Luxor holds the greatest concentration of standing monuments anywhere in the world, and a cruise gives it one morning. If you have three days, here is a plan that uses them properly.

If you are still deciding how long to give it, how many days you need in Luxor covers the trade-off. This article assumes you have settled on three.

Day one — the west bank

Start with the Valley of the Kings at opening. It is a stone bowl that stores heat, the tombs get airless as the day goes on, and the coaches arrive from about nine. The standard ticket covers three tombs of the ones open that day; decide at the gate whether you are paying the supplements.

Then Hatshepsut's temple at Deir el-Bahari, a few minutes away on the other side of the same ridge, and the Colossi of Memnon as a ten-minute roadside stop on the way back.

Consider starting the day earlier still with a balloon flight. You land near the sites and the day is already begun.

Day two — the east bank

Karnak at opening, and give it three hours rather than the ninety minutes most tours allow. Walk out to the Sacred Lake and look back; buy the Open Air Museum ticket at the main gate.

Afternoon off, because it will be hot and because you have earned it.

Then Luxor Temple after dark. It stays open into the evening, the lighting is the best in Egypt, and it is a twenty-minute walk from most east-bank hotels. Doing it in daylight on the same afternoon as Karnak is the standard mistake — the two blur together and you lose the best hour in Luxor.

Day three — the one nobody else has

Back to the west bank, for the sites the coaches skip.

Medinet Habu first, in the raking morning light. It is the best-preserved painted colour of any large temple in Egypt and you will often have it to yourself.

Then Deir el-Medina, the village of the craftsmen who cut the royal tombs, and the Valley of the Queens a few minutes further south. Both are quiet, both are small, and together they explain the royal valleys better than the royal valleys do.

If you would rather stay on the east bank, the Luxor Museum on the corniche is one of the best small museums in the country and takes about an hour.

How to structure the days

  • Out by seven. Every day. Luxor rewards early starts more than any other place in Egypt.
  • One bank per day. Crossing back and forth wastes an hour each time.
  • Afternoons off between about noon and four, especially from May to September.
  • Arrange a driver for the day rather than per site — the west bank sites are kilometres apart and there is no walking between them.
  • Keep the east and west bank question in mind if you end up with only two days after all.

If you have a fourth day

Dendera is about ninety minutes north by road and has the best-preserved painted ceiling in Egypt. Abydos is a further ninety minutes and has the finest relief carving in the country. The two together are a long day and one of the best in Egypt.

That day is why some people give Luxor a week.