Egypt » Luxor | 🏛 Hot Air Balloon In Luxor · Valley Of The Kings Tour

Luxor: Hot Air Balloon Ride & Full Day Tour with Temples

★★★★★★★★★★ 4.61 (618 reviews) 84% rated it 5 stars

Free cancellationTravelers' pick

1/23

Duration7h–10h

GroupPrivate

LanguagesEN · DE +3

PickupAt your hotel

Luxor sunrise balloon ride, ancient tombs and temples in one day

You’ll float over Luxor at sunrise in a hot air balloon, then spend your day exploring royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings and walking beneath Karnak’s towering columns with an Egyptologist guide. There’s time for local lunch and stories among ancient stones before you end at Luxor Temple as dusk falls — moments that stay with you long after.

7h–10h

Step-by-step itinerary

Early morning hotel pickup
Enjoy light breakfast and tea
Transfer to balloon take-off area
45-minute hot air balloon ride
Meet tour guide at Colossi of Memnon
Visit Colossi of Memnon statues
Visit four tombs in Valley of the Kings
Explore Tomb of Ramesses IX
Explore Tomb of Merneptah
Explore Tomb of Ramses III
Optional visit to Tomb of Tutankhamun
Visit Temple of Queen Hatshepsut
Lunch break (optional)
Visit Karnak Temple complex
Walk Avenue of Sphinxes
Visit Luxor Temple
Transfer back to hotel or Nile Cruise

The Experience

The first thing I noticed wasn’t the view — it was the quiet. Up there in the hot air balloon above Luxor, just before sunrise, you could hear almost nothing except the hiss of the burner and a few sleepy birds. The city below was still half-asleep. Our pilot grinned and pointed out the Nile, all silver and blue in that early light. I’ll admit, my hands were cold from clutching the basket (maybe nerves?), but watching the temples and green fields drift by made it worth it.

After we landed — a bit bumpier than I expected, but everyone laughed — our Egyptologist guide met us with this easy smile and a thermos of mint tea. We drove out to see the Colossi of Memnon first. They’re huge, but what stuck with me was how locals just went about their morning nearby, waving as we passed. Then came the Valley of the Kings. The tombs are cooler inside than outside (a relief), and some paintings are so bright you’d swear they were new. Our guide knew every story — he even showed us where Howard Carter scratched his name into a wall (I didn’t expect that).

Queen Hatshepsut’s temple looked almost unreal against those cliffs; I tried to get a photo without tourists but gave up and just watched people posing in sun hats instead. Lunch was simple — grilled chicken, rice, something with eggplant that I still think about — eaten under a patchy awning while stray cats eyed our plates hopefully. Karnak Temple is massive; walking through those columns feels like wandering between giants. By afternoon, my legs were tired but my brain was buzzing from everything we’d seen.

We finished at Luxor Temple as evening crept in, lights coming on one by one along the Avenue of Sphinxes. It’s hard to explain how old everything feels here — not just old like “in a museum,” but alive in its own way. Our guide told us stories about Amun-Ra and pharaohs until we had to go back to the car. Even now, sometimes I remember that quiet up in the balloon before anyone else woke up.

What’s included

Your day includes early morning hotel pickup by luxury vehicle, sunrise hot air balloon ride over Luxor with flight certificate, bottled water throughout your trip, transfers by motorboat to cross to the West Bank, all main entry fees covered for sites like Karnak Temple and Valley of the Kings (with optional extra tickets for special tombs), plus a traditional local lunch before returning to your hotel or Nile cruise boat in Luxor.

Good to know

Easy physical levelWheelchair accessibleAccessible transportStroller friendlyPublic transport nearbyInfants must sit on laps

Operated by DrMo Tours Egypt