Day trips from Luxor

From Luxor the trips are done with a driver, because every temple around lies on a road where public transport does not stop: Dendera and Abydos are one day north and the best day Upper Egypt has after the Valley itself; Edfu and Kom Ombo are on the way to Aswan and done as a journey, not a return. Hurghada is four hours east, and that is the exit to the sea.

Dendera — 1 h north

The temple of Hathor from Ptolemaic and Roman times, with a hall whose ceiling was cleaned in the 2010s and now shows colours no other temple in Egypt has: the zodiac, sky goddesses, stars on blue. The roof is climbed by a staircase, the crypt entered through the floor, and Cleopatra with Caesarion is on the back wall. An hour's drive, an hour and a half inside; cruise groups arrive around ten, so go at eight or after eleven.

Abydos — 3 h north

The temple of Seti I with the finest reliefs in the country — carved, not painted, with faces that have expression — and the King List in the corridor, a roll of pharaohs from the first to Seti, omitting those Seti considered illegitimate. Behind the temple is the Osireion, an underground granite building under water. Two hours inside, and two hours do not feel like much. Done with Dendera on the same day, leaving at seven.

2 daysWhere this day sits against the day-by-day plan:Luxor in 2 days →

Edfu and Kom Ombo — on the way to Aswan

Edfu is the temple of Horus, the best preserved in Egypt because it was buried to the ceiling, with a 36-metre pylon and a granite falcon at the entrance; Kom Ombo is the double temple of Sobek and Horus by the Nile, with a museum of mummified crocodiles beside it. Both lie on the Luxor–Aswan road, an hour and a half per temple, and are done as stops on a journey with a driver, not as a trip with a return. The cruises stop at the same places, at noon.

GuideAnd then Aswan?Aswan →

When to goWhich month makes these temples bearable:The best time to visit Luxor →

Hurghada — 4–5 h east

The road through the desert to the Red Sea, by GoBus from the station in Luxor or with a driver, four to five hours. This is not a trip but the end of sightseeing: the temples are done, the sea begins. Anyone wanting the reverse — Luxor from Hurghada in a day — gets fourteen hours of travel and half of Luxor, and that is written up on the Hurghada page.

GuideHurghada as the rest after the temples?Hurghada →

What not to do

• Abydos without Dendera. Three hours each way for one temple; Dendera is on the way and doubles the day without extra travel.
• Kom Ombo as a trip from Luxor. Two and a half hours each way for a temple seen on the road to Aswan; anyone not going to Aswan skips it.
• A driver through the hotel desk. The same drive costs double; a driver is found through a previous tour, an app or a recommendation and agreed the evening before.