Luxor With Kids
The east bank is the temples and the town, the west bank is the tombs and the cliffs, and the Nile runs between them with feluccas on it at sunset. Luxor is the part of Egypt I taught for eight years, and the part the kids walk into with their mouths open.
Nicole Damiano, ASTA Verified Travel Advisor with FG Luxury Travel
Is Luxor good for kids?
Yes, for kids about 7 and up who will walk in heat for a tomb. Karnak's giant columns, Tutankhamun in his tomb, a hot air balloon at dawn, a felucca on the Nile and the ferry across the river all work for children, and the hotel pool handles the afternoons.
How many days do you need in Luxor?
Three nights for Karnak, Luxor Temple, the west bank tombs and Hatshepsut, and the balloon. Four if you add Dendera. The Nile cruise to Aswan adds three or four nights more.
Do you need a guide in Luxor?
Not by law, but yes with kids. A licensed Egyptologist guide for the two main days turns the tombs and temples into stories children follow, handles tickets and timing, and knows which tombs are open that week.
When is the best time to visit Luxor?
October through April. Winter is 70 degrees and busy, March, April and late October are warm and quieter. Summer is over 100 and the sites are morning only.
Should we do the Nile cruise from Luxor?
Most families should. Three or four nights from Luxor to Aswan with Edfu and Kom Ombo on the way, meals and a pool on board, and the kids unpack once. It is the simplest way to see the rest of Upper Egypt with children.
Two Banks, One River, Three Days
Luxor was Thebes, the capital of Egypt at its peak, and the temples of Karnak and Luxor are on the east bank where the town is. Across the river on the west bank are the Valley of the Kings, the Temple of Hatshepsut, the Colossi of Memnon and the villages, with the desert cliffs behind. A bridge is 20 minutes south, the ferry is five minutes, and a felucca is the slow version. The whole thing fits in three days, and the Nile cruise to Aswan picks you up at the end.
Three nights covers Karnak and Luxor Temple on the east bank, a full day on the west bank for the tombs and Hatshepsut, and a balloon at dawn. Add the cruise and it becomes a week.
Getting Around
A driver and a guide for the west bank days, and your feet for the east bank. Karnak and Luxor Temple are 2 miles apart along the Corniche, joined by the Avenue of Sphinxes. The public ferry across the river is a few pounds and a good ride. Calèche horse carriages work the Corniche and the kids will ask, so agree the price first. Taxis want cash and a price before you get in.
Neighborhoods worth basing in
The Corniche, east bank
The riverfront between Luxor Temple and the Winter Palace, with the big hotels, the felucca jetties, the museum and the restaurants. Walkable to Luxor Temple and a short ride to Karnak. The base for a first visit and the one with the Nile view from the room.
Karnak side, north east bank
The resort hotels north of town near Karnak, with gardens, big pools and Nile frontage. Quieter, further from the restaurants, and the taxi into town is 10 minutes. Good for a family who wants a pool between temples.
The west bank villages
Small guesthouses and a few boutique hotels among the fields and the villages under the cliffs, minutes from the tombs. Quiet, with sugarcane, donkeys and the balloons taking off at dawn in view. For a family who has done the big hotel thing and wants the rural Egypt version.
Sofitel Winter Palace
The 1886 hotel on the Corniche where Howard Carter announced Tutankhamun’s tomb, with a long garden, a big pool and tea on the terrace. The rooms in the old palace wing are the ones with the history. The splurge in Luxor and the one for a family who loves the story as much as the room.
Hilton Luxor Resort and Spa
On the Nile north of town by Karnak, with a long pool, a kids’ pool, gardens and sunset from the terrace. A resort between temple days, with the drive into town short and the pool doing the afternoons.
Steigenberger Nile Palace
A big hotel on the Corniche south of Luxor Temple with a pool, Nile views, family rooms and a walkable location. Good value and the one I use for a family who wants the river and the town without the Winter Palace price.
The Three I Build Every Luxor Trip Around
Karnak
The largest temple complex in Egypt, built over 2,000 years by pharaoh after pharaoh, and the Great Hypostyle Hall is the thing the kids remember, 134 columns the size of redwoods with the paint still on the tops. Go at 7 am when it opens, before the cruise groups, and give the kids the job of finding the scarab statue, the obelisks of Hatshepsut and the sacred lake. Two hours, then back to the pool. The sound and light show at night is dated but fun for kids.
The Valley of the Kings and the west bank
The tombs of the New Kingdom pharaohs cut into a dry valley behind the cliffs, with painted walls that look finished last year. The standard ticket covers three tombs, and the ones worth paying extra for are Tutankhamun, where he still lies, and Seti I or Ramses V and VI for the color. Pair it with Hatshepsut’s terraced temple against the cliff and the Colossi of Memnon on the way back. Start at 6, be done by noon, and drink more water than you think.
