Qena
Egypt · Africa
About Qena
Qena is a city in Upper Egypt, and the capital of the Qena Governorate. Situated on the east bank of the Nile, it was known in antiquity as Kaine (Greek Καινή, meaning "new (city)"; Latinized transliteration: Caene) and Maximianopolis. Gauthier identifies Qena with ancient Shabt.
This provincial capital is located about 95 km from El Balyana and 63 km north of Luxor. It is most famous for its proximity to the ruins of Dendara. It owes its modern prosperity to the opening of the Wadi Qena towards the Red Sea, which is a major traffic route between Upper Egypt and the Red Sea. Tourists traveling between Luxor and the Red Sea will assuredly pass through this city since there is only one good road connection. Qena is noted for its pottery. Qena is also known for its beautiful huge mountains and green nature.
South Valley University has a campus in Qena.
Qena is a large market town on the River Nile situated next to the famous Greco-Roman temples of Dendera. Also on the Nile, Luxor is a long-time tourist hotspot that in large part attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors because of its temples, tombs and location on the site...
Qena travel guide
Understand
Dendera is the site of the remarkably well-preserved Ptolemaic Temple of Hathor, the sole practicable reason for visiting the town.
Getting there
Dendera is situated some 5 km southwest of Qena township on the opposite bank of the Nile from the main settlement. Most travelers now arrive in Dendera on an overpriced day-tours out of Luxor (up to LE900 per vehicle, but including Abydos). However, it is totally possible to arrive the budget way using the train and local taxi. (Strangely though, there are no inexpensive tuk-tuks available in Qena.)
By taxi Service taxis can be hired in Luxor for the round trip. Expect to pay about LE140-160 and to travel in a police convoy, which can mean some delays. From Qena centre or the railway station a return trip should be no more than LE50. The official taxi meter price is between LE15-20 one-way.
By boat A number of Luxor hotels, such as the Novotel, organise day excursions to Dendera by coach or Nile cruiser (lunch usually included, journey there and back takes most of one full day, with a short visit only at the actual temple).
By train Train travel from Luxor is between 40-55 min. There is a local trains at 12:30 (LE4.50)—trains after that one will arrive too late to get in Dendera before closing hours. Otherwise, the regular trains to Cairo also stop in Qena, see Egypt#By train.
Getting around
The site is small enough to reach everything by walking.
See
1 Temple of Hathor (7.6 km southwest of Qena railway station, LE50 return trip by taxi from Qena). daily, 8AM-5PM. Beautiful interior and no restriction on picture taking. LE80. (updated Dec 2017)
Overview adapted from Wikipedia, travel guide fromWikivoyage (CC BY-SA)。Photography via Wikimedia Commons.