Key takeaways
- Three tombs of your choice, from the tombs open that day. Not three named tombs, and not all of them. Usually eight to ten are open and the set changes without notice, so the only way to know today’s list is the board at the entrance. Which tombs are open.
- Four tombs are sold separately and none of them uses up one of your three. Tutankhamun EGP 700, Seti I EGP 2,000 with no student discount, Ramses V and VI EGP 220, and Ay (WV23) EGP 200 out in the West Valley, which is a separate drive. The rule, and where it comes from.
- The whole famous set is EGP 3,670. EGP 750 + EGP 700 + EGP 2,000 + EGP 220, which is 4.89 times the headline price. The EGP 220 tomb and the EGP 2,000 tomb are next door to each other. The day, costed line by line.
- Yes, Tutankhamun is still there. The mummy has been on display in the tomb since 4 November 2007, in a climate-controlled glass box, and in 2025 the director of the Egyptian Museum confirmed it stays in the valley. The tomb is small. What EGP 700 actually gets you.
- Card only, since June 2023. Cash payments were suspended in full at the Valley of the Kings along with eight other Luxor sites, and Visa and Mastercard work at the window. Carry some cash anyway, for the EGP 20 tram and the smaller West Bank sites. Paying at the gate.
- These are current published rates, not a guarantee. The newest official price list the Ministry has issued is dated 5 November 2024, and no 2025 or 2026 replacement exists. Expect revision and check at the window. The full price grid, with its date.
The same tomb, two prices, both real
What the EGP 750 ticket includes, and what it does not
Read the right-hand column first. Almost every unpleasant surprise at the ticket window is an item from it that somebody expected to find on the left.
In the price
- Three tombs of your choice, from the tombs open on the day you go — the best-corroborated fact on this whole site
- Entry to the valley itself, open daily 6am–5pm, including Fridays, with no weekly closing day
- Students pay EGP 375 on a valid student ID; one source adds an age limit of 24, so treat that as a condition to check rather than a rule we can guarantee
- Egyptian nationals pay EGP 60, or EGP 30 as a student
- Photography — the personal permit was abolished and no ticket is needed for a personal camera, including a DSLR
Not in the price, bought separately
- Tutankhamun, KV62 — EGP 700 (EGP 350 student). Does not use up one of your three
- Seti I, KV17 — EGP 2,000, with no student discount at all. The largest surprise at the window
- Ramses V and VI, KV9 — EGP 220 (EGP 110 student), the cheapest add-on
- Ay, WV23 — EGP 200, out in the West Valley, which is a separate drive rather than a walk
- The tram — EGP 20 per person round trip, cash, officially optional
- Nefertari — wrong valley entirely. The Valley of the Queens is its own ticket at EGP 220, and QV66 is a further EGP 2,500 on top of that
- Tripods, flash and drones — prohibited, not sold
How the morning actually goes, in order
River, counter, tram, board, tombs. Five steps, and three of them cost money.
The valley is on the West Bank at Luxor and the town is on the East Bank, so the day begins with a river crossing and ends at a counter that will not take your cash. Most mornings, somebody reaches that counter expecting Tutankhamun to be included.
- Cross the river — The public ferry runs at roughly EGP 10–20 per person each way. There is no timetable; it leaves when it is full, typically within ten to fifteen minutes. The road bridge south of the city is the alternative and it is a substantial detour by car. Crossing to the West Bank, including the fares we refuse to publish and why.
- Buy the ticket at the visitor centre — EGP 750 foreign adult, EGP 375 student, by card. Cash has not been accepted here since June 2023, when an official announcement named the Valley of the Kings among nine Luxor sites where cash payments were suspended in full. Buy any separately-ticketed tomb at this same counter. What to have in your wallet.
- The tram, or your feet — EGP 20 per person round trip, roughly a three-minute ride from the visitor centre up to the tombs, and officially optional. Some visitors report staff pressing them to buy a ticket anyway. Knowing that in advance is worth more than it sounds, because an unexplained push at a booth feels like something worse than it is. No source states the walking distance, so this site does not invent one.
- Read the board at the entrance — There is no official list of open tombs anywhere — the Ministry publishes prices and hours and nothing else. Usually eight to ten are open on the general ticket, the set rotates for conservation, and no schedule for that rotation has ever been published. KV34, Thutmose III, has not been open in years. The ten tombs the guides name for 2026.
- Choose your three — This is the only decision on the ticket, and it is made standing in the sun. KV11 Ramses III is 188 m and carries the two blind harpers; KV2 Ramses IV holds 656 ancient graffiti; KV16 Ramses I is only 29 m and makes a fast third. Which three to pick, and why.
