Sun Marvel at Abu Simbel

About this tour

This 9-day Egypt tour is a special opportunity to explore Cairo, Aswan, and Luxor, and is perfectly timed to coincide with the Sun Festival at the temples of Abu Simbel, which takes place twice a year. Egypt is home to a wealth of ancient monuments from the Pharaonic era, and one of the most important and impressive is the temple to Ramses II at Abu Simbel. Ramses II was a celebrated Pharaoh who built temples all over Egypt, and the temples in Abu Simbel are particularly fascinating because they were constructed by cutting and tunnelling into a rock cliff-face, rather than using blocks and columns. The main entrance tunnel features four statues at its end, and the temple was carefully designed so that twice a year, on the dates of Ramses’ ascension to the throne and his birthday, the rising sun shines directly into the tunnel and illuminates only three of the statues, leaving the fourth, dedicated to Ptah, the god of Darkness, in shadow. When the Aswan Dam was built and Lake Nasser was flooded, the temples were below the planned water line, and a massive project was undertaken to dismantle and rebuild them higher up, preserving the alignment of the tunnel so that the rising sun still shines in on the 22nd of October and 22nd of February each year. Our tour begins in Cairo, where we visit the Great Pyramids and the Sphinx before heading to Aswan to explore the island temple of Philae and the Aswan Dam. The next morning, our Egyptologist tour guide will accompany us on an early morning journey to Abu Simbel to witness the sunrise. While it can be busy, the experience is typically well-organized, allowing everyone a chance to go inside and see the statues in the morning sunlight. After this extraordinary experience, we’ll return to Aswan and board a traditional Nile felucca for a relaxing cruise down the river towards Luxor in the Nile Valley. Our facilities boat, which includes an on-board toilet, showers, and a massage deck, will provide support along the way. Alternatively, you may choose to upgrade to an extra night in Aswan’s hotel if you prefer. After spending a night on the felucca, we’ll drive north to Luxor, stopping to see the temple at Edfu along the way. Once we arrive in Luxor, you’ll have the opportunity to explore the impressive temple complex at Karnak, venture into the tombs of the Valley of the Kings, and visit Queen Hatshepsut’s temple. You’ll also have some free time to walk through the markets and relax by the hotel pool before we head back to Cairo. If you’re interested in extending your trip to the Red Sea, please contact us for details, as extensions are easily arranged from Luxor to Hurghada, and then back to Cairo.