Luxor Temple at night
Right in town on the Corniche, started by Amenhotep III and finished by Ramses II, with the avenue of sphinxes running from its gate nearly 2 miles to Karnak. Go after dinner. It opens late, the columns are lit, the heat is gone and the kids are awake. Look for the mosque built on top of the temple in the 1200s, the Roman wall paintings and the one remaining obelisk, whose twin is in Paris.
Family Time, Built In: Luxor With Kids
Luxor with kids is a column bigger than a bus, a pharaoh still in his tomb, a balloon over the fields at sunrise and a felucca with the captain letting them steer.
Finding the scarab at Karnak
Tutankhamun in his tomb
A felucca at sunset
The ferry across the Nile
PARK & DOWNTIME PICK
The hotel pool is the afternoon, most days, because the sites are morning work in this heat. The balloon flight over the west bank at sunrise is the thing to book, an hour over the temples and the fields for ages 5 and up, with a 4 am pickup. The Luxor Museum is small, cool and has two royal mummies and a small room of statues that are among the most beautiful in Egypt, and an hour there in the afternoon counts as the quiet day. A felucca for an hour before sunset costs little and is a good way to end a day.
Five Things To Eat In Luxor
Koshari
Taameya, the Egyptian falafel
Aish baladi hot from the oven
Grilled fish on the Corniche
Karkadeh, cold hibiscus teaNicole’s Perspective
The part of Egypt I taught for eight years
I taught ancient Egypt to middle schoolers for eight years, and the New Kingdom, the pharaohs buried under these cliffs, was the unit I loved most. So Luxor is the trip where the planning gets personal. I route families here after Cairo, three nights, with a guide who is an Egyptologist and good with kids, because the difference between a tomb with a story and a tomb without one is the whole trip.
My order is Karnak the first morning, the west bank the second day from 6 am, Luxor Temple after dinner, and the balloon on the last morning. Then the cruise down to Aswan picks you up. Gavin would be the one reading cartouche after cartouche, Jake would be racing between the columns, and Avilene would want the felucca captain to let her steer.
The Day Trip: Dendera, Or The Cruise To Aswan
An hour and a quarter north of Luxor, the Temple of Hathor at Dendera is one of the best preserved temples in Egypt, with a painted ceiling of the sky cleaned back to blue and gold, Cleopatra and her son carved on the back wall, and a crypt the kids can climb into. It is quiet compared with Karnak and a half day with the drive. The other way to leave Luxor is the Nile cruise, three or four nights down to Aswan with stops at Edfu and Kom Ombo, a pool on the roof and the river going past at walking pace. For most families it is the cruise, and Dendera is the extra day if you have one.
Things I Would Tell A Friend Before They Booked
How Many Days
Three nights covers both banks and the balloon. The cruise adds three or four more and takes you to Aswan.
Karnak and the Luxor Museum on day one, the west bank tombs and Hatshepsut on day two, the balloon and a felucca on day three, with Luxor Temple after dinner whichever night the kids are up for it.
Add the drive to Dendera for the painted ceiling, a second west bank morning for Medinet Habu and the Tombs of the Nobles, and a slow afternoon on the pool.
Board in Luxor and sail three or four nights to Aswan, with Edfu and Kom Ombo on the way, a pool on the roof and the villages going by. Fly home from Aswan or add Abu Simbel. Cairo, Luxor and the cruise is the full Egypt trip for a family in 10 days.
Luxor With Kids, Answered
Is Luxor good for kids?
Yes, for kids about 7 and up who will walk in heat for a tomb. Karnak’s giant columns, Tutankhamun in his tomb, a hot air balloon at dawn, a felucca on the Nile and the ferry across the river all work for children, and the hotel pool handles the afternoons.
How many days do you need in Luxor?
Three nights for Karnak, Luxor Temple, the west bank tombs and Hatshepsut, and the balloon. Four if you add Dendera. The Nile cruise to Aswan adds three or four nights more.
Do you need a guide in Luxor?
Not by law, but yes with kids. A licensed Egyptologist guide for the two main days turns the tombs and temples into stories children follow, handles tickets and timing, and knows which tombs are open that week.
When is the best time to visit Luxor?
October through April. Winter is 70 degrees and busy, March, April and late October are warm and quieter. Summer is over 100 and the sites are morning only.
Should we do the Nile cruise from Luxor?
Most families should. Three or four nights from Luxor to Aswan with Edfu and Kom Ombo on the way, meals and a pool on board, and the kids unpack once. It is the simplest way to see the rest of Upper Egypt with children.
Ready To Put Luxor On The Calendar
Send me your dates and your kids’ ages and I will build the Egypt trip around Luxor, with the right guide, the balloon, the tomb tickets and the cruise down to Aswan.
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