Luxor
GoEgyptBWh
📷 Roland Unger· CC BY-SA 3.0مدينة المائة باب | City of a hundred gates
About
Luxor is a city in southern Egypt. It had a population of 284,952 in 2023, with an area of 43.0 km2 (16.6 sq mi) and is the capital of the Luxor Governorate. Nicknamed the City of a Hundred Gates or the City of the Sun, formerly known as Thebes, It was one of the capitals of Ancient Egypt. The city of Luxor is among the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world.
Wikipedia →Summary excerpted from the Wikipedia article Luxor, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Text may be clipped or paraphrased to fit this page.
Why visit
Visit Luxor for one of the clearest archaeological landscapes in Egypt: Karnak, Luxor Temple, the Valley of the Kings, the Valley of the Queens, Medinet Habu, Deir el-Bahari, workers' tombs, and the Nile itself. The value is not only in individual monuments, but in seeing how temple, tomb, river, desert, and cultivation relate to each other. For one or two days, divide the east and west banks and start early. With more time, slow down around smaller tombs, the Luxor Museum, village edges, and river crossings rather than only chasing the famous sites.
When to avoid
Luxor can be wearing if you dislike heat, sales pressure, bargaining, or repeated offers of taxis, boats, carriages, and guides. Agree prices clearly, use reputable transport, and keep a firm but calm no ready. Summer heat is severe and can make exposed sites punishing by late morning. Go early, carry water, and do not plan the west bank as a casual add-on after a full temple day.
Peak Heat Season (May-September)
June through August are the months when heat and daylight most affect a visit to Luxor. In Luxor, heat can be severe, so shade, water, and transport planning become part of the itinerary. A warm day in Luxor should have phases: outdoor streets, indoor collections or churches, then a slower evening. In Luxor, confirm opening hours before assuming a long continuous day will work.
Winter (Dec-Feb)
December through February are the cooler or wetter period in Luxor. For Luxor, cooler weather makes walking and desert-edge routes more realistic. The practical issue in Luxor is whether weather and daylight shorten the useful day. In Luxor, this season can work well for museums, churches, galleries, theaters, bookshops, cafes, and ordinary neighborhood life. A cold or wet day in Luxor works best with shorter walks, confirmed hours, and a clear way back to lodging.
The next week in Luxor
7-day forecast from Open-Meteo. UV badges flag days when sun protection matters (3 and above is moderate; 8 and above is risk territory for unprotected fair skin within 30 minutes).
Today
Partly cloudy
43° / 27°
UV High
Sat
Partly cloudy
38° / 27°
UV High
Sun
Clear
43° / 24°
UV High
Mon
Clear
47° / 29°
UV High
Tue
Overcast
47° / 29°
UV High
Wed
Overcast
49° / 31°
UV High
Thu
In May 16
JFMAMJJASOND
Air quality
No monitoring station within 25 km.
Weather
47° / 14°
Typical high / low
0 mm rainfall this month
Daylight
13.4h
06:04 – 19:26local
Year-round climate
Monthly highs, lows, and rainfall (long-term averages, NASA POWER).
Airports near Luxor
1 commercial airport within 100 km. Closest is Luxor International Airport (LXR) at 7 km.
Getting around Luxor
Public-transit operators within 8 km of the city center. Click through to each operator’s site for routes, fares, and tickets.
Local transit operators
VectareB Metro
Operators and modes aggregated by TransitLand from individual transit-agency GTFS feeds. Route classifications (subway / tram / rail / bus / etc) come from each feed’s GTFS route_type codes.
Sister cities
Sources
This page blends public reference data, climate/elevation services, and personal notes. Travel requirements can change, so visa and entry details should be checked again before booking.
- Wikipedia →
Summary, canonical article, and some image fallbacks.
- Wikidata →
Population, area, image, coordinates, and linked identifiers where available.
- NASA POWER →
Monthly temperature and rainfall climatology.
- Open-Meteo historical weather →
1991-2020 temperature and precipitation cross-check for compact climate fields.
- Open-Elevation →
Coordinate-based elevation backfill.
- tz database →
Coordinate-based IANA timezone lookup.
- City flag source →
CC BY 2.5, Jolle.
- Site credits →
Global source notes, map tiles, flags, licenses, and attribution policy.