Aswan is an often over-looked destination in Egypt. It’s a long way from Cairo, especially if you’re traveling to Aswan with kids, and doesn’t have a large, famous site like the Valley of the Kings in Luxor. I wanted to visit Aswan for two reasons; as a base for a day-trip to Abu Simbel, and as the starting point for a felucca from Aswan to Luxor. For these reasons alone it’s worth a spot on any Egypt Itinerary, but there are a few incredible sites that make Aswan a great travel destination in itself!

I didn’t initially research what to do in Aswan, it was just a home base! Luckily, I found Waleed at Aswan Individual, and managed to sort out a few great days exploring Ancient Egyptian sites away from the crowds. (Our trip wasn’t sponsored in any way! We paid full price for everything, and he didn’t even know I have a travel blog. We had the most incredible tours planned by Waleed, he was flexible and great with the kids, and I can’t recommend him enough!).

Looking for more great Egypt travel tips? Check out our other Egypt posts!

We arrived in Aswan on an early morning flight from Cairo. I had pre-arranged pick-up at the airport (with Waleed) to take us to our guesthouse. I’m so greatful we did! Our guesthouse was across the Nile on the West Bank, and we had to take a small ferry to reach it. I’m sure I would’ve figured out how to navigate it on my own, but sometimes it’s just nice to not have to worry about it! Also, our guesthouse was a short walk from the ferry dock, and I’m sure we would’ve easily been lost if left on our own! Since we all had our luggage, and were a bit tired from the early morning flight, getting lost would NOT have been a good start to our time in Aswan!

Our guesthouse was perfect! The rooms were cute, and provided ample space for us to spread out, There was a little garden out front where the kids could play, and the rooftop terrace provided a stunning view over the tombs of the Nobles and the Nile. I loved just sitting on the terrace, drinking mint tea (of course!) and watching the boats sail down the river. Occasionally a camel would walk down the street below us, on it’s way to or from work with it’s owner. It felt like we were part of the fabric of Aswan rather than tourists observing from afar.

The first day in Aswan was spent relaxing at the guesthouse, sorting out laundry, and walking the Corniche. Initially I thought I’d spend the day trying to arrange a felucca to take us to Luxor, but Waleed did that for us so we got to relax instead! After a long day visiting the Pyramids of Giza the day before, it was better to lay low and let the kids recover a bit. Plus, we had lots planed for the next day in Aswan!

We spent one day touring the main sites of Aswan. It’s not a huge city, so it’s easy to fit it all into a day or a day and a half. I felt like we didn’t need to over-load ourselves so I chose 2 temples to visit, Philae Temple and Kalabsha, with a stop at the Aswan High Dam in the middle. Philae Temple is the major draw for tourists in Aswan, and Kalabsha is significantly less popular. This deviated slightly from what Waleed had suggested, but he was happy to change things around.

How To Visit Philae Temple With Kids

The Philae Temples are located on an island in the middle of the Nile, just below the Aswan High Dam. The island was said to be the location of the Tomb of Osiris, making it extremely important for both Egyptians and Nubians. Most of the Temple was built between 282 and 145 BC, and remained on Philae Island until 1960.

By this point the increasing height of the Nile (due to the building of the Aswan High Dam) had already washed away much of the colours from the reliefs and was threatening to destroy the Temple. The ruins were moved brick by brick to the nearby Island of Agilkia, where it stands today. It does seem a bit silly that the Philae Temples are no longer on Philae, but I guess if they were we might need to scuba dive to see them.

Since the temples (Philae Temple plus a few smaller ones) are on an island in the middle of the Nile, you have to take a boat to visit them. You can catch it from the Marina Philae Temple, a few km South of Aswan. If you’re on your own, expect to pay between 40-100LE ($3-$8 CAD) round trip for a taxi from downtown Aswan to the dock, including wait time (the taxi will wait for you at the dock while you visit the temples). Also, you’ll need to haggle hard for 40LE ($3 CAD) per person for the return boat trip (or expect to pay quite a bit more!).

The ticket stand for the Temples is BEFORE you haggle for the boat, so you’ll have already purchased it by the time you get to the dock. The boatmen tend to be difficult to barter with because they know they’ve got you between a rock and a hard place. If you’re on your own, try to join up with a few other tourists, or a small tour group, to keep the price down. Even our tour guide, a local, bounced between 3 or 4 different boat drivers before finally getting to a price she was happy to pay!

The boat ride to the Temple complex is pleasant. The boats are covered from the sun, and they go relatively slow so you can enjoy the surroundings along the way. Disembarking was relatively easy, although if you have bad knees make sure to brace yourself as the boat will rock as everyone gets out.

*expert tip – Make sure you pay attention to which boat you get off, as you’ll have to find it again for your ride back!

Philae Temple isn’t usually overrun with tourists, so it’s possible to enjoy much of the visit without many other people around. However, if you arrive and the Temple of Isis is relatively empty, head there first! There’s a large carving of Isis on one side of the door, and many other areas where the only thing remaining is the imprint of one of the Gods having been removed by later religious groups who occupied the temple. Our guide explained that many of the carvings were defaced in order to force the general public to “forget” about their past beliefs and adopt new religions.

