Tour Overview
This 5-day package flies you from Cairo to Luxor and sails you south on a 5-star Nile cruise for four nights. You see Karnak on arrival and Luxor Temple lit up after dark, then the West Bank tombs and temples, Edfu and Kom Ombo on the way upriver, and the High Dam, the Unfinished Obelisk and Philae in Aswan. On day five you fly from Aswan back to Cairo.
Tour Highlights
- Fly Cairo to Luxor on day one and Aswan to Cairo on day five, with both flights and all airport transfers included in the price.
- Visit Luxor Temple in the evening, when the lighting picks out the colonnade of Amenhotep III and the statues of Ramesses II.
- Spend four nights on a 5-star Nile cruise, one more than the 4-day package, with breakfast, lunch and dinner on board most days.
- Cross to Luxor's West Bank for the Valley of the Kings, Hatshepsut's terraced temple and the Colossi of Memnon before the boat sails.
- End in Aswan with the High Dam, the granite quarry of the Unfinished Obelisk and Philae, the island temple of Isis.
Tour Route
Is the 5-day Nile cruise from Cairo worth the extra day?
For most first-time visitors, yes. The fourth night gives you Luxor Temple, a separate morning for the West Bank and a full day in Aswan, so the sightseeing is spread over more days. The 4-day package fits the same temples, minus Luxor Temple, into a tighter schedule.
Sailing south against the current is also slower, which is why the cruise needs four nights between Luxor and Aswan. That slower pace means more time on the river between visits.
Why see Luxor Temple at night?
Luxor Temple stands in the middle of the modern town, and after dark the lighting makes its carvings and statues stand out against the sky. It was built mainly by Amenhotep III and Ramesses II, with later additions by Tutankhamun and Alexander the Great, and was the focus of the yearly Opet festival.
A long avenue of sphinxes once joined it to Karnak, which you see earlier the same day, so the evening visit closes the story of the two temples.
What makes Kom Ombo different from other Nile temples?
Kom Ombo is a double temple. Built under the Ptolemies on a bend of the river, it has two entrances, two halls and two sanctuaries side by side, one for Sobek the crocodile god and one for Horus the Elder. Most Egyptian temples serve one main god, so the matching layout is rare.
Look for the reliefs that show medical instruments and the carved calendar of feast days. The name is often explained as the hill of gold, after Nubt, the ancient trading town that stood on this bend of the river.
How does this compare with the other Nile cruise packages?
The 4-day cruise from Cairo to Aswan flies the other way, has one night less and skips Luxor Temple. The packages from Sharm El Sheikh and Marsa Alam follow this same Luxor to Aswan route, with a change of plane in Cairo or a drive from the Red Sea.
Already staying in Luxor? The 5-day cruise from Luxor to Aswan covers the same sailing without the Cairo flights. Before or after the cruise, our Cairo day tours cover the Giza pyramids and the city's museums.
Tour Itinerary
The first two days cover Luxor, day three is a river day with two temples, day four is Aswan, and day five is breakfast and the flight home.
In the morning we drive you from your Cairo hotel to the airport for the flight to Luxor, where your guide meets you. You start at Karnak, the vast temple of Amun built and enlarged from the Middle Kingdom to the Ptolemies. Then you check in on the cruise for lunch and a rest, and in the evening you visit Luxor Temple before dinner on board.
After breakfast you cross to the West Bank. In the Valley of the Kings you go down into royal tombs of the New Kingdom, then see Hatshepsut's temple at Deir el-Bahari and the two seated statues of Amenhotep III known as the Colossi of Memnon. Back on board, lunch and dinner are served as the boat sails south through Esna toward Edfu.
After breakfast you visit Edfu, the temple of Horus, whose walls tell the story of his fight with his uncle Seth. The cruise then sails on to Kom Ombo, the double temple of Sobek and Horus the Elder, known for carvings that show medical tools and a temple calendar. Lunch and dinner are on board, and the boat reaches Aswan late at night.
After breakfast your private guide takes you to the Aswan High Dam, which formed Lake Nasser, and to the ancient quarry where the Unfinished Obelisk still lies. You finish at Philae, the temple of Isis that UNESCO's Nubia campaign moved to Agilkia Island in the 1970s. Lunch, dinner and the night are on board.
After breakfast you check out of the cruise, and we drive you to Aswan Airport for your flight to Cairo. On landing, our driver meets you and takes you back to your hotel in Cairo, where the trip ends. Breakfast is the only meal included on this day.
What's Included
What the tour price covers, and what to plan for separately.
Paid
★
Your
Own
Frequently Asked Questions
Quick answers about this tour. For anything else, message us on WhatsApp — we reply fast.
It starts at your hotel in Cairo, Downtown or the Giza area, where we pick you up on the morning of day one for the airport. Pickup from other parts of Cairo can be arranged for an extra charge. The trip ends at the same hotel after the flight from Aswan on day five.
The price includes both domestic flights, four nights on a 5-star cruise, an Egyptologist guide, air-conditioned transfers, the cruise excursions, entrance fees to all sites between Luxor and Aswan, and taxes. Meals follow the itinerary: lunch and dinner on day one, full board on days two to four, and breakfast on day five.
Your transfers and sightseeing are arranged for you and your companions, while the cruise ship carries other guests. The per-person price falls as your group grows, because transfer and guiding costs are shared, and it changes by season, with the highest rates over Christmas and New Year and the lowest from May to September.
It departs on Saturdays and Mondays. Day one and day four are the longest days on foot, so bring comfortable shoes, a hat and sun cream, and a light layer for the evening at Luxor Temple. Keep your passport with you for both domestic flights.
Yes. Avicon Travel is a Class "A" travel agency licensed by the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism under License No. 1962 and registered since 2010. Our office and team are in Karnak, Luxor, so the guides, drivers and cars on this tour are our own local team, not a booking desk abroad.
