By type of trip
Nile Cruises Luxor to Aswan: Routes, Boats and Prices
Classic Egypt Tours: Cairo, Luxor and Aswan Itineraries
Nile Cruise and Red Sea Holidays: Two-Week Egypt Trips
White Desert Tours from Cairo: Oases and Desert Camping
Short Breaks in Egypt: Three and Four Day Cairo Trips
Tailor-made Egypt Tours: Private Trips Built Around You
Aswan · Ancient sites
The Unfinished Obelisk is a giant obelisk still lying in an ancient quarry in Aswan. Work stopped when the stone showed flaws and cracks, so it was never lifted out of the bedrock. Finished, it would have stood about 42 metres tall and weighed 1,168 tonnes. Egypt's Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities says that is taller than any other ancient Egyptian obelisk. The site is open daily from 7am to 4pm, and a foreign adult ticket costs EGP 220. Half an hour is enough. Eight of our trips stop here, always on the same day as Philae Temple.
It is an obelisk that was never freed from the rock. Workers cut its outline into the bedrock of an Aswan quarry. Then flaws and several fissures showed in the stone, and the work was abandoned. The obelisk still lies where they left it.
The ministry believes Hatshepsut commissioned it. She ruled from about 1473 to 1458 BC. The obelisk was meant for the temple of Amun at Karnak, in Luxor. Sand covered it for thousands of years, and it was uncovered in the early 20th century.
Aswan's quarries were where the hard granite was. That is why a Karnak obelisk was started here, about 215 km south of Luxor by road.
Obelisks usually stood in pairs in front of temple entrances. Each was cut from a single piece of stone, with a rectangular shaft and a small pyramid on top. That tip was gilded to catch the sun. The ancient Egyptians called an obelisk tekhen, and linked it with the sun god. Kings carved their names and dedications on all four sides.
Finished, it would have stood around 42 metres high and weighed 1,168 tonnes. Those figures come from the ministry.
Compare it with Hatshepsut's larger obelisk at Karnak, which still stands. The ministry gives that one a height of almost 30 metres and a weight of over 300 tons. The Aswan obelisk would have been about 12 metres taller and several times heavier.
Because an obelisk is one piece of stone, a single crack ruins it. At Aswan you see what happened when one did.
The site is a fenced quarry in the middle of modern Aswan. The obelisk lies in the rock with its shaft cut free along the sides. Its underside is still joined to the bedrock, which is where the work stopped.
Look first for the channels cut down each side of the shaft. Workers dug these to separate the obelisk from the rock around it. Pitted marks on the stone show where they pounded it away. Then look for the cracks. The ministry gives flaws and fissures as the reason the job was dropped.
The quarry and the obelisk are the whole site, which keeps the visit short. Half an hour covers it. A guide adds most here, because the marks are easy to walk past without knowing what they mean.
The Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities lists these prices for foreign visitors: EGP 220 for an adult and EGP 110 for a student. Egyptian visitors pay EGP 20, or EGP 10 for students. Source: egymonuments.gov.eg, checked October 2026.
The same page gives opening hours of 7am to 4pm, every day of the week. Ticket prices in Egypt change often, so check the ministry page shortly before you go.
On our tours, the visit is part of the day's guided sightseeing. The tour exclusions name additional tickets, such as Tutankhamun's tomb. If you want to be sure the obelisk ticket is covered, ask us when you book.
Go as close to 7am as you can. The quarry has no shade, and the granite holds the heat. Aswan's summer afternoons pass 40C, and even winter middays are warm in full sun.
Most visitors pair it with Philae Temple and the High Dam. The three are a short drive apart and fit into one half day. Every one of our tours that names the obelisk visits Philae on the same day.
On a cruise, the obelisk comes on the day you board in Aswan, or on the day the boat arrives there. Either way you return to the boat for lunch or dinner.
Yes, if you are in Aswan anyway. It is a short stop beside Philae, and it shows how the Egyptians cut their largest monuments out of solid rock.
It adds most if Karnak is on the same trip. At Aswan you stand where an obelisk was cut. At Karnak you see Hatshepsut's obelisk standing. A cruise from Aswan to Luxor shows them in that order.
On its own, it is a weak reason to travel to Aswan. Philae, a felucca on the river and Abu Simbel are the bigger draws. The obelisk fits around them. Our things-to-do in Aswan guide ranks it third, after Philae and a felucca.
Eight of the trips we sell with our partner, Memphis Tours, name the Unfinished Obelisk. In each one it comes on the same day as Philae, with an English-speaking guide. Prices below are from-prices in US dollars, per person. International flights are extra.
