Tour Overview
This 5-day package links the southern Red Sea coast with the Nile entirely by road. A private car drives you from your hotel in Marsa Alam to Luxor, where you see Karnak and Luxor Temple by night and board a 5-star cruise for four nights. The boat sails south past Edfu and Kom Ombo to Aswan, and on day five the car takes you from Aswan back to your hotel.
Tour Highlights
- Travel by private air-conditioned car both ways, with no flights or airport waits, from your Marsa Alam hotel to Luxor and from Aswan back.
- A private Egyptologist guide explains every site, from the Great Hypostyle Hall at Karnak to the island temple of Isis at Philae.
- Visit Luxor Temple in the evening on day one, after Karnak in the morning and lunch on board your 5-star cruise.
- Spend four nights on the Nile between Luxor and Aswan, with the boat moored overnight at Edfu and then at Aswan.
- See the Valley of the Kings, Hatshepsut Temple, Edfu, Kom Ombo, the High Dam and the Unfinished Obelisk on one trip.
Tour Route
Can you take a Nile cruise from Marsa Alam?
Yes. Marsa Alam is on the southern Red Sea coast, across the Eastern Desert from the Nile, so this package goes by private car to Luxor and back from Aswan. You spend four nights on a 5-star cruise in between and see the main temples of Upper Egypt with your own guide.
No flights means no airport check-ins and no connections in Cairo, but the first and last days include a long drive. The car is private, so you can ask the driver to stop for a break along the way.
Why does the cruise end in Aswan?
Because it sails south from Luxor, against the current, the 4-night route ends in Aswan rather than back where it began. You do not need to return to Luxor at the end: your private car meets you at the boat in Aswan and drives you straight back to the Red Sea coast.
Ending in Aswan also lets day four focus on the High Dam, the granite quarries and Philae, with the night still on board before you leave.
How did the Colossi of Memnon get to Luxor?
The two seated statues of Amenhotep III were cut from quartzite quarried far to the north, near modern Cairo, and moved up the Nile to Thebes. They stood at the gate of the king's mortuary temple, which has almost vanished. Greek visitors later named them after Memnon, a hero of the Trojan War.
Each statue is about 18 meters high, and you see them on day two as you drive between the Valley of the Kings and the river.
How is this different from the other Nile cruise packages?
The cruise days are the same as on the 5-day Nile cruise from Sharm El Sheikh, Luxor to Aswan. The difference is getting there: a private car from Marsa Alam instead of four flights through Cairo, which keeps the price lower and the days simpler.
If you have only one or two days to spare, our Marsa Alam tours include a Luxor day trip and two-day trips to Luxor and Aswan. Our guide to the Luxor to Aswan cruise route compares the two directions of sailing.
Tour Itinerary
Days one and five include the long desert drive; the three days in between follow the cruise upriver with one or two visits a day.
We pick you up from your hotel in Marsa Alam in a private air-conditioned car and drive across the Eastern Desert to the Nile. In Luxor your guide joins you for Karnak, the temple of Amun, Mut and Khonsu. You check in on the cruise for lunch and a rest, then visit Luxor Temple in the evening before dinner and the night on board.
After breakfast your private guide and car take you to the West Bank: royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings, Hatshepsut's temple at Deir el-Bahari and the Colossi of Memnon. In the afternoon the cruise sails south through Esna, with lunch and dinner on board, and moors at Edfu for the night.
After breakfast you visit Edfu, the temple of Horus, with its tall pylon and almost complete roof. The boat then sails to Kom Ombo, a double temple with two entrances, two halls and two sanctuaries for Sobek and Horus the Elder. Lunch and dinner are on board, and the cruise reaches Aswan late at night.
After breakfast on board your guide takes you to the High Dam, built in the 1960s to hold back the flood and make electricity, and to the quarry of the Unfinished Obelisk. You end at Philae, the temple of Isis moved to Agilkia Island by UNESCO. Lunch, dinner and the night are on the cruise.
After breakfast you check out of the cruise in Aswan. Your private car is waiting at the boat to drive you back to the Red Sea coast and your hotel in Marsa Alam, where the trip ends. Breakfast is the only meal included on this day, so bring snacks for the road.
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 Marsa Alam, where your private car picks you up on the morning of day one for the drive to Luxor. It ends at the same hotel on day five, after the drive back from Aswan. All road transfers are by private air-conditioned vehicle with mineral water.
The price covers four nights on a 5-star cruise, a private Egyptologist guide, all transfers by private air-conditioned car, entrance fees to all sites in the itinerary, and taxes. Meals follow the itinerary: lunch and dinner on day one, full board on days two to four, and breakfast on day five. There are no flights.
Your guide and car are private to you and your companions, while the cruise ship carries other guests. The per-person price falls as your group grows, because the car and guide 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. Since the first and last days are long road days, pack a small bag for the car with water, snacks and a light jacket for the air conditioning. Wear comfortable shoes, as Karnak and the Valley of the Kings involve plenty of walking.
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.
