Luxor Trip Photo Essay

No Egypt trip is complete without visiting Luxor, the world’s greatest open-air museum. It is an extraordinary place and a tourist mecca for as long as one can remember. There’s a lot going on there and no Luxor trip is complete without exploring its grand temples, its magnificent necropolis, and the stunning ruins. I loved all of them and the countryside as well. I loved the setting of this ancient Egyptian city, its bucolic rustic surroundings, and the way the river Nile pulsated with life. I loved looking at the snowy white sails of the feluccas as they sailed down the river and staring at the pleasure cruise ships as I trundled past the boulevard on a horse-drawn carriage. To be honest, such extraordinary delights in one place make ancient Thebes a very touristy place and it is as commercialized as possible.

Beautiful Ramesseum

Table of Contents

The commercial side of a Luxor trip

Luxor trip comes with the usual annoyances associated with such popularity and at nearly every step, you will be beckoned by touts, shop owners, boatmen, and souvenir sellers. However, if you scratch beneath the surface of such hardened commercialism, you will notice a mass of humanity struggling to make ends meet. Their lives are not easy and the livelihoods of nearly all of them depend on tourism. So, most of the time a firm but polite ‘No’ works and once you look past these hassles, your Luxor trip will probably be one of the most unforgettable experiences you ever had.

On one of our evening Nile boat rides

A luxurious stay

Akash and I went there in 2020 and we spent two glorious weeks there. We stayed at the opulent Winter Palace and although it looked a bit dated from inside, its gardens were magnificent. Full of orange trees and date palms, the garden had an abundance of bright pink bougainvillea and beautiful pools completed the relaxing grounds. The sun was wonderful at that time of the year and despite being winter – December – the skies were blue and the sun nice and warm. Akash and I took it easy and divided our time in a most relaxing manner.

The Sofitel Winter Palace

Details of our Luxor trip

We dedicated mornings to our explorations and spent the afternoons in the pool. Evenings were usually on boat rides down the Nile or riding on horse carriages down the boulevard. During our visit, we explored the Luxor and Karnak temples, walked around the Rammesseum, and watched in fascination at the murals on the Medinat Habu. We also went hot air ballooning once and though it was not the highlight of our Luxor trip, we saw the two banks of the city from a bird’s eye point of view. Our best moments were spent exploring the surrounding countrysides where we went horseback riding and sailing. Take a look at these photos of our recent Luxor trip. These are guaranteed to make you want to pack your bags and leave.

Hot air ballooning is a must on your Luxor trip

Karnak Temple

A magnificent sunset at the Luxor Temple

Medinat Habu is absolutely amazing

Medinat Habu

Ramesseum

Banana Island excursion

A Luxor trip is an unforgettable experience

P.S – This blog post is part of the weekly series called the Cairo Chronicles. Every week, Maverickbird will take on a new theme, emotion, and beauty of expat life in the exciting, maddening city of Cairo.

Follow the rest of the Luxor series