The world's greatest open-air museum — Valley of the Kings and Karnak Temple
Luxor is built on the site of ancient Thebes — the capital of Egypt during the New Kingdom (1550–1070 BC) and the richest city in the ancient world. The Karnak Temple Complex (100 acres of sphinxes, obelisks, and hypostyle halls built across 2,000 years) and the Valley of the Kings (63 royal tombs including Tutankhamun's) stand on opposite banks of the Nile, connected by the Avenue of Sphinxes. A hot air balloon over the West Bank at dawn remains the signature experience.
Luxor was called Waset by the ancient Egyptians and Thebes by the Greeks — for 500 years it was the most powerful city in the ancient world, home to successive pharaohs and the temple city of the god Amun. The New Kingdom pharaohs hid their mummies in the Valley of the Kings to protect them from tomb robbers; 63 royal tombs have been found since Giovanni Belzoni began excavating in 1816. Tutankhamun's tomb, discovered by Howard Carter in 1922 with its treasury of gold intact, was the find of the 20th century.