Luxor holidays

Head-to-head haggling is the quickest route to a bargain in Luxor. To pit your bartering skills against the best, make your way to Sharia al-Souk, near Luxor Temple. Awnings shade handmade carpets from the sun, shisha pipes glint in the light, and traders sell spices from Santa-sized sacks. You can also pick up jewellery, perfume and cotton bags.

If you don’t like the hard-sell, head to the gift shops on Sharia al-Corniche. As a rule, the stores marked with ‘no hassle’ signs tend to be easier to browse in. You can pick up everything from pottery to leather in this area. Alternatively, try Television Street. A lot of the shops here sell marked-priced goods, so you don’t have to barter.

If you prefer the goods you buy to be kind on the producers rather than your pocket, take a spree at the Fair Trade Centre, opposite Luxor Temple. Here, you can buy handmade cotton products from the weavers of Akhmin, carved wood from the Hagaza wood-carving project, and hand-woven carpets from the Bedouin Women Community Project.

The hottest tickets in Luxor are for the Sound and Light Show at Karnak Temple. The show narrates the story of the temple and Thebes in lasers and music. There are three shows every night, in different languages. Alternatively, head to the restaurants in the Corniche, where you can watch belly dancers while you eat.

Nightlife often takes a backseat to sightseeing opportunities in Luxor. After-hours entertainment is mostly limited to hotels’ in-house discos. There are also a few livelier bars around Sharia Ibn Khalid Waldi. If you want to experience a bona-fide Egyptian nightclub, head to Television Street. The clubs in this area get going at around 1am.

Koshari is eaten so often in Egypt, you’d think it counted as a major food group. The dish is made from rice, lentils, chickpeas and macaroni, which is topped with tomato or garlic sauce. It’s easy to track down this dish in Luxor – most street food stalls and traditional restaurants serve it.

Egyptian kebabs are a world apart from the post-pub meat mountains you find in the UK. Koftas are made from minced lamb and a souk’s-worth of spices. The meat is pressed onto metal skewers and grilled over hot coals.

You’ll need a sweet tooth for this one. The cake is made from semolina flour and milk. Once it’s cooked, sticky syrup is poured over the top and the dessert soaks it up like a sponge. Plenty of restaurants feature basbousa on their dessert menus, but you can also get it from street food stalls to enjoy on the go.

This is Egyptian fast food at its best. Some people compare these palm-sized patties to falafel, but they’ve got their own identity when they’re cooked properly. Street food sellers make them by mixing together and frying fava beans and spices. Sometimes they’re served in warm pittas.

Lots of Egyptians don’t drink alcohol, and they fill the void with fruit juice. Pomegranates, oranges and watermelons all grow on the banks of the Nile, so these sorts of juices are easy to come by. Sugar cane juice is also a top-seller. You can pick up a cup from roadside stalls around Luxor.