Places To Visit Across Egypt

Below we have highlighed some of the places and ancient monuments that we feel that you should see whilst on your stay in Egypt. Many of which you will find included in a typical Nile Cruise itinerary, such as Temple of Luxor, Temple of Karnak, Valley of the Kings, Valley of the Queens, Colossi of Memnon, Temple of Hatshesut, Unfinished Obelisk, Temple of Horus, Kom Ombo Temple, High Dam & Philae Temple.

But you find during a Nile Cruise you will be offer optional excursions such as the Botanical Garden and Mango Island near Aswan, the amazing temple at Abu Simbel or thr Temple of Hathor in Dendera north of Luxor.

Then if you decide on exploring further and going on to Cairo there are once again many fantatstic places to visit such as the Great Pyramids, The Sphinx and the Cairo Museum.

So have a read below and learn further before you go on your Nile Cruise the sites you may see.

On the west bank of the Nile across the river from Luxor is the area known as the Valley of the Kings and Valley of the Queens, limestone valleys where the mummified bodies of many Egyptian pharaohs and queens were interred.  Visitors cruising on the Nile should not miss visiting this famous landmark with the chance to see Tutankhamun’s mummified body and the beautiful tombs of Nefertiti, the favourite wife of Ramses II. 

Luxor Temple is a great temple complex in Luxor dedicated to Amun, a creator god often fused with the sun-god Ra into Amun-Ra.  Often considered one of the most beautiful temples in Egypt, visitors flock here to see the columns, statues and friezes added by many pharaohs over the course of time since it was founded in c. 1400 BC.  Luxor Temple is huge and once housed a village within its walls.  Admire the 70 feet high pylons fronted my massive statues and obelisks and the later additions including a shrine to Alexander the Great.

The temple of Karnak was known as Ipet-isit by the ancient Egyptians – “most select of places”.  It is a city of temples built over 2000 years, covering 200 acres and dedicated to the Theben triad of Amun, Mut and Khonsu.  Karnak Temple is the mother of all religious buildings and is capable of overshadowing many of the wonders of the modern day world.  Experience the world famous Sound and Light Show, a unique show that narrates the story of the temple and the lives of the great pharaohs who built it.

The Colossi of Memnon was originally built as Amenhotep III’s memorial temple, but it is believed there was an earthquake which resulted in only the two gigantic statues on guard remaining.  The reason the Colossi of Memnon is still so popular is because of these statues – at 23 metres high and weighing one thousand tons each they are an incredible sight.  Their names have changed throughout the years with the ancient Egyptians naming them ‘Ruler of Rulers’ whilst later travellers called them ‘Shammy and Tammy’, likely to a bad translation for the Arabic words right and left.

The mortuary temple of Queen Hatshepsut is one of the most dramatically situated in the world.  Queen Hatshepsut was the fifth ruler of the 18 Dynasty after declaring herself pharaoh following the death of her husband Thutmose II.  The temple lies within the mountainside and is three tiered with rows of colonnades that reflect the vertical patterns displayed by the cliff backdrop.  Although the temple was buried in sand for centuries it has lost no splendor and is an incredible sight to be behold.

The unfinished Obelisk is the largest known ancient obelisk in the world and it can be found in the stone quarries of Aswan.  It is nearly one third larger than any ancient Egyptian obelisk ever erected and if it had been finished would have measured around 120 feet and weighed nearly 1,200 tons.  The unfinished obelisk demonstrates how craftsman carved directly from the bedrock and it seems that cracks appeared in the granite and the work was abandoned.  Marks from the workers tools are still clearly visible as well as the ocher-coloured lines indicating where they were working.

The Temple of Horus is not only one of the best preserved temples in Egypt it is also the second largest after Karnak Temple.  It was built later than most temples in the Ptolemaic era from 237 to 57 BB, which explains its superb appearance.  It is dedicated to Horus, the falcon headed god and was built on the site of the great battle between Horus and Seth.  There are numerous reliefs, including a depiction of the Feast of the Beautiful Meeting, the annual reunion between Horus and his wife Hathor.

Located in the town of Kom-Ombo, about 28 miles north of Aswan, the temple is built on a high dune overlooking the Nile and dates back to the early second century BC.  The temple was started by Ptolemy VI Philometor at the beginning of his reign and added to by other Ptolemys.  The building is unique because of its ‘double’ design and is perfectly symmetrical along the main axis.  Much of the temple has been destroyed by the Nile, earthquakes and later builders who reused the stones.  The southern half of the temple was dedicated to the crocodile god Sobek and there are in fact crocodile mummies displayed inside the temple.

Philae is an island in the Nile River where the temple of Phillae was originally constructed, dedicated to the Egyptian goddess Isis.  Following the building of the High Dam Philae island was summered and the temple was dismantled and reassembled on the Aglika island some 550 metres away.  The temple dates back to 26 centuries, although most of the construction took place during the Roman period.  The goddess Isi was popular all across the Mediterranean and the Phillae temple was its major worshipping centre.

The Botanical Gardens are located on an island known as Kitchner’s Island, after it was given to Lord Kitchner for his campaigns in the Sudan.  After making the island his home, Lord Kitchner imported exotic plants and trees from all over the world, laying the foundations for the beautiful and refreshingly lush garden that can be seen today.  A stroll around the garden will refresh you and your visit to the Lord Kitchner Island in Aswan will be a beautiful memory.  The day can be rounded off with an evening cocktail reception with entertainment on Mango Island.

Abu Simbel is a set of two temples near the border of Egypt with Sudan.  They were constructed for the pharaoh Ramesses II who reigned for 67 years during the 13th century BC.  The temples facade is dominated by four enormous states of the pharaoh, reaching over 67 feet high.  The other temple was built for Queen Nefertari, Ramses II most beloved wife and depicts 6 standing colossi cut into the rock, four of them representing Ramses II and the other two representing Queen Nefertari.

The Temple of Hathor at Dendora, on the Nile north of Luxor, is one of the most recently built Egyptian temples.  It was built in Roman times between 30BC and 14AD, dedicated to the wife of the god Horus and its decorations include Roman emperors alongside Egyptian gods.  Dendera was the chief place for the worship of Hathor, who is variously seen as the patroness of earthly love, the goddess of healing, and the great feminine source of all nourishment.  A feature of Dendera not found elsewhere in Egyptian temples are the dozen mysterious crypts, some underground, some enclosed within the massive double walls of the upper temple.

On the border of the Nile valley and the Sahara sits a small plain, now a suburb of Cairo.  This plain is home to some of the world’s most important historical monuments: the Pyramids of Giza, one of the Seven Wonders of the World that is over 4500 years old.  The Pyramids were built as the burial places for three Pharoahs during the Old Kingdom, Khufu, Khfare, and Menkaure.  They might not have been the first pyramids built but they are the most enduring.

In a depression to the south of Khafre's pyramid at Giza near Cairo sits a huge creature with the head of a human and a lion's body. The Sphinx is the greatest monumental sculpture in the ancient world and is carved out of a single ride of stone 240 feet long and 66 feet high.  Some Egyptologists maintain that the Sphinx was constructed in the 4th Dynasty by the Pharaoh Khafre but there is a mounting body of evidence which suggests that the Sphinx is in fact far order, sculpted sometime before 10,000 BC.