Dendera & Abydos Temples Day Trip from Luxor with Lunch

4.63

(145 reviews)

What’s the experience like?

We almost missed our pickup because I’d left my hat in the hotel room—classic me. Our guide, Mahmoud, just grinned and said, “No rush, Egyptian time!” which made me relax a bit. The drive north from Luxor to Abydos is longer than I thought (a couple hours), but the landscape shifts so much—dusty palms, kids waving by the roadside, that low Nile haze. The car was cool inside but you could smell dry earth whenever we stopped for tea. I tried to pronounce “Abydos” right; Mahmoud corrected me gently (I still didn’t nail it).

Abydos Temple hit different than the big sites in Luxor. It’s quieter—almost echoey—and the paint on those walls is wild, like someone just finished it last week. Mahmoud pointed out Seti I’s cartouche and explained how Osiris was worshipped here. There’s this one room where sunlight cuts through and you see all these gods lined up in blue and gold—I got goosebumps. We wandered slow, no crowds pushing us along, just the sound of our shoes on stone and Mahmoud telling stories about pharaohs who believed this place was a gateway to eternity.

After lunch at a local spot (chicken grilled over charcoal, bread warm enough to burn your fingers), we headed to Dendera Temple. The columns there are massive—every inch carved or painted with Hathor’s face smiling down. I remember touching one column; the stone felt cool even in the afternoon heat. There were birds nesting way up near the ceiling beams. Someone nearby started singing softly in Arabic—it echoed around us until Mahmoud joined in for a line or two, laughing at himself.

The drive back to Luxor was quiet except for some old Egyptian pop on the radio and everyone dozing off now and then. Even now, I keep thinking about those colors at Abydos—the blues especially—and how strange it felt to be somewhere so old but so alive.