Valley of the Kings Map: the Tombs, the Two Valleys and the West Bank

Two Valleys

The East Valley holds most of the royal tombs and gets nearly all the visitors. The West Valley, also called the Valley of the Monkeys, carries the WV labels and sees far fewer people. Burials here ran for about 500 years, from the Eighteenth Dynasty to the Twentieth Dynasty, roughly 1550 to 1069 BC, and Thutmose I is the first New Kingdom ruler confirmed buried in the valley.

John Gardner Wilkinson set the KV numbering used today, and Napoleon's expedition produced the first map of the valley in 1799. Royal burials here belong to the New Kingdom only.

Wikivoyage warns that flash floods can make the West Valley dangerous in rare storms, and no hiking over the mountain between the two valleys is permitted.

Visitor Centre, Tram and Walking Distances

You enter through the visitor centre, which has restrooms. An electric tram runs from the centre to the tomb area, a ride of about three minutes, at EGP 20 per person round trip. From the tram stop the tombs spread along a main road. KV2 and KV43 sit about 320 metres apart, which gives a rough sense of the length of that road.

The main cluster of tombs is tight. KV62 and KV9 are about 27 metres apart, KV62 and KV17 about 80 metres, and KV62 and KV14 about 240 metres. The West Valley is another matter. Wikivoyage describes it as a 2 kilometre walk from the main car park on a winding dirt and stone road, and WV22 lies about 2 kilometres from the valley entrance.

There are no accommodations or restaurants in the valley, only snacks, so bring water. Photography rules are disputed between sources: Wikivoyage says photography is strictly forbidden and unauthorised photos risk a second admission fee or expulsion, while other sources report that mobile phone photography is free. The site opens at 6:00 AM and closes at 5:00 PM, though some sources give 4:00 PM in winter. Budget 1 to 3 hours for the visit itself, or 5 to 6 hours if you add the separately ticketed tombs.

KV34, Thutmose III

Victor Loret found KV34 in 1898. It holds one of the earliest versions of the Amduat, the text that describes the sun god's journey through the night. Wikivoyage's suggested visiting order puts it in the first group of the day, together with KV43.

Expect queues of at least 15 to 30 minutes in peak season, and remember that guides are not permitted inside the tombs, so explanations happen at the entrance.

KV17, Seti I

Seti I, who ruled about 1294 to 1279 BC and was the father of Ramesses II, is buried in KV17. Belzoni found it on 16 October 1817. The tomb runs 137.19 metres and holds seventeen chambers and side rooms.

The Ministry calls it the first tomb in the valley to be entirely decorated and the first with a vaulted burial chamber. The tomb carries a special ticket on top of the general one, and its own page has the details. Read more in the guide to the tomb of Seti I.

KV11, Ramesses III

KV11 is 188 metres long. Work began under Setnakhte, but the cut broke into the earlier tomb of Amenmesse and was abandoned. Ramesses III then extended it on a new axis.

James Bruce described it in 1768, so it is also called Bruce's Tomb, and the paintings of two blind harpers gave it the name the Harper's Tomb. It appears in the rotating set of tombs on the general ticket.

KV9, Ramesses V and Ramesses VI

KV9 is the joint tomb of Ramesses V and Ramesses VI, and it was open in antiquity. About 995 Greek, Latin, Demotic and Coptic visitor inscriptions, dated from the 1st century BC to the 4th century AD, record ancient tourists. The ceilings carry astronomical figures and the Book of the Day and the Book of the Night framed by the goddess Nut.

Spoil from digging KV9 buried the entrance to Tutankhamun's tomb under workers' huts, which helped preserve it. KV9 and KV62 sit about 27 metres apart. KV9 is one of the tombs with a special ticket.

KV62, Tutankhamun

Howard Carter discovered KV62 on 4 November 1922, and it sits about 80 metres from KV17 and about 240 metres from KV14. Entry needs a separate ticket on top of the general one, and its own page covers the price and what is actually inside. Spoil from the digging of KV9 buried its entrance, which helped preserve it.

Read more in the guide to Tutankhamun's tomb.

