Aswan Private Tour: Philae Temple, High Dam & Obelisk
Description
Discover the highlights of Aswan on this private half-day tour led by a knowledgeable Egyptologist guide. Begin with a visit to the impressive Aswan High Dam, a remarkable feat of modern engineering that transformed Egypt's economy. Continue to the Unfinished Obelisk, where you'll uncover the fascinating techniques used by the ancient Egyptians to carve massive stone monuments. Finally, enjoy a scenic motorboat ride across the Nile to the beautiful Philae Temple, dedicated to the goddess Isis and renowned for its stunning island setting and remarkable history. With private transportation, hotel or Nile Cruise pickup and drop-off, and a personalized itinerary, you'll enjoy the flexibility to explore at your own pace while gaining deeper insights into Aswan's rich heritage. Perfect for first-time visitors and history lovers, this unforgettable experience showcases the city's most iconic attractions in just a few hours. Book now and make the most of your time in Aswan!
Tour Options
Itinerary
Your guide will meet you at your hotel or Nile cruise on Corniche Street in Aswan. After a warm welcome, you'll begin a comfortable, air-conditioned drive to start your tour.
Start your Aswan tour through transferring to visit the unfinished obelisk, commissioned by Queen Hatshepsut, the female pharaoh (1490–1468 BC). The unfinished obelisk gives an excellent idea about the mason work techniques in ancient Egypt. If finished it would have been the largest and heaviest obelisk ever attempted, measuring around 42 metres and weighing nearly 1,200 tons.
Travel by motorboat across the Nile to the beautiful Philae Temple, one of Egypt's most enchanting ancient sites. Learn how this magnificent temple complex was carefully dismantled and relocated to Agilkia Island by UNESCO to protect it from the rising waters of Lake Nasser after the construction of the Aswan High Dam. Accompanied by your expert Egyptologist guide, explore the island's remarkable monuments, including the majestic Temple of Isis, dedicated to the goddess of love and magic, the elegant Kiosk of Trajan, and the charming Temple of Hathor, known for its beautifully carved reliefs and musical symbolism. Admire the impressive columns, towering gateways, detailed hieroglyphics, and breathtaking riverside setting while discovering the fascinating myths and history behind this sacred sanctuary. After your guided tour, enjoy some free time to stroll around the island, take memorable photos, or simply relax and soak in the peaceful atmosphere before returning by motorboat.
Visit the impressive Aswan High Dam, one of Egypt's greatest modern engineering achievements and a symbol of the country's development. Standing atop the dam, you'll enjoy panoramic views of the vast Lake Nasser on one side and the mighty Nile River on the other. Your guide will explain how the dam was constructed between 1960 and 1970 to control the annual Nile floods, provide irrigation for millions of acres of farmland, and generate hydroelectric power for Egypt. Take in the incredible scale of this monumental structure, capture memorable photos from the viewing area, and learn about its significant impact on Egypt's economy and daily life. After your visit, relax as you are comfortably transferred back to your hotel in Aswan.
Highlights
What's included
Pickup Locations & Times
• Your tour guide / driver will pick you up from your location in Aswan City.
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Not recommended for travelers with spinal injuries
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- Additional supplement applies to guided services provided in languages other than English.
- Airport, Gharb Soheil, New Aswan pickup and/or drop-off are available at an additional cost.
Reviews(19)
Great experience, very polite and competent guide. The tour is done well and with a good vehicle. Recommended
Wonderful exploration of Aswan major sites. Our guide Zak was the best guide we’ve had on our Egypt trip so far. Extremely knowledgeable, excellent English (he was concerned about this but his language skills were great). He pointed out all the details we would have missed on our own. Transit and other details of the tour were as expected.
What can I say Zac was one of the best guides we have had in our entire trip thus far. His education, passion and enthusiasm were just incredible and made the entire visit so incredibly memorable! We also appreciated that he asked us if we were interested in shopping as opposed to just taking us to a shop. He was amazing and if you book this tour, you must ask for Zac! He was the best !!!
Great tour. Knowledgeable and friendly guide. Would definitely recommend this private tour. Would make sure to request a boat with life jackets onboard though. Ours didn’t have any visible, which was a little concerning.
