Smash hit

The Nile valley between Cairo and Luxor has been avoided by most foreigners since the early 1990s, when it was a battleground between religious extremists and security forces. Although it is no longer off-limits, most tour operators continue to avoid it (two exceptions being listed below). But you can reach Tell al-Amarna by train from either Luxor or Cairo and then by local taxi - allow much of a day as the site is spread out and the ferry to the site can be slow.

Abercrombie & Kent (0845 070 0612, www.abercrombiekent.co.uk ) has three nights, B&B, at the Old Winter Palace Hotel, in Luxor, with a night in Cairo in each direction, from £1,169pp, including British Airways flights from Heathrow, EgyptAir connections to Luxor and transfers.

Andante Travels (01722 713800, www.andantetravels.co.uk ) has a 16-day escorted tour, leaving 23 March and 12 October 2008, led by Cardiff University lecturer Dr Paul Nicholason, that includes Cairo and Memphis, Tell al-Amarna and Luxor among other places, for £2500 pp, including flights from London.

Seven Wonders' Travel (001 815 220 8283, www.sevenwonderstravel.com ) have a 17-day extravaganza leaving on 16 January, led by the doyens of Luxor Egyptologists, Dr. Kent and Susan Weeks, who are currently excavating in the Valley of the Kings. The tour, which costs US$6895pp sharing a double, not including international flights, raises money for the Weeks' Theban Mapping Project (www.thebanmappingproject.com ) and includes visits to many Tutankhamun sites, including Tell al-Amarna, as well as others usually closed to the public.

Tutankhamun in England

Tutankhamum and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs (www.visitlondon.com/tut , 0844 844 0003), with 50 pieces from the tomb and 70 others from the period, is at the O2 Arena from 15 November until 30 August 2008. Tickets cost £20/10/50 adult/child/family Fri-Sun, £15/7.50/45 Mon-Thurs).

There were rumours in the 1920s that Carter and his sponsor Lord Carnarvon had stolen antiquities from Tutankhamun's tomb, but there is nothing untoward about the Egyptian Exhibition at Highclere Castle (01635 253210, www.highclerecastle.co.uk , adult/child/family £8/4/20), the earl's Berkshire home. Exhibits include pieces from the Earl's antiquity collection and a photographic exhibition of the excavations.

If you can't get to Cairo and Luxor, the 20 year old, award-winning Tutankhamun Exhibition in Dorchester (01305 269571, www.tutankhamun-exhibition.co.uk ) is the place to go to see an exact copy of the funerary mask and sarcophagi, as well as a replica of the tomb as it was when Carter found it.

Egypt Travel

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