We enjoyed our tour, Heba was so knowledgeable and shared so much interesting information with us. I thoroughly recommend this tour. Our driver Peter was fantastic taking us to all the amazing sights.
About Activity
What's Included
Includes
- Professional Private Egyptologist English-speaking guide
- Hotel pickup and drop-off
- Philae motorboat
Excludes
- Entrance Fees
- Gharb soheil, The island, Nagaa al-Mahatta or New Aswan Pick up/Drop off (10 USD extra per person)
Departure & Return
Departure Point
- The driver will pick up from your hotel directly
Itinerary
Enjoy your journey in Aswan and discover the most important landmarks and what makes it so special. after you get picked up from your hotel in Aswan, meet your guide and enjoy the motorboat ride and the special Nile view on your way to explore Philae temple, This beautiful temple complex is one of the most picturesque in all of Egypt. The temple of Isis was one of the last ancient Egyptian temples to remain active, as it continued to function until the reign of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I (527–565 AD).
Then you'll head to the second site to dig up and learn more about the story behind the unfinished obelisk, known in the ancient Egyptian language as tekhen. famous for its supply of hard and high-quality stone. Believed to have been commissioned by Hatshepsut (c. 1473–1458 BC) for the temple of Amun in Karnak.
Your last stop will be The High Dam. The Dam is 3600 meters long, 980 meters thick at the base, and 111 meters tall. Egypt's modern example of construction on a monumental scale, the controversial Aswan High Dam, 13km south of Aswan, contains 18 times the amount of material used in the Great Pyramid of Khufu and created Lake Nasser, one of the world's largest artificial lakes.
Finally, you will be dropped off at your hotel
Language Offered
Additional Info
Cancellation Policy
Reviews
This was an overall excellent tour experience. Our tour guide Ahmed Faheem, a professional, kind and immensely experienced guide went into great detail about the 3 sites, High Dam, Philae Temple and Unfinished Obelisk and showcased impressive knowledge for both the history and culture. We were treated with respect and kindness both by him and our driver. Could not recommend enough.
Marwa fatafeat elsoker so nice lady
This was a wonderful tour! Mary was very knowledgeable and shared lots of cool facts. Would highly recommend!
Samir Gaber is an informative guide and I learned a lot about the sites I visited! I would recommend this tour if you want to visit these sites and gain a better understanding about Egyptian history.
Tour really well organized!!! Guide Eman really able to tell you a lot of information about all the historical sites ,sweet and also able to manage your request and accomodate your needs and wish
Great tour was really fun emad was a great tour guide and showed me lots of good stuff
A great tour! Rasha the guide was incredibly knowledgeable, bringing the history of Philae Temple, the Aswan High Dam, and the Unfinished Obelisk to life. Everything was well-organized, and even though the tour has a lot of quick stops I never felt rushed. Their passion and friendliness made the entire day enjoyable and engaging. As a solo female I have been cautious about going to ATMs on my own for safety, but when I asked to stop at one on the way back they were happy to! I was also running a bit late (10 minutes) coming into Aswan and it was no problem, they didn’t even mention it! Would recommend!
Emad was a friendly and extremely knowledgeable guide who answered all of our questions. The sites we visited were very interesting and we really enjoyed our half day tour! If we could leave three 5 star reviews we would.
We took the private High Dam, Unfinished Obelisk, and Philae Island tour with Eman through Nice Tours, and she was a fantastic guide. Her English was excellent, and she was incredibly friendly and highly knowledgeable. She never rushed us at any point and had thoughtful answers for all our questions. I only wish we could have had her for every visit during our trip to Egypt.
Donia is an amazing guide, very knowledgeable about the Philae Temple, the Unfinished Obelisk, and the High Dam. I learned so much today, especially about how ancient Egyptians measured taxes and trade, and she even explained the meaning behind some of the temple writings. Coming from the Philippines, I really appreciated how patient and helpful she was, making everything clear and interesting. The tour was also very convenient, well organized, and efficient, making it easy to enjoy. She also helped us take great photos, which made the experience even more memorable. If you like everything efficient this tour is best the logistics are perfect!
Good sites, but felt rushed. I was told I had to pay for the motorboat for the guide which I wasn’t expecting - so ended up more expensive than was advertised. Guide spent a lot of time taking calls, texting and trying to sell another tour.
