Private Abu Simbel Day Trip with Guide from Aswan

The Great Temple of Ramses II

The Great Temple of Abu Simbel is why you make this journey. Carved into the sandstone cliff in the thirteenth century BC, its facade is guarded by four seated statues of Ramses II, each about twenty metres high, with smaller figures of his mother, wife and children at their feet. The temple honours Amun-Ra, Ra-Horakhty, Ptah and the king himself, and was designed to impress Egypt's southern neighbours.

Inside, a hall of eight Osiris-style pillars leads to scenes of the Battle of Kadesh, and a corridor runs about sixty metres into the rock to the sanctuary. With a private guide you can take your time at the reliefs and ask questions, and you can choose the moment for photographs of the facade in the best light.

The Temple of Hathor and Queen Nefertari

The smaller temple beside the great facade was built by Ramses II for his chief wife Nefertari and for the goddess Hathor. Its facade carries six standing figures, four of the king and two of the queen, all about ten metres high, an unusual honour for a queen in ancient Egypt.

Inside, Hathor-headed columns lead to a small sanctuary where the goddess appears as a cow emerging from the rock, and the wall scenes keep much of their colour. This temple is quieter than the main one, so a private visit lets you linger, listen to your guide's stories of the royal couple and photograph the facade without crowds.

The UNESCO rescue and Lake Nasser

Few monuments have a story as dramatic as the move of Abu Simbel. When the High Dam created Lake Nasser, the temples were threatened by the rising water. Between 1964 and 1968, engineers cut both temples into huge blocks and rebuilt them roughly sixty-five metres higher and two hundred metres back, inside a man-made mountain.

Your guide shows you where the join between original rock and replica is hidden and explains how the alignment was preserved. The temples belong to the UNESCO site of Nubian Monuments from Abu Simbel to Philae. A short walk to the lake gives you a view over water that now covers the villages of Nubia, and the quiet is part of the experience.

The private desert drive from Aswan

Abu Simbel is about 280 kilometres south of Aswan, close to the Sudanese border, and the drive takes roughly three hours each way across open desert. If you have wondered how to get to Abu Simbel, a private day trip is the easiest answer: our driver collects you at the hotel and you do not need to organise a convoy or a seat on a bus.

Because the vehicle is yours, you choose the start between 04:00 and 07:00, can request a comfort stop or a photograph of the sunrise, and can set the speed of the day. An earlier start gets you to the site before most groups, while a later start suits families with younger children. Water is useful, and a light jacket helps before dawn.

Opening hours and the best time to visit Abu Simbel

Abu Simbel opening hours run from early morning to late afternoon every day, and the first hours are the coolest and the quietest. From October to April the weather is most comfortable; summer afternoons can pass forty degrees, so an early start matters.

Twice a year, around 22 February and 22 October, sunlight reaches the inner sanctuary and lights three of the four statues. These days draw large crowds, so book early if you want to see them. On any other day, the morning light on the facade is already worth the journey, and a private guide can help you time your visit for it.