Tour Overview
This private 2-day trip from Hurghada is built around Aswan and Abu Simbel, Egypt's far south. A car takes you from Hurghada to Luxor station, where you board the first-class train to Aswan. There you visit the High Dam, the Unfinished Obelisk and Philae Temple, then spend the night in a 5-star hotel. Day two starts early for the rock-cut temples of Ramesses II at Abu Simbel, followed by lunch in Aswan, the train to Luxor and the drive back.
Tour Highlights
- Give your time to Egypt's far south: Aswan's granite landscape on day one and the temples of Abu Simbel on day two.
- Visit Philae, the island temple of Isis that was taken apart and rebuilt on Agilkia Island to save it from the rising water.
- Stand beside the Unfinished Obelisk, a granite giant still lying in its quarry, which shows how the ancient Egyptians cut stone.
- See the four seated colossi of Ramesses II at Abu Simbel, each about 20 meters high, cut straight into the cliff above Lake Nasser.
- Ride the train between Luxor and Aswan in both directions, watching the Nile Valley go by instead of spending the whole trip in a car.
Tour Route
Is Abu Simbel worth the trip from Hurghada?
For many travelers, yes. Abu Simbel is the most striking monument of Ramesses II, and few sites in Egypt match the scale of its facade. From Hurghada it is a long journey, which is why this trip adds a night in Aswan and the city's own sights rather than a single rushed day.
The cost is that Luxor's sights are not included. If the Valley of the Kings and Karnak matter more to you than Philae and the High Dam, the Luxor and Abu Simbel trip keeps Abu Simbel and swaps Aswan's afternoon for a full day in Luxor.
Why were the Abu Simbel temples moved?
When the Aswan High Dam was built in the 1960s, the rising waters of Lake Nasser would have covered both temples. In a UNESCO rescue campaign, engineers cut them into large blocks and rebuilt them on higher ground, inside an artificial hill, keeping their original orientation toward the rising sun.
What is the Abu Simbel Sun Festival?
Twice a year, around February 22 and October 22, the rising sun shines through the entrance of the Great Temple and lights the statues in the inner sanctuary. The god Ptah, linked with the underworld, usually stays in shadow. Crowds are large on those days, so tell us early if your dates match.
How is this different from the Luxor day trip and the other 2-day trips from Hurghada?
The Luxor day trip from Hurghada and our other Upper Egypt trips from Hurghada all include Luxor's sights. This is the only one that passes through Luxor without stopping and spends both days in the south, with Aswan's sights on day one and Abu Simbel on day two.
The 2-day Luxor and Abu Simbel trip keeps Abu Simbel but trades Aswan's sights for the Valley of the Kings and Karnak. With extra nights in the south, our Aswan day tours add a felucca sail or a visit to a Nubian village.
Tour Itinerary
Day one is mostly travel, with Aswan's three main sights once you step off the train; day two starts very early for Abu Simbel and ends with the train and road home.
We pick you up from your hotel in Hurghada in a private air-conditioned car and drive across the Eastern Desert to the Nile Valley. There is no sightseeing in Luxor on this trip; the car takes you straight to Luxor station for the first-class train south to Aswan.
In Aswan your private Egyptologist guide meets you and takes you first to the High Dam, built in the 1960s. It ended the yearly Nile flood, created Lake Nasser and still supplies a large share of Egypt's electricity. From the top you see the lake on one side and the river on the other.
In the ancient granite quarries lies the Unfinished Obelisk, about 42 meters long, abandoned when a crack appeared. It is usually linked to Hatshepsut's reign, and the tool marks around it show how workers shaped granite with harder stone pounders long before iron tools.
Philae was the great temple of Isis, built mostly under the Ptolemies and Roman emperors. When the dams raised the river, it was taken apart in a UNESCO rescue campaign and rebuilt on Agilkia Island. Your guide shows you the reliefs of Isis, Osiris and their son Horus.
After the sights you have lunch at a local restaurant, which is included, and then check in to your 5-star hotel in Aswan. The rest of the evening is yours, and an early night helps, since day two starts very early. Dinner is not part of the program.
You collect a breakfast box, check out and set off with your guide for Abu Simbel, far south of Aswan near the Sudanese border on the shore of Lake Nasser. Your guide uses the journey to explain why Ramesses II built his temples at the edge of Nubia.
Ramesses II had two temples cut into the rock here: the Great Temple for himself and the gods Amun, Ra-Horakhty and Ptah, and a smaller one for Queen Nefertari and the goddess Hathor. Inside the Great Temple, carved scenes show his campaign at the Battle of Kadesh.
Back in Aswan, lunch is at a local restaurant and is included. Then you take the train north to Luxor, where an air-conditioned car meets you at the station for the drive back across the desert to your hotel in Hurghada.
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 Hurghada, where we pick you up on the morning of day one for the drive to Luxor station. It ends at the same hotel on the evening of day two, after the train from Aswan back to Luxor and the drive to the coast.
The price covers train tickets from Luxor to Aswan and back, one night in a 5-star Aswan hotel, a breakfast box on day two, two lunches in Aswan, an Egyptologist guide, air-conditioned transfers with mineral water, entrance fees to all sites in the program, and taxes. Dinner and tips are not included.
Yes. Your guide is private to you and your companions, with no other travelers joining. The per-person price falls as your group grows, because the guide, car and transfer costs are shared, and it changes by season, with higher hotel rates in winter and over Christmas and New Year.
No. Luxor is only where you change between car and train, on the way south and again on the way back. If you want Luxor's tombs and temples too, choose the Luxor and Abu Simbel trip or the Luxor and Aswan trip, or add a separate Luxor day tour before or after.
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.
