What about other stuff to do in Luxor? Anyone have any good recommendations? Are the temples 1 day jobs each or do they take longer?

Hi Mark

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the west bank tour that costs about 300LE, is that spread out over a few days

No, this tour takes place in just the one day and takes a few hours to cover the various sites. There is an alternative to booking through a travel agent and that is to either find a reliable taxi driver (the hotel can arrange this) and get them to take you to the sites or you can get the ferry from Luxor to the West bank and get a taxi from there to the sites.
This works out cheaper but the disadvantage of this is that you have no Egyptologist to guide you, and in my opinion they are invaluable for your first visit.

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I'd read it's just a short taxi ride to Luxor and Karnak temples, do we really need Jolley's for that? Or do they make it a much better experience?

I would suggest that you do these on your own without booking, they are soooo easy to get to and find your way about, just pay the few LE at the entrance.
I would recommend that you visit Luxor temple in the evening to get the best from the setting sun and subsequent floodlighting of the temple.

Here are some pictures to give you an idea http://travel.webshots.com/slideshow/570049876HQqArF;jsessionid=abcGaVxsdPmFCgdfwB4is

Karnak temple can be done during the day again very easily from Luxor without booking any excursion, there is a sound and light show at Karnak Temple in the evening which is worth going to see, again this can be booked easily independently, although you will have to check the times for the English narration.