Egypt Self-Drive: Ultimate Beginner-Friendly Guide! 🚗💨

After visiting the Pyramids at 12 PM, we directly used Google Maps to drive to Luxor. The journey took 7 hours. ⏳️ Remember: Always fill up your gas tank before hitting the highway! 🛢️🚦 Most of the route crosses desert areas with very few rest stops—you definitely don’t want to run out of fuel halfway! Here’s our one-day itinerary (in order): 🏛️ Valley of the Kings After breakfast, we drove to the Valley of the Kings. Google Maps navigated perfectly. There’s a parking lot at the entrance. 🅿️ Tickets: The standard ticket allows entry to 3 tombs. Some special tombs require an extra ticket. We chose KV2, KV11, and KV14 with the general ticket, and purchased an extra ticket for KV9. Personal take: The tombs are fairly similar. Hiring a guide is highly recommended—otherwise, you’re just looking at paintings without understanding their stories. KV2 has a particularly beautiful ceiling! 👀💫 🗿 Medinet Habu (Habu Temple) On the way, we saw the Colossi of Memnon—no ticket needed, you can view them from the road! 😎 Important note: The ticket office for Habu Temple is 1 km away from the actual temple. I reached the gate before realizing—had to turn back to buy tickets! 😂 Pro tip: Navigate to "Antiquities Inspectorate Ticket Office" to avoid detours! 🛕 Karnak Temple After lunch, we drove to Karnak. By chance, we met a Chinese-speaking guide! 🎉 I hired him immediately—these temples can feel meaningless without context. He shared his contact; DM me if you need it! ⛵ Nile Felucca Sailboat Ride We returned to the lunch area near the dock. A young guy and his two brothers offered a sunset felucca ride including monkey spotting in the riverside jungle. 🐒🌅 Negotiated price: $25 for the whole boat (ended up giving $30 since they were kids). Kept his contact—happy to share if needed! 🌙 Luxor Temple Right next to the dock! We left the car parked and took a horse carriage to the temple 🐎, then walked back after visiting. A perfect way to end the day! #EgyptSelfDrive #LuxorInADay #TravelLikeALocal #NoGuideNoGlory #NileAdventures 🌍✌️