4-day private Luxor tour departing from Marsa Alam

Early in the morning, we pick you up from your hotel in Marsa Alam in a private A.C. car for the transfer to Luxor and your overnight trip to Luxor from Marsa Alam . On arrival you'll meet your private guide, who joins you to visit: Karnak Temple: few sites in Egypt rival Karnak for sheer scale. It's the largest temple complex ever built by human hands, reflecting the combined work of generation after generation of ancient builders and pharaohs. The Karnak Temple is really three main temples along with smaller enclosed shrines and several outer temples, all spread across 247 acres of land. Luxor Temple: the Temple of Luxor served as the setting for ancient Egypt's most important festival, the Opet Festival. Built largely under Amenhotep III and Rameses II, the temple hosted rituals aimed at reconciling the human side of the ruler with his divine role. Lunch follows at a local restaurant in Luxor . In the evening you may opt to join the Sound and Light Show at Karnak : the show opens with a historical introduction covering the founding of Thebes and the building of the Karnak Temple, then narrates the glorious feats of several great Pharaohs, set to a rich, poetic description of the artistic treasures and grand legacy held within the Karnak temple.
Overnight at the Nile Palace Luxor or Sonesta St George

After breakfast at your hotel, your private guide and air-conditioned vehicle take you to visit: The Valley of Kings: the final resting place of Egypt's rulers from the 18th to 20th dynasty, home to tombs including that of the great pharaoh Ramses II and the boy pharaoh Tutankhamen. These tombs were stocked with all the material goods a ruler might need in the next world, and much of the decoration inside remains well preserved. Hatshepsut Temple: one of the most beautiful and best-preserved of all Ancient Egyptian temples, built across three levels connected by two wide ramps at a central position. Colossi of Memnon: two massive stone statues of king Amenhotep III, the only remains of a once-complete mortuary temple.
The statues, carved from blocks of quartzite sandstone quarried in Cairo , were then moved 700 km to Luxor . The Valley of the Queens: also known as Biban el-Harim, Biban el-Sultanate, and Wadi el-Melikat, this is where wives of Pharaohs were laid to rest in antiquity. It was once known as Ta-Set-Neferu — 'the place of the Children of the Pharaoh' — since alongside the Queens of the 18th, 19th, and 20th dynasties (1550-1070 BCE), numerous princes, princesses, and nobles were also buried here. Among the best-known tombs is that of Nefertari, the most cherished of Ramesses II's many wives, in whose honor he built a beautiful temple at Abu Simbel. Lunch is served at a local restaurant in Luxor , overnight in Luxor

Early in the morning, we pick you up from your hotel in Marsa Alam in a private A.C. car for the transfer to Luxor and your overnight trip to Luxor from Marsa Alam . On arrival you'll meet your private guide, who joins you to visit: Madinat Habu temple: known in ancient times as Djanet, this site was believed to be where Amun first appeared. Both Hatshepsut and Tuthmosis III built a temple dedicated to Amun here, and Rameses III later constructed his larger memorial temple on the same ground. Ramesseum: the Ramesseum, mortuary temple of Ramses II (1279-13 BC), stands on the west bank of the Nile at Thebes in Upper Egypt. Famous for its 57-foot (17-meter) seated statue of Ramses II — of which only fragments survive — the temple honored the god Amon and the deceased king. Its walls, roughly half preserved, carry reliefs depicting the Battle of Kadesh, the Syrian campaigns, and the Festival of Min. Deir El Madina: west of the village, on the slope of the Theban hills, lies the main cemetery of the royal workmen at Deir el-Medina. Most tombs date to the 19th dynasty, some strikingly decorated and sizeable. By the 20th dynasty, the tombs had become family burial sites for the descendants of the original owners, with few changes beyond an added subterranean chamber. The lower slopes of the eastern hill at Qurnet Murai held the burials of infants and children — more than a hundred were laid to rest in ordinary domestic pottery jars, amphorae, baskets (even fish baskets), chests, boxes, or proper coffins. The humblest burials belonged to stillborn babies, with no jewelry or amulets, just small vessels of food for the afterlife. Adult graves sat higher up the slope, many dating from the 18th dynasty.
Lunch during the tour. Overnight in Luxor

Pickup from your hotel in Luxor and drive to Dendera temple Dendera temple . The Temple of Hathor was largely built in the Late Ptolemaic period, particularly under Ptolemy XII and Cleopatra VII, with later additions made during Roman rule. Though the work of a dynasty of non-native rulers, its design closely follows other classical Egyptian temples, with one exception — the front of the hypostyle hall, which an inscription above the entrance credits to Emperor Tiberius. The temple complex also carries scenes of the Ptolemaic rulers themselves; carved onto the outer wall, for instance, is a huge relief of Cleopatra VII and her son by Julius Caesar and co-ruler, Ptolemy XV (better known as Caesarion), both shown in Egyptian dress offering sacrifices. Hathor was also seen as a goddess of healing, reflected in the sanatorium found within the complex, where pilgrims came seeking a cure. Sacred water — made holy by being poured over statues inscribed with sacred texts — was used for bathing, priests of Hathor dispensed ointments, and sleeping quarters were set aside for those hoping the goddess would appear to them in dreams and offer aid. From Dendera temple , drive on to Abydos temple. Abydos temple: regarded as one of Ancient Egypt's most significant archaeological sites, the sacred city of Abydos held many ancient temples, including Umm el-Qa'ab, a royal necropolis where early pharaohs were laid to rest. These burials came to be viewed as extremely significant, and in time being buried nearby grew highly desirable, boosting the town's importance as a place of worship. Today, Abydos is known above all for the memorial temple of Seti I, containing a 19th-dynasty inscription known today as the Abydos King List — a chronological record showing cartouches of most dynastic pharaohs from Menes to Ramesses I, Seti's father. The Great Temple and most of the ancient town lie buried beneath modern buildings north of the Seti temple; many original structures and their contents are believed lost for good, possibly destroyed by later construction. Abydos temple, located about 2.5 hours by car north of Luxor , was one of the most important religious sites for ancient Egyptians. Much as modern Muslims hope to make a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once, ancient Egyptians hoped to visit Abydos, a place strongly tied for them to the entrance into the afterlife. While several temples once stood here, the largest and most significant is the Temple of Seti I. Seti I was the father of the great Ramesses II, who actually finished most of the temple's construction after his father's death.
Coming to power just 30 years after the upheaval of Akhenaten's heretical rule, known as the Amarna Period, Seti I focused on restoring faith in the pre-Amarna pantheon that Akhenaten had tried to erase. As a result, his temple holds small chapels dedicated to each major god — Ptah, Re-Harakhte, Amun-Re, Osiris, Isis, Horus — plus one for Seti himself. Much of the complex no longer survives, including the pylon and the first two courtyards, so visitors enter directly through a doorway into the hypostyle hall. Many wall reliefs inside remain well preserved, and those toward the rear of the temple, finished during Seti's reign, are considered among the finest found in any Egyptian temple. Drive to your hotel in Marsa Alam