When traveling through Egypt, you have almost unlimited choices for ancient temples you can visit. There are tons of amazing ruins, and you should really visit as many as you possibly can, but Abu Simbel may just be the most impressive of them all.
Built by the well-know pharaoh Ramses II (a.k.a. Ramses the Great), Abu Simbel is a noteworthy temple for several reasons, not to mention the “wow” factor. I mean, come on, you turn the corner, and there it is in all its glory! The temple was originally built in the 13th century BC, but was actually disassembled and carefully relocated in 1968 when the construction of the Aswan Dam threatened to flood the structure. The history of the place (both ancient and modern) is incredibly interesting, and it is well worth a stop on your trip to Egypt.
Getting There
We visited Abu Simbel as a part of our group tour through Egypt with On the Go Tours. This excursion did cost a little extra, but it was definitely worth it!
The jumping off point for most tours to Abu Simbel is the city of Aswan. We took an overnight train from Cairo to Aswan (which was not the most comfortable night of my life, I’m not going to lie), and spent the afternoon exploring the city and visiting Philae Temple. Aswan is a cool place, so make sure you leave enough time to explore here instead of just rushing straight to Abu Simbel.
The next morning, we got up very, very early to make the three and a half-hour drive from Aswan to Abu Simbel. There are tons of different companies making this journey every day, and they all leave as soon as the road is open, which makes beating the crowds pretty much impossible unless you choose to overnight closer to Abu Simbel. At least leaving early in the morning meant we got to watch the sun rise over the desert on our drive. Our hotel also provided a breakfast box, which was nice.
The Great Temple
Our tour bus reached Abu Simbel in the mid-morning, and it was already blistering hot. We were traveling to Egypt in the winter, and it was still very hot. I can’t even imagine what this place is like during the summer!
Once we were past the entrance, we walked around the corner of a hill, and there was the Great Temple, the mortuary tomb of Ramses II. Pharaohs who ruled during this time period built their tombs in the Valley of the Kings, then built mortuary temples elsewhere where people could worship them.
The temple entrance is flanked by four huge statues of Ramses himself, and it’s this façade that has really made the temple famous. I’ll just say it lives up to the hype! Inside, there are tons of spectacular statues and reliefs on the walls showing scenes from the pharaoh’s life. Take your time to really appreciate the magnificence of this place!
The Queen’s Temple
Besides the Great Temple, there is a smaller temple dedicated to Ramses’s wife, Nefertari about 100 meters from the main temple. Though smaller, this temple is equally beautiful, boasting statues of the pharaoh and his wife at the entrance and more beautiful reliefs inside.
We actually explored the Queen’s Temple before the Great Temple for the simple reason that it was less crowded. If you are coming from Aswan, whether you are with a tour group or not, everyone gets there around the same time, so it’s not possible to avoid the crowds entirely, but by visiting this temple first, I think we were on a slightly different schedule from most visitors.
Returning to Aswan
After thoroughly exploring Abu Simbel and taking tons of pictures, we headed back to our tour bus and made the long drive back to Aswan. I normally have a rule that I will not spend a longer amount of time to get to a place than I spend in that place, and our visit to Abu Simbel kind of broke that rule. We drove around seven total hours and only spent about two at the temple itself. Perhaps it was not an ideal time split, but honestly, it was worth it! Abu Simbel is a truly incredible monument and absolutely worth the time and effort it took to get there.
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