Aswan to Abu Simbel — Temples of Ramses II & Nefertari

Aswan · Full day · about 9 hours · shared departure for 4–12 travellers · from $60 per person

The drive to Abu Simbel has a reputation as something to be endured — hours of empty road before the temple at the end. We'd ask you to think of it the other way around. The route south from Aswan runs deep into Nubia, across one of the emptiest and most beautiful deserts in Egypt, and as the sun climbs you'll watch mirages shimmer and dissolve along the horizon, water that isn't there pooling over the sand. The road is not the price of the day. It's part of it.

And at the end of it stand two of the greatest things the ancient world ever carved. The Great Temple of Ramses II, fronted by four seated colossi cut straight into a sandstone cliff, and beside it the smaller Temple of Nefertari, raised by Ramses for his queen — one of the rare moments in Egypt where a pharaoh honoured his wife at nearly his own scale. Both were lifted from their original ground and rebuilt, block by block, in one of the most ambitious rescues in history.

This is a small-group shared departure, which means the pleasure of travelling alongside like-minded explorers, the ease of fully organised service, and a price that opens this far-southern corner of Egypt to everyone. Sawa means "together," and on a long road like this one, good company is no small thing — a knowledgeable guide, a comfortable seat, and travellers to share the wonder with. Your seat is confirmed the moment you book, and the journey runs as a set group departure.

Day 1 — South to Abu Simbel and Back

The Shape of the Day

04:00 AM — Gather in Aswan The day begins in the dark, early enough to reach Abu Simbel in the cool of the morning and stand before the temples before the heat and the crowds arrive. Our representative meets you at your hotel, welcomes you, and introduces you to the travellers you'll share the long road with. Once everyone is aboard, we turn south.

04:00 AM – 07:30 AM — The Drive South The road to Abu Simbel takes around three and a half hours through the Nubian desert. You set out under the stars and watch the light come up over an enormous, empty landscape — and as the sun rises and the road heats, you'll see the desert's famous mirages shimmer in the distance, one of the quiet pleasures of travelling this far south.

07:30 AM – 09:30 AM — The Temples of Abu Simbel You arrive in the gentler part of the morning and spend around two hours at the site with your guide — first the Great Temple of Ramses II, then the Temple of Nefertari beside it — taking in both their colossal scale and the fine detail carved across their walls.

09:30 AM – 01:00 PM — The Return to Aswan The road carries you back north, around three and a half hours, the desert sliding past once more on the long, easy run home.

Around 01:00 PM — Arrival in Aswan You arrive back in Aswan in the early afternoon. The tour ends at the agreed drop-off point, leaving you free to rest, settle by the river, or carry on with your stay.

The Great Temple of Ramses II — Four Giants in the Cliff

Nothing quite prepares you for the first sight of it. Four seated statues of Ramses II, each around twenty metres tall, carved directly into the sandstone cliff, gazing out over the water as they have for more than three thousand years.

Raised in the thirteenth century BC, the Great Temple was Ramses' statement of his own power, cut not from blocks but straight into the living rock of the hillside. Inside, the scale continues — pillared halls lined with figures of the king, walls covered in scenes of his battles and his gods, leading deep into the cliff to the sanctuary at its heart. The temple was built so precisely that, on two days each year, the rising sun reaches all the way through to light the statues in that innermost chamber — an alignment the ancient builders engineered into solid stone.

What stays with you, though, is what happened to it in modern times. When the High Dam's reservoir, Lake Nasser, began to rise, the entire temple was destined to disappear beneath the water. Instead, Egypt and UNESCO cut it into thousands of enormous blocks and lifted the whole thing more than sixty metres up the cliff, reassembling it exactly as it had stood. You are looking at something ancient that was saved by an act of almost equal ambition.

The Temple of Nefertari — A Queen at Full Scale

Beside the Great Temple stands a second, smaller one, and it tells a quieter but no less remarkable story.

Ramses raised this temple for his beloved queen, Nefertari, and dedicated it to the goddess Hathor. What makes it singular is the facade: among the towering statues of the king stand statues of Nefertari herself, carved at nearly the same height as her husband — almost unheard of in a world where queens were shown small at a pharaoh's feet. It is, in stone, an unusual public declaration of regard.

Inside, the carvings are softer and more graceful than the warlike scenes next door — the queen in the company of the gods, offerings and blessings, the imagery of Hathor throughout. Standing in the two temples one after the other, you feel the difference between them clearly: one built to overwhelm, the other built with something closer to tenderness.

Returning to Aswan

The long road north carries you back through the same vast desert, and by early afternoon you're returned to Aswan with the day's images still settling.

Aswan moves to a gentler rhythm than almost anywhere in Egypt — calmer, warmer, bound closely to the river. Great rounded granite boulders break the surface of the Nile, palm-fringed islands drift past, Nubian culture colours the streets, and a soft southern light settles over all of it.

The tour ends here. What you've really done is travel to the far edge of Egypt and back to stand before something that should have been lost — and you did it not alone, but in good company, on a long road made shorter by sharing it, sawa, together.

Upcoming departures

  • October 1, 2026 at 04:00 — 0 of 12 seats taken, forming — 4 more travellers to confirm
  • October 7, 2026 at 04:00 — 0 of 12 seats taken, forming — 4 more travellers to confirm

Every date needs 4 travellers to be confirmed (the GoAhead). Hold a seat free — a deposit is only charged once the date confirms. Don't see your day? Start your own date on this page; our team reviews it before it opens.

Itinerary

  1. The Great Temple of Ramses II — Stand before the four colossal statues guarding the facade of the rock-cut temple.
  2. The Temple of Nefertari — Visit the smaller temple Ramses dedicated to his queen, beside the great one.
  3. The relocation story — Learn how both temples were cut apart and lifted above the rising waters of Lake Nasser.

Included

  • Licensed Egyptologist guide
  • Air-conditioned car
  • Hotel pickup & drop-off in Aswan

Not included

  • Abu Simbel entrance tickets
  • Gratuities
  • Food & drinks

Operated by an operator registered with the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism & Antiquities and verified by Sawa Tours.