The temples were also full of a fair amount of graffiti, religious and otherwise. One of my favourite things to look for were the Coptic crosses, randomly found throughout the temple (can you spot one in the pictures above?). There were also names and dates carved into the stones in multiple places. I just can’t wrap my head around the need for anyone to carve their name into anything, let alone an ancient temple!

When you visit, take your time to wander around and enjoy the temple. There are multiple places where you can stand along an ancient building, look out over the Nile, and pinch yourself because it almost doesn’t seem real! There’s also lots of room for the kids to play while you explore. So few tourists were visiting while we were there, the kiddos had free-range of the place. They decided to play tag, and then hide and seek. Tag was alright, but hide-and-seek wasn’t as good (for me) cuz there’s a lot of places to hide! At one point we lost Kacela for a good 20min. I was close to thinking about panicking when she finally re-appeared. I guess she found a really good hiding place! She didn’t seem to think there was anything wrong with the game!

Before you catch the boat back, there’s a small restaurant and tourist shop where you can stop for a cool drink before finding your boat back to the East bank. The toilets are also located near the restaurant. I recommend bringing your own toilet paper.

*expert tip – Buy the kids a postcard with the hieroglyphic alphabet. Calais bought one here and used it throughout the rest of our time in Egypt. She translated hieroglyphics at most temples we visited, and got quite good at recognizing a few of the characters.

Know Before You Go

Hours: Oct-May 7am-4pm, June-Sept 7am-5pm

Cost: 60LE ($4.60 CAD) for a full day, if you visit at night this will include the light show. Expect to pay 40LE ($3 CAD) per person for the return boat trip.

Stop At The Aswan High Dam

The Aswan High Dam was built between 1960 and 1970 to help Egypt better control and harness the power of the Nile. It’s an impressive 4000m (13,000ft) long and 980m (3220ft) wide at the base. It’s possible to take a tour of the Dam, however I think you need to be really interested in dams to make it worthwhile. Instead, stop for a few minutes and look out over both sides of the dam. My favourite view was out towards Lake Nassar!

The dam has had a number of effects, both positive and negative, on the economy and environment of Egypt. The girl’s favourite effect was about the now almost non-existent presence of Nile crocodiles downstream (North) of the dam. Only small crocodiles are able to make it through the dam’s turbines, while the larger ones get chewed up and killed. The smaller crocodiles are typically caught before they become large enough to cause a problem. This simple fact made it much easier for everyone to enjoy swimming in the Nile!

We had to pass across the dam to get to Kalabsha temple. It was interesting to see it and read about it, but we didn’t think a tour was necessary.

Cost: 30LE ($2.30 CAD) for a foreigner to cross the dam (kids 5 & under free).

Temple of Kalabsha – My Favourite Temple in Egypt

The Temple of Kalabsha was originally built in Nubia in 30BC and was moved to it’s current location after the building of the Aswan High Dam. It was built for Mandulis, the Nubian Sun God, and is one of the greatest examples of Egyptian Nubian architecture.

It was one of my favourite things we did in Egypt! It’s not that it was the most impressive, or the most intact, but that I felt like we’d discovered something no one else knew about. We were the only ones visiting the entire time we were there.

The reliefs and details were similar to Philae Temple, but the lower ceilings and lack of natural light in the rooms give them an almost haunting feel. Plus, wandering around alone, I could pretend to be an explorer discovering the temple for the first time (okay, maybe not quite, but it was still pretty cool).

Use the solitude, and that postcard you bought at Philae Temple, to decipher some hieroglyphics! It was one of the girls’ favourite things to do at Kalabsha Temple!

Beit El-Wali

After spending some time in Kalabsha, we wandered up the hill to visit Beit El-Wali. This small temple was built by Ramesses II during his reign from 1279-1213BC to remind the Nubians of the power of the Egyptian Pharaoh and to encourage them to worship the Egyptian gods. It’s a bit out of the way and had our tour guide not said anything I would’ve had no idea it was there! It’s a short walk uphill, but it’s worth it! Having not visited Luxor yet, this was the first time we saw the vibrant coloured paintings on the walls. I was so impressed by them, and didn’t expect it at all, which is likely what made it so cool.

Kiosk of Qertassi

The last stop before leaving Kalabsha was a photo-op at the Kiosk of Qertassi. This beautiful and elegant Roman kiosk used to stand at the entrance of the sandstone quarries of Qertassi. When it was built it had 14 columns, however only 6 columns remain (4 inside and 2 large ones at the entrance). There’s not much left to see, but it offers a beautiful view over the Nile. There’s also a few large stone blocks decorated with African animals on the walkway between Beit El-Wali and the Kiosk of Qertassi. I think these may have been the girl’s favourite thing at Kalabsha!

As we climbed aboard the boat to leave Kalabsha, the guard/ticket-man asked if he could catch a ride back with us. He figured it might be his last chance for the day!