Aswan to Luxor: 4-Day Nile Cruise & Abu Simbel with Hot Air Balloon

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Free cancellationTravelers' pick

1/45

Duration4d

GroupUp to 15

LanguagesEN · AR

PickupAt your hotel

Four Days on the Nile: Abu Simbel, Balloon Ride & Five Temple Stops

You board a 5-star Nile cruise in Aswan and spend four days sailing north to Luxor, visiting eight major temples including Abu Simbel, Kom Ombo, Edfu, Karnak and the Valley of the Kings. A hot air balloon ride over Luxor's west bank and nightly entertainment—belly dancing, Galabeya party, Nubian show—are included. All meals on the cruise are covered, transfers are by air-conditioned vehicle, and an Egyptologist guide leads the excursions. You check out by noon on day four.

Step-by-step itinerary

Day 1 — Arrive Aswan and Nile Cruise Tour

Pick up from Aswan hotel or airport
Transfer to 5-star Nile cruise
Lunch on board
Visit Aswan High Dam
Visit Philae Temple by motorboat
Dinner on board
Enjoy folkloric show
Overnight on Nile cruise in Aswan

Day 2 — Abu Simbel and Kom Ombo Temples

Early pick up for Abu Simbel visit
Tour Abu Simbel temples
Return to cruise by noon
Lunch on board
Sail to Kom Ombo city
Visit Kom Ombo Temple
Sail to Edfu
Dinner on board
Galabeya party onboard
Overnight on Nile cruise in Edfu

Day 3 — Edfu Temple and Luxor East Bank

Breakfast on board
Visit Edfu Temple
Relax on sundeck sailing to Luxor
Cross Esna Lock
Lunch on board
Afternoon tea on sundeck
Visit Karnak Temples
Visit Luxor Temple
Dinner on board
Overnight on Nile cruise in Luxor

Day 4 — Hot Air Balloon and West Bank Tour

Early morning hot air balloon ride
Breakfast box after balloon ride
Photo stop at Colossi of Memnon
Visit Queen Hatshepsut Temple
Visit Valley of the Kings
Transfer to Luxor railway station, airport or hotel

The Experience

The Aswan market vendor who packed our breakfast didn't ask questions—just wrapped it tight and handed it over with a nod. That's the kind of efficiency you get when you're moving through Egypt on a 5-star Nile cruise, where someone else has already thought through the logistics. You board in Aswan by noon, and by afternoon you're standing in front of the Aswan High Dam—3,600 metres long, 111 metres tall at its peak—before heading out by motorboat to Philae Temple on Aglika Island. The temple sits where it was carefully reconstructed after the High Dam threatened to submerge it, and you can still see the landscaping they did to match the original setting. Dinner comes on board that night, followed by a folkloric show.

Day two starts at 4:30 AM—early enough that the sky is still dark when you leave the cruise for Abu Simbel, the rock-cut temples of Ramesses II and Queen Nefertari carved straight into the mountainside. You're in a small group with an Egyptologist guide, and the scale of it hits differently when you're standing in front of the colossal statues at sunrise. By noon you're back on the cruise heading north toward Kom Ombo, a three-hour sail where you can sit on the sundeck with tea and watch the Nile landscape unfold. Kom Ombo Temple sits right on the riverbank, dedicated to the crocodile god Sobek and the falcon god Horus—built during the Ptolemaic dynasty around 180 BC. That evening there's a Galabeya party on board, and you sleep in Edfu.

The third day moves through Edfu Temple, the most preserved temple in Egypt and dedicated to Horus, before the cruise sails toward Luxor. You cross the Esna Lock, have lunch on board, and by late afternoon you're in Luxor visiting Karnak—not just one temple but a sprawling complex of sanctuaries, pylons and obelisks dedicated to the Theban gods. If the cruise arrives early enough, you'll also see Luxor Temple the same day; if not, it waits for the morning. Either way, you're eating dinner on the Nile again.

Day four is the finale. A pre-dawn pickup takes you up in a hot air balloon for 40 to 55 minutes over the west bank of Luxor—aerial views of the temples and mountains below, the kind of perspective that makes the scale of everything click into place. After landing, you stop at the Colossi of Memnon, two 60-foot quartzite statues of Pharaoh Amenhotep III that have stood in the desert for thousands of years. Then Temple of Hatshepsut, rising in terraces out of the plain, and finally Valley of the Kings—the burial ground of the pharaohs, where you walk among the tombs of Ramesses III, Ramesses VI and others. The tour wraps by noon, and you're transferred to Luxor airport, railway station or your hotel. Lunch that day is on your own.

What’s included

Your four days include 3 nights on a 5-star Nile cruise on full board (all meals), all transfers by air-conditioned vehicle with meet-and-greet service, motorboat transport to Philae Temple and horse carriage to Edfu Temple, a hot air balloon ride over Luxor's west bank (40–55 minutes), an Egyptologist guide for all excursions, bottled water during outings, and nightly entertainment on board such as belly dancing, Galabeya party and Nubian shows.
Service charges and taxes are included.
Lunch on the final day is not included.

Good to know

Easy physical levelStroller friendlyPublic transport nearby

Operated by Let's Discover Egypt

Is this one for you?Book this cruise if you want to see Egypt's major Nile temples and Abu Simbel without arranging accommodation, transport between sites, or guide logistics yourself—the fixed itinerary and all-inclusive meals on board handle those details, leaving you to focus on the sights.