Abydos & Dendera Temples from Luxor

The main thing to know is that the 6-7 hour time estimate is not accurate. It took 8 hours and if you've seen a lot of temples, you might want to consider whether it's worth spending a full day driving to see two more. In general the guide was very knowledgeable and driver drove very safely. Guide and driver accommodated our group's needs. The temple in Dendera is quite similar to the one is Esna, but Dendera one has interesting faces on the tops of the columns; in addition, this one has ladders to a couple high up rooms, and an interesting long flight of shallow stairs to the rooftop that other temples in Upper Egypt do not have. The Great Seti I temple in Abydos is interesting for the rays of light coming through the roof. Perhaps more interesting is the Osireion, an ancient temple behind that people think is 4-5 stories deep, but remains mostly under water. However, the stairs down to it were closed and we could only see from above. Oddly our guide knew nothing about it.

Our guide Ahmed and the driver Ahmed made this a very nice day trip. The pacing was good and the car was comfortable. The explanation of the sights was satisfactory.

This was an amazing day trip! I usually travel by local bus or train, as I want a feel of the culture as well as sites However, this trip, I ponies up the money to take a private taxi. It was well worth the money for many reasons! When my taxi was met on the road at one of the many police checkpoints, we were provided free of charge, a mandatory police escort, for my safety. Wow. Next, my driver Mr. Ali: zero, one, two two, four five, three zero & three, two nine. Was awesome, no sales pitches or even attempts! He was mostly quiet unless I wanted to be engaging or we were passing something of significance , & he is an excellent driver on such pot hole filled roads. Smooth sailing and price was best I found around. I used him many times afterwards as well. Dendera is Amazing, enormous columns topped with the head of Hathor, scenes of cleopatra and her children, Hathor columned earth clock, complete zodiac calendar, some vibrantly colored wall & ceiling reliefs, panel containing all of the crowns of Egypt, and scenes of the famous Dendera Light bulb... 1 up high on the wall in the furthest back left corner room and 2 in the crypt, which you can enter. Through a very low door. Seti 1 Abydos and Osirian temple are on the same site. Osiris, outside in the back. Another amazing temple with enormous reliefs and columns still in excellent condition. & this temple contains the famous helicopter/tank/submarine glyphs. It is small and up high so bring a good camera. When you walk in the entrance, walk straight in & turn right between the middle row of enormous columns, then turn completely around facing the pathway you entered on. Look up. At the top of the column to your right, you can see the famous glyph. I could have spent more hours in each!!!!! A must experience day!

The tour guide (Ahmed Nofal) arrived on time and waited as we completed breakfast. He was very informative and knowledgeable of the temples while also answering random questions we had. He explained in detail every line of what we were seeing and clarified if there were any hesitations from the group. I highly suggest booking with him!