Begin with pickup at your hotel or Nile cruise boat in Aswan, and then make the trip to Abu Simbel in a private Car (almost 3 hours’ drive). Upon arrival your guide will show you the world renowned twin temples were originally carved out of the mountainside in the 13th century BC, during the 19th Dynasty reign of the Pharaoh Ramesses II.

The Great Temple at Abu Simbel is generally considered the grandest and most beautiful of the temples commissioned during the reign of Ramesses II, and one of the most beautiful in Egypt. The great temple of Amon Re and Ra-Harakhte where the four famous colossal statues of Ramses II sit majestically over 20 meters high, staring out across the desert. Enjoy a fantastic lecture from your personal guide outside the temples, and then free time to look inside the temple interior, which sinks 200 feet (60 mt) into the mountain, with statues and carvings that depict Ramses II’s military victories and captives. On the back wall of the temple you will see the statues dedicated to the gods Amun, Ra-Horakhty, and Ptah, as well as to the deified Ramesses himself.