Luxor is one of our favorite cities to visit in Egypt, and should 100% be added to your itinerary if you have the time to factor it into your plans. The city is conveniently just a short 1hr 30min flight from Cairo and is brimming with Ancient Egyptian sites to explore! In this post, we are sharing our 2 day Luxor itinerary so you know exactly how to spend your time in this historic city. You will be up from sun up to sun down, but your time will be maximized and you will be having too much fun to need sleep.
And if you’re here because you want to be in Luxor for the 2027 eclipse – Heyyyyyy, we see you! And we’re super jealous that you’re planning a trip to Luxor for such an iconic moment! It’s sure to be unforgettable, and this 2 day Luxor itinerary will take your eclipse experience to the next level.
Want to combine this 2 day Luxor itinerary with Cairo? Check out our 3 day Cairo itinerary for the perfect balance of ancient history and modern culture. And if you will be taking a Nile cruise that departs from Luxor, our 9 day Egypt itinerary for 1st time visitors will show you a breakdown of the stops you’ll likely be visiting on your cruise.
Why should you listen to us?
Because we lead group trips to Egypt and frequently include Luxor in our itinerary. We have personally experienced everything listed in this 2 day Luxor itinerary, so you don’t have to worry if an experience is “worth it” or not. If it’s not worth it, we won’t recommend it!
If this is your first visit to the land of pyramids and mummies, our 20 Things To Know Before You Visit Egypt gives helpful tips on how to be mindful and respectful of the culture, societal norms to be aware of, and things that pleasantly surprised us on our first visit. Our Egypt packing list can also be found HERE, and you can download the PDF version via the form below.
Disclosure: Some of the links in this 2 day Luxor itinerary are affiliate links. That means at no additional cost to you, we may earn a commission from your purchase which will go toward bringing you more travel tips, tricks, and tidbits.
Is a guide necessary for Luxor?
We 100% think that Egypt is best seen with a guide. As much as we absolutely love Egypt, it would be incredibly overwhelming to navigate on your own. And you’ll notice that the people who went to Egypt and did not enjoy it are usually the people who tried to do it all on their own. For us, a local guide is nonnegotiable for a trip to Egypt.
Plus, Egypt has wayyyy to much history for you to just wing it. A good guide will bring the history to life. For example, without a guide, Hatshepsut’s temple just looks like a cool ancient building built into a cliffside. With a guide, you learn that Hatshepsut was one of Egypt’s only female pharaohs and one of the most successful (man or woman) – which is why her temple is included in this Luxor itinerary + our blog post on UNESCO Sites That Celebrate the Women of Ancient Egypt.
Lucky for you, we’ve got a fabulous Egyptian tour company to recommend: Wanderluxe Tours is who we have used for our trips to Egypt, and who we’ve got lined up for our future trips. They can create a custom itinerary for you that includes all the things to do in Luxor that we have listed in this itinerary + other cities in Egypt if you want!
We’re not exaggerating when we say that Wanderluxe Tours is the best tour company we’ve had anywhere in the world. They truly go above and beyond to make sure your trip to Egypt is the bucket list trip you always dreamed of whether it’s just for a long layover or a multi-city Egypt itinerary. And if you book through them and mention The Stickered Suitcase, they’ll take especially good care of you!
For most major attractions in Egypt, Get Your Guide and Viator also have attraction-specific hires or day guides that you can book. Just be sure to always read the reviews before booking!
Day 1 – Karnak Temple, Museums, & Luxor Temple at Night
7-8:30am(ish): Catch an early morning flight from Cairo to Luxor – If you are taking a Nile Cruise, this is probably where it will set sail from! Nile Cruises usually stay docked in Luxor for the first night, so you’ll be able to spend 2 full days in Luxor and your accommodations will already be sorted.
If you aren’t taking a cruise, there are numerous affordable accommodation options in Luxor with great reviews – and several even have Nile River views!
10am-12:30pm: Spend the morning exploring Karnak Temple. The morning is the best time to visit, because shade is limited and the morning is the coolest part of the day!
