Tour Overview
This private 3-day trip from Marsa Alam links Egypt's three most famous names: Luxor, Abu Simbel and the Pyramids. You drive to Luxor for the West Bank and Karnak, then ride the first-class train to a 5-star hotel in Aswan. Day two starts early at the temples of Ramesses II at Abu Simbel and ends with a flight to Cairo and a second 5-star night. On day three you see Giza and two great museums before flying to Hurghada and driving back to Marsa Alam.
Tour Highlights
- Cover Luxor, Abu Simbel and Cairo in three days, with car, train and plane each used where it saves the most time.
- Visit the Valley of the Kings, Hatshepsut Temple, the Colossi of Memnon and Karnak on day one with a private Egyptologist guide.
- Stand before the four colossal statues of Ramesses II at Abu Simbel and the smaller temple carved for Queen Nefertari.
- Sleep in two 5-star hotels, one in Aswan and one in Cairo, so each early start begins close to the next set of sights.
- Finish at the Great Pyramid and the Sphinx, then compare the Grand Egyptian Museum with the historic Egyptian Museum in Tahrir.
Tour Route
Is 3 days enough for Cairo, Luxor and Abu Simbel from Marsa Alam?
It is enough for the headline sites of all three, and it is the most complete short trip we run from Marsa Alam. You see Luxor's West Bank and Karnak, both Abu Simbel temples, the Pyramids and two museums. You do not see Aswan's own sights, Luxor Temple or Islamic Cairo.
How does the trip move between Luxor, Aswan and Cairo?
Every leg is booked and included, and each uses the quickest practical option. The route never doubles back: it runs south from Luxor to Abu Simbel, then jumps north by air to Cairo and finally back to the Red Sea coast.
- Marsa Alam to Luxor: private car across the desert.
- Luxor to Aswan: first-class train.
- Aswan to Abu Simbel and back: by car with your guide.
- Aswan to Cairo: flight.
- Cairo to Marsa Alam: flight to Hurghada, then private car.
When is the best time for this trip?
October to April is the most comfortable, when days in Luxor and Abu Simbel are warm rather than hot. In summer the trip still runs, but bring plenty of water and sun protection. Around February 22 and October 22, the sun festival lights the Abu Simbel sanctuary and the site is crowded.
How is this different from the 2-day trips from Marsa Alam?
Days one and two match the 2-day Luxor and Abu Simbel trip, but instead of heading home from Aswan you fly to Cairo. The 2-day Cairo and Luxor trip covers Luxor and the Pyramids but leaves out Abu Simbel.
If you have more time in the capital before or after your beach stay, our Cairo day tours cover Saqqara, Islamic Cairo and the royal mummies.
Tour Itinerary
Each day is full and starts early: Luxor and the train on day one, Abu Simbel and a flight on day two, and Cairo with two flights' worth of travel on day three.
We collect you from your hotel in Marsa Alam in a private air-conditioned car and drive across the Eastern Desert to the Nile Valley, with your private Egyptologist guide for the Luxor sightseeing. Pack one small bag for the whole trip, since you change hotels twice and take a train and two flights.
On the West Bank you enter painted royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings, burial place of New Kingdom pharaohs from Thutmose I to Ramesses XI. Then you see Hatshepsut's terraced temple at Deir el-Bahari and the two seated colossi of Amenhotep III.
Lunch is included at an oriental-style restaurant overlooking the Nile. It is the main break of a long day. Afterward your guide takes you through Karnak, the vast temple of Amun, Mut and Khonsu, with its hypostyle hall of 134 columns, its obelisks and its sacred lake.
In the evening you board the first-class train at Luxor station for the journey south. In Aswan one of our representatives meets you and takes you to your 5-star hotel for the night. Go to bed early, because day two starts well before sunrise.
You pick up a breakfast box from the hotel and set off by car with your private guide for Abu Simbel, on the shore of Lake Nasser in the far south. The road runs through open desert, and your guide uses the journey to explain the long reign of Ramesses II.
Ramesses II had the Great Temple cut into the cliff for himself and the gods Amun, Ra-Horakhty and Ptah, with carved scenes of the Battle of Kadesh inside. Beside it, the smaller temple honors Queen Nefertari and Hathor. In the 1960s both were moved to higher ground to escape Lake Nasser.
You drive back to Aswan for an included lunch at a local restaurant. Then you are taken to Aswan airport for the included flight to Cairo. On arrival you check in at your 5-star hotel in Cairo, and the rest of the evening is yours.
After breakfast you check out and meet your Egyptologist guide for the Giza Plateau. You see the Great Pyramid of Khufu, built around 2560 BC and the last survivor of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the Great Sphinx, and Khafre's granite Valley Temple.
Next you visit the Grand Egyptian Museum close to the plateau. Your guide leads you past the colossal Ramesses II in the atrium to the galleries where Tutankhamun's tomb treasures are displayed together for the first time since their discovery in 1922.
Lunch is included at a restaurant with a view of the Pyramids or the Nile. You then visit the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square before your flight from Cairo to Hurghada, where a private car meets you and drives you south to your hotel in Marsa Alam.
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 our private car picks you up on day one for the drive to Luxor. It ends at the same hotel on day three, after the flight from Cairo to Hurghada and the private road transfer south along the Red Sea coast.
The price includes the first-class train from Luxor to Aswan, flights from Aswan to Cairo and from Cairo to Hurghada, one 5-star night in Aswan and one in Cairo, a breakfast box and hotel breakfast, lunches, Egyptologist guides, private transfers, water, entrance fees to all sites in the program, and taxes.
Yes. Your guides and cars are only for you and your companions. The per-person price falls as the group grows, because guide, car and transfer costs are shared, and it changes by season, as flights and hotels in Aswan and Cairo cost more in winter and over the holidays.
Pack one small bag, since you travel by car, train and two flights. Bring your passport for the flights and hotels, comfortable shoes, a hat, sunscreen and a warm layer for early mornings and air-conditioned transport. Modest clothing is useful for the museums and city streets of Cairo.
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.
