A Day Tour To Abu Simbel – Everything You Need To Know
I guarantee you think the Pyramids of Giza are the most impressive site in Egypt BUT there is one other place even more impressive than the Pyramids in my humble opinion. Let me introduce you to Abu Simbel! You’re probably thinking I’ve never heard of this place, and that’s because the Pyramids of Giza dominate tourism in Egypt. However, you absolutely NEED TO add Abu Simbel to your itinerary as it is one of the most beautiful sights in Egypt to visit!
In this guide you will find advice on how to get to Abu Simbel, why it’s so special, when to visit and where to stay, with updated pricing for 2024.
WHAT IS ABU SIMBEL AND WHY IS IT
SO SPECIAL?
Abu Simbel comprises of two rock-cut temples on the Western Bank of Lake Nasser in a region called Nubia, only 20km north of the border of Sudan. Originally the twin temples were carved out of the mountainside during the 19th Dynasty reign of the Pharaoh Ramesses II over 3,000 years ago. It took 20 years to complete construction of the twin temples!
The Great Temple is characterised by 4 colossal statues of Ramesses in front of the entrance, and whilst the temple itself is dedicated to the gods Amon-Ra, Ra-Harakhti and Ptah, it also depicts Ramesses’ purported victory at the Battle of Kadesh. On two days of the year (around February 22 and October 22), the first rays of the morning sun penetrate the whole length of the temple and illuminate the statues on the back wall except for the one of Ptah (being the god connected with the realm of the dead and who always remained in the dark).
The Small Temple is dedicated to Queen Nefertari, one of the many wives of Ramesses II and apparently his favourite. Interestingly, this is a rare instance in Egyptian art where the statues of the king and his queen are of equal size (generally, the statues of the queens stood next to those of the king, but were never taller than his knees).
Over time the use of the temples diminished and slowly they became covered with sand up to the knees of the statues situated outside the Great Temple. The Europeans rediscovered the temples in 1813, led by Jean-Louis Burckhardt who found the top frieze of the Great Temple. Fast-forward to 4 years later, and a lot of sand removal, Giovanni Battista Belzoni managed to locate the entrance into the temple. Eventually this became a tourist destination, attracting visitors even towards the end of the 19th century.
But the story doesn’t end there…the entire twin temples were relocated! Of course there was a good reason for this, where it became apparent that the water levels of the River Nile would rise following the construction of the Aswan High Dam, subsequently causing erosion and submersion of the temples.
In 1964 a multinational team of archaeologists, engineers and skilled heavy equipment operators from over 50 countries began the works to completely dismantle the temples into large blocks, move them to higher grounds, and then reconstruct them. This took 5 years at a cost of $40 million!
HOW TO GET TO ABU SIMBEL
Given it’s remote location Abu Simbel only gets a few hundred visitors a day compared to the thousands at the Pyramids of Giza. So how do you get to Abu Simbel?
There are a few main routes, either from Cairo, Luxor or Aswan but I am going to focus on Aswan as it is by far the easiest and shortest route. From Aswan, there are three main options:
- By land – Shared day tour from Aswan. Going on a group day tour from Aswan will be the cheapest option. However, all of the tours depart at 4-5am, with a journey time of 3.5-4 hours. Usually you will arrive back to your hotel around 2-3pm. You will also be in large coaches, and there will be multiple coaches arriving at the same time so it will be crowded. Also one point to note is that guides aren’t allowed into the temples so they will be waiting outside for you.
- By land – Private day tour from Aswan. This is by far the best option, especially if you want to have Abu Simbel all to yourself with not a soul in sight without waking up ridiculously early. To see the temples of Abu Simbel without any crowds you need to leave around 8am or later so you arrive once the tour groups are all leaving. You don’t want to go too late because in the afternoon the sunlight doesn’t shine directly on the temples so you don’t get the morning glow. When planning your trip, you should factor in around 1 hour to look around the temples.
- By air – Round trip flight from Aswan. There are daily direct flights to Abu Simbel from Aswan, although limited in number. This will be more expensive than going by land and it only cuts the journey time by 1 hour. Also once you arrive into Abu Simbel you will still need to pay for a taxi to take you to and from the airport to Abu Simbel Temples.
- I wouldn’t recommend this option as it seems quite a faff to organise, is more expensive, and is not that much shorter than by going by land unless you opt to stay the night in Abu Simbel.
There are also cruise tours from Luxor to Aswan which stop at Abu Simbel, and you may want to consider this as an alternative option.
