Start your Luxor West Bank tour with a comfortable, air-conditioned transfer. Your Grace Way Travel representative will escort you directly to the Valley of the Kings, one of Egypt's most iconic attractions and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. After approximately 1500 B.C., pharaohs abandoned the tradition of building great pyramids for burial. Instead, New Kingdom rulers chose this remote valley as their royal necropolis, carving over 60 elaborate tombs into the desert hills. Your private Egyptologist guide will lead you through this ancient burial ground, revealing the artistry and spiritual beliefs hidden within.

Few monuments in Egypt tell a story as compelling as the mortuary temple of Queen Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahri. Born a daughter of King Thutmose I, Hatshepsut became queen of Egypt when she married her half-brother, Thutmose II, at around age 12. After his death, she began as regent for her infant stepson, Thutmose III—but soon seized the full powers of a pharaoh, becoming co-ruler of Egypt around 1473 B.C. As one of history's most powerful female rulers, Hatshepsut expanded Egyptian trade and launched ambitious building projects, with this magnificent temple in western Thebes as her crowning achievement. Walk through its striking terraced levels and note the fascinating detail: at her own command, Hatshepsut was depicted as a male in statues and carvings. Remarkably, this great pharaoh remained unknown to scholars until the 19th century.

Next, visit the legendary Colossi of Memnon, also known as the "singing statues" or "Vocal Memnon." These two colossal seated stone statues represent King Amenhotep III and stand an impressive 18 meters (60 feet) high, weighing 720 tons each. Both are carved from single blocks of sandstone and adorned with intricate imagery of his mother, his wife, and the god Hapi.

In the afternoon, begin your Egypt tour on Luxor's East Bank with a visit to the magnificent Karnak Temple complex. Developed over more than 1,000 years between the Twelfth and Twentieth Dynasties, Karnak was at its peak the largest and most important religious complex in ancient Egypt. The crown jewel is the Temple of Amun-Ra—the largest religious building ever constructed—believed to be where the god lived on earth alongside his wife, Mut, and son, Khonsu. Marvel at the vast Hypostyle Hall, built during the reign of Seti I, where 134 towering columns rise in majestic rows.

Next, you'll visit the majestic Luxor Temple, a masterpiece shaped over centuries by pharaohs including Amenhotep III, Ramses II, and Tutankhamun. In ancient Thebes, this was the largest and most significant religious center—known as "the place of the First Occasion," where the god Amun experienced rebirth during the pharaoh's annual coronation ceremony. Today, marvel at the colossal Great Colonnade Hall, stretching nearly 61 meters with 28 towering columns, each 21 feet high, with decorations largely commissioned by Tutankhamun around 1330 B.C.