- The paid tombs, if you want them — Bought at the same counter, entered on their own tickets, and they leave your three intact. Three to four hours is realistic once they are added, against two hours for the general ticket alone. How long the visit really takes.
You may not take food or water into the tombs, which is the most under-reported rule here — bring a bottle and drink before you go down. What to carry, and what to leave in the car.
How to buy this without a surprise at the window
Decide which tombs you are paying extra for
Before you leave the hotel, not in the queue. The three names everybody knows are the three that are not included, and two of them cost more than the entry ticket.
Bring a card, and cash on top of it
The entry counter is card-only and has been since June 2023. The EGP 20 tram, the tips and several smaller West Bank sites are not.
Go at opening, for the heat rather than the queues
Guides and experienced visitors put the crowds between 10am and 2pm and call an 8am arrival comfortable. Luxor’s mean daily maximum is 41.4 °C in July. The heat, month by month.
Read what a tour actually sells before you book one
A guide, a driver and a car with air conditioning are worth paying for on a 41 °C day. Whether the entry ticket is inside the price is stated on each product’s own page and nowhere else — this site will not tell you it is included.
The one product here with a sample worth the name
The shared Valley of the Kings and Hatshepsut day tour carries 4.5 from 1,891 reviews, which is far and away the largest sample on this site — the next is 1,474, and the product this page is most sceptical about has three. It is not the highest-scoring tour here and it is not the one that pays best. Whether entry tickets are inside the price is on its own page, not on ours.
A guided day, and a single tomb, side by side
The last three rows are the point of the table. Read across the price row and the third column looks ordinary; read down to what each one is and how many people have rated it, and it stops looking that way.
| Luxor: Valley of the Kings and Queens Guided Tour with Lunch | 1,891 reviews behind itLuxor: Valley of the Kings and Hatshepsut Temple Day Tour | Luxor: King Tutankhamun Tomb Skip-The-Line Ticket | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price per person | US$40 | US$50 | US$95 |
| What it is | A guided day at the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens, with lunch | A guided day at the Valley of the Kings and Hatshepsut’s temple | One tomb, sold as a skip-the-line ticket with a guide |
| Rating | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.4 |
| Reviews behind it | 468 — a real sample | 1,891 — the largest here | 3, one with no text — not a rating |
| The tombs at the window | Entry is EGP 750; read the product page for what is included | Entry is EGP 750; read the product page for what is included | KV62 is EGP 700, about US$14 |
| Best for | Two valleys in one day with somebody explaining them | The safe booking, on weight of evidence | A visitor who cannot get to the counter themselves |
| View → | Book this → | View → |
Photo Gallery
The valley, the counter and the walk between them
Six photographs of what the day is actually made of. None of them shows a painted wall — the decoration is the reason people come, and it is also the one thing this site will not illustrate with a picture it cannot vouch for.
Every tour we found, cheapest guided day first
Six products, ordered the way tours.py orders them: the cheapest full guided day at the top and the one that charges the most for the least at the bottom, rather than the one that pays best at the top. A tour price is a tour price — whether the EGP 750 entry ticket sits inside it is stated on each product’s own page, and this site does not assert it for any of them. All six, compared properly.
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
What travellers wrote, including the parts that argue with us
Verbatim, first names as published, all five-star. The useful ones are the five-star reviews with a complaint inside them, and two of these are exactly that.
The 3 included tumbs were nice. The Seti I tumb added with supplement was a must.
The only downside is that the tombs you see are pre-decided for you, and there wasn’t any option to visit additional tombs if you wanted.
At the Valley of the Kings, she provided excellent recommendations on which tombs to visit, helping us make the most of our limited entries.
Despite the intense heat that day, he demonstrated true professionalism and made our visit a very enjoyable experience.
We were able to visit two archaeological sites while it was still cool, so we enjoyed it efficiently.
We spent 6hr between the sites. We were given enough time to see all that we wanted to and didn’t feel rushed. The navigation at the ticket areas was seamless including transport buggies when on each site.
Ratings and reviews are the operators’ live GetYourGuide figures. Read our full tour reviews ›
Six things worth settling before you reach the counter
In roughly the order they cost you money or temper.
Does the ticket include Tutankhamun?
No. The EGP 750 ticket admits you to three tombs of your choice from those open that day, and KV62 is not among them at any price of ticket. It is a separate EGP 700, bought at the same counter, and it does not use up one of your three. The rule in full.
Is he actually still in there?
