Our Aswan day tours are private, guided by a licensed Egyptologist, and run every day of the year. They cover everything within reach of the city: Philae Temple, the High Dam and the Unfinished Obelisk in a morning; Abu Simbel by road or by air in a day; Kom Ombo and Edfu on the way north; and the islands, tombs and Nubian villages that make Aswan the most relaxed stop on the Nile.
Aswan was ancient Egypt’s southern frontier. The island of Elephantine, Abu to the Egyptians, was the customs post where ivory, ebony, gold and incense arrived from Nubia, and the governors buried in the Tombs of the Nobles at Qubbet el-Hawa were the men who led those expeditions south. Harkhuf’s tomb still carries the letter a delighted boy-king Pepi II wrote him about the dancing pygmy he was bringing home. The granite that built Egypt’s obelisks and sarcophagi was quarried here; the Unfinished Obelisk, about 42 metres long and cracked before it could be freed, shows exactly how the work was done.
The temples came later and travelled further. Philae, the last temple in Egypt where the old gods were worshipped, was moved block by block to Agilkia Island in the 1970s after the High Dam drowned its original site; Kalabsha, Beit el-Wali and the Kiosk of Kertassi were carried to a headland beside the dam; and 280 km south, the two temples of Ramesses II and Nefertari at Abu Simbel were cut from their cliff and rebuilt 65 metres higher. The Nubian Museum tells the story of that rescue and of the people whose homeland lies under Lake Nasser. Staying in more than one city? Compare all our Egypt day tours by region.
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The classic first morning is the Philae Temple, High Dam and Unfinished Obelisk tour (from $60, 4–5 hours). The best full day is Abu Simbel, by road from $110 or by plane from $310. For something gentler, the felucca ride to Botanical Island (from $13) and the Nubian Village tour (from $30) are the two most booked half-days. Every tour runs daily and is private to your group.
Yes, two ways. By road (from $110, 9–11 hours) you leave Aswan before dawn for the 280 km drive south and are back by mid-afternoon. By plane (from $310, 5–7 hours) a 45-minute flight replaces the drive. Both visit the Great Temple of Ramesses II and the smaller temple of Nefertari, and both include your Egyptologist guide. An overnight version with the Sound and Light Show is also available.
About 280 km (175 miles) south, near the Sudanese border on the west shore of Lake Nasser. The drive takes 3 to 3.5 hours each way; the flight about 45 minutes. Road tours start around 4 or 5 in the morning so you reach the temples before the heat and the crowds.
On 22 February and 22 October each year the rising sun reaches some 60 metres into the Great Temple and lights the statues of Ramesses II, Amun-Ra and Ra-Horakhty in the sanctuary, leaving Ptah, god of the underworld, in shadow. Before the temple was moved in the 1960s the alignment fell one day earlier. Tours for those two mornings sell out months ahead; tell us early.
Philae, the temple of Isis, now standing on Agilkia Island after its rescue from the reservoir between the two dams; the Aswan High Dam, completed in 1970, which created Lake Nasser; and the Unfinished Obelisk, still lying in the granite quarry where it cracked, the largest obelisk the Egyptians ever attempted at around 42 metres.
The rock-cut tombs at Qubbet el-Hawa on the west bank belong to the governors of Elephantine in the Old and Middle Kingdoms. The best known is Harkhuf’s, whose walls record his four expeditions into Nubia and the letter from the young king Pepi II asking him to bring the dancing pygmy home safely. The climb up the hill also gives the best view over Aswan.
Yes. The Nubian Village tour (from $30, 4–5 hours) crosses the Nile by boat to a village of brightly painted houses on the west bank, with time for tea in a family home and the local market. It is the easiest way to meet the community whose original homeland now lies beneath Lake Nasser.
Yes. The Kom Ombo and Edfu tour (from $110, 9–11 hours) drives north to the double temple of Sobek and Horus at Kom Ombo, with its Crocodile Museum, then on to the Temple of Horus at Edfu, built between 237 and 57 BC and the most complete temple in Egypt. Many guests use this tour as a guided transfer, ending in Luxor instead of returning to Aswan.
From $13 for the felucca ride, $30 for the Nubian Village, $50 for the island and tomb half-days, $60 for Philae, the High Dam and the Obelisk, $80 for Kalabsha and the Nubian Museum, $110 for Abu Simbel by road or for Kom Ombo and Edfu, and $310 for Abu Simbel by plane. Multi-day Aswan Highlights packages start at $395. Prices are per person and fall as your group grows.
All Aswan day tours are private to your party, with a licensed Egyptologist guide and a private air-conditioned vehicle. Hotel or cruise-ship pickup and drop-off in Aswan is included on every tour. Entrance fees, lunch and flights vary by tour and are listed on each tour page.
On ground tours children under 6 travel free and children aged 6 to 11 pay half the adult price. Tours that include a flight, such as Abu Simbel by plane, follow the flight-inclusive rate shown on that tour page.
October to April. Aswan is the hottest and driest of Egypt’s tourist cities, and summer days regularly pass 40°C, so from June to August we start early, keep the Abu Simbel drive to the pre-dawn hours, and suggest the plane option. Winter mornings can be cool on the water; bring a layer for the felucca.
Yes. Philae, the High Dam and the Obelisk fit comfortably in a morning, leaving the afternoon for the Nubian Village, the felucca or the Nubian Museum. Tell us what you want to see and we will build the day around it.
