Valley of the Queens: A Guide

The Valley of the Queens sits a short distance southwest of the Valley of the Kings, on the same stretch of Luxor's West Bank, and it holds a very different collection of tombs — royal wives, princes, and princesses rather than pharaohs themselves. The ancient Egyptians called it Ta-Set-Neferu, roughly 'the place of beauty' or 'the place of the royal children,' and while the tombs here are generally smaller in scale than the kings' tombs nearby, several of them, most famously Nefertari's, hold some of the best-preserved painted decoration anywhere in Egypt.

Here's what's actually in the valley, why Nefertari's tomb is treated so differently from every other site in Egypt, and how to plan a visit that makes sense alongside the rest of a West Bank day.

A Valley for Queens, Princes, and Princesses

Roughly 90 tombs have been identified in the Valley of the Queens, dating mostly to the New Kingdom, when it became the established burial ground for royal wives and royal children rather than the pharaohs themselves, who were buried nearby in the Valley of the Kings. The two valleys sit close together for a practical reason as well as a symbolic one — both are cut into the same limestone hills on the West Bank, chosen because the terrain offered natural concealment and because the pyramid-shaped peak overlooking the area, known to the ancient Egyptians as 'the Peak,' was associated with a guardian goddess watching over the whole necropolis.

Most of the tombs here are considerably more modest than a king's tomb — shorter corridors, fewer chambers, less elaborate architecture — which makes sense given that even a royal wife or child didn't command the same resources as a reigning pharaoh. But 'modest' is relative in this context. Several tombs, decorated for particularly favored or powerful queens, carry painting quality that rivals anything in the Valley of the Kings, just on a smaller physical scale.

Nefertari's Tomb: The Best-Preserved Painting in Egypt

The valley's centerpiece, by a wide margin, is the tomb of Nefertari, the principal wife of Ramesses II and clearly one of the most beloved figures in his life, judging by how much he built in her honor — including the smaller of the two temples at Abu Simbel. Her tomb, designated QV66, was rediscovered in 1904 by the Italian archaeologist Ernesto Schiaparelli, and what he found inside is generally considered the single most beautifully decorated tomb in all of Egypt.

The walls carry vivid, still-vibrant scenes showing Nefertari's journey through the afterlife, guided by gods and goddesses, drawn from the Book of the Dead and related funerary texts — Isis leading her by the hand, Nefertari playing senet (an ancient board game connected to the passage into the afterlife), offerings being made to a whole roster of deities. The color has survived in a condition that's genuinely rare for a tomb this old, largely because the tomb sat sealed and undisturbed for so long, and later benefited from an intensive conservation project led by the Getty Conservation Institute in the 1980s and 1990s that stabilized flaking plaster and addressed salt damage threatening the paintings.

That same fragility is exactly why access to the tomb today is so tightly controlled. Humidity from visitors' breath was actively damaging the plaster and pigment, so entry now requires a separate, considerably higher-cost ticket on top of general Valley of the Queens admission, with a capped number of visitors allowed inside on any given day and firm time limits once you're in. It's worth the extra cost for most travelers who make it this far into Luxor, but it's also worth knowing in advance that this isn't an impulse add-on you decide on at the gate — availability can be limited, especially in peak season.

What Else Is Worth Seeing in the Valley

Nefertari's tomb draws most of the attention, understandably, but several other tombs in the valley are included in the standard entrance ticket and are genuinely worth the visit on their own merits, particularly for travelers who've already used their budget or their patience on Nefertari.

• The tomb of Amunherkhepshef (QV55) — a son of Ramesses III who died young, with detailed, well-preserved scenes of the prince being introduced to various gods by his father, and an unusually poignant funerary display believed to include the remains of a miscarried fetus, tied to a related, still-debated theory about the boy's death.
• The tomb of Titi (QV52) — a queen from the 20th dynasty whose exact husband remains uncertain, with vividly painted scenes of the four Sons of Horus and various protective deities.
• The tomb of Khaemwaset (QV44) — another son of Ramesses III, decorated with scenes similar in style and quality to Amunherkhepshef's tomb nearby, both offering a genuinely close look at Ramesses III-era painting without the premium ticket price.

Which specific tombs are open on any given day rotates, partly for conservation reasons and partly to manage foot traffic, so it's worth checking locally or asking your guide which tombs are currently accessible rather than assuming a fixed roster.

How It Compares to the Valley of the Kings

Travelers often ask whether it's worth visiting both valleys on the same West Bank day, and the honest answer is that they offer genuinely different things. The Valley of the Kings has the scale, the sheer number of major tombs, and headline names like Tutankhamun and Seti I. The Valley of the Queens is quieter, considerably less crowded, and lets you get close to painting of comparable quality in a more intimate setting, especially once you've paid for Nefertari's tomb specifically. If your time and budget only stretch to one, the Valley of the Kings is the more essential stop for most first-time visitors — but the Valley of the Queens rewards travelers who've already covered the big-name sites and want something quieter and, in the case of Nefertari's tomb, arguably more visually spectacular.

Planning Your Visit

The Valley of the Queens is a short drive from the Valley of the Kings and pairs naturally with a West Bank day that also includes Hatshepsut's Temple at Deir el-Bahari and, time permitting, Deir el-Medina, the nearby village where the workers who actually carved and painted these tombs lived. Give yourself an hour for the general valley and its included tombs, and add another twenty to thirty minutes, including the wait, if you're visiting Nefertari's tomb. As with anywhere on the West Bank, an early start beats the midday heat and the tour bus crowds that build up as the morning goes on.

Most visitors to Luxor's West Bank spend their energy on the Valley of the Kings and never make it to the quieter valley next door, which is understandable given limited time, but it means missing what might be the single best-preserved piece of ancient Egyptian painting anywhere in the country. Nefertari's tomb alone is worth restructuring a day around, and the valley around it holds enough besides to make the detour worthwhile even without it.