Cairo & Nile Cruise: 8-Day Private Tour with Flights & 5-Star Hotels

Eight Days Along the Nile: Pyramids, Temples & a Cruise That Moves While You Sleep

You get four nights in a 5-star Cairo hotel, private sightseeing at the Pyramids and Egyptian Museum, a 4-night Nile cruise with all meals included, visits to eight major temples (Philae, Kom Ombo, Edfu, Karnak, Luxor, Hatshepsut, Valley of the Kings, and more), domestic flights between Cairo and Aswan and between Luxor and Cairo, an Egyptologist guide throughout, and airport transfers at both ends. Everything is paid upfront—no negotiating transport, no separate entry fees, no figuring out how to get between sites.

Step-by-step itinerary

Day 1 — Arrival and transfer to hotel

• Arrive at Cairo airport
• Meet and assist by tour representative
• Transfer to 5 star deluxe hotel
• Overnight in Cairo hotel

Day 2 — Giza Pyramids and Egyptian Museum

• Breakfast at Cairo hotel
• Visit Giza Pyramids
• Visit Valley Temple and the Sphinx
• Lunch at local restaurant
• Visit Grand Egyptian Museum
• Overnight in Cairo hotel

Day 3 — Fly to Aswan and Nile cruise start

• Breakfast at Cairo hotel
• Transfer to Cairo airport
• Fly to Aswan
• Meet and assist at Aswan airport
• Visit Aswan High Dam
• Visit Philae Temple by motorboat
• Felucca sailing on Nile at sunset
• Lunch and dinner on board Nile cruise
• Overnight on Nile cruise

Day 4 — Optional Abu Simbel and Komombo visit

• Optional tour to Abu Simbel temples
• Return to Nile cruise in Aswan
• Lunch on board Nile cruise
• Visit Komombo Temple at 6pm
• Dinner on board Nile cruise
• Enjoy Galabya Party on board
• Sail to Edfu and overnight

Day 5 — Edfu and Luxor temples visit

• Breakfast on board Nile cruise
• Visit Edfu Temple of Horus
• Sail to Luxor passing Esna lock
• Visit Karnak Temple at 4pm
• Visit Luxor Temple
• Dinner on board Nile cruise
• Enjoy belly dancer show on board
• Overnight on Nile cruise

Day 6 — Valley of Kings and fly to Cairo

• Breakfast on board Nile cruise
• Disembark Nile cruise
• Visit Valley of the Kings
• Visit Hatshepsut Temple
• Visit Colossi of Memnon
• Lunch at local restaurant
• Transfer to Luxor airport
• Fly back to Cairo
• Meet and assist at Cairo airport
• Transfer to Cairo hotel
• Overnight in Cairo hotel

Day 7 — Tour Islamic and Coptic Cairo

• Breakfast at Cairo hotel
• Visit Hanging Church in Coptic Cairo
• Visit Church of Abu Serga crypt
• Visit Ben Ezra synagogue
• Lunch at local restaurant
• Visit Amr Ibn-AlAs mosque in Islamic Cairo
• Visit Ibn-Tulun mosque
• Visit Mosque-Madrassa of Sultan Hassan
• Return to hotel
• Overnight in Cairo hotel

Day 8 — Departure from Cairo

• Breakfast at hotel
• Transfer to Cairo airport
• Final departure

The Experience

The flight from Cairo to Aswan gets delayed by two hours, and you're sitting in the airport thinking this whole thing might unravel before it starts. Then your guide appears with your name on a sign, and suddenly the day reorganizes itself. This is how the 8-day tour works—it absorbs the small friction of travel because everything else is already arranged. You land in Cairo on a Saturday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday (the schedule locks to the Nile cruise departures), get met at the airport, and by evening you're in a 5-star hotel. The next morning you're standing in front of the Giza Pyramids with an Egyptologist guide who explains not just what they are, but how tens of thousands of workers built them, why the geometry still confuses engineers. You see the Valley Temple, the Sphinx, then the Grand Egyptian Museum with its Tutankhamun treasures. Two days in Cairo, and you've covered what most people spend a week chasing.