Karnak Temple is one of the largest temple complexes in the world. It took over 1,500 years to be fully built with over 30 different pharaohs contributing to the massive project. The Hypostyle Hall is the star of the show here, with its massive sandstone columns covered completely in hieroglyphics. You’ll feel so tiny standing beside them!
Tickets to enter the temple are around 600-650 EGP ($12-15 USD).
12:30-2:30pm: Enjoy some lunch. If you are taking a Nile Cruise, you will probably be able to go ahead and check into your cruise and enjoy lunch onboard. If you’re not doing a Nile Cruise, these are some solid lunch options near Karnak Temple:
El Hussein Restaurant – Highly rated Middle Eastern restaurant offering traditional Egyptian food in a restaurant that has ornate woodwork throughout. If you’re unsure of what to order, our blog post on 12 Foods You Need to Eat in Egypt can give you some inspiration!
Silk Road – Located in the New Karnak Hilton Hotel, this restaurant holds the prestigious title of 2025 World Luxury Restaurant Awards Winner for Best Asian Fusion Cuisine in Africa. If the good food wasn’t enough, it also has iews of the Valley of the Kings!
Al White Garden Restaurant & Coffee – Conveniently located right outside the Karnak Temple visitor center, this laid back cafe has a rotating menu and a lovely outdoor garden space to enjoy your meal.
2:30-4:30pm: Check into your hotel & visit a museum! If you aren’t doing a Nile Cruise, you should be able to check into your hotel accommodations after lunch. After getting settled in your room, visit one of Luxor’s museums! This is a good time of day to pick an indoor activity due to most of the historic sites not offering good shade.
Mummification Museum – If mummies fascinate you, this museum is a must. You’ll learn all about the mummification process from start to finish and get to see tools used during mummification, coffins, and the mummified remains of humans and animals.
Tickets to enter the Mummification Museum are around 220 EGP (Less than $5 USD).
Luxor Museum – This museum is considered one of the best museums in Egypt. With artifacts thoughtfully arranged over 2 levels, you’ll get to see an incredible alabaster statue of Amenhotep III with the crocodile god, Sobek, as well as the royal mummies of Ahmose I and Ramses I.
Tickets to enter Luxor Museum are around 400 EGP (Less than $8 USD).
4:30-5:30pm: Visit a jewelry store and get a cartouche engraved with your name in hieroglyphics. We visited Nubia Gallery during our trip, and our guests had a good experience. The downstairs is a large jewelry area with all sorts of Egyptian inspired pieces that can be customized. The upstairs of this shop has standard souvenirs like tshirts and nicknacks.
If you want to get a necklace with your name engraved in hieroglyphics, you will likely need to come back or arrange for delivery to your hotel. This is standard no matter where you have this done in Egypt, as the engraving process can take a few hours.
If you don’t want to spend a lot of money, but want a nice souvenir that isn’t as common, Kayla got a pretty compact mirror that is inlaid with the Eye of Horus from this shop!
5:30-7:30pm: Head to Luxor temple to see it lit up at night! The cost is 500-550 EGP ($10-12 USD).
Going during this time frame also means you will get to hear the call to prayer being played over the speakers from the mosque next door to the temple. It ends up being a beautiful mixture of old and new as you look at statues from thousands of years ago but hear the call to prayer observed by so many in Egypt today.
After you explore the temples, stroll down the newly opened Avenue of Sphinxes to see the reconstructed ancient boat. This avenue once connected Luxor Temple and Karnak Temple.
If temple attendant offers to take your picture, we say go for it (but be sure to tip them accordingly). We had one offer to take our picture, and he ended up leading us all over the temple to areas we never would have otherwise seen – and the pictures came out great!
7:30-9pm: Grab dinner from one of the places you didn’t go to this afternoon for lunch! And then get to bed. The second day of this 2 day Luxor itinerary has a super early start!
Day 2 – Sunrise hot air balloon, tombs, & a female pharaoh’s temple
4:30-7am: Sunrise hot air balloon ride over the Valley of the Kings. That early wakeup probably makes you want to roll your eyes, but we promise it is worth it! This experience topped our list of 18 incredible bucket list experiences around the world, and we think it’s the best sunrise in all of Egypt.
