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ONE of Egypt's popular holiday hotspots will be visa-free to visit this summer.
The city of Luxor welcomed new flights from both easyJet and TUI last year.
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And new rules mean holidaymakers flying directly to Luxor and Aswan airports this summer won't have to fork out for the £20 visas.
The initiative was announced by Sherif Fathy, the country's minister of Tourism and Antiquities, at the International Tourism Fair Fitur in Madrid.
Expected to run from May to October, the scheme has been introduced in a bid to drive tourists to the area in the summer.
This is because the number of tourists visiting typically dips as temperatures can hit 41C.
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A 30-day tourist visa in Egypt currently costs $25 (£20), which means a family of four could save £80 on the price of their holiday.
According to the UK Gov website, Brit holidaymakers who stay for less than 15 days at resorts in Sharm el Sheikh, Dahab, Nuweiba or Taba can already travel visa-free.
Holidaymakers who plan to stay for longer, or travel outside of these three resorts, will need to purchase a visa.
Brits can apply for visas online or get one on arrival at Egyptian airports.
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Straddling the River Nile, Luxor is known for its ties to the ancient world and was once the capital of ancient Egypt from the 16th to the 11th centuries BCE.
Nowadays, its modern city centre is located on the East Bank, which is where the majority of hotels and restaurants are located.
El Gouna is a resort town in Egypt that's known for its beaches, lagoons, and water sports
Tourist attractions on its East Bank include Luxor Temple, a sprawling site that's home to colossal statues and towering columns covered in ancient hieroglyphs.
There's also the arguably more famous Karnak Temple, home to temples, obelisks and even a sacred lake.
The two temples used to be connected by the Avenue of the Sphinxes, a 3km-long stretch of Sphinx statues.
Sitting on Luxor's West Bank is the Valley of the Kings, which is home to 62 ancient tombs, including that of the young pharaoh Tutankhamun.
And while there are no direct flights to Aswan (Brits will need to change in Cairo) there are still some amazing attractions to add to the bucket list., including a smattering of islands that sit in the Nile.
There is Philae Temple, an island temple that was rebuilt brick-by-brick and taken from one island to another.
And Agatha Christie fans will want to head to the Old Cataract Hotel where the crime writer wrote her acclaimed novel, Death on the Nile.
Both easyJet and TUI operate direct flights to Luxor from London Gatwick, with return fares from £180.
TUI's flights line up with their TUI River Cruises, with the five-star ship TUI Al Horeya going along the River Nile.
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What is it like to visit Luxor?
THE Sun's Alex Doyle went on a bucket list river cruise in the Nile Valley at the end of last year, here's how it went...
The mighty sand-coloured Philae Temple rises up from Agilkia Island, as if floating on the River Nile. The huge structure is certainly a sight to behold.
I had caught a boat to the tiny island from the Egyptian city of Aswan, which is 130 miles south of Luxor and the final stop on my five-day cruise along the Nile.
Impressively, the entire temple has been rebuilt, having been painstakingly moved from its original location — Philae Island — due to flooding, reopening in 1980.
Without the support of Unesco, it would not have survived the rising waters of the Aswan Low Dam.
It is remarkable how modern-day construction coupled with ancient ruins preserved this historical site.
And this was just one of several ancient spots ticked off on my Egyptian adventure.
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