7 Day Cairo and Nile Cruise
Signature Brand
All Egypt Tours
Overview
This seven-day trip pairs three nights in Cairo with a three-night sail from Aswan down to Luxor, so you cover the Giza Plateau, the Grand Egyptian Museum, and four Nile-side temple sites without a single long road transfer. Internal flights, a licensed Egyptologist, and every entrance ticket are built into the price.
## What does this Egypt and Nile cruise tour include?
Everything that usually turns into an extra line on your final bill. Both domestic flights are booked for you, the transfers run in private air-conditioned vehicles, and your guide stays with the group at each site rather than handing you off at the gate. Cairo is on bed and breakfast; the ship is full board. Sightseeing runs on a shared basis with the All Egypt Tours group, which is what keeps the price sensible without cutting the itinerary short.
## How do you spend three nights in Cairo?
The Giza Plateau comes first — the three pyramids, the causeway, and the Sphinx crouched at the eastern edge of the complex, with time built in for photographs from the panorama point rather than a rushed drive-by. From there you move on to the Grand Egyptian Museum beside the plateau, where the full Tutankhamun collection now sits: all 5,398 objects recovered from KV62, the gold mask among them, shown together for the first time since Howard Carter cleared the tomb. Your last Cairo stop is Khan el-Khalili, the Fatimid-era market district north of Al-Azhar, where coppersmiths and perfume sellers still trade in lanes laid out in the fourteenth century. Allow an hour for tea at one of the older cafés.
## Where does the ship go between Aswan and Luxor?
You fly south to Aswan and board there. Philae Temple, moved stone by stone to Agilkia Island when Lake Nasser rose, is reached by motorboat; the High Dam and the Unfinished Obelisk fill out the same day, the latter still lying in its granite quarry with the tool marks visible along its flank. A felucca sails you around Elephantine Island in the late afternoon, when the light is best on the water.
The ship then heads north. Kom Ombo is unusual — a double temple, one half for Sobek the crocodile god and one for Haroeris, mirrored down a central axis. Edfu, reached by horse-drawn carriage from the mooring, is the most complete pharaonic temple standing anywhere in Egypt, its roof intact and its walls carrying the full text of the Horus and Seth myth.
## What do you see on the Luxor side of the Egypt and Nile cruise tour?
Karnak first, where the Hypostyle Hall's 134 columns are tall enough to make people go quiet, then Luxor Temple on the corniche. The West Bank is a separate morning: three tombs in the Valley of the Kings, the terraced mortuary temple Hatshepsut cut into the cliff at Deir el-Bahari, and the two weathered Colossi of Memnon standing where Amenhotep III's own temple once stood. You fly back to Cairo from Luxor the same evening.
## Who is this trip suited to?
Travelers who want the headline sites covered properly in one week and would rather unpack once on the river than change hotels every night. The walking is moderate — uneven ground at the temples, some steps and warm air inside the tombs — and comfortable closed shoes plus a hat make a real difference between April and October.
Dates run year-round, and the itinerary can be extended with Abu Simbel or a Red Sea stay. Send us your travel dates and we'll come back with availability and a per-person price.
Daily Itinerary
Your representative meets you inside Cairo International Airport, past passport control, holding a sign with your name. They handle the visa formalities and stay with you until your luggage is on the trolley, then walk you out to a waiting air-conditioned vehicle for the drive to your hotel. Depending on which flight you take, that drive is anywhere from 40 minutes to well over an hour — Cairo traffic sets its own schedule. At the hotel your guide runs through the plan for the week and confirms your pickup time for the morning. The rest of the evening is yours.
Important notes: Airport pickup is included no matter what time you land.
After breakfast your guide collects you for the drive to the Giza Plateau. You start at the Great Pyramid of Khufu, then move down the line to Khafre and Menkaure, with a stop at the panorama point where all three line up for photographs. From there you walk to the Valley Temple, built of granite and alabaster, and out to the Sphinx that guards the end of Khafre's causeway. Lunch follows at a local restaurant. Your afternoon is spent at the Grand Egyptian Museum, two kilometers east of the plateau, where the complete Tutankhamun collection is displayed — 5,398 objects from a single tomb, gold mask included.
Overnight: Cairo
Included visits: Great Pyramid, Khafre and Menkaure pyramids, Valley Temple, Sphinx, Grand Egyptian Museum
Meals: Breakfast, lunch
Optional experiences: Entry inside one of the pyramids; camel or horse ride across the plateau
Important notes: The GEM runs on timed entry and needs at least two hours. Bring a hat and water — there is almost no shade at Giza.