The cost for the sunrise departure is typically $100-$200/person. A perk of having your tour guide book the tour for you is that they will know which company is the most reputable to use. If you want help choosing a tour, this sunrise hot air balloon experience has over 4,000 reviews and a 4.9 star rating AND it includes transfers.
7:30-8:30am: Swing by Ali Baba Restaurant for breakfast and coffee. The crepes are great! If you choose to sit on the very top floor, you’ll have fab views of the Colossi of Memnon, two large statues of Amenhotep III that are all that remain of his mortuary temple.
After breakfast, walk across the street to see the Colossi of Memnon up close. These were once called The Singing Statues, because the wind would whip through the cracks in the statues and make a whistling noise that sounded like singing.
8:30am-11am: Spend a few hours exploring the Valley of the Kings! This necropolis has some of the best preserved hieroglyphics in all of Egypt. The colors inside the tombs are incredible to see in person.
Tickets cost 750 EGP (around $15 USD) and give you entry to the three tombs of your choice. The tomb of Ramses IV is a must, as it has some of the most beautifully intact hieroglyphics and artwork inside.
If you want to go inside King Tut’s tomb and see his mummy, it’s an additional $15. In our opinion, this is 100% worth the cost. His mummy is on full display behind a glass case, but all the treasures from his tomb are in the Grand Egyptian Museum. It’s a toss up of whether or not they will allow photos. Sometimes they do. Sometimes they don’t.
11am-12pm: Visit an alabaster shop. Alabaster has been used throughout Egypt for thousands of years. While it was once used for Canopic jars, sarcophagi, and statues, today it is typically used for smaller items that make for good souvenirs like bowls, vases, lamps, and smaller alabaster statues.
We visited Hapi for Alabaster and had a good experience. They gave a demonstration on how alabaster is traditionally carved and shaped and its luminescent qualities before giving us some time to shop. You will need to haggle for a good price on your souvenirs!
12pm-1:30pm: Spend some time admiring the impressive the Mortuary Temple of Queen Hatshepsut. Tickets are around 450 EGP ($9 USD).
Queen Hatshepsut was one of only a few female pharaohs throughout Ancient Egypt’s 3,000 year history. She is known for being an incredibly successful pharaoh who led trade expeditions to new regions and for not involving Egypt in any conflicts during her reign.
Her multi-story temple is built into a cliffside and is stunning to see in person. Large statues of Hatshepsut can be found outside the temple, giving visitors a chance to see how her imagery is typically masculine to command respect and authority as a female ruler.
1:30-3:00pm: Grab some lunch from one of these restaurants near Hatshepsut’s Temple:
Rustic House Restaurant – Family owned restaurant on the bank of the Nile offering traditional Egyptian food and the chance to try Nubian specialties, like tagine.
Thebes Restaurant – Authentic Egyptian restaurant with lots of vegetarian options. The interior is bright and colorful and offers views of the Nile.
The Farmer’s House – This is around a 20 minute drive from Hatshepsut’s Temple but many of the reviews said it was the best food they had their entire time in Egypt and even during their multi-weeks long tour of Africa, so we had to include it in this 2 day Luxor itinerary! Expect Nubian food rich in flavor and cooked with love.
3:00-6:15pm: Freshen up at your hotel after lunch, and then get ready for your sunset sailing on the Nile. This sunset felucca ride includes transfer service to and from your hotel and fresh tea during your sailing (and you can’t beat the price!).
Sailing on the Nile in a smaller boat is such a treat. It’s an incredibly relaxing experience and gives you the chance to see wildlife up close that you would otherwise miss.
6:15-7:45pm: Grab some dinner or squeeze in some shopping time if you still want to buy any souvenirs!
7:45-9:30pm: You’ve seen Karnak Temple during the day, and now you’ll be able to see it in a whole new light. The Karnak Sound and Light Show gives visitors the unique opportunity to see Karnak Temple lit up with visual displays and dramatic narration. The show alternates between guided walking portions and portions where you sit and listen to narration. It is sure to be an evening you won’t ever forget!
Tickets can be bought online HERE or if you want a tour that includes transfers to and from your hotel in an air conditioned van, this tour is a solid option.
That wraps up our 2 day Luxor itinerary! If you have anything you think we should add, let us know in the comments below!
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