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Top 10 · Sights
The ten Valley of the Kings tombs most worth seeing are those of Tutankhamun (KV62), Seti I (KV17), Ramesses V and VI (KV9), Ramesses III (KV11), Ramesses IV (KV2), Merenptah (KV8), Ramesses IX (KV6), Tausert and Setnakhte (KV14), Thutmose III (KV34) and Amenhotep III (WV22). The first three need their own ticket. Your general ticket covers three tombs from the ones open that day, and that list changes. Check it at the ticket office, or on the ministry's site, egymonuments.gov.eg.
The valley holds more than sixty tombs, but only a handful are open on any one day. We picked tombs that are well decorated, that have opened to visitors in recent years, and that each show you something different.
Which tombs are open changes often, to protect the paintings. So treat this as a shortlist. The day's list is posted at the ticket office, and the ministry's site, egymonuments.gov.eg, has the current tickets.
Facts come from the ministry, from our own Valley of the Kings guide and from published records of each tomb. Near misses include Amenhotep II (KV35), Siptah (KV47), Ramesses I (KV16) and Horemheb (KV57).
Howard Carter found this tomb in 1922. It is the only royal tomb in the valley found almost intact, with about 5,000 objects inside. It needs its own ticket.
The tomb is small, and only the burial chamber is painted. One wall shows twelve baboons from the Amduat, a book of the afterlife. The king's mummy is still here. His treasures are now at the Grand Egyptian Museum.
Seti I was the father of Ramesses II. His tomb is one of the longest and deepest in the valley. The ministry says it was the first to be decorated from end to end. It needs its own ticket, the dearest of the three.
The burial chamber has a vaulted ceiling painted with the night sky, the first of its kind here. The colours are deep and the carving is fine. If you pay for just one extra tomb, this is the one we would choose.
Ramesses V began this tomb, and Ramesses VI enlarged it and was buried in it. It runs in one straight line down to the burial chamber. It needs its own ticket.
Save time for the ceiling of the burial chamber. Two figures of the sky goddess Nut stretch across it, back to back. The walls are bright and the corridors are wide, so it feels open.
This long tomb was started for Setnakhte, whose workers broke into an older tomb by mistake and stopped. Ramesses III took it over and turned it in a new direction.
A side room shows two blind harpers, which gave it the name the Harper's Tomb. It is also called Bruce's Tomb, after James Bruce, a traveller who went in in 1768. It is on the general ticket when it is open.
KV2 has been open since ancient times, and Greek and Roman visitors left 656 graffiti on its walls. A plan of the tomb drawn on papyrus still survives, now in a museum in Turin.
It is short and close to level, which makes it the easiest tomb for anyone with limited mobility. It is often on the general ticket.
Merenptah was a king of the 19th Dynasty. His burial chamber lies at the end of a 160-metre corridor.
His outer stone coffin was so big that workers had to cut away the door frames to bring it in, then rebuild them. It is often on the general ticket.
KV6 has an unusually wide entrance and runs 105 metres into the hill. It sits in the central part of the valley.
The king died before it was done, and the work was rushed to the end. Some rooms were never finished, which shows how a tomb was made. It is often on the general ticket.
This tomb was cut for Queen Tausert, who ruled as pharaoh. Setnakhte, the next king, took it over, made it longer and replaced her images with his own.
The result has two burial chambers and runs more than 112 metres. It is one of the largest royal tombs, and a lesson in how kings rewrote history.
You reach this tomb by a steep staircase up the cliff face, then go down again inside. Victor Loret found it in 1898.
The burial chamber is shaped like a cartouche, the oval ring around a royal name. The walls hold the Amduat, painted to look like a papyrus scroll, with simple stick-like figures. It feels very different from the later tombs.
This tomb is in the West Valley, the western arm of the Valley of the Kings. It reopened in October 2025 after more than twenty years of restoration led by a Japanese team.
It belongs to Amenhotep III, who built the core of Luxor Temple. His mummy was moved in ancient times and is now in Cairo. Ask at the ticket office whether it is open the day you go, and which ticket covers it.
Tutankhamun (KV62), Seti I (KV17) and Ramesses V and VI (KV9). The ministry lists a separate price for each. Buy them at the ticket office or on egymonuments.com, and check the prices there, because they change.
Three, chosen from the tombs open that day. Most days that means about eight to ten to choose from. The list rotates to protect the paintings.
The day's list is posted at the ticket office by the car park. The ministry's sites, egymonuments.gov.eg and egymonuments.com, list the tickets on sale. If one tomb is the reason for your trip, ask us to check before you go.
It depends on why you go. The tomb is small, and only one room is painted. His mummy is there, which some people find moving. For painting, Seti I or Ramesses V and VI give you far more.
No. It is in the Valley of the Queens, a separate site a short drive away, with its own ticket. Our Valley of the Queens guide covers it.
About two and a half hours for three tombs and one extra. Go at opening, around 6am, before the heat and the coaches. Most people add Hatshepsut's temple the same morning.
No. Guides brief you outside, then you go in alone. A good guide will still tell you which tombs are in the best shape that day, and what to look for.
Entry rules, opening hours, security advice and exchange rates all move. Check them at the source, not here.
Written and checked by the Nile Trip Guide editorial team · Last reviewed . Entry rules, prices and opening hours change — check anything critical against the official sources linked on this page.
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4 days · Nile cruise
Three nights sailing north from Aswan to Luxor, taking in Philae, Kom Ombo, Edfu, the Valley of the Kings and finally Karnak. Full board on board, and the sightseeing runs as a shared group of about fifteen.
from US$840 / per person
5 days · Short break
Giza and the Grand Egyptian Museum, then a flight south for one night in Luxor covering both banks, and a flight back. Five days, two cities, both domestic flights in the price and every day guided privately.
from US$1,480 / per person
8 days · Classic Egypt
The route most people take first, at the length it was built for: Giza and the Grand Egyptian Museum, then a flight to Luxor and four nights sailing down to Aswan.
from US$2,135 / per person
