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Cairo & Nile Cruise: Luxor, Aswan & Abu Simbel with Hot Air Balloon

★★★★★★★★★★ 4.33 (12 reviews)

Free cancellation

1/18

Duration6d

GroupUp to 20

LanguagesEN · AR +1

PickupAt your hotel

The Nile from Both Sides: Train, Temples & Sunrise from Above

You travel by overnight train from Cairo to Luxor, spend three nights on a 5-star Nile cruise between Luxor and Aswan, take a hot air balloon at sunrise over the west bank, visit the Valley of the Kings, Karnak, Luxor, Edfu, Kom Ombo, Abu Simbel and Philae temples with an Egyptology guide, and return to Cairo by train. Meals, transfers, and all entry fees except the High Dam are included; you pay entrance fees by card or Egyptian cash on site.

Step-by-step itinerary

Day 1 — Train to Luxor overnight

Pickup from hotel to Cairo train station
Take first class overnight train to Luxor

Day 2 — Luxor West Bank tour and cruise check-in

Pickup from Luxor train station
Visit Valley of the Kings and Colossi of Memnon
Visit Queen Hatsheput temple
Check in Nile cruise and have lunch
Explore local and tourist markets

Day 3 — Hot air balloon and Luxor East Bank

Hot air balloon flight over Luxor
Breakfast on cruise
Tour Karnak Temple
Visit Luxor Temple
Cruise sail to Esna and Edfu

Day 4 — Edfu and Kom Ombo temples

Breakfast on cruise
Horse and carriage to Edfu Temple
Sail to Kom Ombo, drink Egyptian tea
Visit Kom Ombo Temple
Sail to Aswan and overnight on cruise

Day 5 — Abu Simbel and Philae temple tour

Early pickup for Abu Simbel trip
Visit Abu Simbel temples
Return to Aswan
Visit Philae Temple
Transfer to Aswan train station
Take overnight train to Cairo

Day 6 — Arrive Cairo and hotel transfer

Arrive Cairo train station
Transfer to hotel in Cairo or Giza

The Experience

The whistle of the overnight train leaving Cairo station around 7 pm is the sound of the itinerary actually starting. You board first-class seating, settle in for about 10 hours, and wake in Luxor—which means the long part of getting there is already done and you're ready to move. Your Egyptology guide meets you at the station and takes you straight to the west bank, where the Valley of the Kings sits carved into the cliffs. More than 60 pharaohs have their tombs here, and your guide walks you through the actual history—not just the names on plaques. You see the Colossi of Memnon, the remains of a funerary temple, and then the Temple of Hatshepsut, which still stands as one of the strangest and most deliberate structures in Egypt. By afternoon you're checked into the 5-star cruise ship, and the Nile is already behind you.

Day three starts before dawn. Around 4:30 or 5 am, pickup for the hot air balloon—35 to 45 minutes floating over the west bank while the sun comes up and hits the temples and mountains below. The light changes everything you saw on foot the day before. Back on the cruise for breakfast, then the east bank: Karnak Temple, which took 2,000 years to build and covers 63 acres of pillars and obelisks, then Luxor Temple. The ship sails around 1:30 pm toward Edfu, passing the Esna lock and the green lands along the river. You sleep on the water that night, and the next morning you're in a horse and carriage heading to the Temple of Horus at Edfu—the most preserved temple in Egypt, dedicated to the falcon god. An Egyptian tea during the sail to Kom Ombo, where you visit the only double temple in Egypt, shared by two gods. Another night on the cruise in Aswan.

The Abu Simbel trip leaves around 4:30 am on day five—a 3-hour drive each way to see the rock-cut temples built for Ramses II and his queen Nefertari. You spend about 90 minutes there, then drive back, arriving in Aswan around 2 pm. After that, the Temple of Philae, dedicated to Isis. Then you're at the train station again, boarding the overnight first-class sitting train back to Cairo—approximately 14 hours. A driver meets you at Cairo station in the morning and takes you to your hotel. The whole thing moves like a schedule that actually works: train, temples, balloon, cruise, temples again, train home.

What’s included

First-class seated train tickets from Cairo to Luxor and return (upgrade to sleeping car available for extra fee).
three nights on a 5-star Nile cruise ship with onboard swimming pool.
hot air balloon flight over Luxor at sunrise.
guided tours of the Valley of the Kings, Colossi of Memnon, Temple of Hatshepsut, Karnak Temple, Luxor Temple, Temple of Horus at Edfu, Kom Ombo Temple, Abu Simbel temples, and Philae Temple with a qualified English-speaking Egyptology guide.
small-group trip to Abu Simbel from Aswan.
buffet meals on the cruise (breakfast, lunch, dinner).
door-to-door transfers from and to your hotel in Cairo or Giza.
most entrance fees to temples and sites (High Dam and Philae motorboat paid in cash on site).

Good to know

Easy physical levelWheelchair accessibleStroller friendlyPublic transport nearbyInfants must sit on laps

Operated by Egypt Super Tours

Is this one for you?This works well if you want the main temples of the Nile in one trip without arranging trains, cruise bookings, and guides separately—the fixed itinerary handles the logistics and gets you to Abu Simbel and back in the time you have.