A Nile cruise in December gives you the best weather and light of the year, if you book it early enough

What the weather is really like in Luxor and Aswan in December

The cruise runs between Luxor and Aswan, deep in the Egyptian winter sun belt: clear sky, dry air, and a thermometer that moves a lot between noon and 4 am. Cairo, where most trips start, is a few degrees cooler and can see the odd shower, so do not judge the south by the capital.

Those daytime numbers are why December is booked solid. Walking the Valley of the Kings at 74F with no humidity is a pleasure; the same walk in July at 108F is an endurance event. Karnak, Edfu and Philae are open-air sites with no shade, and in December you can spend two hours in any of them in comfort. One warning: the noon sun is still strong, and because the air feels cool you forget it. Sunburn on the first afternoon on the sundeck is the most common December complaint we hear.

Cool mornings on deck, warm afternoons, cold nights

A December day on the river has a rhythm you settle into by the second morning. Around 6:30 am there is often a thin mist on the water, especially near Esna and Edfu, and the first people on the sundeck are wearing fleeces and holding a cup of tea. The sun clears the eastern hills a little before 7 and the mist lifts within the half hour. It is the prettiest part of the day and most passengers sleep through it.

By 10 am the fleece is off. From noon until about 3:30 pm the sundeck is genuinely warm and the loungers fill up. The pool is more decoration than swimming pool for most guests in December, although there is always one person from Minnesota in it at 1 pm insisting it is fine.

The sun goes down around 5 pm and the temperature falls with it. By the time dinner ends the deck is cold, with the river wind adding to it when the ship is moving. Evenings up top are lovely, with the stars out and the palm groves sliding past in the dark, but they are jacket evenings. People learn this on the first night.

The peak-season reality: full ships and rafted boats

December is the busiest cruising month on the Nile, and you should picture what that means. Every good ship sails full. In Luxor and Aswan there are more boats than dock space, so they moor side by side, three, four, sometimes five deep. To reach the shore from a boat on the outside, you walk through the lobbies of the boats between you and the bank.

Rafting has one consequence that surprises people: while docked, your cabin window may look straight at the hull of the neighbor a few feet away. A balcony earns its keep while sailing, but do not expect a river view every evening at the pier. Upper decks are less affected, which is one reason we push for upper-deck cabins in December.

On land the crowding shows up at the famous sites between 9 and noon. The fix is simple and we build it into every December program:

• Start the west bank at opening time, before the coaches from the ships that docked later.
• Let your guide pick the tombs in the order the groups are not taking. The valley has many open tombs and most groups queue for the same three.
• Visit Karnak in the last ninety minutes of the day instead of mid-morning, and take the early boat to Philae.

Smaller ships and dahabiyas feel the season less. If crowds bother you more than a lively deck appeals to you, tell us and we steer you that way.

Christmas and New Year sailings, and what changes on board

A cruise that covers December 24, 25 or 31 is a different animal from one a week earlier. Most ships put up a tree and lights in the lobby and the kitchen prepares a gala dinner on Christmas Eve and again on New Year's Eve. Expect a longer menu, a set seating time, live music, and on the 31st a party on the sundeck with a countdown under a very dark desert sky.

The gala dinners matter when you compare programs. On most ships they are part of the sailing for everyone on board those nights rather than an optional extra, so a holiday-week program is built differently from one in the first week of the month. We tell you exactly what a given ship does on those dates before you decide.

The rest of the on-board rhythm stays the same: the galabeya party still happens and the temple visits run on schedule. Waking up on New Year's Day sailing toward Kom Ombo is a very good way to start a year. These are the most requested departures on the calendar and they go first. We cover the whole trip, including Cairo and the Red Sea, in our guide to spending Christmas in Egypt, and the boat side in the Christmas Nile cruise guide.

Check ships with Christmas or New Year cabins

The two halves of December are not the same month

If you have any flexibility, this is the section that matters. December splits in two around the 18th to the 20th.

December 1 to about the 18th is one of the best windows of the entire year. The weather is identical to the holiday week, the ships have more open cabins, the temples are busy but not packed, and you can still choose your cabin position instead of taking what is left. Same golden light, same 75F afternoons, noticeably shorter lines at the Valley of the Kings.

From about the 19th through the first days of January is the peak of the peak. Every ship is full, docks are rafted to the limit, the galas are on, and the sites have the highest footfall of the year. It is still a wonderful trip, and for many families the only week they can travel, but it needs the earliest booking, an alternate ship in mind and a guide who works around the groups.

The month for the whole country, including Cairo and the coast, is in our guide to visiting Egypt in December. For the cruise, our honest advice is: if you can sail in the first half, do.

