Luxor

Two full days is the honest minimum — one for the west bank (Valley of the Kings, Hatshepsut, the Colossi) and one for the east (Karnak and Luxor Temple). Three lets you add Medinet Habu, the Valley of the Queens or Dendera, and means the west bank morning does not have to start at dawn and finish at noon in the heat. Most people arriving off a cruise get less than this and feel it.

The standard ticket covers three tombs from the group open that day, and which ones rotate to protect them. Tutankhamun, Seti I and Ramesses V/VI each need a separate ticket. Seti I is the finest tomb in the valley by a distance and the extra ticket is significant; Tutankhamun is historically compelling but small, and the treasures are all at the Grand Egyptian Museum now. Your guide can tell you which of the day's open tombs are worth your three.

For most people, yes — it is the one thing that shows you how the whole west bank fits together, with the Nile, the green strip, the desert and the mortuary temples laid out below. It means a pick-up around 4am and it is weather-dependent, so build it into a morning you can afford to lose. Flights are booked early and cancelled for wind without much notice, which is a good sign rather than a bad one.

The east bank is the city of the living — Karnak, Luxor Temple, the market, the corniche. The west bank is the city of the dead — the royal tombs, the mortuary temples, the Colossi of Memnon. The ancient Egyptians divided them deliberately, following the sun. Practically, it means two distinct days, and crossing by the local ferry rather than driving round is a small pleasure worth having.

Flying takes about an hour and costs a day less of your holiday. The sleeper train is an experience in itself and saves a night's hotel, but it is slow and the cabins are compact. The day train is cheap, comfortable enough and takes the best part of ten hours. We book whichever fits the shape of the trip — on a short itinerary, flying almost always wins.

October to April. Summer temperatures in Upper Egypt regularly pass 40°C and the west bank has almost no shade, which turns the Valley of the Kings from a highlight into an endurance test. If you must come in summer, everything starts at first light and stops by mid-morning.