Sound and Light Show - Abu Simbel
Sound and Light Show - Abu Simbel
Sound and Light Show - Abu Simbel
4.5
About
The Sound and Light show at Abu Simbel will transport you to the time of the pharaohs. Enchanting you with melodious music, and bringing the ancient world to life around you, the show includes projections onto the temples showing how they once looked. The program is presented in a number of languages with the provision of ear pieces. It is an experience not to be missed, one that will make your visit to Abu Simbel the memory of a lifetime.
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4.5
325 reviews
Excellent
196
Very good
67
Average
37
Poor
10
Terrible
15
LouMiddleton
Melbourne, Australia32 contributions
Oct 2022 • Couples
Unfortunately we didn't have a great experience. After booking tickets to the 7pm show online we arrived at the complex at 6.50 only to find out that the show started at 6.30,not 7 as stated on our tickets and there would be no show after so we missed the whole thing. Only having 1 night in Abu Simbel this was very upsetting. I have since emailed the company and contacted them on WhatsApp and my messages are going un answered. I can see they have seen the messages on WhatsApp but have not replied. Very unorganised company.
Written 6 October 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
santpedor
Barcelona, Spain527 contributions
Dec 2021
We had been there before ( 37 years ago) so knew what to expect.
The show is magnificent and very informative. Although it may be hot during the day it can turn very cold when the sun goes down so make sure you have warm clothing.
The show is magnificent and very informative. Although it may be hot during the day it can turn very cold when the sun goes down so make sure you have warm clothing.
Written 26 December 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Anton S
3 contributions
June 2024 • Couples
The light show was ok, but it was very short and absolutely not worth the money they charged us. What was the worst part, are the salesmen. We were 7 people and they did not want to start the show except they sell 10 tickets. So they forced us to buy 3 more ticktets because otherwise they would not start the show. BUT at the end there were 3 more „local“ tourists arriving with us at the show, who of course do not count as tourisits who can be ripped off. At the end we were 10 people but we still had to pay for 3 additional tickets.
Written 4 June 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Marcus Z
7 contributions
Dec 2022 • Family
A spectacular show. Abu Simbel is pitch dark at night and it is really intriguingly creepy when the 5000-year-old statues of ancient rulers stare at you from two directions. It is a very magical experience and for a moment I was almost moved to tears. Our kids loved the show. We didn't care so much about the actual "story". It is basically just a narration of the building, discovery and relocation of the temples. You will be able to shoot some really nice pictures with good (phone) cameras.
Written 20 December 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
betteskid
Boston, MA1,326 contributions
Oct 2023 • Couples
We went to this light show when we were visiting Abu Simbel. The show was definitely fine, although we have been to other light shows that might have been produced more recently and found them to be more spectacular. That said, it was very interesting to see the temples lit up at night. The narration is given in one language only - reflecting the origin of the majority of guests. On our night it was in French so we had to use headsets to hear the narration in English.
Written 18 December 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Peter B
Asquith, Australia19 contributions
Feb 2023 • Friends
Easy golf cart ride to the location. Magnificent temple sculptures that look amazing lit up at night. Magic under the stars on a clear night with the big dramatic sound of the show. Such a pristine location with good air quality. Very memorable and enjoyable experience. Well worth a visit
Written 5 February 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
ContigoKL
KL16 contributions
Oct 2022 • Friends
As many have already said, the show is cheesy. cold and wind burn to sit in the open for so long. Appreciate the temples to the full inn the day.
In hindsight I would have rather taken a turn around the village
In hindsight I would have rather taken a turn around the village
Written 25 October 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
EgyptophileEngland
Burnley, UK220 contributions
Dec 2011 • Couples
I have wanted to visit the Sound and Light shows at Philae and Abu Simbel for some time and it was finally a possibility this year. I know some shows can be ‘corny’ or ‘cheesy’ but I’ve always enjoyed them – from Karnak to Delhi - for one reason or another though not necessarily for their historical content. Unfortunately the show at Philae was cancelled because we were the only two people waiting to see it and they needed a minimum of eight people before the show went ahead.
