5-Day Luxor to Aswan Nile Cruise from Cairo by Flight

Your 5-day Nile cruise journey begins in Cairo, where our representative will meet you in the lobby of your hotel and accompany you on the transfer to Cairo Airport in an air-conditioned vehicle. Take your included domestic flight to Luxor, the starting point of your cruise through Upper Egypt.

On arrival at Luxor Airport, meet our representative and transfer to your Nile cruise ship for embarkation. Lunch is included on board. Your first day of sightseeing introduces you to the temples on the East Bank of Luxor, once part of the ancient city of Thebes.

With your guide, explore the Karnak temple complex, a religious centre expanded by generations of Egyptian rulers. Its monumental gateways, courtyards and columned halls reveal the scale of ancient temple building. Discover how the complex served as a centre of worship for Amun and how successive kings added to its architecture.

Continue to Luxor Temple in the heart of the modern city. The core of the temple was built by Amenhotep III, while Ramesses II added a grand entrance and courtyard. Your guide will introduce the rulers and religious traditions behind the carvings and explain the connection between Luxor Temple and Karnak.

After your visits, return to the ship to relax before dinner. Spend your first night on board in Luxor.

Enjoy breakfast on board before setting out with your guide to explore the West Bank of Luxor. Across the river from the ancient temples, this landscape of cliffs and desert valleys became a burial place for the rulers of the New Kingdom.

Begin at the Valley of the Kings, where royal tombs were cut into the hillsides. Discover the importance of the afterlife in ancient Egyptian belief and the meaning of the painted scenes and inscriptions decorating the tombs you visit. Admission to the Tomb of Tutankhamun is excluded from the package; ask your guide about the additional ticket if you would like to visit.

Continue to the mortuary temple of Queen Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari. Its three terraces rise towards a dramatic limestone cliff, creating a striking contrast with the surrounding desert. Learn about the queen who ruled as pharaoh and the temple built to commemorate her reign.

Before returning to the cruise, stop at the Colossi of Memnon, two monumental seated statues of Amenhotep III. They stand on the site of his mortuary temple and offer another perspective on the scale of royal building projects in ancient Thebes.

Return to the ship for lunch, then continue your journey south towards Edfu. Spend the afternoon at leisure on board, watching the changing river scenery as you sail. Dinner and overnight on the cruise.

After breakfast on board, leave the ship with your guide to visit the Temple of Horus at Edfu. Dedicated to the falcon-headed god Horus, the temple offers an opportunity to explore the courtyards, columned spaces and carved walls of an ancient Egyptian place of worship.

As you explore, your guide will introduce the religious stories associated with Horus and explain how the different parts of the temple were used. The scale of the entrance and the detail of the reliefs make this an absorbing stop on your journey along the Nile.

Return to the ship and continue sailing towards Kom Ombo, with lunch served on board. Enjoy the views along the river before your next guided visit.

At Kom Ombo, explore a temple overlooking the Nile with an unusual double layout. Its parallel spaces honour two deities: the crocodile god Sobek and Haroeris, also known as Horus the Elder. Your guide will explain how this shared dedication is reflected in the architecture and carved decoration.

After the visit, return to the cruise and continue south to Aswan. Dinner is served on board, followed by an overnight stay in Aswan.

After breakfast on your cruise, meet your guide for a day exploring Aswan. The visits bring together modern engineering, an island temple and the ancient granite quarries that supplied stone for some of Egypt's great monuments.

Visit the Aswan High Dam, constructed between 1960 and 1970. Learn how the project changed the management of the Nile by storing water, controlling flooding and generating hydroelectric power.

Continue by motorboat to Agilkia Island to visit Philae Temple. Dedicated to the goddess Isis, the temple complex combines columned courtyards, gateways and carved scenes with an island setting. Its monuments were relocated from the original island of Philae as part of the international effort to protect Nubian heritage from rising water levels.

Next, visit the Unfinished Obelisk in the granite quarries of Aswan. Still attached to the bedrock, it provides a close look at an enormous monument that was never completed. Cracks in the stone led to its abandonment, leaving evidence that helps explain how ancient stoneworkers approached such ambitious projects.

Return to the ship for lunch and afternoon tea. The rest of the afternoon is at leisure, giving you time to relax on board after the sightseeing. Enjoy dinner and your final overnight stay on the cruise in Aswan.

Enjoy breakfast on board before disembarking in Aswan. Your package includes a transfer to Aswan Airport for your domestic flight back to Cairo, bringing your Luxor-to-Aswan cruise journey to an end.

Optional Abu Simbel excursion - additional cost: If your departure flight allows enough time, you may choose to add a visit to the temples of Abu Simbel before leaving Aswan. Ask our team to confirm the excursion and airport-transfer schedule before booking this option.

The Great Temple was created by Ramesses II and is famous for the four colossal seated figures on its facade. Nearby, the smaller temple honours Queen Nefertari and the goddess Hathor. Together, the two rock-cut temples reflect the royal ambition and craftsmanship of the reign of Ramesses II.

The temples were relocated through an international rescue campaign to protect them from the rising waters of Lake Nasser. After the optional visit, return to Aswan for your onward airport transfer and flight. Abu Simbel is not included in the package price.