First impression of Luxor-Explore secrets of Luxor by horse carriage
Description
After arriving in Luxor, this tour is perfect for knowing the city better, listening to interesting facts, visiting main sights on the East Bank, meeting other travelers, feeling safe with local friends, exploring the city by horse carriage, and learning more about Archeological discoveries. The city was known as the home of the god Amun, a deity who became associated with Egyptian royalty in ancient times. Today Luxor is known as the world's most incredible open-air museum. We meet all travelers in front of the Luxor museum, introduce each other and start exploring the East bank of the Nile river. There's not enough space in this paragraph to describe all the important sites of this tour, but when you are with a friendly and knowledgeable local, you can feel like you have a live google with you. During 4 hours, we see how archeological discoveries continue in Luxor and know about last news. Also, we will give you some recommendations which will inspire you for the next few days.
Tour Options
Itinerary
We'll meet you in front of the Luxor museum. You will see our tour leader holding a red flag. Then we use horse carriage to go to our next stop, Karnak Temple.
Construction at Karnak started 4,000 years ago and continued until the Romans took control of Egypt about 2,000 years ago. Each Egyptian ruler who worked at Karnak left their architectural mark. It was, at its peak, the largest and most important religious complex in ancient Egypt. The most significant structure, and the largest religious building ever built, is the Temple of Amun-Ra, considered where that god lived on earth with his wife, Mut, and son, Khonsu, who also have temples at the site. The Temple of Amun-Ra is particularly famous for the vast Hypostyle Hall constructed during the reign of Seti I. After Memphis became the new dynastic capital, many of Luxor’s temples declined in importance.
Constructed over hundreds of years by Amenhotep III, Ramses II, Tutankhamun, and other pharaohs, Luxor Temple was the largest and most significant religious center in ancient Egypt. In what was then Thebes, Luxor Temple was “the place of the First Occasion,” where the god Amon experienced a rebirth during the pharaoh’s annually reenacted coronation ceremony. Today remains of this vast complex include the colossal Great Colonnade Hall, almost 61 meters long, with 28 twenty-one-foot-high columns, its decoration largely undertaken by Tutankhamun around 1330 B.C. Many of the temple’s sidewalls were torn down after the time of the pharaohs and recycled for building materials.
Construction of the Avenue of Sphinxes began during the New Kingdom era. It was completed during the reign of 30th Dynasty ruler Nectanebo I (380-362 B.C.), but the road was buried under layers of sand over the centuries. The first trace of the avenue was found in 1949 when Egyptian archeologist Mohammed Zakaria Ghoneim discovered eight statues near the Luxor Temple, el-Sagheer said, with 17 more figures uncovered from 1958 to 1961 and 55 unearthed from 1961 to 1964 -- all within a perimeter of 250 meters. Egypt's government reopened the 3,000-year-old Avenue of Sphinxes in a grand, glitzy Luxor ceremony on 25th November 2021.
Our last stop is the Mosque of Abu Haggag. It is a mosque in Luxor, integrated into the structure of Luxor Temple, an Ancient Egyptian center of worship, making it one of the oldest continuously used temples in the world, dating back to the reign of Pharaoh Amenhotep III in the 14th century BC.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Service animals allowed
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Not recommended for travelers with spinal injuries
- Not recommended for pregnant travelers
- Not recommended for travelers with poor cardiovascular health
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
Reviews(50)
The guide was very nice but he spoke English quite poorly with a very strong accent. We therefore sometimes had difficulty understanding his explanations.
Thank you for sharing your feedback with us. We apologize for any inconvenience caused by the language barrier and accent of our guide. We understand that clear communication is crucial in providing a satisfactory experience. Rest assured, we will take your feedback into consideration and work on improving our guide's language proficiency and reducing any potential difficulties in understanding their explanations. If you have any further concerns or if there's anything else we can assist you with, please don't hesitate to let us know. We appreciate your support and are committed to continuously enhancing our services to better serve you in the future.
Very amazing experience in Luxor. They took me to Karnak and Luxor temples in a very efficient timely manner😊. Emaad was an excellent guide he explained the story behind the temples in a comprehensive way and answered all the questions I had 😁. Other teams members were very helpful as well. Bob and Abanoub were in touch with me and ensured that everything was going according to plan
It sounds like you had a fantastic time in Luxor! The efficient and timely manner in which you were taken to Karnak and Luxor temples must have made your experience even more enjoyable. Having Emaad as an excellent guide who explained the stories behind the temples comprehensively and answered all your questions definitely enhanced your visit. It's great to hear that team members like Bob and Abanoub were also very helpful and ensured everything went smoothly according to plan. Your positive feedback is truly appreciated, and it's wonderful to know that you had such a memorable experience exploring Luxor with such a dedicated team.
Unfortunately the tour was memorable for the wrong reasons. The horse used to tow the carriage was clearly in an emaciated state - Old and bones pertruding. It was a hot day and the horse fell and was unable to get up on its own. After detaching the harnesses, they managed to get it to its feet and planned to proceed. I refused to continue and asked to be returned to the motel. I was loaded onto another carriage with a horse in much better shape. I understand the need for locals to make a living, but what I experienced was disturbing. The tour operators need to regulate the animals used more closely. There were other horses that had been clearly looked after by their owners and looked healthy. unfortunately, the majority of horses were not.
