Six Valley of the Kings tours, and what the price actually buys
What you are paying for is a person and a vehicle
Strip a West Bank tour down and three things are left. Somebody gets you across the river and up the road, which is the genuinely awkward part — the crossing is a ferry with no fixed schedule, or a bridge that is a long detour by car. Somebody meets you at the gate and tells you what you are looking at. And somebody owns the clock, so you are underground early rather than queueing at eleven in the sun.
Read the reviews on any of these six and the pattern is impossible to miss: people name the guide. Tom, on the private full day, is the most useful of them — his guide Sawsan “provided excellent recommendations on which tombs to visit, helping us make the most of our limited entries”. Limited entries is the whole problem this site exists to explain: three tombs, chosen by you, from a set nobody publishes in advance. If you would rather arrive with the three already picked, which three to choose does that job for free.
The line this page will not cross
Admission is a separate purchase unless a product’s own inclusions list says otherwise in writing. This site does not assert what any tour includes past the words on its own page. These products describe lunch, a driver and an Egyptologist. That is not the same as describing a ticket. The EGP 750 at the gate, the EGP 700 for Tutankhamun and the EGP 2,000 for Seti I are yours to pay unless a booking page says otherwise — the grid is on the ticket price list.
Franck, on the US$50 day tour, describes how that plays out: “The 3 included tumbs were nice. The Seti I tumb added with supplement was a must.” Three on the general ticket, one more paid for on top.
The six products, cheapest first
Cheapest first is an argument, not a sort. The dearest is last because it is the one about which least can be said.
Cheapest guided dayLuxor: Valley of the Kings and Queens Guided Tour with Lunch
Most reviewedLuxor: Valley of the Kings and Hatshepsut Temple Day Tour
From the Red SeaHurghada: Luxor Tour with Valley of Kings, Karnak & Tut Tomb
Best ratedPrivate Full Day West Bank: Valley of kings Hatshepsut &More
Private, with lunchLuxor: West Bank Kings and Queens All-Inclusive Tour & Lunch
Ticket onlyLuxor: King Tutankhamun Tomb Skip-The-Line Ticket
US$40, the Kings and Queens day with lunch. The cheapest guided day here, 4.5 from 468 reviews. At about 50 EGP to the dollar, the mid-market rate read on 16–17 August 2026, that price is roughly what the Seti I ticket alone costs in Egyptian pounds — which is why I would start with this one and make the dearer products argue for themselves.
US$50, the Kings and Hatshepsut day tour. 4.5 from 1,891 reviews, by a distance the largest body of evidence here and the only score on this page I would treat as a measurement rather than an impression. Ten dollars more than the cheapest day, with four times the reviews behind it.
US$63.05, the Luxor day from Hurghada. 4.6 from 1,474 reviews, and the only product here that does not start in Luxor. It solves a driving problem rather than a guiding one, and Imre, five stars, gives both halves: his guide “is an archaeologist by training”, and “the transport was what you would expect from a 6-hour minibus transfer”.
US$70, the private full day. The highest score on the page, 4.9 from 74 reviews — a good rating on a modest sample, which is a different thing from a good rating on a large one. Melissa’s guide “gave us excellent tips as to which tombs” to visit.
US$74, the private Kings and Queens day with lunch. 4.6 from 330 reviews. It carries the most useful criticism in the whole review pool, from Adia, who still gave it five stars: “the tombs you see are pre-decided for you, and there wasn’t any option to visit additional tombs if you wanted.” If choosing your own three matters — and on this site it is the main thing — ask before you book, here or anywhere else.
All six, with the sample size printed
The column to read is the fourth: a rating is worth what the number beside it is worth, and here that number runs from 1,891 down to three.
| Product | From | Rating | Reviews behind it | Starts from |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kings and Queens guided day with lunch | US$40 | 4.5 | 468 | Luxor |
| Kings and Hatshepsut Temple day tour | US$50 | 4.5 | 1,891 | Luxor |
| Luxor day with Valley of Kings, Karnak and Tut tomb | US$63.05 | 4.6 | 1,474 | Hurghada |
| Private full day, West Bank | US$70 | 4.9 | 74 | Luxor |
| West Bank Kings and Queens, private, with lunch | US$74 | 4.6 | 330 | Luxor |
| King Tutankhamun tomb, skip-the-line ticket | US$95 | 4.4 | 3 | Luxor |
No figure in that price column is an entry ticket, or a promise about one.