There were only three other vehicles in our convoy from Aswan and we were worried that the Abu Simbel Sound and Light show might also be cancelled for lack of visitors. Not wanting to be hanging around again in the cool evening air as we had in Aswan, we were dropped by the entrance by our driver only about fifteen minutes before the show’s scheduled 6pm showing. There was no one else around. Even the bazaar shops were putting their lights out and locking up. Our hopes sank – then we spotted a man and asked where we should go for the “Sound and Light”. He said “Bazaar number 2” (or did he say “3”?) and pointed to the last shop closing. We didn’t quite believe it and felt sure he was directing us to buy some souvenir from a relative but as we approached the shop, a chap put the lights back on and sold us two tickets at LE75 each so we assumed the show was going ahead. Then……..nothing. There was no indication where we should go so we headed for a likely looking deserted building. A man ambled towards us, we said “Sound and Light” and he waved us through an empty area which had a security check and x-ray machine though no one was bothering to use them. We still didn’t know what we were expected to do, where to go or even if the show WAS going ahead – though we assumed it was as we’d been able to buy tickets. We had to ask another disinterested bystander and were pointed to a block-paved pathway which led downward and round a distant bend. As we swiftly walked down we were aware that time had been passing and we were anxious not to be late for the start of the show. The dimly lit path seemed to go on and on and I was afraid of falling but we eventually rounded a corner and saw the temples ahead of us with rows of seats on an area facing them. We speeded up but the path ended and we found ourselves trudging noisily and with a little difficulty through shale. We arrived breathless by the seated area at exactly 6pm. An attendant said “Get your headphones there” indicating another man a little further away. The 6pm show was advertised as being in English so we said we wouldn’t need the headphones. He said we would “because this show is in FRENCH”. We later read on Trip Advisor that this is a common practice if they have a group in of a particular nationality. The headphones were programmed into English for us and we took up our seats. Nothing happened apart from some manic music. A man came round offering what appeared to be CDs saying they were “Free. This music for you to take home.” Hearing it in situ was bad enough but, to be truthful, having had to all but run to get to the show on time and still waiting, we were more interesting in the show starting. It eventually did but we found the booming French narrative from the temples very distracting as we attempted to listen to the English version on cheap ear-plugs which we realised would almost certainly not have been hygienically cleansed from a succession of previous wearer’s ear-holes. We hadn’t known we’d need any sanitising wipes as the show was scheduled to be in our native language! The first part of the show was necessarily explanatory and set the historical perspective of moving the temples in blocks to the present location. It was well done and was followed by informative details of Ramesses II and his Queen Nefertari but then it got silly. The shape and style of the temples was lost as various images from temple walls and/or papyri were projected onto the two monuments - even as a continuation from one to the other. At one stage, a drawing of a bobbing boat made its way along the façade of the Ramesses temple onto the Nefertari temple followed by lines of slaves. My partner, normally far more tolerant than me, pulled his ear-plugs out and said “This is ridiculous. It’s like watching Captain Pugwash.” It was - and though I found his description greatly amusing, it was also very accurate! Eventually, the show ended. One TA reviewer says he was told this Sound and Light show was “the best one in Egypt”. It’s not. The Karnak Sound and Light is certainly much better for focussing on the monuments and a more captivating, if long-winded narrative. Even the awful South and Light presentation at the Red Fort in India with its clip clop coconut shell sound effects and partisan narrative was better than this show. When the Abu Simbel show ended the rest of the audience, without exception, walked off past the front of the temples and disappeared somewhere around the back which we presumed was the way they’d arrived but, not knowing where they were headed, we retraced our steps back up the dimly lit ‘long and winding’ road. It took 998 steps to reach the entrance again where people we’d seen alongside us at the show were arriving from a totally different direction. Was our route easier or more difficult to negotiate than theirs? Another TA contributor has it spot-on with his review and comment that “you, too, will be going to it nonetheless” but you’ll have to ascertain the right approach for yourself and don’t expect any spine-tingling magical spectacular. You'd better also be prepared to experience it in a different language to whatever you'd been expecting!
