Horse riding in Luxor: My review of Luxor Stables

As a child I loved riding and my sister and I went to lessons every week. As an adult I have ridden rarely but it is something I love to do on holiday when there is an opportunity.

Martha (our 11 year old) also really likes horse riding and has recently been having some lessons. I came across Luxor stables while researching our trip to Egypt and started thinking it would be really lovely to go horse riding in Luxor.

To begin with I thought it might be just Martha and I but the whole family decided they would like to join in, which was great. We had a fantastic experience at Luxor stables and would highly recommend.

How to book a ride at Luxor Stables

It’s really easy to book a ride with Luxor stables. We booked online, where there is a choice of how long a ride you would like, from one to four hours.

Book Luxor Stables here

It also gives you ideas of the type of ride. We opted for just the one hour ride from the village and through the banana plantations which was lovely.

There are also options for sunrise or sunset rides as well as riding into the desert or to visit temples. We did our ride on the last day in Luxor but if we had been staying longer I would have been very tempted to do another ride as well.

Even after booking, when we arrived at the stables Nobi, the owner, discussed where we would ride and how long for. There would definitely be options to amend your original choices if you’d changed your mind.

After booking Nobi, the owner liaised with us to check on the experience of each rider to ensure that they prepared the most appropriate horses for us.

Where is Luxor stables?

Luxor stables is on the West Bank of Luxor, just off Al Qarna Road.

The stables do offer hotel pick-up for a small fee, which can be arranged at the time of booking. Since we were staying at Villa Belzoni, on the West Bank, only a 10 minute walk away we were able to make our own way to the stables.

Depending on where you are staying in Luxor, you’ll be able to make a decision on whether a transfer would make things easier for you or not.

What to expect on arrival at the stables

On arrival at the stables we were warmly welcomed and offered a seat while they made sure the horses were all ready. Nobi, the owner, confirmed with us the riding ability of everyone to check they had the right horses.

Apart from Martha and I, who both know how to ride, the other three were beginners.

We were taken into the courtyard to collect riding helmets and offered the chance to peak at the camels in their stable.

Once all the horses were ready anyone that needed it was given help to mount their steed and we were ready to go.

It was a private ride for the five of us, which was great and we had two guides, who were on donkeys.

What to expect on the ride

We set off with one of the guides at the front and the other at the back. Particularly at the beginning of the ride they checked in on all of us to make sure everyone was ok.

The guides also observed our riding technique and checked our confidence so they then knew how much support to give each of us.

Chloe (a non-rider) was in the lead and one of the guides tended to keep hold of her horse. I think this was mostly to keep him moving!

I have to say my horse was fantastic, he was super responsive and a perfect ride. All the horses seemed really well cared for and looked very healthy.

For our family the ride was the perfect balance of being interesting enough for Martha and I but not too scary for the non-riders. We felt in safe hands throughout.

We did mostly walk along at a relaxed pace. However when safe the guides encouraged us all to have a little trot (they kept a close eye on the non-riders).

We all thoroughly enjoyed this.

What do you see on the village ride?

On our one hour ride, we headed out straight from the stables and walked along the road briefly before turning onto dirt roads through the village and fields.

It was a lovely way to get a glimpse of rural Egyptian life.

We then ended up riding through a banana plantation which was very nice; so calm and peaceful after the hustle and bustle of Luxor city.

At the end of the ride we were invited to sit for a drink at the stables. Unfortunately we had a restaurant reservation so weren’t able to hang around.

Would we recommend Luxor stables?

Without doubt we would totally recommend Luxor stables. The staff were super friendly and made sure everyone was happy and well looked after.

They are a great choice for families since their horses were so calm and perfect for young riders. The guides were also really good at checking everyone was ok and I imagine would be very happy to make adjustments for any riders that were more nervous or needed more support.

For me, our horse ride was one of my favourite things to do in Luxor. Possibly didn’t quite beat the hot air balloon ride but it was a lovely activity that is very different to all the standard Luxor sights.

Obviously we did make sure we visited Valley of the Kings, Karnak and Luxor temple because, I mean you can’t visit Luxor and not do those things. But some time to take in the surroundings was also appreciated, much the same as our felucca ride enabled us to do this on the Nile too.

Get in touch if you have any other questions or are thinking about going horse riding in Luxor too.