Luxor Holidays - Things to Do
Luxor Holidays – Things to Do has a huge range of activities and things you can do in Luxor, Egypt. Whether it is visiting some of the finest beaches, the Egyptian ruins, Sphinx or just enjoying the wonderful places to eat and drink in Egypt and soak up the Sun, Luxor is the place to be.
Things to do in Luxor:
The various Luxor district article pages contain detailed information and suggestions for things to see. Definite highlights, not-to-be-missed, include:
the Valley of the Kings
the temple complexes of Luxor and Karnak
Medinet Habu
the Tombs of the Nobles
Do
Walk from the Valley of the Queens across the desert and over the cliffs to the Valley of the Kings
Hire a bike and ride around Ancient Thebes – takes you less than 15 minutes to get there.
A local felucca ride just before sunset; shouldn’t cost you more than about LE 30 (for one person) per hour.
Take a felucca cruise on the Nile for a 2 day trip to Aswan (the reverse trip is recommended, however, due to river currents).
Hire a donkey, horse, or camel to ride around Luxor’s west bank.
Go for a swim in a hotel’s pool after a dusty day of tombs and temples:
Iberotel: 75E£
Sonesta: 50E£
The one right next to St. Joseph: 25E£
Places to eat, drink and party in Luxor:
Luxor is a vegetarian’s paradise with lots of fresh seasonal vegetables such as tomato and cucumber.
A meal often begins with pita-bread and mezze such as baba ganoush or taboulé.
Your main course may include meat or poultry, or regional dishes such as pigeon or rabbit. (To avoid an upset stomach, you may prefer to stick with the beef.) As with any heavily touristed area in Egypt, it’s never hard to find reasonably well-executed Western food.
Dairy products, such as yoghurt or gibna bayda cheese (think feta but much creamier), might accompany your main meal.
Finally, many fine vegetarian desserts are available, though some might seem overly sweet to western tastes. (If you can, specify low or medium sweetness.)
While the evening meal is often filling, you may find this doesn’t meet the energy requirements of a busy tourist. Be sure to eat a hearty breakfast, drink lots of water, and snack frequently during the day.
Al-Sahaby Lane [3] The restaurant is located next door to Nefertiti Hotel, in the souk, the colorful Egyptian market of Luxor, on Sahaby street, and it may be the best place in Luxor for a lunch or dinner.
Drink
Egypt is an Islamic country, and it is forbidden for Muslims to buy, sell, or consume alcohol. However, the Egyptians are a pragmatic people and tolerant towards foreigners with money – restaurants and hotels which are not Muslim owned will happily serve alcohol.
Similarly, in shops which sell cola, if you are discreet, the owner will be able to locate some of the locally brewed Stella for LE 10-15.
Egyptian red wine is palatable (thanks to previous French occupation), but not recommended.
For spirits, you can choose between extortionate tourist prices for imported vodka, or to bring some from home.
There is a duty-free shop close to the north end of the Luxor Temple, seen slightly to the right across the busy junction – it has plastic see-through shutters at its windows and a guard outside. If you take your passport and go within two days of arriving in Egypt, up to three bottles of main-name spirits and beer, etc. at well-reduced prices, per person, can be bought. After the two days you can only buy the Egyptian equivalent. They also sell electrical products and close at 10pm.
Keep alcohol out of sight when in public – especially when leaving the shop!
