Valley of the Queens – Ta-Set-Neferu, The Place of Beauty
Royal necropolis on Luxor's West Bank where queens, princes and officials of the New Kingdom were buried from c. 1560–1130 BC, containing over 110 tombs. Home to the tomb of Nefertari — often called the 'Sistine Chapel of Ancient Egypt' — it is one of the world's greatest concentrations of ancient painted art. Open daily 6:00 AM – 5:00 PM; Nefertari's tomb requires a separate premium ticket with a strict 10-minute visit limit.
Trip Stops
- 1
Gateway to the necropolis, set dramatically beneath the pyramid-shaped peak of El-Qurn — the natural hill ancient Egyptians believed was home to Meretseger, the cobra goddess 'She Who Loves Silence'. Fun fact: The valley was chosen specifically because El-Qurn's pyramid shape echoed the sacred pyramids of earlier dynasties, making the entire hillside a symbolic monument to resurrection.
📍 Luxor, Luxor Governorate, Egypt
- 2
The finest painted tomb in all of Egypt — Ramesses II's beloved queen, 'the one for whom the sun shines', lies in a chamber covered floor-to-ceiling with 3,200-year-old scenes in blazing reds, blues and gold. Fun fact: The Getty Conservation Institute spent seven years and millions of dollars stabilising its fragile paintings; only 150 visitors per day are allowed inside, with a strict 10-minute limit.
📍 Luxor, Luxor Governorate, Egypt
- 3
The best tomb on the standard ticket — vivid, well-preserved scenes show Ramesses III holding his teenage son by the hand, presenting him to the gods of the afterlife one by one. Fun fact: A glass case in the burial chamber displays a mummified foetus, believed to be a stillborn sibling buried with the prince by his grief-stricken mother — one of the most poignant objects in all of Egyptology.
📍 Luxor, Luxor Governorate, Egypt
- 4
Richly coloured tomb of another young son of Ramesses III, showing the prince — identifiable by his royal 'side-lock of youth' — being led to meet the gods of the underworld by his father. Fun fact: He was named after the legendary Prince Khaemwaset of Ramesses II, who became so celebrated for restoring ancient monuments that he was venerated as a god and became the hero of the world's oldest known prose fiction stories.
📍 Luxor, Luxor Governorate, Egypt
- 5
The finest queen's tomb after Nefertari's, decorated with vivid scenes of Tyti — Great Royal Wife of Ramesses III — in the presence of Isis, Nephthys, Hathor and the four Sons of Horus. Fun fact: Her identity was disputed for over a century and only confirmed in 2010 through a study of ancient tomb-robbery police papyri — extraordinary records of interrogations of ancient Egyptian thieves.
📍 Luxor, Luxor Governorate, Egypt
- 6
The earliest dated queen's tomb in the valley, belonging to the wife of Ramesses I — the commoner-turned-pharaoh who founded the great 19th Dynasty — marking the formal start of this necropolis as a royal burial ground. Fun fact: Just two generations after Sitre inaugurated this valley, her grandson Ramesses II would commission it as the resting place of his greatest love, Nefertari.
📍 Luxor, Luxor Governorate, Egypt
- 7
A small shrine carved along the ancient path workmen used daily to walk from Deir el-Medina to the tombs, dedicated to Ptah (patron of craftsmen) and Meretseger (cobra goddess of the necropolis). Fun fact: Personal prayers to Meretseger survive on the workers' stone tablets — including one that reads 'I called upon my Mistress and she came to me as a sweet breeze' — among the most human voices from all of ancient Egypt.
📍 Luxor, Luxor Governorate, Egypt
- 8
Colourful tomb of a third son of Ramesses III, showing the young prince being guided through the gates of the underworld by his father — one of a tragic cluster of royal children's tombs in the valley. Fun fact: Ramesses III had at least five sons buried here, and was himself ultimately assassinated in the 'Harem Conspiracy' — a murder plot by a secondary wife, fully documented in surviving ancient trial papyri.
📍 Luxor, Luxor Governorate, Egypt
- 9
The remarkably preserved village, private tombs and temple of the craftsmen who built and decorated the royal tombs for nearly 400 years — the best-documented community of ordinary people in the entire ancient world. Fun fact: Workers here staged the world's first recorded labour strike around 1152 BC, sitting down outside the royal temples and refusing to work until their unpaid food rations were delivered — and they won.
📍 Luxor, Luxor Governorate, Egypt
- 10
One of the most perfectly preserved painted tombs in Egypt — every surface glows with scenes of Sennedjem and his wife harvesting wheat in the paradise Fields of Iaru, the pigments as vivid as the day they were applied 3,200 years ago. Fun fact: Discovered intact in 1886, the tomb contained the mummies of Sennedjem and nine family members, plus furniture, food and belongings — a complete snapshot of ancient Egyptian domestic life.
📍 Luxor, Luxor Governorate, Egypt
- 11
The most richly coloured private tomb at Deir el-Medina, packed with Book of the Dead scenes and the iconic image of a cat (Ra) slaying the serpent Apophis — one of the most recognisable images in all of Egyptian art. Fun fact: The tomb features Inherkhau playing senet (an ancient board game) against an invisible opponent, representing his soul's contest against death — senet is one of the oldest board games ever played, used in Egypt for over 3,000 years.
📍 Luxor, Luxor Governorate, Egypt
- 12
A beautifully preserved small temple built c. 221–116 BC, dedicated to Hathor and Maat, later converted into a Coptic monastery that gave Deir el-Medina its modern Arabic name ('the monastery in the town'). Fun fact: Its reliefs are among the last traditional ancient Egyptian religious carvings ever made — and a deep sacred well inside the temple was believed by ancient Egyptians to be the home of the underworld god Sokar.
📍 Luxor, Luxor Governorate, Egypt
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