Tour Overview
This 8-day holiday starts and ends at Hurghada airport and splits the week between the Red Sea and the Nile. You spend two nights at a 5-star all-inclusive hotel in Hurghada, then drive to Luxor for four nights on a 5-star cruise to Aswan, visiting Karnak, the West Bank, Edfu, Kom Ombo and Philae. A first-class train and a car bring you back to Hurghada for a last night before the flight home.
Tour Highlights
- Land at Hurghada airport and let us handle every transfer of the week, from the airport to the hotel, the drive to Luxor and the train back.
- Take a free day by the Red Sea at a 5-star all-inclusive hotel before the sightseeing starts, and a last night there before you fly.
- See Karnak on the afternoon you arrive in Luxor, then Luxor Temple lit up after dark, with a private Egyptologist guide.
- Visit the Valley of the Kings, Hatshepsut's temple and the Colossi of Memnon before the cruise sails south via Esna to Edfu.
- Tour Edfu and Kom Ombo on one day and Aswan's High Dam, Unfinished Obelisk and Philae on the next, then ride the first-class train north.
Tour Route
Is it worth splitting a week between Hurghada and a Nile cruise?
For most first-time visitors, yes. The Red Sea and the Nile Valley are the two sides of an Egypt holiday, and Hurghada is close enough to Luxor by road to join them in one week. You get rest days by the sea at both ends and four full days of temples in between.
Because the trip starts at the airport, you book one package instead of a hotel, a cruise and transfers separately, and the free day on arrival lets you settle in before the early cruise days.
What can you do on the free day in Hurghada?
You can simply rest at the hotel, since meals are included and the sightseeing days ahead are busy. If you want to see the reefs, you can add a boat trip, paid separately. Tell us when you book, so we can fit it in before your drive to Luxor on day three.
Popular choices are the snorkeling trip to Giftun Island and the Orange Bay snorkeling day. Our Hurghada day tours list the rest, from desert quad bikes to diving for beginners.
Why does the cruise sail from Luxor and return by train?
Luxor is the Nile city closest to Hurghada by road, so the cruise starts there and sails south to Aswan over four nights. Rather than driving the long way back from Aswan, you take the first-class train north to Qena, where the road east to the Red Sea begins, and finish by car.
How is this different from the other Nile cruise trips from Hurghada?
It is the only one with hotel nights and airport transfers built in. The 5-day Nile cruise from Hurghada sails the same four nights from Luxor to Aswan but starts at a hotel you have booked yourself. The 8-day round-trip cruise spends all seven nights on the river.
If you are still choosing a resort, our Hurghada vs Sharm El Sheikh guide compares the two coasts.
Tour Itinerary
Two easy days on the coast, four busy days on the Nile, then a last night by the sea.
Our representative meets you at Hurghada airport and drives you in a private air-conditioned car to your 5-star hotel. You check in and have dinner at the hotel, with nothing else planned, so you can rest after the flight.
The day is yours. Your hotel stay is all-inclusive, so breakfast, lunch and dinner are covered, and you can spend it resting by the sea after the journey. If you want to go out on the Red Sea, we can arrange a snorkeling trip at extra cost.
After breakfast you check out, and a private air-conditioned car takes you to Luxor. Your Egyptologist guide meets you for Karnak, the temple of Amun that kings enlarged for two thousand years, then you board your 5-star cruise for lunch. In the evening your guide takes you to Luxor Temple, lit up after dark. Dinner and the night are on board.
After breakfast your private guide takes you to the Valley of the Kings, burial place of New Kingdom pharaohs, then to Hatshepsut's terraced temple and the Colossi of Memnon. Back on board for lunch, the cruise sails south via Esna to Edfu, where it moors for the night. Dinner is on board.
After breakfast you visit Edfu, the temple of Horus, whose walls show his battle with Seth. Later you see Kom Ombo, the double temple of Sobek and Horus the Elder, before the cruise sails on and reaches Aswan late at night. Lunch and dinner are on board.
After breakfast your guide shows you the High Dam, built in the 1960s to control the flood and produce power, and the Unfinished Obelisk in the northern quarries. Then you visit Philae, the temple of Isis, moved to Agilkia Island in the 1970s during the UNESCO Nubia campaign. Lunch and dinner are on board.
After breakfast you check out of the cruise in Aswan and take the first-class train north to Qena. Our driver meets you there and drives you back to your 5-star hotel in Hurghada for the night, all-inclusive again.
After breakfast, we drive you from the hotel to Hurghada airport for your flight home.
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 Hurghada airport, where our representative meets you on arrival and drives you to your 5-star hotel. It ends there too: on day eight, after breakfast, we drive you from the hotel back to the airport for your flight home. Your international flights are not part of the package.
The price covers three all-inclusive nights at a 5-star hotel in Hurghada, four full-board nights on a 5-star Nile cruise, the first-class train from Aswan to Qena, all transfers by private air-conditioned car, a private Egyptologist guide on the cruise days, entrance fees to the sites in the program, and taxes.
Your guide and car are private to your group, while the hotel and the cruise ship are shared with other guests. The per-person price falls as your group grows, because guide and transfer costs are shared, and it changes by season, with the highest rates over Christmas and New Year.
No. The package starts and ends at Hurghada airport, so you book your own international flights. From the moment you land, the airport pickup and return, three all-inclusive hotel nights, four nights on a five-star Nile cruise, the first-class train and the private transfers are all included.
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.
