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Highlights:

• Ramsis II Temple

• Queen Nefertari Temple

Included:

• Sightseeing tours listed in tour highlights above *entrance fees included

• Private round trip transfers (Aswan/Abu Simbel/Aswan) in a modern A/C bus

• Private licensed English speaking Egyptologist tour guide

• Sales tax & service fees

Excluded:

• Tourist visa

• International & domestic flights

• Gratuity (tips) for drivers & tour guides

• Personal items, meals, drinks or services not mentioned

Optional:

• Lunch at a local restaurant

Itinerary

Your tour guide will meet you in the reception of your hotel or cruise ship and transfer you to Abu Simbel.

Upon arrival your guided tour includes the Temples of Ramsis II and Queen Nefertari. Not only are the two temples located at Abu Simbel among the most magnificent monuments in the world but their removal and reconstruction was an historic event in itself. When the temples (280 km from Aswan) were threatened by submersion in Lake Nasser. In the incredible salvage operation the temples were dismantled and cut up into manageable-sized blocks, then painstakingly reconstructed 65m higher than the original site, away from the dangers of the encroaching water. Inside a specially constructed mountain, two gigantic reinforced concrete domes protect the rebuilt temples.

The facade of the Ramsis II Temple is dominated by four colossal seated statues carved out of the cliff face, each 20 meters high and depicting the king, with Nubians carved in the base at his feet. The monument is dedicated to the gods Re-Horakhty, Amun and Ptah, as well as the divine Ramsis himself.

The second rock-cut monument Queen Nefertari Temple, also called the Hathor Temple, lies close by to the north of the Ramsis II Temple and is similar in plan but on a smaller scale. It was built in honor of Ramsis II' great wife and most favored of his consorts, Queen Nefertari. This smaller monument is dedicated to the goddess Hathor. The facade of the temple shows Nefertari on each side of the entrance standing between two colossal 10-meter statues of Ramsis II, again with smaller images of royal children at their feet. Never before had a queen been depicted alongside her husband and on the same scale, on the facade of a temple.

At the end of the day, your guide will transfer you back to your hotel  or cruise ship in Aswan. End of program and our services.