For nearly 500 years, from the 16th to 11th century BCE, this narrow desert valley on Luxor’s West Bank was where Egypt buried its kings. Sixty-three known tombs cut deep into the limestone, chosen specifically because the pyramid-shaped peak above conceals no obvious burial markers — a deliberate answer to millennia of pyramid looting.
Your standard ticket covers three tombs (from a rotating set kept open to manage wear); Tutankhamun’s tomb, KV62, requires a separate ticket and is far smaller than his fame suggests — he died young and unexpectedly, with no time for a grand tomb. Ramesses VI’s tomb, KV9, is widely considered one of the most beautifully preserved, with a full astronomical ceiling still vivid in blue and gold.
Tutankhamun’s tomb is small precisely because he died before a grander one could be finished.
No photography is allowed inside most tombs. The valley has almost no shade, so an early visit beats the midday heat, and a tram from the entrance covers the walk to the tomb cluster.