A handful of hotels, one exceptional Nubian lodge, and the best decision you can make about this trip.
Almost everyone treats Abu Simbel as a day trip. Staying the night is the single biggest upgrade available: you get the temples in the late-afternoon light, the Sound and Light show, dinner that is actually good, and the site again at opening the next morning — a full hour before the convoy from Aswan arrives.
Abu Simbel has a population of a few thousand and around a dozen places to sleep, most of them small. That matters in two ways: rooms sell out fast around the Sun Festival dates (22 February and 22 October), and standards vary more than the star ratings suggest. The shortlist below is drawn from properties bookable on Trip.com with real guest scores attached.
Lakeside resort ★★★★
The long-standing address in Abu Simbel: low-rise bungalows in gardens on the Lake Nasser shore, a big pool, and a terrace that looks straight down the water towards the temples.
Resort ★★★★★
The newest and largest resort in town, and the one reviewers most often call a genuine surprise. Spacious rooms, generous grounds and the highest guest score of the bigger properties.
Nubian ecolodge
A mudbrick lodge on the lake run by a Nubian family, with its own kitchen garden, a small library of Nubian music and a dinner table that people travel for. Book far ahead: it has very few rooms.
Hotel ★★★★
A recently built four-star close to the temple road, repeatedly praised in reviews for quiet, new rooms and unusually attentive staff. A reliable mid-range choice.
Hotel ★★★
A friendly three-star in the middle of town, well liked for its service and breakfast. The sensible pick if you want a real bed and a short walk rather than a resort.
Budget hotel ★★
Simple, spotless and next to the Sound and Light office — the highest-rated cheap bed in Abu Simbel, and used to arranging early temple visits for guests.
Aswan has hundreds of hotels, a Nile corniche, Philae, the souk and far more choice at every price point — and it is where almost every Abu Simbel tour starts. If you are visiting Abu Simbel once, on a fixed itinerary, basing yourself in Aswan is completely reasonable. Stay in Abu Simbel if you want the temples without crowds, the evening show, or the Sun Festival.
Compare Aswan hotels on Trip.com →
Four 20-metre colossi, a sanctuary lit twice a year by the rising sun, and a temple that engineers cut apart and rebuilt on higher ground. Compare tours from Aswan, Luxor and Cairo and book in a couple of taps.
If you care about seeing the temples without a crowd, yes. Day trippers all arrive within the same two-hour window; staying lets you visit in the late afternoon and again at opening, and adds the Sound and Light show and a proper Nubian dinner.
Around a dozen properties, from two-star guesthouses near the temple road to a five-star resort and a well-known Nubian ecolodge. Because supply is small, availability tightens quickly in high season and disappears entirely around the Sun Festival.
Budget rooms start around $60 a night, mid-range hotels sit roughly between $100 and $170, and the larger resorts run higher in peak season. Prices move a lot with demand, so check the live rate rather than relying on an average.
Aswan for choice, restaurants, nightlife and onward connections; Abu Simbel for quiet temples and the evening show. Many travellers do both — a night in Abu Simbel on the way, then back to Aswan.
The airport is about 15 minutes from town and most hotels will collect you if you ask when booking. Taxis meet flights but are not plentiful, so arranging a transfer in advance is the safer option.
