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Dendara and Abydos Temples Day Tour from Luxor

Recommended by 90% of travelers

Badge of Excellence

Luxor, Egypt

8 hours (approx.)
Pickup offered
Group discounts
Offered in: English

Why travelers loved this

4.6

· Minji_K ·

Dec 2025

My driver is really kind and nice, and arrived on time. Car is also nice and comfortable. Two temple are all very beautiful and worth to visit. I highly recommend this tour.

· David_S ·

Nov 2025

I took the driver only option because I couldn't afford the other ones. And it was great! The driver was very punctual and we managed to arrive back before schedule. The car is new and air conditioned. And the itinerary left plenty of time at each temple (1 hour each)

Overview

Delve deeper into the history of ancient Egypt on a private day trip to the temples of Dendera and Abydos from Luxor. Your guide puts the historic sights into context and provides undivided attention throughout your tour, allowing you to ask ample questions and take breaks when you like.

Discover the temples of Dendera and Abydos on a day trip from Luxor
Relish the undivided attention of your private guide
Learn more about the history and culture of Ancient Egypt than you would in the guidebook
Letting someone else drive means you can soak up the scenery

What's Included

All Transfers by Private A/C latest Model Vehicle
Hotel/port pickup and drop-off
Entry Fees (if option selected )
Tour guide (if option selected )
Lunch at local restaurants(Local Egyptian Food) (if option selected )
Bottle of water

Tipping
Personal Items

Meeting and Pickup

You can head directly to the meeting point, or request pickup

Pickup points

Select a pickup point

Meeting point

أستراحة شركة المقاولون العرب
شارع التلفزيون - أمام المستشفى الدولى الأقصر، الأقصر،،, MJQR+2G9، جزيرة العوامية، الأقصر، محافظة الأقصر 1362312, Egypt
Luxor

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

Operating hours
.6:00 am

Itinerary

Abydos

4 hours • Admission Ticket Not Included

Dendera Temple of Hathor

4 hours • Admission Ticket Not Included

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Near public transportation
Not wheelchair accessible
Infant seats available
Not recommended for travelers with back problems
Not recommended for pregnant travelers

No heart problems or other serious medical conditions
Most travelers can participate
Note : During your booking we need copy photo from your passport please update it with booking process
Entrance fees -Depending on the Tour Options Chosen
This is a private tour/activity. Only your group will participate

Supplied by

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Gallery picture 1 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 2 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 3 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 4 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 5 (from a traveler's review)

Featured review

Robert_P

Easy communication, on time pick up with comfortable car. Driver was drove safely. Our guide Dr Michael was very nice and knowledgeable. He kindly treated us to local breakfast on the way to Denderah. Michael took his time explaining the important parts of the temples and we also had plenty of time to explore alone. We never felt rushed and return around 5pm. Thank you Muchael, the driver and Emo tours.

