The burial ground of the New Kingdom pharaohs hides in a barren desert valley behind the Theban cliffs, chosen precisely because it looked like nowhere worth robbing. Over sixty tombs honeycomb the rock, with eight to ten open on any given day, rotated to limit wear. Your standard ticket covers three; the finest, Seti I with its complete painted decoration, and Tutankhamun, whose actual mummy still lies in his surprisingly small tomb, need separate tickets. Down long, sloping corridors the colour survives astonishingly well: the star-spangled ceilings and yellow-gold walls of Ramesses VI, the vivid scenes of Ramesses III, the sunken relief of Merenptah. A little electric train carries you from the visitor centre into the valley. Go as early as you can, it becomes a furnace by late morning, and buy the general photo ticket if you want to shoot inside. Choose depth over quantity: three great tombs beat ten quick ones.
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