Abu Simbel Sun Festival 2027: 8 Days for 22 February

8 days / 7 nights · Private · Price on request · Rated 4.8/5 on TripAdvisor, 4.7/5 on Google

Eight private days, 18–25 February 2027, built around one sunrise: the morning the sun reaches the sanctuary at Abu Simbel.

Overview

Twice a year the rising sun travels 60 metres into the mountain at Abu Simbel and lights the statues in the temple's innermost sanctuary. This journey is dated around the February morning: you arrive in Cairo on Thursday 18 February 2027, and on Monday 22 February you are inside the Great Temple before the light starts moving. Around it sits the full route south — Giza and the Grand Egyptian Museum, Old Cairo, Philae and a living Nubian village, a five-star Nile cruiser past Kom Ombo and Edfu, and Karnak and the Valley of the Kings in Luxor — with a private licensed Egyptologist throughout. The sanctuary is small and Aswan fills for the festival, so the date is one to secure early. Ask for a quote for your group size.

Highlights

• Inside the Great Temple of Abu Simbel at sunrise on 22 February 2027
• Dated departure: arrive Thursday 18 February, depart Thursday 25 February 2027
• Philae at the threshold of Nubia, and an afternoon in a living Nubian village
• Five-star Nile cruiser between Aswan and Luxor, with Kom Ombo and Edfu
• Karnak, the Avenue of Sphinxes and the Valley of the Kings
• Private licensed Egyptologist guide throughout

Itinerary

1. Day 1: Thursday 18 February: arrive in Cairo

   Meet-and-assist through Cairo Airport and a private transfer to your hotel, with an evening primer from your host: the shape of the journey ahead, from Kemet's heartland to the deep south of Kush.

2. Day 2: Friday 19 February: Giza and the Grand Egyptian Museum

   The Pyramids and the Sphinx with your Egyptologist, taught as what they are — the monumental achievement of an African civilization — followed by the Grand Egyptian Museum, where the galleries let you trace Kemet's origins and its long relationship with the south.

3. Day 3: Saturday 20 February: Old Cairo, then fly to Aswan

   Coptic and Islamic Cairo in the morning — layers of the land's later story — then fly south to Aswan, the historic frontier between Egypt and Kush, and board your cruiser.

4. Day 4: Sunday 21 February: Philae and a Nubian village

   The island Temple of Philae, where the goddess Isis was worshipped at Nubia's threshold for centuries, then a living Nubian village — the continuity your guide has been pointing toward all day, present and unbroken. An early night: tomorrow starts before dawn.

5. Day 5: Monday 22 February: sunrise inside Abu Simbel

   Leave Aswan in the dark and drive south to Abu Simbel, to be inside the Great Temple before the light moves. As the sun rises it reaches the sanctuary 60 metres inside the mountain and lights three of the four seated statues — Ramesses II, Ra-Horakhty and Amun — while Ptah, a god associated with darkness, stays in shadow. Then Nefertari's temple beside it, and back to your cruiser to sail for Kom Ombo.

6. Day 6: Tuesday 23 February: Kom Ombo and Edfu

   Kom Ombo and Edfu — among the best-preserved temples on the Nile — as you sail the river that bound Kemet and Kush together, with deck time to digest a dense few days of history.

7. Day 7: Wednesday 24 February: Karnak and the Valley of the Kings

   Karnak, where the great column of Taharqa still stands in the first court, then the Avenue of Sphinxes and the royal tombs of the Valley of the Kings — reading the record of Egypt's dynasties, the 25th included, cut into the stone itself.

8. Day 8: Thursday 25 February: depart

   Meet-and-assist for your onward flight home.

What's Included

• 7 nights (hotels + 5-star Nile cruiser)
• Private licensed Egyptologist guide
• All transfers and the internal flight to Aswan
• Daily breakfast, full board on the cruise
• All entrance fees on the itinerary, 24/7 support

Not Included

• International flights
• Egypt entry visa
• Personal expenses and tipping

Related Travel Guides

• The Abu Simbel Sun Festival: When the Sun Lights the Pharaoh's Face
• The Black Pharaohs: The Kushite Kings Who Ruled Egypt
• Nubia: The Ancient Black African Kingdom Beside Egypt
• Inside a Nubian Village in Aswan: Egypt's Living Black Culture
• The Nubian Museum in Aswan: Where the Black Kingdom's Story Lives

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