Day Trips from Luxor: Dendera, Abydos, Esna, Edfu and Beyond

What are the best day trips from Luxor?

Luxor's best day trips are the temples the Nile cruise ships skip: Dendera and Abydos to the north, and the smaller sites to the south that only dahabiyas usually stop at. Before adding any of them, make sure you have given Luxor itself enough time; our Luxor in two days and three days plans show where a day trip fits.

Times are for a private car and include no stops. Allow extra time at police checkpoints, which are frequent on the valley roads.

Dendera and Abydos: the big day north

Do Abydos first while you are fresh, then Dendera on the way home: the two temples together give you the most beautiful relief carving of the New Kingdom and the most complete temple of the Graeco-Roman era in one day. Abydos is Seti I's temple to Osiris, with painted raised reliefs, the King List of 76 earlier pharaohs and the mysterious Osireion behind. Dendera is the Temple of Hathor, roofed, with astronomical ceilings and chapels on the roof you can walk around.

• 6.30am: leave your Luxor hotel or cruise ship, with a breakfast box.
• 9.15am–11.30am: Abydos. The temple's seven chapels, the Hall of Ancestors with the King List, then the Osireion. The village of Arabet Abydos outside the gate is a reminder how few tourists come this far.
• 11.45am: a simple lunch near the site, or a packed lunch in the car.
• 1.30pm–3.30pm: Dendera, about 1.5–2 hours back south. The hypostyle hall's Hathor columns, the ceiling, the stairs to the roof, the cast of the zodiac and the relief of Cleopatra VII with her son Caesarion on the rear wall.
• 3.45pm: drive back to Luxor, arriving around 5–5.30pm.

It is a 10–11 hour day with about five hours in the car, so it is better on your second or third full day in Luxor than straight after arriving. If that sounds like too much, do Dendera alone as a half day: leave at 8am, back by 1.30pm.

South of Luxor: Esna, El Kab and Edfu

Heading south is the easier day: shorter drives, three very different sites, and an afternoon back in Luxor. It is the right choice if you are staying in Luxor hotels rather than cruising, because the big ships visit Esna and Edfu anyway.

• 7.30am: leave Luxor on the West Bank road.
• 8.30am–9.30am: Esna Temple, a Roman-era hall nine metres below the street, its ceilings now cleaned to show their original blues and golds.
• 10.15am–11.30am: El Kab, across the river on the east bank, for the rock tombs of Ahmose son of Ebana and Paheri. You may have the place to yourselves.
• 12pm–1.45pm: Edfu, the most complete temple in Egypt. Midday is usually quieter here, because cruise passengers visit early morning or late afternoon.
• 2pm: lunch in Edfu, then drive back to Luxor for about 4pm.

If you are heading on to Aswan anyway, turn this into a one-way day: after Edfu, continue to Kom Ombo for late afternoon (about an hour) and reach Aswan around 6pm. It covers the cruise sites without the cruise, though you lose the days on deck that most people treasure; our Nile cruises guide explains what you would be trading.

What about Aswan or the Red Sea as a day trip from Luxor?

Aswan is possible but rushed as a return day trip, and the Red Sea is not worth it there and back; both are better as places to stay. Aswan is about three hours by road each way, so a return trip leaves only four or five hours on the ground, enough for Philae and a felucca but not for the Nubian side of the city. Aswan in two days is the minimum we suggest.

Hurghada, about four hours east across the Eastern Desert, makes sense only as the next stop on your trip: the drive the other way is covered in our Luxor day trip from Hurghada guide, and the beach finish in the Egypt and Red Sea tour.

Abu Simbel is too far for a road day trip from Luxor: about 500 km, or six hours or more each way. If flights are operating, you can fly via Aswan, but most people see it from Aswan; see Abu Simbel day trip from Aswan.

Do you need a police escort on Luxor day trips?

Possibly: arrangements for tourist vehicles in Upper Egypt have changed several times over the years, from fixed-time convoys to registration at checkpoints, and they can differ by road and by day. Your operator registers the route and passengers in advance and will know the current rules on the morning. At times, vehicles going to Abydos and Dendera have been accompanied by police for part of the way; on the road south to Edfu, the usual experience is a series of checkpoints where the driver shows paperwork.

What this means in practice:

• Carry your passport, not a photocopy, on every road trip out of Luxor.
• Expect the departure time to be fixed in advance; last-minute changes of route are not always possible.
• Build in 20–30 minutes of slack for checkpoint stops on the longer days.
• Read the latest advice on Smartraveller (or SafeTravel for New Zealanders) before you go, and our is Egypt safe? guide.

Which Luxor day trip should you choose?

Choose by how much you love temples and how many days you have in Luxor.

• History lovers with three or more days in Luxor: Dendera and Abydos, no question. Seti I's reliefs are the high point of Egyptian art, and you will have seen nothing like the Osireion.
• First-timers with two days in Luxor: skip day trips and see the West Bank and Karnak properly. If you have a spare half day, Dendera alone.
• Families with children: Dendera's roof and its crypts, which you climb down into, entertain children better than most temples; keep it to a half day.
• Land-based travellers heading to Aswan: the one-way southern transfer via Esna, El Kab, Edfu and Kom Ombo.
• Photographers: Esna in the morning for the ceilings, then Edfu in clear midday light when the courtyards empty.

Our Egypt for history lovers journey includes Abydos and Dendera with an overnight to break the drive. Tell us your dates through the trip planner and we will slot the right day trip in.