Yes. The mummy has been on display inside the tomb since 4 November 2007, 85 years to the day after Carter opened it, in a climate-controlled glass box; in 2025 the director of the Egyptian Museum confirmed it stays in the valley. The tomb itself is small, and this page sticks to what is verified about it rather than what would sell it. What is verified about KV62.
Why is Seti I ten times the price of the tomb next to it?
KV17 is 137.19 m long with seven corridors and ten chambers, one of the most completely decorated tombs in the valley, in painted raised relief, with a vaulted burial chamber of golden stars on deep blue. It is EGP 2,000 with no student rate. KV9, Ramses V and VI, is EGP 220 and two independent sources call it the best value in the valley. The comparison, worked through.
What does the whole day come to?
Entry at EGP 750, plus EGP 700 + EGP 2,000 + EGP 220 if you want all three famous tombs, is EGP 3,670 — 4.89 times the headline price. Add EGP 20 for the tram and the ferry at EGP 10–20 each way. Every line of it.
Is the Luxor Pass worth it?
It is US$130 Standard or US$250 Premium for an adult, valid five consecutive days, and only the Premium tier adds Seti I and Nefertari. It cannot be bought online: it is sold in person at the Karnak Temple sales office and at the Valley of the Kings visitor centre, and you need your passport and a passport photo. No official Ministry page for it exists, so treat the pass figures as softer than the ticket figures. The break-even sum.
How hot is it, really?
Luxor’s mean daily maximum is 41.4 °C in July and 41.2 °C in June and August, with recorded extremes of 49.2 °C in July 2000 and 48.2 °C in June 2010. Those are ambient figures for the city; nobody publishes a temperature inside a tomb, so this site gives none. When to come, and what time of day.
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.
The honest guide to Valley of the Kings tickets
I am a licensed Egyptologist guide and I work the Luxor West Bank, so most mornings I watch somebody at the visitor centre discover, card already in hand, that the ticket they have just bought does not include the tomb they came for. Nobody is hiding it. Almost every page written about this valley describes what is in it; hardly any describe what your ticket buys.
What EGP 750 buys
General entry for a foreign adult is EGP 750, and EGP 375 for a student, on the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities’ own published figures. Egyptians pay EGP 60. It admits you to three tombs of your choice, picked from whichever tombs are open on the day you go — the best-supported claim on this site, with nine independent sources behind it. The valley opens daily 6am–5pm, Fridays included. Payment has been by card since June 2023, when an official announcement named the Valley of the Kings among nine Luxor sites where cash payments were suspended in full. Carry cash anyway, for the tram. Paying at the gate.
The three tombs you have heard of are not in it
Tutankhamun (KV62) is a separate EGP 700. Seti I (KV17) is a separate EGP 2,000 with no student discount of any kind. Ramses V and VI (KV9) is a separate EGP 220, and Ay (WV23) is EGP 200 out in the West Valley, which is a separate drive. And the part that surprises people in the good direction: buying one of those does not use up one of your three. Seven independent sources say so explicitly. The rule, and where it comes from.
So the full stack is EGP 750 + EGP 700 + EGP 2,000 + EGP 220, which is EGP 3,670 — 4.89 times the headline price, and still without Nefertari, because Nefertari is not in this valley. She is in the Valley of the Queens, about 2 km away, on its own EGP 220 ticket with QV66 published at EGP 2,500 on top. Whether that tomb is open at all is something nobody could confirm here, so ask at the Valley of the Queens ticket office. The premise, corrected.
Nobody publishes which tombs are open
There is no official open-tomb list anywhere; the Ministry site carries prices and hours and stops. Tombs close for conservation and the set rotates, which six independent sources describe and none of them schedules. The honest figure is usually eight to ten open; the only stated way of knowing today’s list is the board at the entrance. Two 2026 guides name the same ten, so carry that list as a good guess rather than a roster. KV34, Thutmose III, has not been open in years, and older guidebooks still send people looking. The ten, and their status.
Choosing three, in the sun, with a queue behind you, is the one real decision here. KV11, Ramses III, runs 188 m and is called the Harper’s Tomb for its two blind harpers; its axis visibly bends partway along where the ancient excavators broke into an earlier tomb. KV2, Ramses IV, carries 656 ancient graffiti left by Greek and Roman visitors. KV16, Ramses I, is only 29 m, which is why it makes a sensible third once the heat has won. Which three to choose.
The heat is a real cost, and the water rule is the one nobody mentions
Luxor’s mean daily maximum is 41.4 °C in July and 41.2 °C in June and August, with recorded extremes of 49.2 °C in July 2000. Those are ambient city figures; nobody has measured the air inside a tomb, so no number for that appears here. Guides and experienced visitors put the crowds between 10am and 2pm and an 8am arrival comfortably ahead of them — that advice is theirs, not any ministry’s. When to come.
