrances. The general ticket covers three tombs of your choice from those open that day, but one reviewer says the tombs were chosen for the group in advance.

Only about 18 tombs can be opened to visitors and they are rarely all open at once, since tombs close in rotation for restoration. A shuttle tram runs from the visitor centre to the tomb area, a ride of about three minutes for 20 EGP round trip. Expect queues of at least 15 to 30 minutes in peak season.

The valley averages 4,000 to 5,000 visitors a day.

Temple of Hatshepsut at Deir El-Bahari

Next comes the Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut, whose three terraces rise from the desert floor into the cliffs. The temple is 273.5 metres long, and its middle terrace carries the reliefs of the expedition to the Land of Punt, a five-ship fleet that brought back myrrh trees, gold, ivory and live animals. Your guide tells the story of Egypt's female pharaoh as you walk the porticos.

Hatshepsut served as regent for Thutmose III and took the pharaoh's role by around 1472 BC.

Colossi of Memnon

The last stop is a photo stop at the twin Colossi of Memnon, two seated statues of Amenhotep III about 18 metres high and roughly 720 tons each. They have guarded his mortuary temple for over 3,400 years, and an earthquake in 27 BC broke the northern colossus, which was later repaired around 199 AD. There is no entrance fee here, and you view the statues from the roadside.

Lunch and the Return

Lunch at a local restaurant is included before the return journey. After the meal, a comfortable transfer takes the group back across the river and drops you at your Luxor hotel. The listing gives no return time, and the whole trip runs 5 hours.

Not for You If You Want a Private Car

This is a shared small-group tour on a fixed route. The guide chooses the pace and, per one reviewer, the tombs are selected in advance for the group. If you want your own vehicle and your own choice of tombs, the Private West Bank Half Day from AlHassany Travel runs the same three stops, Valley of the Kings, Hatshepsut and the Colossi, over 4 to 5 hours for $40 with entry tickets paid on top.

• Coming from Hurghada instead of Luxor? The 15-17 hour days are a different beast. The Hurghada Small Group, Entry Options runs 15-16 hours for $45, and the Hurghada Bus Day, Groups of 9 runs 15-17 hours from $18.22 with mandatory fees of €60 on the lowest option.
• Want the Valley of the Queens added? This tour skips it. The Kings and Queens Half Day with Lunch runs the same 5 hours for $55 and adds the Valley of the Queens, where Nefertari's tomb sits.
• Want everything paid up front? The Private West Bank, Kings and Queens includes admission to five sites for $89.24 over 8 hours.

Physical and Seasonal Limits

The listing recommends comfortable walking shoes and warns of walking on uneven, sandy terrain. The tombs run underground, and the tram helps with the approach but not the tombs themselves. No wheelchair provision is stated. From May to September the heat is the main problem. Luxor's mean daily maximum reaches 41.4 C in July, and the record is 50.0 C. Carry water, as the listing advises. October to April is the comfortable season, with a January mean maximum of 22.8 C.

There is no stated minimum age, but the heat and the terrain suit older children better than toddlers. Free cancellation up to 24 hours protects you if bad weather forces a cancellation. Check the comparison table on the homepage before you settle.

The Official Tickets

The Valley of the Kings general ticket costs EGP 750 for foreign adults and EGP 375 for foreign students, and it covers entry to three tombs of your choice from those open that day. It does not include the special tombs. Tutankhamun's KV62 is an extra 700 EGP, the tomb of Seti I (KV17) is 2,000 EGP with no foreign student discount, the joint tomb of Ramesses V and VI (KV9) is 220 EGP, and the tomb of Ay in the West Valley is 200 EGP.

Cash is no longer accepted at the valley, so all payments go by card. You can study the details in Valley of the Kings tickets, and read whether the extra tickets are worth it in Tutankhamun's tomb and the tomb of Seti I. Hatshepsut's temple ticket shows 440 EGP on the temple page and 360 EGP on the Deir el-Bahari site page, so check both before you budget.

Hours, Heat and the Early Start

The valley opens at 6:00 AM and closes at 5:00 PM, though some sources give 4:00 PM in winter. Peak crowds fall between 10 AM and 2 PM, so arriving by 8 AM means fewer visitors. The listing shows starting times only when you check availability, so pick the earliest one offered and pack water and sun protection as it advises.

Hatshepsut's temple, Medinet Habu and the Ramesseum are all open daily from 6:00 AM to 5:00 PM too. Rock-cut tombs stay cooler than the desert outside, and US News suggests visiting Hatshepsut's temple at opening or just before closing to avoid the worst heat.

What Fits Around a Half Day

After the west bank, the east bank is the obvious next stop. Karnak Temple is open daily from 6:00 AM to 5:00 PM with a 600 EGP foreign adult ticket, and Luxor Temple stays open from 6:00 AM to 8:00 PM, the one major site open into the evening, at 500 EGP. Both pair well with the west bank, and the Shared Full Day, Both Banks does exactly that in one 8-hour booking for $30. For a dawn flight over the necropolis before a morning tour, see the Luxor hot air balloon guide, or the Balloon Ride and Full-Day Sights package at $160 with entry fees and the flight included.

The Temple of Hatshepsut guide covers the terraces in depth if you want the background before you go. All of it sits within Valley of the Kings tours from Luxor on the homepage.