Wherever you are, you will get the chance to witness the amazing Sun Festival in Abu Simbel as we customized the tour itinerary according to what you want and the place where you are staying in, so no need to worry at all with us, you won’t miss such a spectacular celebration. We will provide you with a totally private A.C vehicle which is going to transfer you from your hotel with breakfast boxes to Abu Simbel Temple in the early morning to witness this amazing festival. Upon your arrival, you will find a number of domestic tourists, locals, and international visitors who will come to be among the ones who will witness such an astonishing celebration.
You will stand face to face with its imposing façade of colossal statues after crossing through its imaginative entrance then you will find a grand hall bordered by two treasury rooms then to the Hypostyle Hall with decorated pillars and bas-reliefs adorning the walls. After crossing a second pillared hall, you will find the sanctuary room which includes the four colossal statues of king Ramesses II with the rest of the ancient deities.
The whole of your tour will be with a private Egyptologist tour guide who is going to explain every single detail for you and is going to let you have the adventure which you have always imagined.
Finally, when the celebration ends, visitors will get out of the temple to attend the spectacular traditional Nubian shows that features dancing on live music.
That is not all as we also provide a delicious lunch meal to try some amazing Egyptian food and include different meals to suit everyone’s taste. Of course, we choose food according to your request and among the food which you may try in Egypt is “Koshari” that is an amazing dish consisting of pasta, rice, lentils, hot tomato sauce and some fried onion which is something you shouldn’t miss for sure.
After finishing the tour with us, your private tour guide is going to accompany you in a private Air-Conditioned Vehicle to transfer you back to your hotel wherever you are staying. You can also choose any of our additional packages and day tours to let your vacation in Egypt a truly magnificent & unique one.
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We offer private, customizable journeys tailored to your pace, moving away from the "factory-style" mass-market tours.
Travel with elite, licensed Egyptologists who act as storytellers, not just tour leaders.
24/7 "high-touch" support with a dedicated coordinator for every aspect of your multi-vendor itinerary.
Our "Tailor-Made" planning workflow ensures your trip matches your specific priorities and interests.
We prioritize premium guide quality and vetted, safe hotels to ensure a stress-free environment.
Advanced safety protocols and 24/7 emergency contact for total peace of mind during your adventure.
Explore Abu Simbel Temples, Ramesses II’s rock-cut wonder, its history, solar alignment, relocation, Nefertari temple, and Lake Nasser location.
Get all the details on the Abu Simbel Sun Festival; book your dream vacation tour now.
Discover the Abu Simbel relocation project saving Ramses II’s temples from Aswan Dam flooding by blending engineering of ancient wonder with modern innovation.
It is a bi-annual huge celebration in Abu Simbel at the great temple of king Ramesses II in the south of Egypt. Here is what actually happens twice a year and attracts thousands of tourists who come from all around the world to witness this memorable festival. The central chamber of king Ramses II is illuminated twice a year by the sun for a short period of time when light is cast upon the seated statue of the pharaoh Ramesses II, the sun god "Ra", the king of gods "Amon" except for "Ptah" who is connected to the darkness and still remains in shadow. Surprisingly this event has been taking place for over 3200 years.
Ramses the Great built the amazing temple in Ramesses and wanted it to be a truly special one, so he chose two special dates to him and let them be the dates of the wonderful Sun Festival celebration in Abu Simbel.
The first date is February 22nd, which is the date of Ramesses II ascension to the throne of Egypt. The second date is October 22nd, which was the date of the king’s birth. The inner sanctums are aligned only twice a year during this festival and stay in darkness the rest of the year and that is why it gained its fame.
Although this temple was relocated in 1960 with the help of UNESCO as it was threatened by the High Aswan Dam, they did their best to keep the same measurements and to preserve the festival that happens twice there through paying millions of dollars but it is really worth much more than this.
Ramesses II decided to build two great temples in Abu Simbel for two reasons. He established his great temple to commemorate his victory in the Battle of Kadesh, celebrate his birthday, and to commemorate the date of his ascension to the throne. On the other hand, he constructed the smaller Temple of Abu Simbel to show his deep affection to his wife Nefertari.
King Ramesses II traveled with his beloved wife Nefertari in 1255 BC to Nubia to inaugurate the great Abu Simbel Temple. This impressive temple was discovered by the Swiss traveler Johann Burckhardt in 1813. There was an enormous pile of sand that almost covered the facade and its colossal statues, blocking the entrance. The explorer Giovanni was the one who reached the interior part of the temple in 1817.
The two temples of Abu Simbel, the great temple & the smaller ones were built by the amazing King Ramesses II between 1290 and 1224 BC and we can consider it a display of pure egotism by one of Ancient Egypt’s most powerful rulers.
King Ramesses II was born in 1303 BC, and he died in 1213 BC. He ruled Egypt as a great pharaoh from 1279 until 1213. He was actually the 3rd pharaoh of the 19th dynasty and he was known as Ramses the Great and is regarded as the greatest and the most powerful pharaoh during the Egypt New Kingdom.
The most interesting thing about this king is that he celebrated unprecedented 14th Sed Festivals (an ancient Egyptian ceremony that celebrated a continued rule of the pharaoh) during his reign which was a period more than any other pharaoh.
When he died, he was buried in a tomb inside the Valley of the Kings, and then his body was moved to a royal cache until it was discovered in 1881 and his mummy was taken to the Egyptian Museum where it is now displayed there.
