2 Days Aswan & Abu Simbel Tours from Hurghada

We were picked up @ 5:30am from our hotel in Hurghada.The car was modern and very comfortable, the driver was very nice and waited with us at Qena station until we got in the train.

It was the regular train that the Egyptian people use so nothing fancy but something to experience if you want to know the locals ways. It did have numbered seats and there was plenty of room (Egyptian first class).

The tour guide Ayman Abdou joined us in Luxor station. He gave us an insight of what the tour was going to be like and explained some of the Egyptian history. We spent 3 hrs admiring the landscape and sleeping comfortable until we got to Aswan.

Upon arrival, we went straight to the Philae temple in the most extravagant car, in a good way, very high standard.

Ayman explained all the history of the Temple and then we had some free time to take pictures etc.

Then we went for lunch to the Old Nubian which is in one of the “islands” next to the Temple. Typical Nubian food, real taste of Egypt, best meal we had in the 14 days we were in Egypt.

After we finished eating, we went to a 5 star hotel in Aswan, on the very verge of the river Nile! With views to the nobles tombs! Comfy beds although a bit outdated (Hotel Hental or something like that).

Ayman arranged the breakfast boxes and a wake up call for us, because we had to leave at 5 am to Abu Simbel the next day.

Another modern and comfortable car drove us to Abu Simbel for another 3 hours, we got to see the dawn in the desert…Stunning. Thanks to Ayman we managed to get a few pictures of it, as we were sleeping and would have not seen it.

Once at the temple Ayman explained everything in a very easy way to understand and with a lot of detail. After, he took a few pictures of us at the main temple. Also we had an hour of free time to walk around and take pictures.

After a quick coffee, we headed back to Aswan to see the High Dam and the unfinished obelisk.

Ayman arranged the food at the restaurant so it was ready by the time we got there. Again, typical Egyptian food, very tasty and plenty to fill you up.

Before catching the train back to Qena, Ayman invited us to a coffee at a local café. A place you wouldn’t go if you weren’t a local, great coffee.

To finish the tour we got the train back with him who was very nice and took care of us at all times.

It’s a very exhausting trip but so worth it. After visiting other temples in Cairo and Luxor, we can say that Abu Simbel is the most stunning one.

Cannot recommend you a better trip to do in Egypt.
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The Aswan and Abu Simbel trip from Hurghada is usually a full 2 days with overnight stay involving a lot of travelling by road and rail, starting very early on the first day (5:30 am) and returning late (10:00pm) on the second day. To avoid the long and tiring second day we opted to spend the second night in Luxor and return to Hurghada the following day after a rest and a good breakfast!

After being picked up (5:30am) from our hotel we were driven to Qena station and caught the 1st class train to Aswan. Our guide for the rest of the trip, Omar joined the train at Luxor and accompanied us for the next 2 days

On arrival at Aswan our we went straight to the Philae temple where Omar explained the history of the Temple before having lunch. At this point we were offered an optional excursion to a Nubian village before going to the hotel, which we accepted. This involved a trip on the Nile where it became narrow and rocky with lots of different kinds of birds and was very different to the Nile at Luxor. After visiting the village (where some people actually keep crocodiles in their house!) we had to return in the dark which required a skilful pilot to avoid the submerged rocks in the river. It was a wonderful experience sailing on the Nile in the dark, so calm and quiet, and to top it all the boat took us directly to the hotel entrance on the Nile.

The second day we had an early start for our long journey throgh the desert to Abu Simbel. After about an hour looking around the temples and taking photos we made our way back by road to Aswan for a visit to the High Dam followed by lunch before catching the train to Luxor.

The trip itself was tiring but very well organised and well worth doing. Abu Simbel is awesome and not to be missed. It’s not as easy to get to as the Pyramids or the tombs at Luxor but is definitely worth the effort.

Thanks to Ahmad for organising the trip and a special thanks to our guide Omar who was brilliant throughout the 2 days. He was very knowledgeable and patient and most of all we felt comfortable with him.

I know most people do the trip with one overnight stay but based on the following approx journey times:

Hurghada to Qena 3 hrs, Qena to Aswan 4 hrs & Aswan to Abu Simbel 3 hrs.

this does involve a minimum 13 hours travelling on the 2nd day getting up at 4:30am and arriving back in Hurghada at 10:00pm. For an extra £15 each we had an overnight stay in Luxor with Nile view arriving at about 6:30 pm. This gave us the chance for a much needed freshen up followed by an evening meal and drinks(not included), breakfast(included) the following morning and arriving back in Hurghada at 3:00pm.
To read the review kindly visit TripAdvisor https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowUserReviews-g297549-d2109137-r552264865-Egypt_Tours_Portal_Day_Trips-Hurghada_Red_Sea_and_Sinai.html