Take a full day on the West Bank of Luxor. Visit Valley of the Kings, explore the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut on this full day private trip from Luxor, with your very own Egyptologist guide. Head for the West Bank and discover the hieroglyph-coated chambers of the Valley of the Kings, the mountain-cut tombs of 62 of ancient Egypt’s rulers, as you learn about the pharaohs once buried here.

Next, drive to the Temple of Hatshepsut, a vision of geometrical colonnades hewn into a cliffside. Learn about the temple’s history and life of Queen Hatshepsut, Egypt’s first female ruler. Stroll around the courtyards and terraces, and admire the statues and hieroglyphics that adorn them.

Continue to visit the Valley of the Nobles, the tombs of ancient Egypt’s nobles and high officials were scattered through the rocky hills on the West Bank of Luxor at el Qurna site, the majority of the tombs dating from the New Kingdom, the Golden Age of Thebes. Decorated with daily live scenes, funerals, and ideal afterlives of their owners, these tombs provide us with a wealth of information about life and religious beliefs in ancient Egypt. Their beauty also attests to the skill and creativity of the ancient Egyptian artisans.

Also visit Valley of the Queens. This is the place where the wives of Pharaohs were buried in ancient times. In ancient times, it was known as Ta-Set-Neferu, meaning –”the place of beauty”.

Stop at the Ramesseum, the memorial temple of King Ramses II. The Ramesseum temple is famous for its 19 metre (62 feet) high seated statue and weighing more than 1000 tons of Ramses II (of which only fragments are left), The walls of the Ramesseum temple, which is only about half preserved, are decorated with reliefs, including scenes depicting the Battle of Kadesh, the Syrian wars, and the Festival of Amon Min.

Then, stop for photos at the Colossi of Memnon: two towering statues of the Pharaoh Amenhotep III, that once stood at his now long-gone funerary temple. Hear the stories and legends that surround the statues, and inspect the Roman-era graffiti engraved in the stone.

Then drive to East Bank to start with the Temples of Karnak. As you travel, hear how Luxor stands on the 4,000-year-old site of Thebes, Egypt’s ancient royal capital, and how Karnak is the largest of its temple complexes. Discover how this vast collection of buildings was developed by more than 30 pharaohs, including Amenhotep IV and Ramses II. Explore inside with your Egyptologist guide. Hear how the huge pylons at the entrance were constructed, and marvel at the courtyards and sanctuaries beyond. The deeper you go into the complex, the further back you step, with the oldest ruins dating back more than 3,000 years. Gaze in awe at the showpiece Hypostyle Hall, crowded with 134 massive columns that tower above you like an ancient forest. Crane your neck upwards and learn about the ingenious methods used to raise them by the long-ago Egyptians. See the sacred lake where pharaonic offerings were purified, and then enjoy free time to stroll around the site at leisure.

Continue to Luxor Temple, an ancient temple in the center of Luxor laid parallel to the Nile. Hear how it was built in around 1,400 BC, and added to by Tutankamon, Ramses II and even Alexander the Great. Admire the two colossal statues of Ramses at the entrance, and the granite gateway obelisk whose original counterpart now stands in Paris’ Place de la Concorde. Then, head inside to gawk at the richly carved inner sanctuaries, papyrus columns and courts. Peep inside the atmospheric anterooms, including the chapel dedicated to Alexander the Great, who rebuilt the room in his name.