This was a wonderful experience! It was organized and well thought out but also tailored the time line to our needs so that we could take time at the temple sights that we connected to the most. We added on Abu Simbel and it was fabulous. We were safe and extremely well taken care of by everyone. Some of my family members have lower mobility and they made sure to help and prepare golf carts or walk aids when available. Most outstanding was our tour guide Saleh. Just so warm, full of joy and energy, knowledgeable! He listened to our needs and was very respectful and went out of his way to treat us well!!!
The guide constantly looked for shades / rest area throughout the whole day, which made us feel like we are slowing him down. He also constantly tried to sell us other tours even though we told him we’ve already booked other tours with other companies. He also asked us to tip the boat captain when we were coming out of Philae temple, saying he’s asked the guy to wait just for us. Overall, annoying experience.
Dear Claire_K, Have a nice day Thank you for your feedback, I'm so sorry to hear that you had a badexperience. In Aswan, it is hot weather and the sun is hot as you started your tour at 10:00 am, so the guide liked you to be in the shade not to be in direct sunny area. All tour guides like to talk and offer more of what you can experience in their city but no one will force you to buy any services. We recommend the tour guide not to talk about Tipping it is a customer personal gesture, apologize that he tell you to tip the Motor boat man. Thank you again for your feedback, we use your feedback like your to improve as a company. and we appreciate you took time to share it with us. Many thanks
We had 3 different tours during our trip to Egypt, and this was by far our favourite! Big Mac was an absolute pleasure - larger than life, incredibly knowledgable, and very funny. He met us at our hotel with the driver, and we set off for the High Dam (via the old dam). Then, off to Philae temple, which was stunning - so many periods of history covered in one place, and situated on its own island. We made the mistake of grabbing a drink at the temple cafe (twice the price compared to elsewhere in Egypt) and would recommend to others to re-hydrate using the water provided by the tour guide instead. Little things made the trip special - e.g. rather than just giving us water, which was standard with these tours regardless of provider, Big Mac also grabbed us a fizzy drink. He also tailored the trip - asking us whether we wanted to go to an alabaster workshop, essence workshop, etc and did not bat an eyelash when we asked to skip that portion! It felt like we were never under pressure to buy anything we didn't want to, which was very refreshing. 10/10 - our favourite tour of the holiday and absolutely worth the money.
We recently did this tour in Aswan. This is a private tour so you are able to move at your own pace. They bought bottled water very often you didn’t have to ask. Once you arrived at Philea, you took a small private boat to/from the island. At the unfinished obelisk, there was minimal climbing up the stone. The guide, Sherif Afify, was WONDERFUL, knowledgeable, smart, funny, accommodating, patient, and nice. Overall, I recommend doing this tour while in Aswan.
Hello Dear Tht_Queen_B, Have a nice Day Thank you so much for sharing your views and experience with Nile Holiday. We are so pleased to see how happy you are with your Aswan tours. Your review is highly appreciated and is very important to us and the community of whom are thinking about travelling soon. Thank you again!
We chose a private tour and were picked up at the hotel by our tour guide Sherif Afify. Sherif has a great personality and was extremely knowledgeable. He ensured that we had cold water throughout the tour which was amazing it was very hot in June. He also made sure we were able to handle any stairs or climbing that may have been involved. He helped with picture taking and giving us as much information about the temple in the shade or shadow as he called it which is important in the heat. I loved his stories and the knowledge he provided, he was also able to answer questions that we had. He helped us navigate through the vendors that have goods to sell. I would highly recommend Nile Holiday and Sherif Afify he was a 5 star guide. When I come back to Egypt I will be sure to ask for him again.
Hello Dear Travellondonparis, Have a nice Day Thank you so much for sharing your views and experience with Nile Holiday. We are so pleased to see how happy you are with your Aswan tours. Your review is highly appreciated and is very important to us and the community of whom are thinking about travelling soon. Thank you again!
Very well organized tour. Efficient operator. Reacting quickly and solution / special wishes oriented. We asked for a french speaking guide and Ruby was just perfect
Hello Dear Jet16943345745, Have a nice Day Thank you so much for sharing your views and experience with us “Nile Holiday”. We are so pleased to see how happy you are with your tours. Your review is highly appreciated and is very important to us and the communities of whom are thinking about travelling soon. Thank you again!