Cruise only: the Nile Cruise from Aswan to Luxor, 4 days, from US$840. You board in Aswan on day 1 and see the obelisk that afternoon. The Nile Cruise from Luxor to Aswan, 5 days, from US$1,095, reaches it on day 4. Neither cruise includes domestic flights, so you book your own way to the start and home from the end.
Cairo first, then a flight to Aswan: Cairo, Aswan and a Nile Cruise, 7 days, from US$1,890. Nile Cruise and Hurghada, 10 days, from US$2,310. Cairo, a Nile Cruise and Hurghada, 11 days, from US$2,560. All three fly you to Aswan on day 3, with the flight in the price. You board and see the obelisk the same day.
Cairo first, then a flight to Luxor: Cairo, Luxor and a Nile Cruise, 8 days, from US$2,135. A Nile Cruise and Two Days in Cairo, 9 days, from US$2,385. Both reach Aswan by boat on day 6. Cairo and a Nile Cruise, 10 days, from US$2,635, reaches it on day 7.
Five longer trips list the granite quarries at Aswan, on the same day as Philae. These are the 12-, 13-, 14-, 15- and 16-day tours. Their itineraries do not name the obelisk. If seeing it matters to you, ask us to confirm it before you book.
It is in Aswan, in southern Egypt, inside a fenced ancient quarry in the modern town. Aswan is about 215 km south of Luxor by road. Most Nile cruises start or end there.
About 3,500 years old. The ministry believes Hatshepsut commissioned it, and she ruled from about 1473 to 1458 BC. It lay under sand until the early 20th century.
Yes. It is open to all visitors every day from 7am to 4pm. A foreign adult ticket costs EGP 220 (egymonuments.gov.eg, checked October 2026). The quarry, Philae and the High Dam are a short drive apart, so one driver can cover all three.
Yes. Start at the obelisk when it opens at 7am, then go on to Philae. All eight of our tours that name the obelisk visit Philae on the same day.
You can manage without one, since the site is small. A guide helps you read the channels, tool marks and cracks, which are the point of the visit. On our tours an English-speaking guide comes with the day.
Water, a hat and sun cream. The quarry has no shade and the stone holds heat, so the early morning is the most comfortable time.
Entry rules, opening hours, security advice and exchange rates all move. Check them at the source, not here.
Written and checked by the Nile Trip Guide editorial team · Last reviewed . Entry rules, prices and opening hours change — check anything critical against the official sources linked on this page.
Plan this trip
A real itinerary with real prices, usually within 24 hours. Nothing is booked and nothing is charged until you say yes.
4 days · Nile cruise
Three nights sailing north from Aswan to Luxor, taking in Philae, Kom Ombo, Edfu, the Valley of the Kings and finally Karnak. Full board on board, and the sightseeing runs as a shared group of about fifteen.
from US$840 / per person
5 days · Nile cruise
Four nights sailing south from Luxor to Aswan: Karnak and Luxor temples on the first afternoon, the Valley of the Kings, Edfu, Kom Ombo and Philae. Full board throughout, with sightseeing in a shared group of about fifteen.
from US$1,095 / per person
7 days · Classic Egypt
A 7 day Egypt itinerary that takes the river the other way round: Giza and the Grand Egyptian Museum first, then a flight south to Aswan and three nights sailing down to Luxor.
from US$1,890 / per person
8 days · Classic Egypt
The route most people take first, at the length it was built for: Giza and the Grand Egyptian Museum, then a flight to Luxor and four nights sailing down to Aswan.
from US$2,135 / per person
9 days · Classic Egypt
The standard Cairo and Nile cruise route with the day most itineraries cut: a second Cairo day at the end for the Royal Mummies, the Citadel and Coptic Cairo.
from US$2,385 / per person
10 days · Classic Egypt
Five nights in Cairo either side of a four-night sail from Luxor to Aswan. The Cairo days are private, just your party and a guide; the sightseeing off the boat is shared with a small group.
from US$2,635 / per person
10 days · Nile & Red Sea
Egypt in three parts: two days in Cairo, three nights sailing Aswan to Luxor, then three nights on the Red Sea with nothing scheduled. The temples first, the sea afterwards.
from US$2,310 / per person
11 days · Nile & Red Sea
The 10 day Nile-and-Red-Sea route with one more day in Cairo at the end, spent on the Citadel, Coptic Cairo and the Royal Mummies. Two days in Cairo, three nights on the river, three on the sea.
from US$2,560 / per person