Great private tour of the high dam, philae temple and the unfinished obelisk. My guide , Mohamed , was very knowledgeable , friendly and engaging. He had all the answers to my questions ( and I had lots of 😄). I could not recommend it more especially if you’re looking for and experience where you got at your own pace without rush . Thanks Mohamed !
Great tour, picked. Up from our Cruise ship on time and given a guided tour of the Top Dam at Aswan, the Philae Temple via a small boat and a visit to the Unfinished Obelisk, our Guide the lovely Mary is excellent and very knowledgable, she even stopped off at a local shop and provided us with a bottle of cold water. Fantastic value for money and highly recommended tour!
The tour was nicely operated. The guide was exceptional and very courteous. Covered all the main places and the transportation was also good.
It was really well organised and the information prior to the trip reassured me. Our guide Mary and driver were already waiting for myself and partner in advance. Mary was lovely and very knowledgable, we were so lucky having her as a guide. Thank you so much Mary we really enjoyed our tour with you.
We really enjoyed the tour with our guide Mohammed 'Emad'. Very interesting and informative. Part of the tour was a boat trip to see Philae temple. It's advertised as a full day but was about 4 hours - which was a perfect amount of time for the 3 sights.
⚠️ Important tip for visitors to Philae Temple: if your tour does not include entrance tickets, insist on stopping at the official ticket booth before getting on the boat. The ticket office is on the mainland before crossing. During our visit we were taken straight across and later asked to pay for tickets directly, which caused confusion as we had not purchased them ourselves or seen tickets issued that day (the tickets we were provided were dated for last month and a few months ago for 2 different agencies). This created an awkward situation that could easily have been avoided by stopping at the official ticket booth first. To be clear, I do not believe this was the intention of the tour company itself. When we contacted them afterwards they said they would investigate, and the rest of the day was enjoyable and well organised. The temple itself is beautiful and absolutely worth visiting. This is simply a tip for future visitors — buying your own tickets at the official booth before boarding avoids any misunderstandings and keeps everything straightforward and official.
Ahmed Faheen was a great guide. Super knowledgable. Got us everywhere without any fuss and looked after us the whole time. An all out great experience from being picked up from the hotel to getting a cool little boat to Abu!
We booked a Philae Temple / High Dam / Unfinished Obelisk tour. The pickup was on time, the driver drove safely, and Rasha our guide was knowledgeable and professional. We enjoyed the tour and had a good time. After the tour we were taken to a family run spice shop. We explained that we did not want to purchase anything but the guide suggested we still went in for 10 minutes, which we did. We had the typical tourist trap experience at the shop, but at least we were not pressurised into buying anything. In summary, the tour was a good experience and I recommend a tour operator and the guide.
I recently took a tour of the Aswan High Dam and the Temple of Isis (Philae Temple), and it was absolutely the highlight of my trip to Egypt! The Aswan High Dam was incredibly impressive—seeing the scale of Lake Nasser really puts modern engineering into perspective. After that, we took a boat to the Temple of Isis. The island setting makes it feel magical, and the carvings are breathtaking. However, what truly made this tour special was our guide, Mo. He was fantastic! Mo didn't just recite dates and facts; he told us the fascinating stories behind the monuments and the relocation of the temples. He was friendly, patient, and spoke excellent English. He also helped us avoid the biggest crowds. If you are planning a trip to Aswan, I highly recommend booking with Mo. You won’t regret it!
The guide Mr Ali Ahmed is the most experienced and professional guide I met during my travel in Egypt. He is a super guide! I could learn a lot about Egypt gods. I really appreciate you assigned him for my private tour! The driver was not good. The driver arrived late. Then he he was driving very roughly and braked suddenly, hitting my head on the seat headrest. Later he got better. Anyway, the tour was wonderful and worth it.
Be careful. We only had a few spare hours while in Aswan and booked a 4 tour. They never showed up. We tried reaching them via email, messenger and phone but they did not respond. I finally got in touch with somebody and they asked me to call the same number I’d been calling. That number always went straight to voice mail. An hour after the tour was supposed to start, they said sorry but they were not coming. They are now “reviewing my refund request” after I explained that I could not reschedule. No idea if I’ll get my money back or not.