Three nights or four nights in December

Standard Nile ships run two programs: four nights from Luxor down to Aswan, and three nights from Aswan up to Luxor. Both cover the same core sites. In December the choice is also about daylight, because the sun sets around 5 pm and every temple visit has to fit into a shorter day.

With short days, the four-night program is the one we recommend for most December travelers. If you take the three-night version, we usually add a night in a Luxor hotel at the end so the west bank is not rushed. The trade-offs are in the guides to the 3-night Nile cruise and to sailing Luxor to Aswan or Aswan to Luxor.

Sunrise on the west bank, and why December has the best light of the year

In December the sun rises over Luxor a little before 6:45 am and sets around 5 pm. That short day is a photographer's gift: the sun never climbs very high, so instead of two golden hours you get low, raking light for most of the day. Reliefs that look flat at noon in June throw deep shadows in December, and the sandstone of Edfu and Kom Ombo goes the color of honey by 3 pm.

The west bank is the place to use this. Balloons lift off near the Ramesseum just before sunrise, with pickups from the ship around 5 am, and December is the calmest, clearest month to fly. It is cold in the basket at 6 am and pleasant by the time you land, and from the air you watch the sun come over the eastern hills and hit the Theban mountain, Hatshepsut's temple and the Colossi of Memnon in sequence.

If you skip the balloon, still ask to be at the Valley of the Kings for opening, when the sun is on the cliffs and the tombs are almost yours. Hatshepsut's terraces are best before 9. On the river, sailing out of Luxor in the afternoon or through the Esna lock at dusk, the banks are lit from the side and the felucca sails go orange.

Abu Simbel in December

Abu Simbel is the one excursion where December weather cuts both ways. The temples themselves are at their most comfortable, around 72F (22C) by mid-morning, so you can stand in front of the four colossi as long as you like. The road trip to get there is the cold part.

From Aswan the usual way is by road, about three and a half hours each way, leaving the ship at about 4 am to be at the temple by mid-morning and back for lunch. At 4 am in December the air is in the high 40s F and the desert on the way is colder. Vans run the heating, but a fleece, a scarf and a hat are the difference between sleeping and shivering. The domestic flight from Aswan is the alternative if you do not want the pre-dawn drive.

The reward is the light. The facade faces east, so the morning sun falls directly on the seated figures of Ramesses II at a low angle that picks out every carved line. The sun reaches the inner sanctuary on February 22 and October 22, not in December, so do not plan around that. Tickets, timing and the two ways to get there are in our guide to visiting Abu Simbel.

What to pack for a Nile cruise in December

The single rule is layers, because you will move between 48F and 76F several times a day. Here is what actually gets worn:

• A warm layer for the deck and Abu Simbel: a fleece or a wool sweater and a light windproof jacket. Both, not either.
• Something for your neck and head: a scarf and a knit hat for the 4 am departures and the balloon. A wide-brimmed sun hat for the temples.
• Daytime temple clothes: long light pants or a skirt below the knee, T-shirts, and a long-sleeved shirt for sun and for a mosque or village visit.
• Walking shoes with grip: tomb ramps are polished smooth and the valley is gravel.
• One dressier outfit if you sail over Christmas or New Year. Nothing formal, but the galas are a step up.
• Sunscreen, sunglasses and lip balm, plus a swimsuit for the optimists.

Leave the heavy coat at home; a fleece plus a jacket handles even Cairo evenings. The full year-round list is in what to pack for a Nile cruise.

How Explora Egipto secures your cabin in December

We are a local agency in Egypt working directly with ships we know from the inside, which matters most in the month when every cabin is spoken for. The process:

1. You send us your dates and who is traveling. A rough window is enough. If Christmas or New Year's Eve must fall on board, say so.
2. We check real availability the same day. We call the ships and come back with which ones still have cabins, on which deck, on which sailing.
3. We hold the cabin by name while you decide. In December that hold is what saves the trip, because a cabin open on Monday is gone by Wednesday.
4. We choose the position with you. Upper deck, midship, away from the engine and the gangway.
5. We build the rest of the trip around the sailing. Cairo days, domestic flights, the Abu Simbel morning, a Red Sea extension if you want one. One plan, one contact on WhatsApp, one quote.
6. We always have a plan B. If your first ship fills before you confirm, we already know the next best one on the same dates.

For the holiday week, writing in late summer is comfortable and October still works. For the first half of December a few weeks ahead is usually enough. How the sailing works day by day is on our main Nile cruise page. Prices are not on this page: tell us the dates and we send you the quote.

Check my December dates and send the quote

Frequently asked questions