Then you fly south to Aswan, and the Nile Cruise begins. Four nights on a 5-star boat, moving downriver while you sleep, so each morning you wake somewhere new. Day one: the Aswan High Dam (finished 1964, still massive), Philae Temple on an island that was physically moved to save it from flooding, and a felucca sail at sunset. Day two is optional—Abu Simbel, two colossal temples carved into a cliff face, or stay aboard and sail to Kom Ombo, a temple with a double entrance, one side for the falcon god Horus, the other for Sobek the crocodile god. The boat keeps moving. Day three takes you to Edfu Temple (the best-preserved cult temple in Egypt, your guide will say), then Karnak Temple in Luxor—134 columns in the hypostyle room alone, the avenue of sphinxes stretching longer than you expect. Luxor Temple at sunset. Belly dancer on the boat that night. Day four, you disembark and visit the Valley of the Kings, where pharaoh tombs still hold colors on their walls that shouldn't have survived 3,000 years. Hatshepsut Temple next, built by one of Egypt's few female pharaohs. The Colossi of Memnon—two stone giants that are all that's left of a mortuary temple. Then you fly back to Cairo.

Your last full day is split between Old Cairo and Islamic Cairo. The Hanging Church, built on top of a Roman fortress tower. The Ben Ezra Synagogue. Then the mosques—Amr Ibn-AlAs from 642 AD, the first mosque ever built in Egypt, and the Ibn-Tulun Mosque, commissioned in 868 AD. The Mosque-Madrassa of Sultan Hassan, a Mamluk structure so vast and so precisely built that al-Maqrizi called it full of "wonders of construction." A local lunch breaks up the walking. Then you're back at the hotel, and the next morning you're at the airport heading home.

What’s included

Your eight days include airport meet-and-assist at Cairo and Aswan, four nights at a 5-star deluxe hotel in Cairo (Ramses Hilton or similar) with breakfast, three nights on a 5-star deluxe Nile cruise with full board, domestic flights Cairo to Aswan and Luxor back to Cairo, private sightseeing with an Egyptologist guide at the Giza Pyramids, Valley Temple, Sphinx, Grand Egyptian Museum, Aswan High Dam, Philae Temple, Kom Ombo Temple, Edfu Temple, Karnak Temple, Luxor Temple, Valley of the Kings, Hatshepsut Temple, Colossi of Memnon, Old Cairo (Hanging Church, Ben Ezra Synagogue), and Islamic Cairo (Amr Ibn-AlAs Mosque, Ibn-Tulun Mosque, Mosque-Madrassa of Sultan Hassan), all entrance fees, a deluxe air-conditioned vehicle throughout, daily bottled water, baggage transfer between hotels and the cruise, service charges and taxes, and a 24-hour emergency hotline.

Good to know

Easy physical levelPublic transport nearby

Operated by Egypt Unlimited Tours

Is this one for you?Book this if you want to see Egypt's major sites without arranging flights, hotels, guides, or entry tickets separately—the fixed itinerary and private transport mean you move through eight days of temples, tombs, and museums without making a single logistics decision once you land.

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Top questions

What's included in the price?

Hotel accommodation (4 nights in Cairo, 3 nights on the Nile cruise, both 5-star), all entrance fees, domestic flights Cairo-Aswan and Luxor-Cairo, airport transfers, meals on the cruise, an Egyptologist guide, bottled water daily, and baggage transfer between hotels and boat.

Do I need to arrive on a specific day?

Yes. Your arrival must be on a Saturday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday because the Nile cruise schedule is fixed to those days.

Is the Abu Simbel temple visit included?

No, it's optional with an additional cost. If you skip it, you sail to Kom Ombo instead on day two of the cruise.

How many people are in the group?

It's a private tour, so it's you and whoever travels with you, plus your guide and driver.

What language is the guide?

English-speaking Egyptologist guide is included.

How much walking is involved?

The tour is suitable for all physical fitness levels. Temple visits involve walking on uneven ground, but your guide sets the pace and you can rest whenever needed.

Are meals included?

Full board (breakfast, lunch, dinner) is included on the Nile cruise. In Cairo, breakfast is included at the hotel. Some lunches during sightseeing days are at local restaurants (included). You have free time to eat elsewhere if you prefer.

What if I miss my flight or need to change dates?

A 24-hour emergency hotline is available. Contact them immediately if there's a problem—they handle rebooking and adjustments.