Abu Simbel With Kids: Visiting The Temple That Moved
Egypt is a country filled to bursting with archeological wonders, from elaborate temple complexes like Karnak, to the Great Pyramid, which is literally the earliest of the Ancient Wonders of the World. These places were built to impress, either as a show of deference to the Egyptian deities or as a way of showing a particular Pharaoh’s power and strength.
Most of them are concentrated around the ancient places of power in Egypt: Alexandria, Giza, Abydos, and Thebes (or Luxor). However, for those who are willing to travel even further south, there is a monument worth seeing, but seen by many fewer visitors than its counterparts in the north. Abu Simbel.
What is Abu Simbel?
The temples at Abu Simbel were built by Ramses II, or Rameses the Great, as a physical reminder of his power to the Nubians living under his rule.
Rameses II was one of the strongest rulers of Egypt’s Middle Kingdom, and ran several successful military campaigns that expanded the rule of Egypt well beyond its modern borders. Under his leadership Egypt was one of the largest empires of its era.
But in between his campaigns, Ramses II was also a prolific monument builder, and temples all across Egypt bear his name. Abu Simbel is one such location, and actually bears two separate temples. The first, larger temple is dedicated to Rameses himself, while a second temple, known as “Little Abu Simbel,” is dedicated to the goddess Hathor and to Rameses queen, Nefertari.
Abu Simbel Temple
The main temple at Abu Simbel features an impressive entranceway with four, larger than life statues of Ramses standing guard. As is typical of these monumental statues, smaller representations of Ramses II family are also present, lending the king their strength.
The interior if the temple was carved directly into the mountainside behind the entrance, and consists of a large, central chamber with several smaller chambers in the rear. Each area features several prominent statues of Ramses II, and hieroglyphs throughout declare his strength.
However, one of the most interesting features of Abu Simbel can only be observed twice a year when the sun falls through the doorway of the temple and illuminates the faces of one of the two smaller statues in a rear chamber. One of these statues celebrates the birth of the pharaoh, and is illuminated each year on his birthday (the 22nd of October), while the other celebrates his coronation and is illuminated on the anniversary of the day he became king (the 22nd of February)!
This is a phenomenon that can still be seen today, though it should be noted that Abu Simbel is significantly more crowded on those days.
Little Abu Simbel
While the larger temple is in many ways the more impressive of the two, Little Abu Simbel is my favorite of the two. That’s because while the larger temple celebrates the majesty of the king, the smaller temple is essentially a celebration of the love that Ramses II felt for his queen, Nefertari.
The larger temple featured larger than life statues of Ramses II, but the smaller one has statues that alternate between him and his queen. However, the most telling detail is that the statues of Nefertari are the same size as the statues of Ramses, essentially declaring her as his equal! This was extremely unusual, and is a magnificent show of the king’s love for his wife.
If you need more proof of Rameses’ love for Nefertari, be sure to visit Nefertari’s tomb in the Valley of the Queens in Luxor. It is intricately and beautifully painted from top to bottom, and remains one of the most impressive tombs in all of Luxor!
The Modern History of Abu Simbel
All of this would have been impressive enough, but if we fast forward a couple thousand years, the story continues. That’s because Abu Simbel, along with many of the other Nubian Monuments, were moved from their original location in order to preserve them!
The moving of these monuments is the story that first caught my interest when I heard of Abu Simbel, and is an incredible story of engineering, archaeology, and international cooperation.
And it all started with a dam.
The Aswan Dam
As a desert nation, Egypt’s lifeblood has always been the water that comes from the Nile River. The Nile has been the source of Egypt’s power for millennia, as it provides the vast majority of the water needed for the country to survive. It is the source of Egypt’s agriculture and has been the way Egypt has held its vast regions together for was long as there has been an Egypt.
The pharaohs used the Nile for trade, travel, and communication, and the farmers of Egypt relied upon the river’s annual flooding to refresh their fields with rich soil each year. But by the modern age, Egypt’s needs had changed. Farming methods were different than they had been, and a more consistent source of water had become necessary to allow Egypt to continue thriving. Not to mention, the annual floods were difficult to navigate for locals and tourists alike!
So, Egypt decided to build the Aswan Dam. The creation of the dam would form a large reservoir of water upstream (now known as Lake Nasser) as a way of making a consistent source of water and putting an end to the annual flooding. The only problem was that this reservoir would flood several different archeological sites, destroying them in the process!
Saving Abu Simbel
When archeologists from around the world heard of the plight of these Nubian Monuments, there was a concerted effort to spend the time necessary to catalog and preserve as much of them as possible in the short time that remained before the dam would be completed.
A flurry of archeological action such as had never been seen before began, and many new discoveries were made. However, this was not enough, and it was decided that these monuments, including Abu Simbel, would have to be saved.
A call went out for ideas, and engineers from around the world presented their ideas for the feat. Some proposed floating the monuments out. Some proposed building glass walls around them to protect them from the flood and allow tourists to visit them underwater. But eventually, the plan to cut them from the landscape around them and move them was chosen.
Moving Mountains
It was a race against the clock, as archaeologists and engineers worked to save what they could before the dam could be completed. Several monuments, such as Philae Temple, Kalabasha Temple, and the temples at Abu Simbel were chosen to be moved. Abu Simbel was originally dug into the side of a mountain, and now it was being cut out. Chunks of the stone temple weighing 20 tons a piece were being removed and relocated using trucks and cranes. At the other end, they were reassembled on what would become the shore of the newly formed lake.
