Philae Temple — Attraction in Aswan

The temple complex is located on an island in the Nile River, which only adds to the overall sense of wonder and mystique surrounding the site.

The temple itself is incredibly well-preserved and features stunning examples of ancient Egyptian architecture and design. The hieroglyphics and carvings on the walls are incredibly intricate and detailed, and it's amazing to think that they were created thousands of years ago.

One of the highlights of my visit was the sound and light show that takes place at night. The temple is illuminated in a variety of colors and the narration and music really bring the history of the site to life. It was a truly magical experience that I won't soon forget.

The island itself is also quite beautiful, with lush greenery and plenty of places to sit and take in the stunning views of the Nile. There are also several small cafes and vendors selling souvenirs and snacks, which is a nice touch. It's worth noting that the Philae Temple has a complex history that extends beyond ancient Egypt. During the early Christian era, the temple was partially destroyed and covered in plaster, with Christian symbols and inscriptions added onto the old drawings. This was part of a larger effort to convert the local population to Christianity and erase the history of the previous civilization.

Thankfully, in more recent times, there has been a concerted effort to restore the temple to its original state and preserve its historical and cultural significance. This has involved extensive restoration work, including the removal of the Christian plaster and the careful preservation of the original hieroglyphics and artwork. As a result, visitors today can appreciate the temple as it was originally intended, and gain a deeper understanding of the complex history of the site and the region as a whole.

It's a truly unique and unforgettable experience that will leave you with a newfound appreciation for the incredible achievements of the...

We thought we would post some info here because we struggled to find any self guided info online!

We went via the Unfinished Obelisk to Philae Temple. It was doable without getting a taxi to wait by being patient, and instead flagging down a tuktuk or taxi.

Regarding costs: Taxi from Elephantine Ferry to Unfinished Obelisk: 50LE total Tuktuk to Philae Temple: 100 LE total Philae Temple back to Elephantine Ferry: 150LE total

Unfinished Obelisk: 80 LE adult easily do this in 30mins easy to walk, formed foot paths and a small amount on granite intense bazaar at the end - be warned

Philae Temple: 200 LE adult sadly getting a trip to Philae via the boat is a mildly aggressive and stressful experience with the boat owners BUT talking with some regular arabic travelers to the temple, they told us that it IS A FIXED PRICE - 250LE per boat for a return trip for 1.5hrs at the temple. Our young sailor was a gem though and it was a terrific time there and back. 1.5hrs is doable for the island and we are people that spend hours in museums! we also bought the panarama roof ticket for 100 LE - would advise against it, didn't add much and the guide with the keys made us tip him for literally nothing at all (he was happy with just 5 LE though.) we saw a lot of tours - the guides sounded excellent however most groups were 15-20 people in size.

It all up was surprisingly costly - ~$22 USD per person, BUT quite reasonable given a lot of the tours are around $60-70 per person and don't include entrance fees at all!

So - if you are not super keen on a guided tour - doing it yourself is absolutely possible and it wasn't too difficult. If you want all those hassles of haggling at each step to go away - plenty of tours there...

The temple is a complete marvel of ancient and modern engineering. Every step you have to get there (without a tour guide) is utter hell. As a pretext, this is not my first trip, im not easily pushed around. The taxi to get there was relatively okay, the usual "police entrance fee" and "waiting costs" have to be haggled. The ticket office is pretty straight forward, they are very scrupulous if you state you're a student. The boat ride there is insane. First of all the ride is not included in the ticket, the ticket is basically useless on its own. To get the boat ride, you walk on this dock where multiple boats ask you to get on. The trip starts at 700 EGP per group for a round trip, with a waiting time of 1 hour. Here is the good part. You are not allowed to form groups with other tourists there. They force you to separate. Lone traveler? Too bad, entire boat on your own with full cost. I was there with my partner and we tried to form a group with 4 other people and they refused to board us. We went to speak to the tourist police and they basically said that that's the rule (which is ofc nonsense since its not written anywhere). To make matters worst outside there is a sign saying that the boats are supposed to cost 450 EGP for the entire boat, which should be around 45 EGPpp. Did anyone there care? Nope. Not even the police. In the end we caused such a commotion that they reduced it to 450 for groups of 2 people with 2 hours waiting, but they were adamant on separating us. The only time I would have thought about getting a tour guide because apparently those are "one group"

Tldr. Temple beautiful, boatride ruins...