Luxor to Aswan: 5-Day Nile Cruise & Ancient Temples

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Free cancellationTravelers' pick

1/11

Duration5d

GroupPrivate

LanguagesEN · AR +8

PickupAt your hotel

Five days on the Nile: Luxor's temples, the Valley of the Kings, and Aswan's granite cliffs

You board a 5-star Nile cruise in Luxor and spend four days visiting Karnak, the Valley of the Kings, Temple of Hatshepsut, Edfu, Kom Ombo, and Aswan's temples and dam — with a private Egyptology guide, all meals, and transfers included. The boat is your hotel, moving you south each night so you wake at the next site.

Step-by-step itinerary

Day 1 — Arrival and Luxor East Bank tour

Arrive at Luxor airport
Meet representative and transfer to Nile Cruise
Visit Karnak Temples Complex
Visit Temple of Luxor

Day 2 — Luxor West Bank tour and sail to Edfu

Breakfast on board
Visit Valley of the Kings
Visit Temple of Queen Hatshepsut
Visit Colossi of Memnon

Day 3 — Edfu and Kom Ombo temples

Breakfast on board
Visit Temple of Horus in Edfu
Lunch on board while sailing to Kom Ombo
Visit Temple of Kom Ombo
Enjoy sun deck on Nile Cruise

Day 4 — Aswan city tour and temples

Breakfast on board
Visit Aswan High Dam
Sail to Agilika Island by motor boat
Visit Temple of Philae
Visit Unfinished Obelisk

Day 5 — Disembarkation and departure

Breakfast on board
Check out from Nile Cruise
Transfer to Aswan airport

The Experience

The boat leaves Luxor in the afternoon after airport pickup, and you're already on the water heading toward Karnak Temples Complex — the largest structures ever built in ancient history. Your private Egyptology guide walks you through the principal building dedicated to Amun Ra, then across to the Temple of Luxor, completed by Ramses II. By evening you're back on the 5-star cruise ship, watching the river darken. Breakfast comes early the next morning, and the real work begins: West Bank of Luxor, which means the Valley of the Kings first — the royal cemetery where pharaohs were buried — then Temple of Queen Hatshepsut at Deir El Bahari, carved entirely into the mountain. The Colossi of Memnon stand massive and weathered at the end of that day.

Day three is the sail south. After breakfast you visit Temple of Horus in Edfu, one of Egypt's best-preserved temples, then back to the ship for lunch while it moves downriver toward Kom Ombo. The afternoon stop there is Temple of Kom Ombo, where two gods — Sobek and Haroeris — shared the same sanctuary. You spend the evening on the sun deck watching the landscape slide past: golden sand, date palms, the river itself doing what it's done for five thousand years. The guide points things out, but mostly you just watch.

Aswan arrives on day four. The High Dam comes first — built in 1960 to control the Nile's floods — then a motorboat ride out to Agilika Island and Temple of Philae, dedicated to the goddess Isis. The Unfinished Obelisk is the last stop, carved from red granite and abandoned mid-work, still lying in the quarry where ancient workers left it. Aswan Market is there if you want it, though the guide will know the quieter corners. On the final morning you check out after breakfast, and the representative drives you to the airport for your flight to Cairo. Four nights on the cruise, four full days of temples and river, one guide who knows the history, all transfers arranged.

What’s included

Your five days include airport pickup in Luxor and transfer to the cruise ship, four nights' accommodation on a 5-star Nile cruise, all meals on board, a private English-speaking Egyptology guide for all temple visits, entry fees to Karnak, Luxor, Valley of the Kings, Hatshepsut, Edfu, Kom Ombo, Philae, and the Unfinished Obelisk, motorboat ride to Agilika Island, all transfers by air-conditioned vehicle with driver, bottled water daily, and transfer to Aswan airport on the final morning.

Good to know

Moderate physical levelWheelchair accessibleAccessible transportStroller friendlyPublic transport nearbyInfants must sit on laps

Operated by Luxor and Aswan Travel

Is this one for you?Book this if you want to see Luxor's major temples and sail the Nile to Aswan without arranging transport, guides, or accommodation separately — the cruise handles all three, and the fixed itinerary means you hit each site at the right time of day.