Reviews

4.6

based on 164 reviews

Total reviews and rating from Viator & Tripadvisor

We perform checks on reviews

Terrible experience with guide Michael

Ina_R, Feb 2026

This review addresses the service provided by the tour operator and guide, “Dr. Michael”—not the temples themselves, which were absolutely gorgeous and worth seeing. This was our third private tour with this company (one in Cairo and two in Luxor), so we have prior experiences for comparison. Our hotel pick-up was scheduled for 06:00, and the guide arrived 20 minutes late because he had gone to a different hotel with a similar name. While mistakes happen, the situation became uncomfortable when he began blaming us and the tour operator for not providing the location (despite clearly finding us) and made inappropriate, racist comments about another group of tourists. Shortly after, Michael told us that another guide’s father had passed away that morning and asked if a separate group could join our private tour at Dendara so he could “help his friend.” We felt put on the spot and agreed, though the situation already felt suspicious. We arrived at Dendara right at opening, when the temple was completely empty. Instead of taking advantage of that rare opportunity, the guide gave a long, confusing introduction outside. His explanations were difficult to follow, scattered, and filled with conspiracy theories, along with repeated claims that he was the only guide who properly teaches history there. By the time we entered the temple, it was crowded, and we had missed the chance to enjoy it peacefully. Inside, he began suggesting we skip Abydos due to “limited time,” exaggerating the drive duration (which we had researched beforehand). He proposed visiting Medinet Habu instead and asked us to make a collective decision as a group—despite the fact that we had booked a private tour. We ultimately continued the day together and even rode in the same vehicle, which made the situation increasingly awkward. The drive back to Luxor took nearly twice as long as expected, with noticeable detours and back roads, reinforcing our concern that the itinerary had been intentionally altered. Later, we learned that the other group had booked a shared tour and had been told that our guide didn’t show up. This raised serious concerns about whether the “emergency” story was true. After this conversation, our guide’s attitude noticeably shifted, and he became overly attentive. At lunch, he repeatedly emphasized that we had agreed to combine tours and even asked us not to leave a negative review because he has a family. Whether the story was genuine or not, the experience left us feeling misled and uncomfortable. We did not receive the private tour we paid for, the historical explanations were poor, and we ultimately gained very little educational value from having a guide at all. We will be requesting a partial refund and cannot recommend booking this tour to Dendara with this company.

Great memories

Robert_P, Feb 2026

Well worth a visit

Valerie_R, Feb 2026

Hieroglyphs and war scenes spectacular at Seti 1 temple at Abydos. Similarly at Dendaras. Far less tourists so not crowded. Good lunch at clean restaurant in Abydos, despite being in small village lane.

Jawdropping

Shane_L, Jan 2026

Dandara Temple is breathtaking. We arrived first thing in the morning & had to wait for the ticket window to open. Which gave me 30 minutes alone inside DANDARA TEMPLE. There are so many beautiful & remarkable things about Dandara. I was given a private tour by a cat. The cat cried at each doorway looking at me as if it was showing me around. Making sure I didnt miss anything. The hierglyphics of the electric giant light bulb is extremely fascinating in Dandara. Upon arriving at Abydos 2 hours later I was again alone in Abydos for about 30 minutes. Abydos Is the most preserved TEMPLE I saw in my month across EGYPT. I can see why Egyptian tourism says it's the most preserved. The colors on the walls are still very vibrant. It's hard to comprehend they are thousands of years old, the blues & reds are as if they aren't even 20 years old. The helicopter & ship hierglyphics 30 feet in the air do make you pontificate on a very heavy existential level. Especially when there is so little erosion decay or loss of color throughout this Temple. IT'S A REMARKABLE TEMPLE.

First of all, the driver...

Keti_K, Jan 2026

First of all, the driver was good, he drove efficiently taking the shorter roads. Nowadays, roads are better so it took overall only about 8 hours, instead of 10 as it used to take. The only issue we had is that the tour company confirmed 3 times that our start time would be 7am instead of 6am as is indicated on Viator. But they didn't inform the driver and he showed up at 6am. Such early start was completely unnecessary, but everything went smoothly otherwise.

Very poor experience and not value for money

Gillian_A, Dec 2025

Guide keen to end Tour and return to luxor, tried to advise against visiting Abydos temple due to the roads being poor. Driver looked at phone almost continuously whilst driving, even after passing a road accident. He also turned to drive incoming traffic on the main road in order to turn off and loop back in to the main road seemingly to avoid a police fine from being spotted on his phone. Guide marched us around Abydos in record time, we are there about 45 minutes! Sadly I cannot recommend this tour through Emo tours at all. We got food poisoning from the 'lunch' , which i think served to take time away from the temples, so my advice would be to book without the lunch (the guide will be keen to get you back to luxor in the afternoon anyway) and take snacks with you.

My driver is really kind...

Minji_K, Dec 2025

My driver is really kind and nice, and arrived on time. Car is also nice and comfortable. Two temple are all very beautiful and worth to visit. I highly recommend this tour.

