2 Days Aswan and Nubia and Abu Simbel Temple from Aswan

Day 1

In the morning you will be picked up from your Aswan hotel and you will first visit the High Dam, an engineering miracle used as an embankment dam situated across the Nile River, built in the 1960’s to protect Egypt from annual floods. After this visit you will take a boat trip to the Temple of Philae. This temple was built in honor of goddess Isis, the chief deity of the island the temple was built on. It is considered by many to be one of the most beautiful temples in Egypt. After this visit you will go to a Nubian village called Gharb Soheil. It used to be a fishing village and the locals thought of the idea of making their village into an open-air museum to display the traditional Nubian life and culture. Here you will see lots of bright colored houses and meet kind people. You also visit a family home to enjoy the Nubian hospitality and to have a closer look at the local life and culture.

At every site you will get information from your Egyptologist tour guide and you will get free time to explore the sites by yourself.

After touring the sites you will be transferred to your hotel.

Day 2

Your Egyptologist guide and driver will collect you from your Aswan hotel around 4:30am – please note that for some Aswan hotels pickup may be earlier, . Catch forty winks in air-conditioned comfort as you drive for three and a half hours across the desert to the small town of Abu Simbel – you may wish to order a breakfast box from your hotel.

At the site, your private Egyptologist guide will explain the history of the UNESCO-listed temples. He'll clarify how they were built, for Ramses II and his wife Nefertari, and how they were transported, piece by piece, to this new location when the Aswan High Dam was set to flood their original location. You'll also learn about the meanings of the statues and inscriptions that adorn the temples, and have free time to explore and capture pictures of the temples reflected in Lake Nasser.

After around three hours at the site, which includes time for shopping, coffee, and snacks (own expense), you'll drive back to Aswan, arriving at your hotel around 1:30pm, depending on location.