Why now is the best time to visit Abu Simbel — and how to do it on your own
Sunrise at Abu Simbel is a sight you will never forget. As the gigantic statues of Ramses II become first rosy and then intense orange, you get a clear feeling of achievement, arrival — you have reached one of the world’s most legendary archaeological sites. A site that almost destroyed by the waters of the Nile just 50 years ago.
You must have heard about the UNESCO World Heritage — a list comprising over a 1000 monuments across the world. What you may not know is that Abu Simbel occupies a special place on this list, because it was the very first one.
In the 50’s, Egypt desperately needed more water, and the socialist president Gamal Abdel Nasser (who, as many of colleagues, was fond of ambitious projects), had a great idea — building a gigantic dam on the Nile near Aswan. There was but one problem — the area was dotted by innumerable cultural treasures of ancient Nubia, including, of course, Abu Simbel.
Egypt had no money to save the monuments, so it appealed to UNESCO for help. The campaign Save the Monuments of Nubia lasted for 20 years — until 1980 — and was a fantastic success: dozens of temples were moved to higher ground, excavated, and even recorded for the first time. Several even left Egypt! If you visit Madrid, go the the Western Park (Parque del Oeste), and you will find the small temple of Debod, donated to Spain as a sign of gratitude.
But let’s go back to Abu Simbel. The temple was carefully cut into blocks (20 tons each!) and moved circa 200 metres away. Outside, four gigantic statues of the pharaoh and two of his queen Nefertari (interestingly, the same size as her consort, which is very rare) guard the entrance. Inside, like in many Egyptian temples, there is a hall with pillars and beautiful carved scenes. Before the political trouble in Egypt began in 2010, hundreds of tourists visited Abu Simbel every day, and the site became positively crowded at sunrise. Then, the tourist flow fell by 80%, so now is actually the best time to visit Abu Simbel without the crowds or police convoys (which were abolished 2 years ago)!
The first step is to get to Aswan, and you can do it by over 15 daily trains from Cairo; the luxury tourist sleeper costs $100-$120, but you can also take a normal overnight express train (you’ll have to sit, though). Once in Aswan, you have two options: tourist minibus or public bus. Tours cost around $10 per person: the bus will pick you up from your hostel at 3–4 am, you’ll be at Abu Simbel by 7 am, stay for 2 hours and return. If you need more time, you can take a public bus or a shared taxi back (the last one is at 4 pm). You can even spend the night at the village in Abu Simbel — it only costs $5 or so, but the conditions are basic.
If you decide to do the whole trip by public bus, then make sure to be at the bus station in Aswan by 7:30 am — the bus leaves at 8 and costs less than $3. In this case, you will have to stay for the night. However, if your schedule is tight, it’s better to opt for the tourist minibus.
If you have any more questions on visiting Abu Simbel or any other attraction in Egypt, please ask us in the comments! And don’t forget to subscribe to the Smart Trip Platform channel on Telegram (https://t.me/st_platform) and Facebook (facebook.com/STplatform/)!