Maria is very friendly and knowledgeable. She’s kind and patient. We were a few minutes late and she waited patiently for us. We really enjoyed our tour.
Nice half-day tour around Aswan. Our guide Mohamed abdo is very humorous and helpful. Motorboat for Philae temple was included, which is very convenient as it saves us time and energy negotiating. Overall highly recommended.
Our guide was really good and informative. We loved the trip itself. But 2 reasons I am giving 2 stars is the company actually: 1. We were only given the contact of the guide like 10 min before we were supposed to start the trip. That might be ok for some people but I prefer to contact the guide the day before and have everything set up to feel in control 2. We were staying in the Nubian village. The charge us 10 dollars a person for extra transportation. Which turned out to be a TokTok. TokTok for 1000 EGP for the 2 of us. Wtf. I totally expected a car when they said that (even that would be too much for a car, but whatever). Thing is cars go in and out of the town with no issues. And the TokTok charge for this distance is less than 100 pounds. It makes me now think how much did they act pay the guide and the driver. Probably nothing and that's why everyone is hungry for tips. Anyway, just say no to anything they tell you. Anything they propose is a scam
The company never confirmed my visit and wasted my time and money. I’ve requested a refund. I provided them with the information they requested and I never heard back on WhatsApp
Shambolic. Guide was almost an hour late, was on his phone all the time, did not engage with us beyond some standard blurb. Suddenly the car stops to pick up a single traveller from a different private tour with the same company who was left on the side of the road by her driver and whose guide was not with her and who never showed up. At Philae the driver let other people on our bus and left while we still had personal effects on board. We saw other tour guides of the same company behave aggressively towards independent travellers, including one starting a fight in the temple.
Not a good one they fail to communicate Called them multiple times but no answer even out hotel called them but no response 12 hours before the tour finally had to give up and make other arrangements at the eleventh hour
Ahmed was the BEST guide we could possibly ask for! He shared his vast knowledge of history, and kept the tour fun. Highly recommend!
This tour, guided by our tour guide Mousata Eat (it), was wonderful. Both he and our driver were very respectful. He gave us detailed explanations not only about the tourist attractions on this tour but also about everything in general. The Temple of Philia is beautiful. You can reach it by boat. We didn't see much of the High Dam. It would have been nice to see the gates and where the water flows. Still, seeing the lake was lovely. I think the Temple of Philia is worth a visit.
Not bad overall and when you considered price it was acceptable. If you're solo traveler this tour sorted the problem of haggle jn Philae temple so I recommended
We had an amazing private tour of Aswan covering Philae Temple, the High Dam, and the Unfinished Obelisk. Our guide, Mary, was exceptional - by far the best guide we had during our entire trip to Egypt. She was extremely knowledgeable and explained everything clearly while keeping the tour engaging. The pacing was perfect, and everything ran punctually. The driver was also professional and reliable, making the whole experience smooth and comfortable. I would 100% recommend this tour to anyone visiting Aswan.
The tour was very smooth. Ahmed has great knowledge, perfect English and asks for any wishes. Definetly recommend it!
Very informative tour around the important sites of Aswan. The tour guide Mr Mo Halafy was funny, polite and informative. He has good people skills and enjoys a good pun. We drove to the high dam, stopped for a little while at the Egypt Soviet monument and took the boat ride to Phillae temple. Mr Mo gave concise and humourous explanations throughout and also helped in taking pictures. Best thing he didn’t force us to stop and these touristy places where they sell you stuffs. So if in Aswan close your eyes and book this tour. It is worth it and will leave you with a positive experience.
There were 3 parts to this tour, so I'll rate each of the 3 separately. 1) Aswan Dam - 0 out of 10. This wasn't in any way interesting at all. You drive out to the dam, pay money to take some pictures of concrete, and then leave. It's hot and you're basically just waiting to leave the entire time. I'm not even sure why you need to pay for anything. You don't get to go inside or see anything within the dam, you can only look at concrete. 2) Philae Temple - 10 out of 10. This was really interesting. You take a motorboat out to this temple on an island that has a lot of interesting things to see. The whole experience was really memorable. 3) Unfinished Obelisk - 6 out of 10. This is interesting, but you're only there for 20 minutes, take a few pictures and leave. It's also located within Aswan so you can easily take a cab there yourself. Overall you should consider whether this entire tour is worthwhile when one part is not interesting at all and one part you can easily do yourself.
