breathtaking
from start to finish an amazing experience. Pick up super smooth with both Michael and Hani making contact and confirming details. Hani was a super smooth driver and took great care on the journey - he arranged for a fabulous lunch as well after the temple visit and can only recommend following his advice.
Abu Simbel is breathtaking and well worth the detour/long route. The guide too was knowledgable and helpful. All in all a super memorable experience. I really appreciated it.
Katrin_H · sep 2024 · via Viator
Convenient way to visit Abu Simbel
Overview:
This was a pleasant way to visit and learn about Abu Simbel. My favorite part I have to admit, however, was just joking around and talking with our driver, Hany, who is just a really good person. Make sure to ask him to play the best American song of all time!
Full Review:
This is a convenient option for visiting Abu Simbel from Aswan. It’s a long day but I think it’s worth it one time in your life.
I can highly recommend Hany as your driver. He takes customer service very seriously and made our travel to Abu Simbel easy. It’s a long drive (3.5 hours each way) but Hany was just the man for the job. I enjoyed my conversations with him and at all times my wife and I felt very safe in his company. Overall, he did a great job. I also found out that Hany has been a driver for 16 years and estimates that he has driven an average of 1,000 km/day when he is working. He has driven approximately 4 million km during his career—he’s a millionaire! It is safe to say that he knows the Egyptian roads well.
I should also mention that the car was virtually brand new with good AC and was cleaned throughout.
No matter which tour company or driver you choose, make sure you stop at the second rest stop and not the first on your way from Aswan to Abu Simbel—much cleaner and nicer bathrooms. Good Turkish coffee as well.
The tour also includes a local guide in Abu Simbel. Our guide, Mr. Said, was nice and clearly knew his history. It was a fairly generic and scripted tour, but I think that’s the case for most of the tours since the guides cannot accompany you inside the temple and can only give you specifics by showing you images on large card stock.
The tour has three parts: (1) introduction and background for the temple as you walk from the parking lot, (2) history and some specifics about the main temple, and (3) same for the smaller temple. Total learning/explanation time is about 20 minutes—a bit uninspiring but I think it’s typical from what I saw.
Having said that, I still think the guide is necessary to better understand the temple given that you’re investing 7 hours of driving time to see it. I thank Mr. Said for his time (and for helping us avoid the vendors/bazaar) on the way out.
Jeff_R · sep 2024 · via Viator
A good visit with a very kind driver
The tour was very good.
Hany, our driver took good care of us and has been very kind with the 3 kids and drove very safely.
He's answered to all our questions and was not too pushy with the proposals of lunch for example. It gave us the oportunity of enjoying a good traditional meal.
The visit was very good, the guide ok.
It's a shame to have only the explanations outside of the temples and not being able to have the guide inside of the temple to ask questions or have more details.. but it seems to be a government requirement.
Would have appreciated more water given the weather and the road, and it has been communicated to the company that has been very receptive.
The contacts, both with the driver and the company's owner have been highly efficient.
A good trip and we really enjoyed our day.
Thank you Hany and Michael
Eva_T · aug 2024 · via Viator
En route pour Abou Simbel
Nous recommandons l excursion par la route. Malgré la distance, grâce à notre chauffeur Michael le voyage nous a paru confortable et fluide. Sa gentillesse et son professionnalisme nous a permis de profiter pleinement et de découvrir dans d excellentes conditions cet exceptionnel site avec notre guide francophone qui nous attendait sur place.
La prestation est conforme à la description.
CHRISTINE_P · mei 2024 · via Viator
Once in a lifetime experience!
This trip was incredible. You worry the long drive won’t be worth it but it is. This was the most amazing experience of my time in Egypt and easily the best site (and we saw most).
Make sure to do the 7am trip as by the time you arrive at Abu Simbel the thousands of people on coaches are just leaving. We got the place to ourselves, with just a handful of people arriving at the end.
NMayo94 · mei 2024 · via Tripadvisor
Knowledgeable + VIP Experience
Michael and his partner Hany provided a 10/10 experience. They offered a deep knowledge of the Egyptian history and culture, a VIP-like experience between the nice car, AC, and WiFi, lunch recommendations, and even a pit stop at an amazing local spice shop. They also were able to take us from one of our hotels in Aswan to the other and made everything so convenient.
Book it, it’s worth it!
Daniel N · mei 2024 · via Tripadvisor
Michael is a perfect tour guide for Abu!
Michael was an amazing tour guide! He picked us up right on time and gave us an overview of what to expect on our tour. The drive was pleasant with working wifi, AC as well as water and snacks! We made a stop halfway through at a rest mart for a pee break and arrived to Abu as scheduled. Michael did an amazing job at teaching us the history of Abu and answered any questions we had. And we had a lot! When we had finished with Abu our FANTASTIC driver, Hany, was waiting for us with a cool air conditioned car. Hany showed us a great local spot for lunch with fresh fish! On the drive home Michael asked if we wanted to stop at a Nubian spice market and we are so glad we said yes! It was a cool experience and great souvenirs to take home. Michael helped us arrange tour services in Cairo and also airport pick up for the next day. We felt our money was well spent and we’d recommend Michael to anyone traveling to Aswan!
Brooklyn_J · mei 2024 · via Viator
Excellent - Highly recommended
We had a great visit to Abu Simbel. Our driver Hani was on time, very professional and his car was brand new and immaculate. He drove very carefully on the long road to Abu Simbel and we felt safe. He was also very knowledgeable and pointed out many interesting sights along the road and we learned a lot about Egypt’s agriculture and infrastructure projects. Our guide Michael was very friendly and we really appreciated his detailed explanations. Overall we had a great trip and would very strongly recommend any tour with Hani and Michael.
Chenay_A · mei 2024 · via Viator
Comfortable, Friendly, Efficient
We had a great time with Hani driving us to Abu Simbel. He was a great driver, navigating the sometimes difficult roads well and quickly, and he was very friendly pointing out some of the sights along the way. His car was nice and comfortable with good AC. Our guide at Abu Simbel, also named Hani, was knowledgeable and very friendly. We would absolutely book another trip with them. We even had them drive us to Luxor the next day. Kirolos, our driver for that, was also a great driver.
462caspers · mei 2024 · via Tripadvisor
Abu Simbel and shopping
Michael was very knowledgeable and answered our many questions on the drive and at the temple. We stopped for a bit of shopping on the way back as well and he brought us to the right places for what we were looking for. Hany was an excellent and fun driver! Would definitely recommend the trip and this duo!
Theresa_R · apr 2024 · via Viator