The US$95 Tutankhamun ticket, next to the counter price
This is the listing that would earn this site the most, and the one I am least able to recommend. Both numbers, both labelled:
- At the ticket window
- EGP 700
- Which is about
- US$14
- The listed product
- US$95
EGP 700 is the published rate for Tutankhamun’s tomb (KV62), bought on top of general entry at the window — roughly US$14 at about 50 EGP to the dollar, the mid-market rate read on 16–17 August 2026. The listing is US$95, about seven times it.
That does not make it a scam and I am not going to call it one. Its own page says it comes with a guide, fast-track entry and the visitor centre, and those cost real money to provide. What it also says is “Optional Visit to Additional Tombs — depending on your ticket type”, and that clause is doing a great deal of work. Nobody reading that page can tell you what the US$95 admits you to, so this page does not tell you either. The extra money buys guiding, transfer and convenience rather than the ticket — and a visitor who can reach the window buys the same tomb for EGP 700.
Three ratings is not a rating
The 4.4 on this listing rests on 3 reviews, one of which has no text at all. Set that beside the 4.5 from 1,891 reviews on the day tour above. An average of three numbers does not become a measurement by being printed next to a star.
The one review with anything written in it gave four stars and ended like this: “Overall it was worth it, but I might just hire a driver and pay for entry in future.” I have not shortened that sentence and would not want to.
When you do not need to book anything
Plenty of people reading this page should close it. If you are already in Luxor, are happy to cross on the public ferry, and would rather pick your own three tombs than have them picked for you, a tour is a convenience you can skip. Entry is EGP 750 for a foreign adult, the window takes cards and not cash, and the tram is EGP 20 return and officially optional. None of that requires a booking.
A tour earns its money in four situations. You are coming from the Red Sea coast, in which case the driving is the product. You have one day and want somebody else to own it. You want a person beside you who can read a cartouche. Or you would rather not negotiate a fare in a language you do not speak — and this site publishes no taxi or tuk-tuk figure at all, because the sources for one disagree by a factor of five.
No tour can buy you the Luxor Pass either; it is sold in person only. And whichever way you go, go early. The reviews say so unprompted: Alexandra wrote of “the intense heat that day”, and eli was out early enough to see two sites “while it was still cool”. That is the heat page, written by customers.
Read a product’s own inclusions list before you pay — not its title and not its photographs. A title with the word ticket in it is a title. I stand a few metres from that window most mornings, and the conversation is always the same one: somebody holds a booking that covers the car and the guide, and is now finding out that the EGP 700 is theirs to pay.
Can’t make these dates?
Browse more available valley of the kings tickets and find one that fits your schedule. Cancellation terms differ from tour to tour — each one shows its own on the booking panel before you pay.
Next: what the whole day costs puts entry, the add-ons and the tram into one number, and whether it is worth it answers that with a “for whom” attached.
Frequently asked questions
Do Valley of the Kings tours include the entry ticket?
Not unless the product’s own inclusions list says so in writing. Treat admission as a separate purchase: general entry is EGP 750 for a foreign adult and admits you to three tombs of your choice, and Tutankhamun at EGP 700 and Seti I at EGP 2,000 are bought on top of it at the window. A tour price generally buys the transport, the guide and the timing of the day.
What is the cheapest Valley of the Kings tour?
The Kings and Queens guided day with lunch, from US$40 per person, rated 4.5 from 468 reviews. It is the cheapest guided day of the six products on this page and one reviewer calls it “the best priced tour of the West bank of Luxor”.
Why does the Tutankhamun skip-the-line ticket cost so much more than the tomb at the window?
Because you are not only buying the tomb. EGP 700 is the published counter price, about US$14 at roughly 50 EGP to the dollar on 16–17 August 2026; the listing is US$95. The difference is guiding, transfer and convenience rather than the ticket. Its own page adds “Optional Visit to Additional Tombs — depending on your ticket type”, so what it admits you to cannot be stated here, and its 4.4 rests on only 3 reviews, one with no text at all.
Do I need a tour to visit the Valley of the Kings?
No. If you are staying in Luxor and are content to cross by public ferry and buy at the window, you can do the whole thing yourself. Entry is by card, the tram is EGP 20 return, and you pick your own three tombs. A tour is worth paying for if you are travelling from the Red Sea coast, are short of time, or want a guide beside you.
Which Valley of the Kings tour has the most reviews?
The Kings and Hatshepsut Temple day tour, at 4.5 from 1,891 reviews, from US$50 per person. It has roughly four times the reviews of the next product on this page, which makes it the only score here large enough to describe what usually happens rather than what happened once.