An early transfer takes you to Cairo Airport for the short hop south to Aswan, roughly an hour and a quarter in the air. A local guide meets you on arrival and drives you straight to the ship, where you check in and drop your bags. Sightseeing starts the same day. A motorboat carries you across to Agilkia Island for Philae Temple, dismantled and rebuilt block by block when the High Dam raised the water behind it. You then visit the Unfinished Obelisk, still lying in the granite quarry where it cracked, with the ancient tool marks visible along its sides.
Overnight: On board in Aswan
Included visits: Philae Temple, Unfinished Obelisk
Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Optional experiences: Abu Simbel by road or short flight; a felucca sail around Elephantine Island at sunset
Important notes: Domestic baggage allowance is lower than international — check before you pack.
Breakfast is served as the ship casts off at first light for the short run to Kom Ombo. You go ashore at seven for the temple, which sits right on the riverbank and is unusual in being split down the middle: one half dedicated to the crocodile god Sobek, the mirrored half to Haroeris. The ship sails again at half past eight and moors at Edfu, where lunch is served on board. A horse-drawn carriage takes you into town in the afternoon for the Temple of Horus, the most intact pharaonic temple standing anywhere in Egypt. You sail for Esna at five, with an Egyptian dinner and a galabeya party filling the evening.
Overnight: On board at Esna
Included visits: Kom Ombo Temple, Temple of Horus at Edfu
Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Important notes: The Kom Ombo start is early — around 7:00 am — to get you there before the heat. A galabeya can be bought or hired on board if you want to join in.
The ship crosses the Esna lock around sunrise; it is worth being on deck for it. After breakfast you go ashore for Karnak, a complex built and rebuilt over two thousand years, where the Hypostyle Hall's 134 sandstone columns tend to stop conversation. Luxor Temple on the corniche follows. You then cross to the West Bank for three tombs in the Valley of the Kings, the terraced mortuary temple Queen Hatshepsut cut into the cliff at Deir el-Bahari, and the two seated Colossi of Memnon. Free time in Luxor is built in before you return to the ship for dinner.
Overnight: On board in Luxor
Included visits: Karnak Temple, Luxor Temple, Valley of the Kings, Temple of Hatshepsut, Colossi of Memnon
Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Optional experiences: Hot-air balloon over the West Bank at dawn; the tombs of Tutankhamun and Seti I, both ticketed separately
Important notes: This is the longest walking day of the trip, with uneven ground and warm, still air inside the tombs. Closed shoes are worth wearing.
You have breakfast on board before disembarking. Your guide transfers you to Luxor Airport for the flight north — under an hour — and a Memphis representative meets you on arrival at Cairo Airport to drive you to your hotel. The remainder of the day is unscheduled. If you want to fill it, this is the natural slot for Islamic Cairo, Coptic Cairo, or the Khan el-Khalili bazaar, all of which can be added with a guide and driver.
Overnight: Cairo
Included visits: None
Meals: Breakfast
Optional experiences: Half-day tour of Islamic and Coptic Cairo with Khan el-Khalili; dinner cruise on the Nile
Breakfast is at your hotel, and you are free until your transfer. Late checkout can usually be arranged for a fee if your flight is in the evening. Your driver collects you with enough margin for Cairo traffic and airport queues, and your representative sees you through to the departures hall.
Included visits: None
Meals: Breakfast
Important notes: Allow three hours before an international departure. Ask reception to hold your luggage if you check out early and want to stay in the city.
What's Included
- Meet-and-greet by our airport representative on arrival and departure
- Guest relations support on call for the length of your stay in Egypt
- Air-conditioned private vehicle for every airport and hotel transfer
- Internal flights: Cairo to Aswan outbound, Luxor to Cairo on the return
- Three nights in your Cairo hotel on a bed-and-breakfast basis
- Three nights aboard a 5-star Nile cruise, Aswan to Luxor, on full board
- Meals as set out day by day in the itinerary, including lunches on tour days
- Cairo, Aswan and Luxor excursions run on a shared basis with the All Egypt Tours group
- Licensed English-speaking Egyptologist accompanying all excursions
- Bottled water supplied whenever you are away from the hotel or the ship
- Entrance tickets to every site named in the itinerary
Not Included
- International airfare to Egypt
- Entry visa to Egypt
- Personal spending
- Optional activities
- Tipping
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