I'm truly sorry to hear about your distressing experience during the tour. It's disheartening to know that you witnessed such a situation involving an emaciated horse. Animal welfare is of utmost importance, and incidents like these are not reflective of the values we uphold. We appreciate your feedback and take this matter seriously. We will investigate this incident thoroughly to ensure that such occurrences are prevented in the future. Your concerns regarding the treatment of animals during tours have been duly noted, and we will work towards ensuring a more ethical approach in our operations. Once again, please accept our sincere apologies for the negative experience you had. If there's anything else we can do to rectify this situation or if you have any further feedback, please don't hesitate to let us know. We value your input as it helps us improve our services for all customers.
Great experience. Our guide was Abanoub. They picked us up in the hotel and we went to see Karnak and Luxor temple. Guide was professional and interesting. I recommend you use his photo-shooting skills since he is very experienced and patient for us since we wanted to have decent memory from this unique places (I will put examples). He bought drink and food for us for local prices and temple tickets so we don’t lose time waiting for them. His english is excellent which was important for us. I recommend 👍🏼
Thank you for the kind words and your recommendation! We are glad that Abanoub was able to provide you with a great experience. We appreciate your feedback and will be sure to pass it on to him. It's always wonderful to hear about how our guides have made a positive impact on our customers' experiences. Thanks again for choosing us and we hope you enjoyed your photo-shooting session with Abanoub!
The advertisement indicated that I would be meeting with the tour guide on a horse carriage, but upon arrival, this was not the case. The tour title, "First Impression of... by Horse Carriage," was misleading. Instead, we walked to the first point of interest, and when I inquired about the horse carriage, the tour guide informed me that it would only be used on the way back. However, this did not occur, except for a brief horse ride to the last point of interest. At the end of the tour, the advertisement stated that we would return to the museum (again, assuming back with the horse carriage) which was close to my hotel. When I asked the tour guide about this, tour guide stated that it was not part of the instructions he was provided with. Eventually, he offered to walk me back to the museum, but I declined and stayed behind. I also did not appreciate the constant photo taking with the red scarf at each point, rather would have been ideal to ask me if I am okay with it. In conclusion, I think the tour was basic, it also seems like I did not get the positive tour guide experience as others have.
We apologize for the confusion and any inconvenience this may have caused you. We take customer satisfaction very seriously, and we will make sure that our tour titles are more accurate in the future. We appreciate your feedback and we hope you enjoyed your tour despite the miscommunication. Please reach out to us if there is anything else we can do to make up for this mistake.
Abanoub had an extensive knowledge of the sites we visited and I was blown away by the history of the temples. Abanoub was happy to take many photos and videos for our social media, giving great suggestions of how to get the best shots which we really appreciated! We had only one day in Luxor and Abanoub made sure we fitted in all the important sites- I learnt so much from him. I highly recommend Abanoub as a tour guide- he is both professional and friendly and I really enjoyed my tour with him.
Thanks Adrienne for your detailed review, it was a great pleasure guiding you in Luxor. Hope to see you next time on more tours around Egypt.
This experience was amazing, from start to finish everything was organised and planned along with food and a stop off to see how local goods are made. The temples are so unique and must see. Our guide was extremely knowledgable and informative, sharing even the small details that would usually be missed. I can’t recommend visiting Karnak and Luxor temples enough!
Dear Mike, Thanks a lot for your 5 stars review, im really happy you enjoyed the tour with me. Hope to see you again.
Very knowledgeable and friendly guide who took care of all the arrangements for us. Just had to show up at out hotel lobby and spend the rest of the time focusing on the sightseeing. After the tour of the temples, our guide Abanoub took us to a local restaurant to have some lunch. We got a lot more out of our day in Luxor than expected and decided to arrange another tour of the West Bank with the same guide.
Dear Morten, it was a great pleasure guiding you around my hometown Luxor. hope to see you next time in Georgia
It was an amazing experience in Nile cruise and it was our 17th year of wedding anniversary We felt it was best choose in choosing Egypt as our destination and also Anoub our tour guide made it even more better with his skills in managing our itinary and where ever we went for sight seeing Edfu - Horus , Abu simble, king of valley, everywhere he gave us all the historic information which is necessary and also took amazing pictures of us. Karnak temple which is the biggest temple on world, amunroh, Hatshepsut, a queen who ruled for many years and also Kom ombo where crocodile were worshiped and how priests managed the temple and how offerings were given to the god. All these information was explained to us and Egyptian civilisation is one every one should know about. Thank you Anoub for all that u have made our trip special and beautiful and also memorable.
Dear Pavana, Thanks for your detailed 5 stars review. it was a great pleasure to host you during your stay in Egypt. Hope to see you soon in Georgia.
Luxor temple n karnak temple visit Explanation was to the point Hot air ballon was awesome experience Helped in guiding us for shopping at luxor I recommend that one should contact him all the tours in Luxor and aswan
Dear Srinivasa, Thanks for your 5 stars review. it was a great pleasure to meet you in Person. hope to see you again very soon.
