Tour Overview
This private day trip takes you north from Luxor to two temples that many visitors to Egypt never reach: the Temple of Seti I at Abydos, with some of the finest painted reliefs in the country, and the Temple of Hathor at Dendera, whose ceilings still hold their color. Your Egyptologist guide and a private car collect you from your Luxor hotel or Nile cruise, lunch is included, and so are the entrance fees.
Tour Highlights
- See the reliefs in the Temple of Seti I at Abydos, carved in fine, shallow stone and still showing much of their original paint after more than 3,000 years.
- Find the Abydos King List, a corridor wall where Seti I and the young Ramses II honor the names of the kings who ruled before them.
- Look down into the Osireion behind the Seti temple, a strange sunken building of huge granite blocks linked to the cult of Osiris.
- Walk under the blue, star-covered ceilings of the Dendera hypostyle hall, held up by columns topped with the face of Hathor, goddess of love and music.
- Climb to the roof chapels at Dendera, where a copy of the famous zodiac ceiling shows how the ancient Egyptians mapped the night sky.
Tour Route
Is the Dendera and Abydos day trip worth it?
Yes, especially if you have already seen Karnak and the Valley of the Kings. Abydos has some of the finest relief carving of the New Kingdom, and Dendera has the best-preserved painted ceilings of any Egyptian temple. Both are far quieter than the Luxor sites, so you often share the halls with only a few other visitors.
The two temples also cover a long stretch of history in one day. Abydos was built around 1290 BC, at the height of the pharaohs. Dendera was built more than a thousand years later, under the Ptolemies and the Romans, yet it was still dedicated to the old goddess Hathor and still decorated in the old way.
What makes the Temple of Seti I at Abydos special?
Its carving. The reliefs at Abydos are cut in very low, fine detail, and many still have their color, so the faces of the gods and the king look almost freshly painted. The temple also has an unusual L-shaped plan and seven chapels in a row, one for each of its gods and for the king.
- The King List: a carved roll of royal names from the earliest kings down to Seti I, one of the most important records for dating Egyptian history.
- The Osireion: a sunken stone hall behind the temple, built as a symbolic tomb for Osiris and often flooded with groundwater.
- The Osiris cult: Egyptians believed the head of Osiris was buried at Abydos, and for centuries people made pilgrimages here.
What can you see at Dendera Temple?
Dendera is the main temple of Hathor, goddess of love, joy and music. Its roof, walls and ceilings are almost complete, so you can walk from the great hall into the inner rooms, go down into narrow crypts, and climb a stairway to the chapels on the roof.
The round zodiac on one roof chapel ceiling is a copy; the original was removed in the 19th century and is now in the Louvre in Paris. Hathor of Dendera was also linked to Horus of Edfu, and every year her statue traveled south by boat to visit his temple.
What else can you do from Luxor?
To see the temple Hathor's statue traveled to each year, book the Edfu and Kom Ombo day trip south of Luxor. Closer to town, the Luxor East Bank tour covers Karnak and Luxor Temple, and our Luxor travel guide helps you plan the rest of your stay.
Tour Itinerary
A full day north of Luxor: the farther temple first, lunch in between, and Dendera on the way home.
Your Egyptologist guide and driver collect you from your hotel or ship in Luxor in a private air-conditioned car. The route runs north through the green farmland of the Nile Valley, past villages and canals. There is bottled water on board, and the drive is a good time to hear how Abydos and Osiris are connected.
Abydos was the holiest place in Egypt for the cult of Osiris, lord of the underworld. Seti I began this temple and his son Ramses II completed it. Inside, seven chapels sit side by side, and the reliefs are among the most delicate ever carved. Your guide also shows you the King List and the Osireion behind the temple.
A sit-down lunch at a local restaurant, included in the price. After a morning in the cool halls at Abydos, it is a chance to rest and eat properly before the second temple of the day, which lies on your way back toward Luxor.
Dendera is one of the most complete temples in Egypt, built mainly under the Ptolemies and finished in Roman times. Cleaning has brought back the deep blues and yellows of its ceilings. You see the Hathor columns, the crypts and the roof chapels, and on the back wall a large relief of Cleopatra VII with her son Caesarion.
From Dendera your driver takes you back south to Luxor and drops you at your hotel or Nile cruise. Your guide, the car, lunch, water and the entrance fees are all covered by the price, so you only need cash for tips and anything personal you choose to buy along the way.
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.
The tour starts at your hotel or your Nile cruise ship in Luxor. Your guide and driver pick you up there in a private air-conditioned car and bring you back to the same place after Dendera. Let us know where you are staying when you book, and we will confirm the pickup details.
The price includes pickup and drop-off in Luxor, a private air-conditioned vehicle, a private Egyptologist guide, one lunch during the tour, entrance fees for Abydos and Dendera temples, bottled water in the car, and all service charges and taxes. Tips and any extras outside the program are not included.
It is a private tour: the car and the guide are for you and your group only. Because the cost of the vehicle and guide is split between everyone in the group, the price per person goes down as the group gets bigger. Prices also vary by season, from {price} per person.
You visit Abydos first, because it is the farther of the two from Luxor, then stop for lunch and see Dendera on the way back. This order puts the longer part of the drive at the start of the day and leaves the shorter leg for the afternoon, when you are more tired.
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.
