Don’t forget there are great day trips from Luxor.
Dendera
If you would like to see if a cruise would suit you, why not try the day trip to Dendera. I particularly like this as personally I couldn’t take an entire week on a cruise boat, although I loved being on a sailing boat or Sandal. The day trip was perfect for me and Dendera is a great temple to visit.
Ankhtifi at Moalla
Within 20 km of Luxor there is the 1st Intermediate Period cemetery at Moalla with the tomb of Ankhtifi (tickets have to be bought at Luxor temple). Now that the convoy system has finished, this is a great place to visit for an hour. I call this a beta max tomb, poor old Ankhtifi chose the wrong side and it was the Theban princes who eventually won out and ruled. It is a very unusual tomb, with irregular columns and uses lots of turquoise colour.
Tod Temple
Another site within 20 km, whose tickets have to be bought at Luxor temple, is the temple of Montu at Tod. In the block yard there is evidence from the 5th dynasty right up until Coptic times and everything in between. This was the site where the Tod treasure was found.
Esna
Finally also with the 20km range is the temple at Esna, a Ptolemaic temple but also the site of early dynastic excavations. A guest of ours, Dr Dorothy Downs has written about Esna. The temple is much lower than the surrounding town and indeed has not been fully excavated.
