Luxor · Backpacking
ON A BUDGET
Luxor is small, cheap and stuffed with temples; the public ferry across the Nile costs a few pounds.
Sleep on the west bank
Budget guesthouses cluster in Gezira and Ramla on the west bank, minutes from the Valley of the Kings and far quieter than the corniche hotels.
What a day costs
Beds EGP 200–450 and food EGP 100–200, but site tickets add EGP 200–600 on any day you visit temples. Roughly $12–30 before tickets.
Getting around cheap
The public ferry crosses to the west bank all day for a handful of pounds, and bicycles rent for EGP 70–120 — enough to cover both banks.
Free by day
The corniche at sunset, the Luxor souk behind it, and the canal-side villages of the west bank between the temples and the cane fields.
Corniche cafés and roof terraces
West bank guesthouse roofs facing the Theban hills are where travellers pool taxis for the Valley of the Kings, Dendera and Abydos.