Overview
Luxor is a huge city with several district articles containing sightseeing, restaurant, nightlife and accommodation listings — have a look at each of them.
Luxor (Arabic: أَلْأُقْصُر Al ‘Uqṣur) the name of “Luxor” means “Palaces” and it is the premier travel destination in Upper (southern) Egypt and the Nile Valley. The dynastic and religious capital of Middle Kingdom and New Kingdom Egypt, Luxor has much for travellers to enjoy: vast temples, ancient royal tombs, spectacular desert and river scenery and a bustling modern life.
Districts
Although a relatively small town by Egyptian population standards, Luxor is quite extensive and is best divided up into several ‘districts’ or areas that group the main attractions on their respective sides of the river Nile:
East Bank the town, the Luxor Temple, the Temple of Karnak, The Museum, train station, bus hub, hotels, restaurants.
West Bank the location of the major ruins including Valley of the Kings, the Valley of the Queens and other important sites; the Western Valley ruins, and a few hotels. More quiet, has a village vibe.
Sights
Map
Info
Climate
Luxor has a hot-desert climate. The city is one of the driest, sunniest and hottest (during summer) cities in the world. Rainfall doesn’t occur every year, about 1mm on average. Luxor features cool winters with mild days, but cold nights, so that the average January temperature is 13.8°C (56.8°F). Lows during nighttime are around 5°C (41°F) and highs around noon are about 24°C (75°F), resulting to very large diurnal temperature variations. Even in the coldest nights, when the temperature is near freezing, during the day there may be temperatures up to 25°C (77°F). Summers are scorchingly hot with an average temperature in July of 32.3°C (90.1°F). During daytime temperatures exceed 40°C (104°F), but nights still remain pleasant (20-25°C or 68-77°F). The highest and lowest temperature ever recorded is 48.5°C (119.3°F) and -1°C (30°F) prespectively, while temperatures above 30°C (86°F) have occured in all months of the year and temperatures above 40°C (104°F), have occured from March to October.
