The Nile Valley Regions Guide - attractions

Temple of Karnak
The main place of worship in Theban times and built over a period of 1,300 years, the massive Temple of Karnak in Luxor is an incredibly impressive structure. One of the world's great architectural achievements, the Hypostyle Hall, is filled with immense stone pillars still bearing the engraved and painted inscriptions from the 12th Dynasty, and covers an area of 64,583 square feet (6,000 sq metres). The complex also contains the Avenue of the Sphinxes, the Sacred Lake, and many huge statues, halls, ornate wall murals, obelisks and colonnades.
Telephone:
Website:
Transport:
Opening times: Daily 6am to 5pm (winter), 6am to 6pm (summer)

West Bank
The West Bank is an area of limestone hills and valleys riddled with tombs and temples across the river from Luxor. Goats roam freely among the ruins, and the tiny settlements on the slopes provide a splash of colour in an otherwise desert-like barrenness. The 59ft (18m) high pair of enthroned statues of the Colossi of Memnon are the first things most visitors will see on the West Bank, the only remaining part of the mortuary temple of Amenophis III. Most travellers come to visit the Valley of the Kings where the secretive tombs of the Pharaohs were built to immortalise their mummies and treasures for eternity. In an attempt to thwart tomb robbers, traps and deceptions were part of the architectural planning. Dramatic descents, spectacular murals on the passage and chamber walls and a replica of the original sarcophagus at the end of the tunnel create an awe-inspiring atmosphere. Highlights include the Tomb of Tutankhamun and Ramses II. The country's finest tomb, however, lies in the Valley of the Queens, the Tomb of Nefertari, which has exceptional painted murals, but is at present closed to the public. Also worth a visit is Hatshepsut's Temple, mortuary temple of Egypt's only female Pharaoh.
Telephone:
Website:
Transport:
Opening times: Daily 6am to 6pm (summer), 6am to 5pm (winter)

Nubian Museum
This museum in Aswan is an excellent introduction to the history and culture of the Nubians. It contains a collection of artefacts from Nubia (the region approximately between Aswan and Khartoum in Sudan) and an exhibition of Nubian culture and crafts. It also portrays the history and people of the Nile Valley from ancient times until the present, the project of UNESCO to move monuments like Abu Simbel endangered by the High Dam on lake Nasser to higher ground, and a hall containing impressive statues and tombstones from the region.
Telephone:
Website:
Transport:
Opening times: Daily 9am to 1pm and 6pm to 10pm (summer); 9am to 1pm and 5pm to 9pm (winter)