Tour Overview
This private 2-day trip from Cairo pairs Aswan with the temples of Abu Simbel. You fly to Aswan early, visit the High Dam, the Unfinished Obelisk and Philae Temple, and spend the night in a 5-star hotel. Next morning you leave early by private car for Abu Simbel, return to Aswan for lunch and fly back to Cairo. Flights, the hotel night, guide, car, two lunches and entrance fees are included.
Tour Highlights
- Fly between Cairo and Aswan both ways, so the only long drive is the road to Abu Simbel on the morning of day two.
- See the Aswan High Dam that tamed the Nile flood in the 1960s and formed Lake Nasser, one of the largest man-made lakes in the world.
- Touch the cracked Unfinished Obelisk in its granite quarry, about 42 meters long, and see the tool marks left by its ancient carvers.
- Cross by boat to Philae Temple, the sanctuary of Isis rebuilt on Agilkia Island, and walk its colonnades and carved pylons.
- Reach Abu Simbel early in the day to see Ramses II's four colossal statues and the temple he built for Queen Nefertari.
Tour Route
Is it better to see Abu Simbel in one day or two from Cairo?
Two days is easier. The one-day trip gives you only Abu Simbel and a very long day. This trip adds a night in Aswan, so you see the High Dam, the Unfinished Obelisk and Philae on day one, and start fresh for Abu Simbel the next morning instead of straight off a flight.
How is this different from the 2-day Luxor and Abu Simbel trip?
This trip stays in the south: day one is Aswan and day two is Abu Simbel, with flights both ways between Cairo and Aswan. The Luxor and Abu Simbel trip swaps Aswan's sights for Luxor's West Bank and Karnak, adding a train ride from Aswan to Luxor on day two.
Choose this one for a calmer pace and Philae Temple. Choose the Luxor version if you have not seen the Valley of the Kings and Karnak yet and do not mind a fuller second day.
Why is Abu Simbel worth the early start?
Because nothing else in Egypt has its scale. The four statues of Ramses II on the facade are about 20 meters tall, and the whole temple was cut from the living rock. In the 1960s it was sawn into blocks and rebuilt higher up, so Lake Nasser would not swallow it.
What else can you do in Aswan?
With an extra night, our Aswan day tours include the Nubian village tour by boat and the Philae Sound and Light Show in the evening. If you have more time, a Nile cruise from Aswan to Luxor links the two cities by river.
Tour Itinerary
Day one is a relaxed half day in Aswan after the flight; day two starts very early so you reach Abu Simbel before the heat.
Early in the morning a private air-conditioned car collects you from your hotel in Cairo or Giza and takes you to Cairo Airport for the flight to Aswan. On arrival your tour guide meets you, and you set off to see the city's landmarks.
Built in the 1960s with Soviet help, the High Dam stopped the yearly flood of the Nile, made year-round farming possible and created Lake Nasser behind it. From the top you look out over the lake on one side and the river on the other.
In the ancient granite quarries lies an obelisk often linked to Hatshepsut, about 42 meters long. Had it been finished, it would have been the largest ever raised, but a crack appeared and the carvers left it. The trenches around it show how the stone was worked.
Lunch is at a restaurant in Aswan and is included. It gives you time to slow down after the early flight and the two morning stops, and to look at the river, before the boat trip to the island temple in the afternoon.
A boat takes you to Agilkia Island, where Philae Temple was rebuilt after the dams raised the river. King Nectanebo I began building here, and later rulers, above all Ptolemy II, enlarged the temple of Isis. At the end of the day you check in at your 5-star hotel in Aswan.
You check out very early with a breakfast box from the hotel and travel south with your guide in a private air-conditioned car. The road crosses the open desert toward Lake Nasser, close to the Sudanese border, and the early start gets you there before the strongest heat.
Ramses II cut two temples into the cliff here in the 13th century BC. Four seated statues of the king front the Great Temple, where the walls show his battle at Kadesh, the war with the Hittites that later ended in one of the earliest known peace treaties. The smaller temple honors Nefertari and Hathor.
You drive back to Aswan for lunch, which is included, then transfer to Aswan Airport for the flight to Cairo. A driver meets you at Cairo Airport and takes you to your hotel in Cairo or Giza, at the end of two days that covered the whole of Egypt's far south.
What's Included
What the tour price covers, and what to plan for separately.
Paid
★
Your
Own
Frequently Asked Questions
Quick answers about this tour. For anything else, message us on WhatsApp — we reply fast.
It starts at your hotel in Cairo or Giza, where a private car picks you up early in the morning for Cairo Airport. Pickup from downtown Cairo and the Giza area is included; other areas can be arranged for an extra charge. On day two you are dropped back at your hotel.
The price covers return flights between Cairo and Aswan, one night in a 5-star Aswan hotel, a breakfast box on day two, two lunches in Aswan, an expert tour guide, a private air-conditioned car for all transfers including Abu Simbel, mineral water, entrance fees to all sites in the program, and taxes.
Yes. The car and guide are only for you and your group. The per-person price falls as more people share the car, guide and room, and it changes by season, mainly because domestic airfares and hotel rates are higher in the winter months and over Christmas and New Year.
Because you leave Aswan very early for Abu Simbel, usually before the hotel serves breakfast. The hotel packs a breakfast box for you to eat on the road. The early start also means you see the temples in the cooler part of the day.
Yes. Avicon Travel is a Class "A" travel agency licensed by the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism under License No. 1962 and registered since 2010. Our office and team are in Karnak, Luxor, so the guides, drivers and cars on this tour are our own local team, not a booking desk abroad.
