Luxor is an absolute must see in Egypt. It’s a 10 hour train ride or 2 1/2 hour flight from Cairo and it’s totally worth it. Luxor is considered the worlds largest open air museum, the only city that comes close to rivaling it is Rome. Both the temples of Karnak and Luxor are in the city and nearby are the Valley of the Kings and Queens. Luxor used to be the Ancient Egyptian city of Thebes so there is plenty to see here and accommodations are very inexpensive.
First place you should go to is the Karnak Temple. This is Ancient Thebes and it’s Necropolis. It’s a stunningly massive display of ruins dating back to around 2000 BC. The temples of Amun, Mut and Khonsu make up the Karnak complex and are the largest religious buildings ever constructed covering about 200 acres. They are extremely impressive today and must have seemed otherworldly to those that witnessed the site in its own era. 
The next place you should go is the Luxor Temple complex. This complex was started by Amenhotep III in 1392 BC and completed by Tutankhaman around 1339 BC. Parts of it were used for worship pretty much up until today. It lies parallel to the Nile river and is just as massive as the Karnak Temple complex. You can easily spend a day at these two temple complexes, there’s more than enough to see.
Another place worth stopping by is the Colossi of Memnon. These are two massive stone statues of the Pharaoh Amenhotep III, which have stood here since 1350 BC.
The next morning you can take a hot air balloon ride over the Valley of the Kings at sunrise. There are several companies that offer this experience and I think it cost around 50 USD. Totally worth it. It’s incredible to see the valley from so high up and being at sunrise it’s not too hot outside yet, so win win! This was definitely one of my favorite things I did in Egypt.
Last but not least are the Valley of Kings and Queens. For over 500 years tombs were carved out of stone and Pharaohs and nobles were buried here. These tombs are pretty interesting to see as often they were buried with treasures and other items they deemed of use for when the Pharaohs rose again. You can easily spend an entire day here as there are dozens of tombs to explore, both in the Valley of Kings and the Valley of Queens. They say photography isn’t allowed but usually will bend that rule for a small fee.
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