The Valley of the Kings is known to house the tombs of the pharaohs.

 

They are dug into the rock, underground, which makes the work impressive for the period. Knowing that there was no electricity, the Egyptians used stratagems to reflect the outside light to the bottom of the hole. 

Some tombs are very long and settle deep under the mountain. An ingenuity that can only be congratulated so that the cellars have not collapsed for so many years. It must be said that the first tombs date from -1539 BC!!

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Not all tombs are accessible to the public. Some have still not been cleared of the rubble blocking the entrance, others are being restored or others are still reserved for specialists. 

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The entrance ticket gives you the right to visit 3 tombs out of a dozen accessible to the public. The price is 240 EGP or €11.90.It's up to you to make your choice!

 

For my part, I had done research on the internet for graves that were worth seeing. That of Tutankhamun is to be paid separately from the ticket giving access to 3 tombs. The price: 300 EGP or €15.63. I decided not to do it, even if the wall decorations look incredible, since the tomb has been emptied and the solid gold sarcophagus is on display in the Cairo museum, which I had visited at the start of my stay. . For my part, the wall decorations were splendid in the other tombs too, hence my choice.

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So I chose and recommend these 3 tombs: 

-KV16Ramesses I

-KV11Ramesses III

-KV14Tausert and Setnakht

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Tips: they sell shuttle tickets between the entrance ticket office and the entrance to the site. Absolutely everyone takes the shuttle even though there is only .. 5 minutes walk! So I was the only one to walk to save money and I was stared at to arrive 5 minutes after the group!

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It's very hot, think of a bottle of water, sunglasses .. Especially if you go there during the summer!

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The visit to the site is still done quickly, I would say that for the 3 tombsyou will spend 1h30 to 2h maximum there. It's up to you to decide if you want to pay an extra guide to have the explanations. 

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-- For the Valley of the Queens, same principle although a little less known and less visited.

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The ticket gives access to 3 tombs. The price: 100 EGP or €4.95.

To visit the tomb of the famous Nefertari you will even need your hand in your wallet!! 1400 EGP more or 73€!   Suffice to say that I did not do it even if it must be incredible considering the price.

 

For the 3 graves that I made, (Khaemwaset, Amunherkhepshef and Titi) it was nice but nothing more. So I would say that after seeing the Valley of the Kings, it is not necessarily necessary to do the Valley of the Queens, because the tombs are less pretty and much smaller. Unless you want to do Nefertari's of course.  

 

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