It was an unheard of engineering feat that still impresses today, but it was well worth the effort. Today, Abu Simbel and several other ancient Egyptian monuments have all been moved to safety and remain some of the most impressive temples in southern Egypt!
Visiting Abu Simbel with Kids
With such a rich and exciting history, it should come as no surprise that Abu Simbel makes for an excellent educational opportunity for families traveling with kids!
How to get to Abu Simbel
As with so many other things in life, visiting Abu Simbel is way easier for those who are willing to spend more money, but it is still very possible to do, even for the most budget conscious of families.
Whichever option you choose, a trip to Abu Simbel starts from the Egyptian town of Aswan, which is one of the largest towns in the south of Egypt and is worth visiting on its own. Be sure to check out my article on the Best things to do in Aswan, too!
Here are three of the easiest ways to get from Aswan to Abu Simbel:
Visiting Abu Simbel by Plane
The absolute easiest way to get to Abu Simbel is to fly there. However, with that ease comes a significantly higher price tag.
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Flight to Abu Simbel in 1999Rüdiger Stehn from Kiel, Deutschland, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
A single round-trip ticket to Abu Simbel from Aswan costs between $130-$240 per person at the time of this writing. For that price, visitors get a quick, 45 minute flight to the Abu Simbel airport with an included shuttle from the airport to Abu Simbel proper.
If you’re planning on flying out on the same day, you’ll have around 3 hours to see Abu Simbel before you need to head back to the airport for your afternoon flight back to Aswan. Do note, however, that the hours in the middle of the day are the most crowded ones, so it is unlikely that you will get the temple to yourselves during that time.
Going this route also means going without a guide, though, if your kids are anything like mine, that could be preferable. My kids love the freedom to explore at their own pace, so we usually forego guides in favor of doing our own research before we visit!
Ticket prices do vary, but traveling with a family of 4 means that I’ve never seen the tickets drop cheap enough to be feasible for our travels.
Still, if you’re interested, be sure to check the chart for up to date prices on round-trip tickets.
Visiting Abu Simbel on a Nile River Cruise
Nile River Cruises are one of the most popular ways to visit the archaeological wonders of Egypt all along the Nile, and, if you’re interested, they are also one of the best ways to visit Abu Simbel.
Most Nile River cruises take about 3-5 days to move between Aswan in the south to Luxor in the north with multiple different tours included all along the way. While the boat is in Aswan, those tours will typically include a visit to Abu Simbel to see the two temples.
But the best part of choosing to go with a Nile Cruise is that almost everything is taken care of for you! You sleep on board the boat, so you don’t need to find a hotel. Meals are included, unless you want to eat out. The cruises hit most of the major destinations and include transportation and guides for those who want them. And it is a super stylish way of getting from one Aswan to Luxor!
Visiting Abu Simbel by Land
Ultimately, my family chose to visit Abu Simbel using a Private Transfer service in Aswan. A van isn’t as luxurious as pulling up to the Temple on a cruise, nor is it as convenient as flying in for the afternoon, but it is a cost effective way to visit the temples with your family in tow!
For our family, getting a private transfer was as easy as asking for a recommendation from a friend. He knew someone who knew someone in the area, and we ended up getting a large, air-conditioned van all to ourselves.
Typically, van transfers and guided tours start the 3 hour drive from Aswan extremely early in the morning. Leaving at 4 am means arriving at Abu Simbel around 7, which sounds good except that almost all the different transfers and tours arrive right at that same time! It can be quite crowded if you go this route.
Alternatively, you can choose to go with a driver that will take you a bit later in the morning. The limiting factor here is that the road between Aswan and Abu Simbel closes each day before dark, which means there is a latest possible time to leave if you aren’t intending on staying in Abu Simbel. We chose to leave around 8 in the morning and had plenty of time to see everything!
Of the three tours listed above, I’d personally go with the one from Nice Tours. It’s the most bare-bones of the three, but also the most budget-friendly. Plus, it has excellent reviews!
Leaving later in the morning means there are significantly fewer people around, but even so, there were still lots of other tourists hanging around during our trip. That’s usually the case with major tourist locations like Abu Simbel. That was fine for us, and we still managed some pretty great pictures with our kids, but if you want it completely to yourselves, you’ll need to either arrive earlier than everyone else or stay later. Either option means spending the night at one of the local hotel properties in the area.
Where to stay when Visiting Abu Simbel
Staying in Abu Simbel requires booking a room at one of the relatively few hotels in the area. Nicer hotels in the area can cost a few hundred dollars for the night, though there are several budget options in the area as well. As my family opted to drive in and out in a single day, I admit that I do not have firsthand experience with any of these hotels, but several look really nice!
Looking through the area’s options, I personally would opt to stay at the Kabara Nubian House, as it has what I feel is the best balance of great reviews and prices that won’t break the bank. Or you can use the search box below to see what else is available for your travel dates!
Regardless of where you stay in the area, spending the night in Abu Simbel gives you the best opportunity for seeing the temples either early in the morning or later in the evening, when most tourists have already returned to Aswan.
And that’s it!
Abu Simbel was originally built as a symbol of power. The power of Egypt and its Pharoah, Ramses II. Much has changed over the years, but somehow this temple in the south of Egypt remains a powerful symbol, not of the dominance of the pharaohs, but instead of how much we can accomplish when we work together to save our history. I think that is something worth celebrating.
