Tour Overview
This Aswan felucca ride is a one-hour daytime sail on a traditional wooden sailboat, circling Elephantine Island and passing Kitchener Island with its Botanical Gardens. A private air-conditioned car picks you up from your hotel or Nile cruise in Aswan and brings you back afterward, an Egyptologist guide comes along, and bottled water is provided. In daylight you see this stretch of the Nile at its clearest: dark granite boulders, green islands, desert hills and white sails all around you.
Tour Highlights
- Sail for an hour on a felucca, the wooden sailing boat of the Nile, moved only by the wind and steered by a local boatman.
- Circle Elephantine Island, for centuries the frontier town and trading post at Egypt's southern border, with remains that go back to the earliest dynasties.
- Glide past Kitchener Island, given to Lord Kitchener in the 1890s, and the Botanical Gardens he planted there with trees and plants from around the world.
- See Aswan's landscape in full light: smooth granite rocks in the river, the sandy hills of the west bank and the green line of palms along the water.
- Travel to and from the boat in a private air-conditioned car, with pickup at your Aswan hotel or Nile cruise and bottled water on board.
Tour Route
Is a felucca ride in Aswan worth it?
Yes. Aswan has one of the most beautiful stretches of the Nile, where the river splits around granite islands, and a felucca is the classic way to see it. An hour is enough to circle Elephantine, pass Kitchener Island and slow down for a while, without giving up a large part of your day.
Should you choose the day or the night felucca ride in Aswan?
Choose the day ride if you want to see the landscape and take photographs: in daylight the granite, the islands and the desert all show their colors. Choose the night ride for cool air, city lights and quiet. Both last about an hour and sail around Elephantine Island.
The daytime sail suits first-time visitors, photographers and families who want to see the islands clearly while the guide points things out. In summer the midday heat is strong, so ask us about timing when you book.
What is Elephantine Island famous for?
Elephantine was the capital of the first province of Upper Egypt and its southern gateway for thousands of years. Its ruins include remains of the temple of Khnum, the ram-headed god linked with the Nile's source, and one of Egypt's oldest Nilometers, used to measure the height of the yearly flood.
This ride sails around the island rather than landing on it, so you see Elephantine from the water. If you would like to walk among the ruins as well, ask us when you book.
What should you bring on the felucca?
Pack light. Space on board is limited, there is little shade, and you sit low near the water for the whole hour. These few things make the sail more comfortable:
- Sun protection: a hat, sunglasses and sunscreen for the open deck.
- A light layer: the breeze on the river can feel cool, even on a warm day.
- Camera or phone: ideally with a strap, since you are close to the water.
- Cash: small notes for tipping the boatman and your guide.
What else can you do in Aswan?
Because the felucca ride is short, it combines easily with other plans on the same day or fits neatly into a free hour of your stay.
If you want to see the river after dark too, the night felucca ride in Aswan sails a similar route in a very different mood. The Nubian village tour by motorboat goes to a village on the west bank, and the Aswan sightseeing tour covers the High Dam, the Unfinished Obelisk and Philae Temple.
Tour Itinerary
A short, simple outing: a car ride to the river, one hour under sail around the islands, then the ride back.
Your Egyptologist guide meets you at your hotel or cruise boat in Aswan, and a private air-conditioned car takes you to the riverbank where your felucca is waiting. Have a hat and sunscreen with you, because there is little shade on the deck of a felucca in the daytime.
A felucca has no engine. The boatman raises a single large sail and works with the wind and the current, so the boat moves quietly and the exact line it takes depends on the breeze that day. You sit low on the deck, close to the water, with a wide view in every direction.
The ancient Egyptians called Elephantine Abu, meaning elephant, a name often linked to the ivory trade or to the rounded gray boulders along its shore. For centuries it was Egypt's southern frontier post, where goods from Africa entered the kingdom. Your guide points out the island's ancient remains and the Nubian villages that still stand on it.
Next you pass Kitchener Island, just west of Elephantine. Lord Kitchener, then commander of the Egyptian army, was given the island in the 1890s during the Sudan campaigns and turned it into a garden of exotic trees and plants, now Aswan's Botanical Gardens. From the boat you see the palms and thick greenery along its banks.
After an hour on the river the felucca returns to the bank, and the car takes you back to your hotel or boat. The felucca, the transfers, the water and all charges are already paid, so you only need some cash for tips for the boatman and your guide.
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.
We pick you up at your hotel or Nile cruise boat in Aswan and drive you to the riverbank where the felucca sets off. After the sail, the same car brings you back to where you are staying. Send us the name of your hotel or boat when you book so we can plan the pickup.
Pickup and drop-off at your Aswan hotel or Nile cruise, transfers in a deluxe air-conditioned car, a one-hour felucca ride, bottled water in the car and all charges and taxes. Tips and optional tours are not included. There is no meal on this short trip, and no entrance tickets are needed for the sail.
The price is per person and depends on group size, from solo travelers up to 16. It falls as the group grows, because the car and boat cost much the same however many ride, and it changes slightly by season. Prices start from {price} per person.
Most people find it very gentle. The Nile at Aswan is calm compared to the sea, and the boat moves slowly under sail. You do not need to swim, since you stay seated on deck the whole time. Children should stay seated and supervised, and you can ask us about life jackets when you book.
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.
