Overnight Trip to Luxor Featuring Dendera and Abydos

Early in the morning, at 05:00 AM, we'll collect you from your hotel in Hurghada in a private air-conditioned car for the transfer to Luxor for your overnight trip to Luxor from Hurghada . The drive takes about 3.5 hours over 280 km. On arrival you'll meet your private tour guide, who joins you to visit: Karnak Temple: few sites in Egypt rival the grandeur of Karnak . It's the largest temple complex ever built by human hands, representing the combined work of many generations of ancient builders and pharaohs. The Temple of Karnak is really three main temples, smaller enclosed sanctuaries, and several outer temples spread across 247 acres of land. Valley of the Kings: the eternal resting place of Egypt's rulers from the 18th to 20th dynasty, home to tombs including that of the great pharaoh Ramses II and boy-king Tutankhamen. The tombs were richly stocked with the material goods a ruler might need in the afterlife, and most of the decoration inside remains in fine condition. Hatshepsut Temple: one of the most beautiful and best-preserved of all Ancient Egypt's temples, built on three levels linked by two wide central ramps. Colossi of Memnon: two massive stone statues of King Amenhotep III, the sole survivors of a once-complete mortuary temple. The statues are carved from blocks of quartzite sandstone quarried near Cairo and moved 700 km to Luxor . Enjoy lunch at a Nile-view restaurant before we drive you back to your hotel in Hurghada . Overnight at a 3-star hotel (upgrades available).

Breakfast at your hotel, then your private tour guide and air-conditioned vehicle take you onward: drive to Abydos temple. Abydos temple is regarded as one of the most important archaeological sites of Ancient Egypt; the sacred city of Abydos held many ancient temples, including Umm el-Qa'ab, a royal necropolis where early pharaohs were entombed. These tombs came to be seen as burials of great significance, and in later eras it became desirable to be buried in the area, fueling the town's growing importance as a cult site. Today, Abydos is best known for the memorial temple of Seti I, which carries an inscription from the nineteenth dynasty now known as the Abydos King List - a chronological record showing cartouches of most dynastic pharaohs of Egypt from Menes down to Ramesses I, Seti's father. The Great Temple and most of the ancient town lie buried beneath modern buildings north of the Seti temple. Many of the original structures and their artifacts are believed lost for good; quite a few may have been destroyed by later construction. Abydos temple sits roughly 2.5 hours by car north of Luxor , and it was once among the most important religious sites for the ancient Egyptians. Much as modern Muslims hope to make the pilgrimage to Mecca at least once, ancient Egyptians hoped to visit Abydos, a place strongly tied in their minds to the entrance into the afterlife. Several temples were built here, but the largest and most significant is known as the Temple of Seti I. Seti I was the father of the great Ramesses II, who actually finished building most of the temple after his father's death.
Coming to power just 30 years after the upheaval of Akhenaten's heretical rule, known as the Amarna Period, Seti I was focused on restoring faith in the pantheon of pre-Amarna gods that Akhenaten had tried to erase. As a result, the temple he built holds small chapels dedicated to each of the major gods: Ptah, Re-Harakhte, Amun-Re, Osiris, Isis, Horus, and one to Seti himself. Much of the temple complex no longer stands, including the pylon and the first two courtyards, so visitors enter through a doorway straight into the hypostyle hall. Many of the wall reliefs inside remain well preserved, and the reliefs toward the rear of the temple, finished during Seti's reign, are considered among the finest found in any Egyptian temple. Since Abydos takes more effort to reach than many sites, it doesn't see heavy crowds. Tour buses occasionally arrive from the beach resorts or bring cruise ship passengers from the Red Sea, but if you time your visit well, you might well have the temple complex nearly to yourself. From there, drive to Dendera temple Dendera temple . The Temple of Hathor was largely built during the Late Ptolemaic period, specifically under the reign of Ptolemy XII and Cleopatra VII, with later additions made during the Roman period. Although raised by a dynasty of rulers who weren't native Egyptians themselves, the temple's design closely follows that of other classical Egyptian temples, with one exception: the front of the hypostyle hall, which an inscription above the entrance credits to Emperor Tiberius. Beyond this, the temple complex also features scenes portraying the Ptolemaic rulers. Carved onto the outer face of one temple wall, for instance, is a huge relief of Cleopatra VII and her son by Julius Caesar and co-ruler, Ptolemy XV (better known as Caesarion). Both Ptolemaic rulers appear dressed in Egyptian garb, offering sacrifices. Hathor was also regarded as a goddess of healing, reflected in the sanatorium found within the temple complex. Here, pilgrims would come seeking a cure from the goddess. Sacred water - made holy by being poured over statues inscribed with sacred texts - was used for bathing, unguents were dispensed by Hathor's priests, and sleeping quarters were provided for those hoping the goddess would appear to them in dreams and offer her aid.