Water is sold on site, and you may not take food or water into the tombs — two independent sources, and I have never seen it printed anywhere a visitor reads first. Drink before you go down. What to carry.
Where a tour earns its money, and where it does not
On a 41 °C day a guide, a driver and air conditioning are worth real money, and the reviews say so unprompted: almost every five-star one names its guide rather than a tomb. What a tour price is not is an entry ticket, unless that product’s own inclusions say the words. One widely-sold half-day of the West Bank advertises from about US$20 per person and states “Admission Ticket Not Included” in its own listing.
The sharpest case is a product selling entry to Tutankhamun’s tomb at US$95 per person. The same tomb is EGP 700 at the counter, about US$14 at roughly 50 EGP to the dollar, read 16–17 August 2026. Its page says it includes a guide, fast-track entry and the visitor centre; it also says “Optional Visit to Additional Tombs – Depending on your ticket type”, so what the rest of the money buys cannot be stated here. It carries three reviews, one with no text at all, and 4.4 from three ratings is not a rating. The gap between the two prices is guiding, transfer and convenience. It is not the ticket. What is verified about that tomb.
One last number, and its date
Every price here is a current published rate, not a promise: the newest official list the Ministry has issued is dated 5 November 2024 and no 2025 or 2026 replacement could be found. If the window disagrees with this page, the window is right. Every published price, with its source. And where a thing is not published at all — what a taxi should cost, how far the walk is from the visitor centre, whether Nefertari’s tomb opens tomorrow — you will find it missing here rather than guessed at.
Frequently asked questions
What does the Valley of the Kings entry ticket include?
Three tombs of your choice from the tombs open on the day you visit, plus entry to the valley itself, which is open daily 6am–5pm with no weekly closing day. Students pay EGP 375 and Egyptian nationals EGP 60. It does not include Tutankhamun, Seti I, Ramses V and VI or Ay, which are four separate tickets. What the ticket admits you to.
Is Tutankhamun still in the Valley of the Kings?
Yes. The mummy is in KV62, on display in a climate-controlled glass box, and has been since 4 November 2007 — 85 years to the day after Howard Carter reached the tomb. In 2025 the director of the Egyptian Museum confirmed Tutankhamun remains in the valley. The tomb, and what it costs.
How much does it cost to visit Tutankhamun’s tomb?
EGP 700 for an adult and EGP 350 for a student, on top of the EGP 750 general ticket, bought at the same counter by card. It does not use up one of your three tombs. One GetYourGuide product sells entry to the same tomb, with a guide and a transfer, at US$95 per person. The full price grid.
How much does it cost to enter Nefertari’s tomb?
The question has the wrong valley in it. Nefertari is in the Valley of the Queens, roughly 2 km away and on a different ticket: EGP 220 to enter that site, with QV66 published at EGP 2,500 on top. No Valley of the Kings ticket of any price admits you to it, and whether it is currently open is genuinely unconfirmed — ask at the Valley of the Queens ticket office. Why we will not tell you either way.
Which tombs are open in the Valley of the Kings in 2026?
There is no official list. The Ministry publishes prices and hours and nothing else, so the honest answer is that usually eight to ten are open on the general ticket and the set rotates for conservation with no published schedule. Two independent 2026 guides name the same ten: KV1, KV2, KV6, KV8, KV11, KV14, KV15, KV16, KV43 and KV47. KV34 has not been open in years. Read the board at the entrance. The list, and what it is worth.
How much time do you need at the Valley of the Kings?
Two hours is realistic for three tombs at a comfortable pace and about an hour if you are rushing; three to four hours once you add the separately-ticketed tombs. None of those figures includes the ticket queue, the tram or the drive from Luxor. Planning the morning.
Can you pay cash at the Valley of the Kings?
No. Cash payments have been suspended in full for entry tickets since June 2023, when an official announcement named the Valley of the Kings among nine Luxor sites going cashless; Visa and Mastercard work at the window. Carry cash anyway for the EGP 20 tram, tips and the smaller West Bank sites, several of which are still cash-only. Paying at the gate.
Do the tours on this page include the entry ticket?
Read each product’s own inclusions before you book, because this site will not tell you it does. A cheap organised half-day of the West Bank can be advertised from about US$20 per person with “Admission Ticket Not Included” in its own listing, and a reader booking that while expecting Tutankhamun is wrong twice over. Where a tour price does and does not overlap the tickets.
Still have questions? Email us [email protected]