The bucket-list things to do — and who runs each one.
Here’s the bucket list for your day ashore: the most extraordinary thing to do at each stop, who runs it, and how to book it direct — so you can weigh it against your ship’s excursion and pick what suits you.
In port at Qena, the bucket-list move is Dendera Temple of Hathor: Private Guided Sunrise Visit. Below: 3 bucket-list things to do on a Qena port day — worth weighing against whatever your ship offers.
Step inside one of Egypt's best-preserved temples, dedicated to the goddess Hathor, just 4 km from Qena port. Arrive early for raking golden light on the zodiac ceiling — a bucket-list moment few visitors experience.
We have not yet verified a bookable operator and price for
this one, so we are not quoting either.
Cross the Nile to the necropolis where pharaohs of the New Kingdom were buried in secret, painted tombs cut deep into limestone cliffs. With a private Egyptologist, you decode the Books of the Dead adorning walls that have awed explorers for centuries.
Book itFrom Luxor: Guided Tour to East or West Banks with Lunch$56 per person
Walk the Avenue of Sphinxes connecting two of the ancient world's greatest temple complexes — Karnak and Luxor — at golden hour, when tour groups thin and the sandstone glows amber. An after-dark visit to Karnak's sound-and-light spectacle caps the evening.
Book itLuxor: Private Karnak Sound & Light Show with Entry Ticket$40 per person
Stand before the terraced colonnades of the most architecturally daring monument in Egypt — the Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari — built by ancient Egypt's greatest female pharaoh into a dramatic desert cliff face.
We have not yet verified a bookable operator and price for
this one, so we are not quoting either.
Float silently above the Valley of the Kings, Hatshepsut's temple, and the glittering Nile at dawn — the most breathtaking perspective in all of Egypt. This is the bucket-list aerial view that every Nile traveller dreams of.
Book itLuxor: Deluxe Sunrise Hot Air Balloon$64 per person
Journey to Abydos — considered the holiest city in ancient Egypt and the burial place of Osiris himself — to explore Seti I's extraordinary temple, home to the finest painted reliefs in the Nile Valley and the enigmatic Abydos King List.
We have not yet verified a bookable operator and price for
this one, so we are not quoting either.
Your day in QenaNothing picked yet — tick what you fancy
$0for two, booked direct
Now plan the rest of it
You know what to do on the day. Here is the trip it belongs to —
each one opens as a whole plan, not a list: where to fly in, every port, what it runs.