The ABOLUTE BEST Temples in all of Egypt are ABYDOS and DENDERA
NOTE: Many visitors are going to come to Egypt just for the opportunity to gain entry to the Osirion at Abydos. Please contact me and let me know when you are inquiring about a tour to Abydos and Dendera if a private visit inside the Osirion and the Initiation Chamber is something you are interested in.
Google “what are the best temples in Egypt?” and google will give you a list of travel agents selling tours. Do they care whether or not you visit the BEST Temples? No. They are happy for you to buy tours to any temple at all – as long as you buy from them. Just look at the list of temples they give you. All have different temples as the best. That just can’t be! So, if you are looking for a good tour operator – look for the ones who tell you the BEST temples in all of Egypt are ABYDOS and DENDERA.
It is the perfect blend of splendor and enigma that draws me to Abydos and Dendera. These temples reign as unmatched masterpieces, particularly Dendera, which is UNBELIEVABLY INTACT, with perfect colour preservation, radiating vivid hues, and intricate carvings that have endured the test of time, preserved beneath layers of painstakingly removed soot over the past years. Yet, beyond their breathtaking beauty, lies a profound sense of mystery, teeming with thousands of unexplained images that intrigue the curious soul. I have visited Abydos and Dendera, more than any other sites in Egypt because, when I go there, I always find something new, something curious and unusual that I failed to notice on previous journeys.
Abydos and Dendera: how I found them – Mara
Tour to Abydos and Dendera for Mara House Guests
Embarking from Mara House at 7:30 am, our journey to Abydos and Dendera is led by our knowledgeable tour guide. Why choose Mara House for this remarkable adventure? The answer is straightforward: our passion for the enigmatic and unexplored. With your guide’s expert insights, you’ll discover hidden treasures that often elude others. You will take a packed lunch with you, complimentary to all Mara House guests, as there is no time to stop for lunch and indeed, no place to stop along the way anyway,
In terms of tours we always combine the tour to Abydos with the tour to Dendera as they are so far away but on the same road. Also for safety, we are obliged to inform the state security authorities of all tours we do to places outside of Luxor city limits and cooperate with their security convoys to those sites.
Normally, we drive direct to Abydos first, which is a 3 hour drive, spend one and half to two hours in the Temple there, then drive back towards Luxor and stop at Dendera Temple for about one and half hours to two hours. The timing depends on the instructions given to our guides by the police convoys which accompany us on parts of the journey. To comply with policing regulations all visitors must be logged back inside Luxor city limits by 6pm.
Email Mara now to book your suite at Mara House and your tour to Abydos and Dendera
Over 100 years later and little has changed
On 16 Jan 1895 Lady Layard paid a visit to Dendera Temple. Her journey through the cornfields to the Temple took 20 mins, on a chair carried by four men and she says it was less than comfortable. What I found funny was that over a hundred years later the hassle of tourists still continues – Lady Layard writes they were surrounded by natives calling for baksheesh. Some things never change lol!
All tours are bookable via email to Mara
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Abydos and Dendera: how I found them – Mara
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