Dendera and Abydos day trip

JoaoPedro_S, Dec 2025

Positive: the temples, the sympathy of the guide (Ramadan) and the driver (Achmed), both very attentive and kind. The driving was excellent (smooth and cautious), the car was spotless and very comfortable, the ride was fast, and well timed. Negative: The tour begun with the guide informing us that Abydos is very far, and that it would be better to skip abydos, and instead visit a temple in Luxor, with no extra charge. The supposed distances and time were cleary exagerated... as we could confirm later on. that was strange, since we knew already that abydos was far, what ment a 10 hours trip (forth and back). Secondly, why would we change the tour, skipping the most far destination for something in Luxor (where we were) and pay the same? The priceof the tour was higher because of the distance and time that took, why should we skip it to something we didn't want and still pay the same? It was strange. During the trip until Dendera (first stop) and before starting the route to abydos, we were questioned several times if we wanted to skip Abydos. That insistance was ackward, since we were very clear since the first time. I understand that the road is very bumpy, and the driver obviously doesn't like to do this tour, it's a long way, and with some roads in really bad shape, but still, that shouldn't be a reason to try to convince the client to change the trip. I insist, it doesn't make sense. The insistance to book other tours (karnak light show, balloon in luxor, etc) was pushy, to say the least, not to mention the "invitations" to visit alabaster, spices and parfums factories... last but not least, I repeat that the guide was very nice (also the driver), but his knowledge of egyptian art and history was surprisingly poor. If we book an extra price for an "egyptologist", it's not acceptable to have an expert that knows less then me about the history of the ancient egypt. And on top of that, with a really limited knowledge of the english language. Of course it's not his fault, that did everything he could to make us happy, and was very kind and attentive, but it's the company's fault. It's not acceptable to charge this value and not provide a good and competent service.

Practical and punctual service

David_S, Nov 2025

Our guide Michael made...

Nathalie_D, Nov 2025

Our guide Michael made our day fantastic. His way of explaining the details of each site was excellent. He's truly passionate and has a vast knowledge of Egyptology. I highly recommend him to anyone who wants to learn as much as possible during their visit.

Dendara and Abydos tour

vincentliu1, Nov 2025

Bahgat was my tour guide for this tour and he was amazing, very knowledgeable and professional. This tour of Dendara and Abydos is a must see as it takes you to temples beyond Luxor - truly a hidden gem!

Worth seeing

Matthew_R, Nov 2025

Two well preserved and colourful temples and a nice lunch. Ash the guide and our driver were professional and friendly.

Great tour

smcauley74, Apr 2025

Had a great time on our tour yesterday. Big thanks to our tour guide Mohammed and his driver. Not only was Mohammed very knowledgeable and friendly, but he also played some great music (at our request) which made the long drive to Dendara an absolute experience in itself. Thank you for a brilliant day!

Just OK

Paul_W, Apr 2025

The start time was changed from 07.00 to 06.00. This was OK, but the pickup still arrived at 07.00? The tour guide was knowledgeable. By the time we bypassed most police checkpoints and not counting the lost hour, the tour was over 12 hours. Too long.

Check reviews before booking

Arlene_M, Apr 2025

Got messed around by the company, they advertise this as an 8hr tour, it's not it's 10hrs minimum. We cut out Abydos and our guide took us to another temple in Luxxor instead. Guide and driver were fantastic. Check out time of drive before booking tours, Google maps is not accurate, read other reviews.

Put the temples of Abydos and Dendera on your Egyptian bucket list.

Andrew_B, Mar 2025

Both sites are must see if you are interested in Egyptian Pharaonic temple sites. And reasonably readily accessible from Luxor.

Interesting and efficient

Marie_G, Mar 2025

We thoroughly enjoyed the tour. It was very interesting, and we appreciated the information provided about the temples, followed by free time to explore. Since the tour started early, we were almost alone in the first temple, which was a wonderful experience. Our driver also took alternative routes to minimize travel time.

Dendera and Abydos

Richard_P, Mar 2025

Very good experience, guide Taie was funny and knowledgeable. Would recommend to everyone Don’t miss Abydos

It was a cozy and...

Andrius_Z, Mar 2025

It was a cozy and pleasant day trip to Denderas and Abydos. Both the driver and the guide were very helpful. The car is spacious, clean and cool. Our guide Ahmed took excellent care of everything. Both in stories and in our photos. In Abydos, we were treated to delicious traditional dishes.