There were only three other vehicles in our convoy from Aswan and we were worried that the Abu Simbel Sound and Light show might also be cancelled for lack of visitors. Not wanting to be hanging around again in the cool evening air as we had in Aswan, we were dropped by the entrance by our driver only about fifteen minutes before the show’s scheduled 6pm showing. There was no one else around. Even the bazaar shops were putting their lights out and locking up. Our hopes sank – then we spotted a man and asked where we should go for the “Sound and Light”. He said “Bazaar number 2” (or did he say “3”?) and pointed to the last shop closing. We didn’t quite believe it and felt sure he was directing us to buy some souvenir from a relative but as we approached the shop, a chap put the lights back on and sold us two tickets at LE75 each so we assumed the show was going ahead. Then……..nothing. There was no indication where we should go so we headed for a likely looking deserted building. A man ambled towards us, we said “Sound and Light” and he waved us through an empty area which had a security check and x-ray machine though no one was bothering to use them. We still didn’t know what we were expected to do, where to go or even if the show WAS going ahead – though we assumed it was as we’d been able to buy tickets. We had to ask another disinterested bystander and were pointed to a block-paved pathway which led downward and round a distant bend. As we swiftly walked down we were aware that time had been passing and we were anxious not to be late for the start of the show. The dimly lit path seemed to go on and on and I was afraid of falling but we eventually rounded a corner and saw the temples ahead of us with rows of seats on an area facing them. We speeded up but the path ended and we found ourselves trudging noisily and with a little difficulty through shale. We arrived breathless by the seated area at exactly 6pm. An attendant said “Get your headphones there” indicating another man a little further away. The 6pm show was advertised as being in English so we said we wouldn’t need the headphones. He said we would “because this show is in FRENCH”. We later read on Trip Advisor that this is a common practice if they have a group in of a particular nationality. The headphones were programmed into English for us and we took up our seats. Nothing happened apart from some manic music. A man came round offering what appeared to be CDs saying they were “Free. This music for you to take home.” Hearing it in situ was bad enough but, to be truthful, having had to all but run to get to the show on time and still waiting, we were more interesting in the show starting. It eventually did but we found the booming French narrative from the temples very distracting as we attempted to listen to the English version on cheap ear-plugs which we realised would almost certainly not have been hygienically cleansed from a succession of previous wearer’s ear-holes. We hadn’t known we’d need any sanitising wipes as the show was scheduled to be in our native language! The first part of the show was necessarily explanatory and set the historical perspective of moving the temples in blocks to the present location. It was well done and was followed by informative details of Ramesses II and his Queen Nefertari but then it got silly. The shape and style of the temples was lost as various images from temple walls and/or papyri were projected onto the two monuments - even as a continuation from one to the other. At one stage, a drawing of a bobbing boat made its way along the façade of the Ramesses temple onto the Nefertari temple followed by lines of slaves. My partner, normally far more tolerant than me, pulled his ear-plugs out and said “This is ridiculous. It’s like watching Captain Pugwash.” It was - and though I found his description greatly amusing, it was also very accurate! Eventually, the show ended. One TA reviewer says he was told this Sound and Light show was “the best one in Egypt”. It’s not. The Karnak Sound and Light is certainly much better for focussing on the monuments and a more captivating, if long-winded narrative. Even the awful South and Light presentation at the Red Fort in India with its clip clop coconut shell sound effects and partisan narrative was better than this show. When the Abu Simbel show ended the rest of the audience, without exception, walked off past the front of the temples and disappeared somewhere around the back which we presumed was the way they’d arrived but, not knowing where they were headed, we retraced our steps back up the dimly lit ‘long and winding’ road. It took 998 steps to reach the entrance again where people we’d seen alongside us at the show were arriving from a totally different direction. Was our route easier or more difficult to negotiate than theirs? Another TA contributor has it spot-on with his review and comment that “you, too, will be going to it nonetheless” but you’ll have to ascertain the right approach for yourself and don’t expect any spine-tingling magical spectacular. You'd better also be prepared to experience it in a different language to whatever you'd been expecting!