HOW MUCH IS THE TICKET FOR ABU SIMBEL TEMPLES?
For foreigners the ticket is 240EGP per adult. If you go on the sun alignment days it is 500EGP. There’s student ticket pricing available and for children under 6 it is free entry.
Opening hours: 7am – 5pm (except for sun alignment days, opening hour is 3am).
IS ABU SIMBEL WORTH A VISIT?
ABSOLUTELY!
It’s quite hard to imagine when you’re standing outside the entrance, facing the 4 colossal statues, that the entire temple was relocated! You will see one broken statue which was damaged in an earthquake but this doesn’t take away from the beauty of the Great Temple.
And whilst the outside is impressive, the inside of the temple is breath-taking. Inside, you’ll find the main chamber with 8 Osiride statues of Ramesses II, followed by numerous smaller chambers and walls covered with colourful hieroglyphics, depicting Ramesses II prowess in battle, trampling over his enemies and slaughtering them in front of the gods.
The roof of the main chamber is decorated with vultures, symbolising the protective goddess Nekhbe. At the back of the temple lies the statues of Ramesses II, Ptah, Amon-Ra, and Ra-Harakhti, and as mentioned above on the sun alignment days the rays will shine through onto these statues (except on the statue of Ptah).
The small temple is dedicated to the goddess Hathor and was built to honour Queen Nefertari. It’s exterior is equally as impressive as the Great Temple although smaller in size. The entrance contains six colossal statues, with a statue of Ramesses on each side and one of Nefertari dressed as Hathor on each side.
The inside follows the same intricacies as the Great Temple, with the colourful hieroglyphics. However, unlike the Osiride statues in the Great Temple, the main chamber of the small temple contains six pillars, decorated with scenes of Queen Nefertari playing the sistrum, together with the gods Horus, Khnum, Khonsu, and Thoth, and the goddesses Hathor, Isis, Maat, Mut of Asher, Satis and Taweret.
IS IT WORTH STAYING OVERNIGHT IN
ABU SIMBEL?
Accommodation in Abu Simbel is very limited (as is food options), and all of the hotels/lodgings are very basic so don’t expect to find 4/5 star hotels. If you do decide to stay these are the three top-rated accommodation options (not tried and tested): Kabara Nubian House, Eskaleh Nubian Ecolodge and Azal Lagoons Resort.
We stayed in Aswan at the Sofitel Legend Old Cataract which was absolutely stunning. I recommend doing a night in Aswan as there are more food options and other sights to see like the temple of Philae.
A FEW MORE TIPS WON’T HURT:
- Water: Take plenty of water with you! There is no shade outside of the temples and it will be very hot (we went at the end of September and it was 35 degrees by 9am). Also once you’re inside the complex you won’t find water as the shops with drinks are mainly located at the ticket counter.
- Toilets: There are two sets of toilets on site – one by the main gate before you get to the ticket counter and then one at the ticket counter. Trust me, the ones by the ticket counter are much cleaner!
- Viewpoint: There is a viewpoint to see the Great Temple from above. To get here, when you walk towards the exit you will see a path leading to the top of the rock and if you follow this you will get the view.
- Panoramic: Finally, if you want a panoramic picture of both temples walk over to small covered terrace on the opposite side of the small temple.
MORE INFORMATION ABOUT EGYPT
Cairo: Check out the best hotel to stay in Cairo here.
Luxor: For more on Luxor, check out my guides on Luxor East Bank and Luxor West Bank, and review of the Hilton Luxor.
If you have any questions about how to visit Abu Simbel, or to share your personal experience, drop a comment in the comment section below.
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6 responses to “A Day Tour To Abu Simbel – Everything You Need To Know”
It looks like a dream destination to go for me. So much knowledge you can gain for a trip like this. It’s truly an impressive place to visit. Thanks for sharing your post!
Such great advice! I wouldn’t have thought that a private tour would be such a good deal! I’m definitely adding this to my bucket list.
Egypt has a lot of amazing places and things to see and visit. One of my dream destination!
It sounds like an interesting place to visit. I am hearing about this temple for the very first time but would love to go see it one day. Lovely read!
Lots of great advice! Sounds like a very interesting place to visit.
Abu Simbel is awesome. I really loved it and the story of how it was moved is amazing. Although I didn’t stay at the Hotel Cataract I did visit and spent a little time there. It is a beautiful hotel and exudes classic yesteryear ambience. I enjoyed your post – it has brought back wonderful memories.