Tour guide and driver were on time and the tour was great! I really enjoyed the boat ride to Philae Temple and our guide Ahmed gave very good explanations of the carvings. He was a very knowledgeable, friendly, and took great care of us. Would definitely recommend him
It was a good trip. Walking near the boulders and looking at the obelisk and hearing all about it , visiting the high fam and learning about the building of this project was very good. Highlight of the day was visiting the site of Philadelphia Temple. Our guide Ahmed took time and explained every thing. Yosef was a good driver. Trying to escape the vendors was not successful.
I booked a private day tour to the High Dam, Unfinished Obelisk, and Philae Temple. The guide tried to be friendly and explained the Unfinished Obelisk and High Dam well. I paid the official entry fees for both at the ticket offices. However, the issue began when he told me that the ticket for Philae Temple cost 550 EGP and that the boat ride cost 500 EGP, and offered to sell me the temple ticket directly if I paid him in cash. I did — trusting him. When we reached Philae, he asked me for the ticket, which I gave him. After the visit, I asked for it back because I wanted to keep it as a souvenir. He suddenly “couldn’t find it,” searched his pockets, and asked me to wait. When he returned, he handed me a different ticket, clearly not the one I had purchased. It became obvious that he had pocketed the 550 EGP, assuming I wouldn’t notice. Realizing that I understood what he had done, he then gave me the 500 EGP back to pay the boat operator myself, as if that would undo the dishonesty — but by then the trust was completely gone. Although the guide’s explanations were decent, this experience felt deceptive and left a very negative impression. I cannot recommend this tour.
The high damn is interesting to understand the development of Egypt due to the water , but it's a short visit, nothing much to see. The unfinished obelisk quite disappointed to be honest , is big yeah but nothing else , no carving on it on anything like that. And the main temple of Philae is nice , big temple but it was quite crowded to be honest. Regarding go the guide , Rasha she was ok , professional , giving some details ... Maybe I miss the extra mile but totally acceptable. It's not a expensive tour so somehow is what I expected for the money.
Finally a proper tour guide: Ali! after horrible experiences with tour guides, Ali restored our faith in kindness, generosity of spirit and professionalism. He took us through the history behind the high dam, the unfinished obelisk and the temple of Philae, we ended up having a coffee and talking about current day Egypt. Flexible, empathetic and full of knowledge. Well done and happy to have met you.
Ali Baaba was an excellent guide, he was very informative and professional during the 3 sites on the tour. The 3 sites are quite small and quite quick to visit - but still worth seeing.
Loved the experience. Rita (our guide) was a very knowledgeable, friendly, and took great care of us. Would definitely recommend her.
Tour guide and driver were on time and the tour was great! I really enjoyed the boat ride to Philae Temple and the guide gave good explanations of the carvings.
We had a fantastic half day exploring the 3 sites with our great safe driver Mustapha and our amazing guide Marcus. He really brought the sites to life for us with his extensive knowledge, pointing our numerous details that we would have missed without his inside information. His English was first rate and he answered our immunerable questions. We also loved his sense of humour and the fact that we weren't dragged into lots of stores for shopping once we told him that since we travel very light, we wouldn't be buying any souvenirs. We cannot recommend this tour and most especially Mustapha and Marcus highly enough.
This was a great private tour around the sites of Aswan. We had a very knowledgeable and helpful guide - Mary. Our driver was also great. This is a great way to see some of the sites in the area on a very comprehensive half day tour. Great value!
Our guide was very knowledgeable about the subject. He was very nice and kind. It was a great tour and the price was very reasonable. Highly recommended!
Mariam was very nice, friendly, and informative. We did all the attractions and some extra: visiting the perfume store and spice store. Thank you very much.
Rasha is the best tour guide when we were in Aswan! She accommodated our needs to visit Philae temple & High Dam and gave us ample time to spend on the pictures/etc. Hope to see Rasha again in the future 🙂
Marcus is a great guide, able to help you understand every aspect of the tour, uniting the past with the present. He also tells you current insights into Egyptian culture. I highly recommend Marcus as a guide, who also speaks very clear English, and I highly recommend this tour.
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