Written 29 December 2011
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
monaliza_tomson
LONDON2 contributions
Sound and light show at Abu Simbel, how beautiful and unforgettable memories.
I have been to Egypt twice and look forward to returning to it. I call Egypt the land of the sun and smiles.There is no place like Egypt that offers so much .The people are so friendly. I love Egypt!!!!
I have been to Egypt twice and look forward to returning to it. I call Egypt the land of the sun and smiles.There is no place like Egypt that offers so much .The people are so friendly. I love Egypt!!!!
Written 25 February 2010
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Charlie_Nelson
Redwood City, CA13 contributions
Oct 2019
The show was OK but if we had known it cost 300 Egyptian pounds each for 35 minutes we would have given it a miss. Seeing the temples lit up at night was the best part.
Definitely don't miss the chance to see the temples. They are magnificent!
Definitely don't miss the chance to see the temples. They are magnificent!
Written 1 November 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We wanted to visit Abu Simbel night show. And just stay 1 night. But 18 July 2019, one can’t fly in or out Abu Simbel Airport. Is it possible and worth it to drive on the 18th, to Aswan, stay there overnight and then continue to Luxor to visit Hatshepsut ?
Written 4 February 2019
Abu Simble is definitely worth the trek if you can get there. Just an astounding feat of engineering in how they moved the temple. The sound and light show was incredible. Much better than the one at Temple of Carnack.
Written 6 February 2019
Please advise if the sound and light show is on every night in abu simbel? Thanks
Written 3 March 2017
Please advise how I can arrange to get to Abu Simel and stay overnight. For now i have only seen day tours from Aswan but I would like to stay overnight so that I can see the sound and light show. Thank you
Written 3 March 2017
I am pretty sure all accommodations are closed up for the summer due to the heat and lack of tourists. We were there the end of August and we manages to get them to dun the sound and light show for us but we had to pay for 15 tickets to get them run the show.There were only 7 of us. We mange to get a local hotel to ope for us but believe me you don't want to stay there. The pool was full of algae and the air conditioners did not work very well and it took all day just to get the water turned on.
Written 6 February 2019
Hola, estoy interesado en hacer un circuito por Egipto, en una agencia me ofrecen el viaje con el espectáculo de luces incluido, y en otra me dicen que este espectáculo ya no se realiza. ¿Me puede alguien indicar si aún funciona? o bien, si sabe alguien si se pueden comprar entradas via internet para ver que pasa. Muchas gracias.
Written 7 February 2017
En agosto seguía funcionando siempre que tengan un aforo de mínimo 10 personas. El problema es que ahora no hay mucho turismo y casi nadie hace noche en Abusimbel .
Yo lo contraté desde Madrid con la agencia. Lo recomiendo porque ahora cuidan más el turismo y el touroperador paga las entradas que faltan para poder cumplir el programa. Con nosotros lo hicieron porque solo éramos 7
Written 8 February 2017
de donde tomaste el barco ? de cuantos dias es el viaje en ese barco que tu tomaste ? ya voy en enero en un crucero por el nilo pero no se si llega hasta abu simbel
Written 11 November 2015
El barco lo cogí en Luxor y estuve tres noches porque la cuarta la contraté en Abusimbel mientras que el resto se quedó una noche más .
Lo que recomiendo es coger un vuelo muy temprano porque hay que hacer escala en El Cairo y llegamos al barco a las 2:30 de la madrugada habiendo salido a las 16:00 de Madrid.
El primer día es el más intenso y cansado y sé que hay barcos que pasan una noche más en Luxor dividiendo las visitas.
Nosotros nos levantamos a las 5:00 de la mañana y a las seis ya estábamos en Karnac. Hasta las13:00 vimos Karnac, Luxor, Valle de los reyes , templo de Hatsepsut y colosos de Menom. Una paliza. El barco salía a la una y tuvimos que hacerlo con prisas. Una pena.
Written 8 February 2017
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