6-Day Luxor and Aswan Tour with Abu Simbel and Ancient Temples

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

Overnight in Luxor.

• Have breakfast on board and cross to the West Bank to visit the Valley of the Kings. It was created and used from approximately 1539 BC to 1075 BC. It contains around 60 tombs, starting with Thutmose I and ending with Ramses X or XI. The site's official name was The Great and Majestic Necropolis of the Millions of Years of the Pharaoh, Life, Strength, Health in The West of Thebes, or the Great Field. The most famous tomb is KV62, the Tomb of King Tutankhamun. Howard Carter discovered King Tut's tomb in 1922, and Tutankhamun's tomb was the first royal tomb to be discovered that was still largely intact.
• Continue the tour to visit the Hatshepsut Temple at El Deir El Bahary. This impressive temple was dedicated to Queen Hatshepsut, the only female pharaoh. It rises out of the desert in a series of terraces and merges with the sheer limestone cliffs surrounding it.
• Proceed to the two colossal statues of Amenhotep III. The Colossi of Memnon are two massive stone statues of Pharaoh Amenhotep III. For 3,400 years, they have stood in the Theban necropolis across the River Nile from the city of Luxor. The original function of the Colossi was to stand guard at the entrance to Amenhotep's memorial or mortuary temple.
• You can book an evening trip to the fabulous sound and light show at El Karnak Temple as an optional tour.

Overnight in Luxor.
(Meals: breakfast, lunch)

• Have breakfast and head to explore Karnak Temple, the largest place of worship ever built. In ancient Egypt, the power of the god Amun of Thebes gradually increased during the early New Kingdom, and after the short persecution led by Akhenaten, it rose to its apex. In the reign of Ramesses III, more than two-thirds of the property owned by the temples belonged to Amun, as evidenced by the stupendous buildings at Karnak. Although badly ruined, no site in Egypt is more impressive than Karnak. It is the largest temple complex ever built by man and represents the combined achievement of many generations of ancient builders. The Temple of Karnak is actually three main temples, smaller enclosed temples, and several outer temples located about three kilometres north of Luxor, Egypt, on 100 ha (247 acres) of land. Karnak is the site's modern name. Its ancient name was Ipet-isut, meaning "The Most Select (or Sacred) of Places."
• Move to Luxor Temple. Amenhotep III built it in the 18th Dynasty in the New Kingdom, and Ramesses II completed it during the 19th Dynasty. King Ramses II was the most famous king of the 19th Dynasty and ruled Egypt for about 67 years. The temple was dedicated to the great god Amun-Ra, his wife Mut, and their son Khonsu, representing the Theban triad. Enjoy visiting the Obelisk of Ramses II in front of the 1st Pylon. It was called Ipet resyt, the Southern Opet or the Place of the Seclusion of Amun-Re. It was directly connected to the Temple of Karnak, the main cult centre of Amun-Re or Amun-Min, the sky god or the ithyphallic fertility god. Since its inception, Luxor Temple has always been a sacred site. After Egypt's pagan period, a Christian church and monastery were located here, and after that, a mosque - the 13th-century Mosque of Abu el-Haggag - was built and continues to be used today.
• Transfer to your hotel in Aswan, about a 3-and-a-half-hour drive from Luxor.

Overnight in Aswan.
(Meals: breakfast, lunch)

• Have breakfast and, at 11:00 a.m., start your trip to Abu Simbel Temples. It takes about 3 and a half hours 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, which are dedicated to the four universal gods Ptah, Re-Harakhte, Amun-Re, and Ramesses II. They reflect the glory and grandeur of the New Kingdom. The Egyptian government and UNESCO decided to cooperate to save these temples from the flood. The Great Abu Simbel Temple is also called the Sun Temple of Ramses II. Enjoy your lunch box during the drive back to Aswan.
• Continue to explore the Temple of Queen Nefertari, also called the Temple of Hathor, who was the wife of the Sun God. Symbolically, the two temples of Ramses II and Nefertari bring Ramesses II, Nefertari, Hathor, and the Sun God together as one.
• Fly back to Aswan, and then you will be driven back to your hotel.

Overnight in Aswan.
(Meals: breakfast, lunch)

• Have breakfast on the train and transfer to the cruise to visit the world-famous High Dam, an engineering miracle constructed between 1960 and 1970. It was built to increase economic production by further regulating the annual river flooding and providing water storage for agriculture, and later to generate hydroelectricity. The dam had a significant impact on the economy and culture of Egypt.
• Move 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 finished, it would have measured around 42 m and weighed nearly 1,200 tons.
• Head to the beautifully located Philae Temple and the Granite Quarries, which are dedicated to the goddesses Isis and Hathor. Lunch is included in this tour. Then transfer from Aswan to Luxor in about a 3-and-a-half-hour drive.
• Head back to your hotel in Luxor.

Overnight in Luxor.
(Meals: breakfast, lunch)

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

(Meal: breakfast)