KV5, the Sons of Ramesses II

KV5 is the largest tomb in the valley, built for the sons of Ramesses II, with at least 130 rooms and chambers as of 2006. Kent Weeks and his Theban Mapping Project team revealed its true extent in 1995. Only about 7 percent of its chambers had been cleared as of 2006.

KV5 is closed to the public, and no ticket opens it.

KV63, the Embalming Chamber

KV63 was found on 10 March 2005 and turned out not to be a royal burial at all but a storage chamber for embalming materials, dated to about 1337 to 1334 BC. It held seven wooden coffins and 28 large storage jars filled with mummification materials.

WV22, Amenhotep III

WV22 in the West Valley holds Amenhotep III. The tomb is 85 metres long, has two subsidiary chambers for his wives Tiye and Sitamen, and lies about 2 kilometres from the valley entrance. It reopened to visitors on 4 October after restoration in three phases, 2001 to 2004, 2010 to 2012 and 2023 to 2024, by teams from Waseda University and Higashi Nippon University.

Sources disagree on how many West Valley tombs are open: Wikipedia says only one, while Wikivoyage lists both WV22 and the tomb of Ay. Confirm on the day which of them are open.

WV23, Ay

Belzoni found WV23, the tomb of Ay, in 1816, a year before he found Seti I's tomb. It sits about 960 metres from KV62 in a straight line. Wikivoyage lists it as open alongside WV22, while Wikipedia counts only one West Valley tomb open, so confirm at the ticket office.

The West Valley is a 2 kilometre walk from the main car park on a dirt and stone road, and flash floods can make it dangerous in rare storms.

The Rotating General Ticket Set

The standard EGP 750 ticket does not let you pick your tombs. The set open on it rotates and includes, at various times, KV1, KV2, KV6, KV8, KV11, KV14, KV15, KV16, KV43 and KV47, according to the Earthtrekkers guide. Some tombs close for renovation, so you cannot choose a tomb before you arrive.

Wikivoyage suggests a three-part order: Thutmose III and Thutmose IV first, then Seti I and Horemheb, then Ramesses VI and Seti II. KV17, KV9 and KV62 sit outside the general ticket and need special ones. The current prices are on the tickets page.

Temple of Hatshepsut

Hatshepsut's temple at Deir el-Bahari is the closest major sight in straight-line terms, about 570 metres from KV62, but the cliff between them is not a public route, so every visit goes around by road. Several Valley of the Kings tour listings pair the valley with the temple. Its ticket price differs between two Ministry pages, 440 EGP on the temple page and 360 EGP on the Deir el-Bahari site page.

Full details in the Temple of Hatshepsut guide.

Colossi of Memnon

The Colossi of Memnon stand about 2.3 to 2.4 kilometres from KV62 in a straight line, on the valley edge where the desert meets the fields. Nearly every tour in the comparison stops here. Details in the Colossi of Memnon guide.

Medinet Habu

Medinet Habu, the mortuary temple of Ramesses III, lies about 2.3 to 2.4 kilometres from KV62 in a straight line. Among the compared tours, only the private West Bank day covering the kings and the queens lists it, and its ticket price differs between sources. Details in the Medinet Habu guide.

The Ramesseum

The Ramesseum, the mortuary temple of Ramesses II, belongs to the same necropolis cluster as Medinet Habu and Deir el-Medina. The sources used here list it among the Theban Necropolis sites but gives no separate distance from the valley and no ticket figure, so treat it as a sight you add by road on a private itinerary rather than a measured neighbour. None of the compared tours names it as a stop.

Deir El-Medina

Deir el-Medina was the village of the workers who cut and decorated the royal tombs, and US News counts it among the sites under 5 miles from the Valley of the Kings. It appears on the private kings and queens day tour, where admission is included. No separate distance figure is published in the sources used here.

Valley of the Queens

The Valley of the Queens lies about 1.7 kilometres from KV62 in a straight line, closer to the valley than the Colossi are, though again the route goes by road. It holds the tomb of Nefertari, which has its own separate ticket. Check its current status before you plan around it.

Half-day tours such as the kings and queens half day with lunch pair the two valleys. Details in the Valley of the Queens guide.

Tours and the Sites They Include

The table lists each tour, the sites on its itinerary and its listed price per person. Check the entry fee note on the tour page before booking, because some prices include admission and some add it at booking or at the gate.