Kalabsha Temple and the Nubian Museum: which Aswan tour covers both?
4 min read
Both tours combine the same two stops, so choose by the length of the day: the five-hour tour for a half-day, the nine-hour one if you want a full day with a pickup at 8:00 AM. The private tour to Kalabsha Temple and the Nubian Museum is listed from €63.73 per person and the Kalabsha Temple and Nubian Museum day tour from €89.14.
| Tour | Duration | From | Rating | What the page lists |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Private tour: Kalabsha and Nubian Museum | 5 hours | €63.73 | 5.0 · 3 | About 1 hour at Kalabsha, 2 hours at the museum, bottled water, guide in Arabic or English |
| Day tour: Kalabsha and Nubian Museum | 9 hours | €89.14 | 5.0 · 3 | Private group, 8:00 AM pickup, skip-the-ticket-line label, guide in Arabic, English, German or Spanish |
What you will see
According to the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, Kalabsha Temple was built under Augustus, mainly for the Nubian god Mandulis, with Isis and Osiris also worshipped there. After the Aswan High Dam was built, it was moved in 1962–63 from Kalabsha Island to New Kalabsha Island. The Nubian Monuments from Abu Simbel to Philae are a UNESCO World Heritage site, and Kalabsha is one of its components.
The Nubia Museum opened in 1997. The ministry describes thousands of artefacts, a main hall with a diorama of Nubian traditions and handicrafts, and a garden with part of a Fatimid cemetery, a cave with prehistoric rock inscriptions and a reconstructed Nubian house. It lists daily opening from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM, with a ticket window that closes at 4:00 PM, and extra evening hours on Thursday and Friday.
Reading the two booking pages
The five-hour tour’s page is titled a private tour, yet it also lists a standard group of up to 50 people, so ask the operator which one you get. It asks you to send a copy of your passport to the local partner at most two days before. The includes list is badly worded: it appears to cover admission to the sites, but also mixes in food, drink and tips, so confirm what is covered. Pickup from Soheil Island, Hisa Island, the airport or a Nubian hostel costs extra. The page carries a wheelchair-accessible label but gives no detail.
The nine-hour tour’s page asks for a booking at least 48 hours ahead. Its itinerary shows an hour in the car each way and one “guided tour” stop in Aswan, so ask for the detailed timings. Its includes list names entrance fees and a bottle of water, but lunch and tipping sit in a muddled part of the list, so ask whether lunch is included.
One caution on the history. Both booking pages attribute the temple to Thutmose II and Amenhotep II with a Roman restoration, while the ministry dates it to Augustus. Trust the ministry. The ministry says the temple now stands on New Kalabsha Island, so ask whether a boat transfer is part of the tour.
How to choose
Choose the shorter tour if you want the temple and the museum and nothing else. Choose the longer one if you want a full day with a private-group label and an 8:00 AM start, and you can book 48 hours ahead; its itinerary does not show how the nine hours are split between the two sites. To fill the remaining half day, the High Dam and Unfinished Obelisk guide and the Nubian village guide cover the neighbouring sights. Both pages list free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start.
