Edfu and Kom Ombo are two of the best-preserved temples in Egypt. Most Nile cruise passengers see them briefly from the ship's deck as it docks for an hour on a rigid schedule.

A private day trip gives you a fundamentally different experience. You arrive when it makes sense, spend the right amount of time at each site, and have a guide who can explain what you are looking at — not a rushed commentary delivered to a group of forty while the ship is waiting.

The temples look the same. The experience does not.

The Two Temples

Temple of Horus at Edfu

emple of Horus at Edfu Built between 237 and 57 BC by the Ptolemaic rulers, the Temple of Horus at Edfu is the most completely preserved ancient Egyptian temple in existence. Its entrance pylon stands 36 meters high. Its inner sanctuaries, halls, and chambers are all intact — roof, walls, floors, and inscriptions. Because it was buried under Nile silt and the mud-brick houses of a later village until 1860, it was protected from the deterioration that affected most exposed sites. The result is extraordinary: an ancient Egyptian temple that you can experience more or less as it was designed to be used.

Temple of Sobek and Haroeris at Kom Ombo

Kom Ombo is unusual — a double temple, with twin sanctuaries built side by side for two different gods: Sobek (the crocodile deity) and Haroeris (a form of Horus). The layout mirrors itself symmetrically down the central axis. The Crocodile Museum, adjacent to the temple, displays the mummified crocodiles found buried in the vicinity. The temple sits directly on the Nile — the river view from the outer court is one of the most pleasant in the Luxor-to-Aswan stretch.

✦ On the outer wall of Edfu's hypostyle hall, there is a complete set of carved instructions for the annual festival of the Sacred Marriage — the ritual voyage of Hathor's cult statue from Dendera to Edfu each year, when she would symbolically unite with Horus. The procession took fourteen days. The entire river journey, the welcome at Edfu, the ceremony itself, and the return voyage are depicted in continuous narrative relief around the wall. Your guide will walk you through the sequence. By the end of it, a temple that looked like carved stone starts to feel like a record of something that actually happened.

Common Questions

 Is this tour suitable for passengers on a Nile cruise? 

Yes — if your cruise ship docks at Edfu or Kom Ombo, a private guide visit is significantly better than the group tour organized on board. We can arrange to meet you dockside. Ask us about timing based on your cruise schedule. 

Can I visit just one of the two temples? 

Edfu alone is a half-day tour from Luxor. Kom Ombo alone is similarly achievable. The combined day is the standard recommendation because the driving distance makes visiting both efficient, but if your time or energy is limited, a focused single-temple visit is possible. 

Can the pacing or order be adjusted? Yes — all tours are private. The itinerary adapts to you, not the other way around. If you want more time at one site and less at another, tell your guide. 

Will there be pressure to buy anything? No. This is a private tour with no commission arrangements. Your guide will not redirect the itinerary for shopping stops.