Egypt's Valley of the Queens and the Valley of the Workers Visitor and Holiday Guide.

We went on holiday to Luxor, Egypt during February 2006 in order to visit and take photographs of the famous temples and tombs which are clustered around this part of The River Nile. This page is about our sightseeing day trip to the Valley of the Queens etc. where we took loads of photographs including some of the drawings found inside the various tombs (not with a flash camera by the way - this is forbidden of course). Instead of taking organised sightseeing coach trips we decided we would do our own thing and tour Luxor's various tombs and temples locations using our own itinerary. This proved to be most successfull and needless to say both a far cheaper option than paying the often high priced "holiday company" excursion fees plus the whole day out was far more relaxing since we obviously were not being moved one place to the next to keep to a schedule.

It is straightforward to cross the River Nile on a ferry - we used the Worker's Ferrry, then agreed a price with a taxi driver on the West Bank (around 20 to 25LE gets you to the Ticket Office) and then the taxi will take you on the short distance to the Valley of the Queens entrance gate. Note you can also take the local bus - arabaya - if you wish, this costs just about nothing and is quite an interesting way to travel. This page describes our first day and how we covered visiting the sites - this did include a look round Madinat Habu Temple however we have not mentioned too much about Habu since this not so often visited but really excellent site needed and deserved it's own page of information and photos - this page is located here. Two other sets of Luxor Tomb Guides i.e. day 2 and 3 which cover walking and visiting other West Bank sites can be found via links further down this page. Note it does get quite hot so well worth taking a hat and some cold water - also we wore lightweight walking boots which were quite necessary as some of the paths on the hills were steep, narrow and sometimes slippery.

Tickets need to be purchased at the Ticket Office - you will find a board listing the available open tombs etc. We wanted to visit the Valley of the Queens, Madinat Habu and the Valley of the Workers - each of these sites cost us 20LE each. From the Ticket Office we walked on up the road (signposted) to the Valley of the Queens entrance. The tomb we wanted to visit was the tomb of Nefertari but this was closed and had been for some time. There is not much to see externally - just various concreted entrances to the few tombs available for visitors to view.
In fact when we visited there were only 2 tombs available to the public - QV44 The Tomb of Khaemwaset and QV55 Tomb of Amenherkhepfhef. Although the area is called the Valley of the Queens many of the tombs were for children - the aforementioned tombs were for the sons of Rameses III.
Inside the tombs the paintings etc are excellent and we would love to have taken a few "non-flash" photos but photography was not permitted in these tombs.

Leaving the Valley of the Queens we headed back down the road with Dayr Al-Madina village up on the hillside to the left - our next destination being Madinat Habu. Just before the sharp bend in the road and the police checkpoint we branched off half right across rough ground,crossed a road and then walked on alongside the site's outer ruined walls to another road. Go right along this road and into the village - soon reaching the entrance to Madinat Habu. There are shops and a cafe outside the gates. We have dedicated a separate page to this Temple which can be found here.

From the Temple head back along the road passing the Ticket Office to the road junction. Head across the open ground to Dayr Al-Madina village which is more or less ahead of you. Walk up and through the village - you will almost certaintly find children asking for money but also someone will offer to show you the path which takes you round and over the hills to Deir al-Medinah - the Valley of the Workers. We all soon were accompanied by several small children trying to sell trinkets etc. but they were OK - we ended up giving our guide 20LE for his trouble. The path emerges above Deir al-Medinah and then it's just a question of finding the best route down to the car park. There is a small sun shelter and also it is possible to get drinks and some books here. The area has the ruins of the village and numerous tombs although only two were open.

 
We visited the Tomb of Sennedjem and the Tomb of Anherkhe - and they were fantastic.

From the tombs you can walk across to the Ptolemaic temple - it was actually locked but we were let in by a guide and then shown round. It is well worth visiting since although not a massive structure compared with other Temples in the area it was very interesting with som some excellent drawings on the temple walls. Even outside of the temple there were other interesting ruins to browse around and we spent quite a time wandering about the area.

From the village we walked back along the main road to the junction by the Ticket Office (although our "village" guide was still up in the hills shouting for us to come back up). This was now the end of our sightseeing day as far as tombs and temples were concerned - the idea now was to have a nice wander back the 3kms to the ferry. On the left of the junction a few metres across some bondoo is a small cafe where you can get a drink - they also have an outside toilet.
As you wander back along the main road there is quite a lot to look at - with green fields, streams and water courses and of course quite a few trees - in a way it seems strange for this type of scenery when you remember you are in a desert in Egypt. After a short while you soon come to the Colossi of Memnon - these two imposing statues were unfortunately covered in scaffolding when we saw them but are nevertheless quite impressive.

Further along the road we saw varous old pumping engines including an old Lister - when it's owner saw we were admiring it he came over and proudly showed it off to us - apprently it is still in full working order. Another interesting part of the walk was as we came to a narrow gauge railway line - this had a series of wagons full laden with sugar cane. Later, as we passed through Qurna al-Gaddah village the railway line went across the road and we managed to get a photograph of the engine. When you reach the crossroads carry straight on now passing shops and then open country until you come to the next village. Stay on the main road through the centre of this village and soon arrive at the arabaya bus terminal - cut through here and then down steps back to the Nile and the ferry.

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Via our Main Luxor Page please find holiday guides about visiting Dendarah, Hatshepsut, Tombs of the Nobles, Karnak Temple, Luxor Temple, Madinat Habu, Valley of the Kings plus Egyptian Train and Boat Photos and a Luxor Canal Walk.

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