Nile Cruise 5-Day Luxor to Aswan with Abu Simbel

Day 1: Karnak and Luxor Temple

The cruise begins when your Egyptologist picks you up from your hotel in Luxor and takes you to Karnak, the largest temple complex in Egypt, built over more than a thousand years in honour of Amun and his family. The Great Hypostyle Hall, with its forest of giant papyrus columns, the obelisks and the sacred lake are the highlights, and the guide explains the story behind each part.

Then you visit Luxor Temple, beside the Nile in the middle of the city, with its colonnade and courtyard built mainly by Amenhotep III and Ramesses II. After the visits you check in to the ship, settle into your cabin and have the first night on board in Luxor. Entry fees to the sites are not included in this cruise.

Day 2: The West Bank and the Esna Lock

On the second morning you cross to the West Bank to visit the Valley of the Kings, where the pharaohs of the New Kingdom were buried in rock-cut tombs painted with funerary texts and scenes of the afterlife. Then you visit the Temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari, the terraced temple of the woman who ruled as pharaoh, set against a limestone cliff.

Back on the ship, you sail south past the islands of Luxor, with small boats, villages and green fields passing by from the sun deck. In the evening the ship goes through the Esna Lock, where boats queue to pass, before reaching Edfu for the night. The sailing schedule may be adjusted slightly, but all included tours and the nights on board are guaranteed.

Day 3: Edfu and Kom Ombo

Early on the third day you ride a horse and carriage to the Temple of Horus at Edfu, built by the Ptolemaic kings from 237 BC and considered the best-preserved major temple in Egypt. The enormous pylon, the courtyard and the dark sanctuary survive almost complete, and the walls tell the myth of Horus and Seth.

Back on board, you relax on the sun deck while the ship sails to Kom Ombo, where the temple stands on a bend of the Nile. It is a double temple dedicated to Sobek, the crocodile god, and Haroeris, a form of Horus, and everything is symmetrical. You visit it, then return to the ship for the evening.

Day 4: Abu Simbel and the old market of Aswan

At about five in the morning you set out for Abu Simbel, about three hours south of Aswan, close to the Sudanese border. Ramesses II had two temples carved into a sandstone cliff around 1260 BC, the Great Temple with four seated colossi and the smaller Temple of Nefertari, dedicated to Hathor. In the 1960s they were cut into blocks and moved to higher ground to escape the waters of Lake Nasser.

You return to the ship to rest in the afternoon. In the evening, you can discover the old market of Aswan, a lively street of spices, scarves, souvenirs and cafés beside the Nile, then return to the ship for the night. The early start is the price for seeing Abu Simbel in the cooler hours.

Day 5: Philae and the High Dam

After breakfast, you go down to the Nile and take an Egyptian motorboat to the Temple of Philae, dedicated to the goddess Isis. The temple was moved to Agilkia Island by a rescue project in the 1960s and 1970s, and its position among palms and water is one of the loveliest in Egypt.

Then you drive to the Aswan High Dam, completed in 1970, which created Lake Nasser, and your guide tells the story of its construction. The tour ends in Aswan with a drop-off at a hotel, the airport or the train station. Tell us in advance which one you need, and we will arrange it before you check out.

Life on board

Your 5-star ship has comfortable cabins with all facilities, a restaurant serving all meals, a lounge and a sun deck where you can watch the river slide by. Between the visits you relax on deck, read, swim if the ship has a pool, or just watch life along the banks. It is a gentle rhythm of sailing and sightseeing.

All meals from lunch on day one to breakfast on the last day are included, while drinks, Wi-Fi and gratuities are extra. Tipping is optional and entirely at your discretion. Tell us about food allergies when you book, so the crew can prepare for you. Cabins are cleaned daily, and the crew can arrange an early breakfast for the morning excursions.