5-Day Aswan Heritage Tour with Abu Simbel and Nubian Museum

• Meet your tour guide upon arrival at Aswan International Airport, where a representative will assist you with arrival procedures and take you to the hotel. At the hotel, the tour manager will help with a smooth check-in and review your holiday itinerary with you to confirm pick-up times for each tour.

Overnight in Aswan.

(Welcome drinks)

• Have breakfast and visit the world-famous High Dam, an engineering miracle constructed between 1960 and 1970. It was built to increase economic production by regulating the annual river flooding, providing water storage for agriculture, and later generating hydroelectricity. The dam had a significant impact on the economy and culture of Egypt.
• Continue to the Unfinished Obelisk. This obelisk is believed to belong to Queen Hatshepsut, one of the rulers of the 18th Dynasty and the royal wife of King Tuthmosis II. The Unfinished Obelisk is the largest known ancient obelisk, located in the northern region of the stone quarries of ancient Egypt in Aswan. It is unknown which pharaoh created this structure. It is nearly one-third larger than any ancient Egyptian obelisk ever erected. If completed, it would have measured around 42 m and weighed nearly 1,200 tons.
• You can book an evening trip to the fabulous sound and light show at Philae Temple. (Optional)

Overnight in Aswan.
(Meal: lunch)

• Have breakfast at your hotel and begin your tour to the Temple of Kalabsha, the largest freestanding temple in the region, and the Nubian Museum, considered one of the most important museums featuring recovered relics from tombs and temples. Venture into the history of Egypt's Nubia region and learn about the impact of the Aswan High Dam on the area. First, enjoy views of the Nile as you take a motorboat to the ancient Temple of Kalabsha, set on the banks of Lake Nasser. The temple was built by the Roman emperor Octavius Augustus in 30 BC as a tribute to Mandulis (Merul), a Lower Nubian sun god. Explore the largest freestanding temple in Egyptian Nubia and admire a fine carving of Horus emerging from reeds on its inner curtain wall. Follow your guide through its most remarkable carvings and features, and see why the temple is considered one of the most complete in the region.
• Visit the International Museum of Nubia, created as part of UNESCO's initiative to preserve artifacts from the area's history. The museum was built to provide exhibition space for materials recovered from tombs, temples, and settlements, as Egyptologists and archaeologists feared that rising waters from the High Dam would submerge the remains of Egyptian Nubia. The Nubia Museum opened in 1997 and won the Aga Khan Award for Architecture.

Overnight in Aswan.

• (Meals: breakfast, lunch)

• Have breakfast and start your trip to Abu Simbel Temples. It takes about 3 hours and a half to drive one way from Aswan to Abu Simbel by private air-conditioned vehicle. Upon arrival, enjoy the impressive Temples of Ramses II at Abu Simbel, dedicated to the four universal gods - Ptah, Re-Harakhte, Amun-Re, and Ramesses II. Then enjoy your lunch box while driving back to Aswan. These temples are considered masterpieces of ancient Egypt and reflect the glory and grandeur of the New Kingdom. The Egyptian government and UNESCO decided to cooperate in order to save these temples from the flood. (You will be provided with a lunch box at the hotel.)
• Continue to explore the Temple of Queen Nefertari, also called the Temple of Hathor, dedicated to the wife of the Sun God. Symbolically, the two temples of Ramesses II and Nefertari bring Ramesses II, Nefertari, Hathor, and the Sun God together as one. Have lunch at a local restaurant in Aswan and enjoy your free time.
• Head to Aswan Airport.

Overnight in Aswan.
(Meals: breakfast, lunch)

• Have breakfast at the hotel and transfer to the airport for your onward destination.

(Meal: breakfast)