Ayad was professional, on...

Irene_G, Feb 2025

Ayad was professional, on time, explained well and was a great guide over all. The car was nice and the driver was sweet too.

An amazing tour with Ash !!!

Douglas_N, Feb 2025

Visiting the Temples at Abydos and Dendera were one of the top highlights of our trip to Egypt (Jan 26-Feb 9, 2025). These temples are amazing and beautifully preserved, but best of all, not many tourists make the effort to go to see them.....it is a 9-10 hour day trip from Luxor...some of it on dusty bumpy roads. Our Guide "Ash" was absolutely excellent (by far the best guide we had on our trip) and explained the details of the temples with interesting stories to go along with it. His English was excellent, his presentation enthusiastic, and he had a great sense of humor too. This a must do tour from Luxor....Thank you to EMO Tours for arranging.

A class of egyptology and a great tour

jesusramon_f, Jan 2025

Our guide was excellent (if I'm not mistaken his name was Mustafa) He was an expert in hieroglyphics and his explanations, readings and teaching was a micro class of egyptology. Really great. I would also recommend these 2 temples that most people skip.

Amazing Temples

Georgios_A, Dec 2024

Both the Dendara and the Abydos temples were amazing. We would like to thank our driver for the long-distance drive, and the wonderful experience!!

A great day trip and a must visit.

Nijhum_B, Dec 2024

Probably one of the best experiences i had in egypt. Assraf was my guide and ahmed was the driver. Well driving in egypt is not for the faint hearted and ahmed was a pro. He was on time and respected my time too. No delays and it was a near perfect trip with not much hiccups. I have only one word for Assraf and that is great. He has great in-depth knowledge. He answered my queries not only about the temples of the trip but even the luxor and karnak temples. The best part of the trip was first he taught how to understand the different processes going on in the drawings in the temples and then he asked witty questions and even other depictions there. So you are learning and also understanding the culture . I just loved it. Thank you Assraf

Amazing temples, but annoying guide

Riley_A, Nov 2024

The temples of Dendera and Abydos were wonderful and very well preserved and the meal was delicious, however I give this specific experience only 2 stars because of the guide, who repeatedly tried to convince us to end the tour early by first attempting to change the pickup time to 2 hours earlier and then giving us a hard time when we refused. Then he asked over and over again to not go to Abydos, trying instead to get us to go to a temple in Luxor instead, saying the drive to Abydos was long and if we went to Luxor we would have more time to ourselves later in the day. Given that the whole point of this tour was to see temples outside of Luxor, we did not like this, but he kept trying to persuade us even after we said many times we wanted to see Abydos. Also, throughout the whole day, the guide kept trying to sell us additional tours and experiences, which we repeatedly declined. We found his constant attempts at upselling and ignoring our reasons for declining to be very exhausting, and it really detracted from the experience of seeing the temples.

Excellent day trip from Luxor

Nam_P, Nov 2024

Excellent tour and transportation service for 2 amazing temples! Breakfast and lunch provided. Plenty of time to explore and take photos.

Long but worth it!

Shanoa_M, Oct 2024

The drive is long, so be ready, but its worth it!! The temples are so beautiful & the guide was great! He made the experience very personal & I would do it again!

Very scary and diappointing - choose another provider

Richard_M, Oct 2024

Guide was late arriving, was hard to understand and spent a lot of the time in the car watching a video .... which might not have been so bad if he used headphones. The driver was reckless, driving at speeds up to 140km even after both we and the guide asked him to slow down. And to top it off we had a minor traffic accident when he could not stop in time and collided with the car in front.

Dendera one of the best preserved temples in Egypt !

Gareth_L, Oct 2024

2 beautiful temples and a great tour to see them. These temples are far and out the way so the only way to see them is with a tour like this.

Sam is a very...

Jie_C, Sep 2024

Sam is a very knowledgeable guide. His stories of each temple are very touching. We also learn quite about the Egyptian history and ancient culture. Hightly recommend this tour.

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