Choose Luxor holidays for great deals and visit some of the world's greatest wonders

Luxor is known as the world's largest open-air museum, with its vast selection of ancient Egyptian monuments and incredible remnants of history. Explore the Amun Temple and Great Hypostyle Hall in the East Bank, or head to the ancient tombs in Thebes and the Valley of the Kings, which is also where you'll find the tomb of King Tutankhamun.

Luxor holidays offer unbeatable value on fabulous resorts

There is far more to Luxor than its incredible ancient history, whether you want to go shopping in the bustling bazaars and colourful markets, enjoy a leisurely sunset stroll along the corniche, or even take an unforgettable hot air balloon ride over the river Nile. With so much to see and do, you'll be spoilt for choice. Of course, you may prefer to simply lounge by the palm-fringed pools at one of the many fabulous all-inclusive resorts. Look for fantastic deals at Travelwasp.com.

Currency

The Egyptian pound is the official currency for the Arab Republic of Egypt. The Egyptian pound notation is EGP, although LE is also frequently used as notation. The pound is divided into 100 piasters, or 1000 milliemes. Most credit cards are accepted in major hotels and restaurants. Visitors are advised to take travellers cheques in US Dollars or Pounds to avoid additional exchange rate charges. Banks are usually closed on Friday and Saturday, but private exchange bureaux, called 'Forex', are open daily and banks in major hotels are open 24 hours.

Luxor Climate

Egypt is a country bathed in almost perpetual sunshine the whole year round, the days are warm and hot and the nights are cool. During the summer months the climate in the inland desert areas can vary widely from 7C at night, to 43C during the day. Temperatures in the coastal regions in resorts such as Sharm el Sheikh and Hurghada will usually see an average of 14C during winter and around 30C in the summer. The summer months from May until August will see Egypt gaining around 12 hours of constant sunshine per day. Rainfall in Egypt is very low with less that 80mm per year and prevailing northern winds can take the edge of the heat.

Average Sunlight (Hours)	9	9	10	10	11	13	13	12	11	10	9	8
	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Average Temperature (°C)	20	21	24	28	32	35	35	35	34	30	25	22

Time

Local time is GMT +2
(GMT +3 from last Friday in April to last Friday in August).

Language

Arabic is the official language although English and French are widely spoken, especially in the tourist areas.

Shopping

The market, or souk, on Sharia el-Birka, as well as the touristbazaar on Saria el-Karnak, offer scarves, scarabs, spices, carpetsand other local souvenirs and curios. Haggling is a common form oftrade in these market areas. There are many souvenir shops locatedclose to the Luxor Temple in the more tourist areas. Luxor is agood place to buy silver jewellery.

Nightlife

Since half of Egypt is Islamic, there are not many bars aroundLuxor. One of the most popular but expensive bars, Metropolitan Café, is found opposite the Luxor Temple on the Cornichewalkway below road level and the only English pub in town, theKing's Head, is open 24 hours a day and offers darts, billiards andTVs for live soccer broadcasts. The Sound and Light show at theKarnak Temple is breathtaking, and the night bazaar is well worth avisit.

Activities

Luxor is brimming with tourist activities. Besides theawe-inspiring sights and temples, horse, camel and donkey rides areavailable. The Nile River offers Felucca trips by both day andsunset. The mysteries of Ancient Egypt can be discovered byvisiting some of Luxor's surrounding temples including Luxor Temple, Karnak, Ramesseum, Medinet Habu, the Temple of Hatshepsutand the exquisite Valley of the Kings, which should be visited asearly in the morning as possible as only 150 tickets are sold dailyto visit these ancient tombs.

Restaurants

Egypt's local cuisine can be delicious, such as the kebab, thekofta and kushari. Most of Luxor's restaurants can be found in thecentre of town. The Oriental, situated close to Luxor Temple isrecommended as well as Amoun Restaurant on Sharia el-Karnak and the El-Hussein. The Sheraton Hotel, situated on the banks of the Nileserves excellent pizzas.

luxor   Emilio-Inn-Luxor 16 Apr 12 from 7 Nights, 3 Star, Half Board from £347	luxor   Gaddis-Hotel 16 Apr 12 from 7 Nights, 3 Star, Half Board from £341