The Iris dahabiya is a 5-star traditional sailing boat that cruises the Nile between Aswan and Luxor: 3 nights from Aswan every Friday, or 4 or 7 nights from Luxor every Monday. It has the widest choice of cabins of the three boats we sell, with four categories, two of them on the upper deck with a private veranda. Full board, a private guide and all entrance tickets are included, from US$1,849 per person in a Double Deluxe cabin.
Most Nile boats give you one or two ways to sleep on board. The Iris dahabiya gives you four, and that single fact shapes everything about how you can plan with it. A couple watching the budget, a family splitting into two cabins, and newlyweds who want a private veranda over the water can all travel on the same boat and still get the trip they had in mind.
The Iris is a dahabiya in the old sense: a wooden hull, tall sails, and an upper deck open to the river. You may also see the name written as Iris dahabeya, or the word spelled dahabieh in older travel books. Whatever the spelling, the idea is the same. Instead of a large steamer with hundreds of passengers, you travel on a sailing boat built on the scale of the river.
If you are still deciding between a dahabiya and a conventional ship, our guide to Nile dahabiya cruises sets out how the two formats compare, and our Nile cruise hub covers the larger vessels. This page is only about the Iris: its cabins, its prices, what you will find on board and whether it is the right boat for you.
The categories differ in two ways that matter once you are on the water: which deck the cabin is on, and whether it opens onto a private veranda. Those two details decide how much of the river you see from your own door, and how much time you spend in shared spaces versus your own.
| Category | Position on board | Private veranda | Regular price, 3 nights Aswan to Luxor |
|---|---|---|---|
| Double Deluxe cabin | Confirmed with your quote | No | from US$1,849 per person |
| Junior, main deck | Main deck | No | from US$2,209 per person |
| Junior, upper deck with veranda | Upper deck | Yes | from US$2,569 per person |
| Royal, upper deck with veranda | Upper deck | Yes | from US$2,999 per person |
This is the entry point to the Iris and the way to enjoy the boat at its lowest price. You share exactly the same decks, meals, guide and temple visits as every other guest. The difference is simply the cabin you return to at night. If you plan to spend your free hours up on the sun deck anyway, this is the sensible choice.
The Junior category is a step up from the Double Deluxe, placed on the main deck, the level beneath the upper deck. There is no private veranda here, so your outdoor time happens on the shared decks. It suits travelers who want more than the entry cabin without paying for outdoor space of their own.
Same Junior category, different experience. Moving the cabin up a level and adding a private veranda changes the rhythm of the day: you can step outside with a morning coffee, watch the palm-lined banks slide past, and come back in without crossing a shared deck. For many travelers this is the best balance on the Iris.
The Royal is the top category on the Iris and is priced accordingly. It sits on the upper deck with its own veranda, like the upper Junior, and it is the cabin to choose for a milestone trip. We do not quote cabin sizes or layouts from memory: the team confirms cabin availability and the detailed program with your quote, so you know exactly which cabin you are booking.
Every price below is per person, in US dollars, for the cabin category and route shown. Regular departures cover most of the sailing season. Festive departures fall on Christmas, New Year and Easter and follow their own table.
| Regular departures | Aswan to Luxor, 3 nights (Friday) | Luxor to Aswan, 4 nights (Monday) | Luxor to Aswan, 7 nights (Monday) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Double Deluxe cabin | from US$1,849 per person | from US$2,139 per person | from US$2,999 per person |
| Junior, main deck | from US$2,209 per person | from US$2,719 per person | from US$3,809 per person |
| Junior, upper deck with veranda | from US$2,569 per person | from US$2,999 per person | from US$4,279 per person |
| Royal, upper deck with veranda | from US$2,999 per person | from US$3,579 per person | from US$5,289 per person |
| Festive departures | Aswan to Luxor, 3 nights (Friday) | Luxor to Aswan, 4 nights (Monday) | Luxor to Aswan, 7 nights (Monday) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Double Deluxe cabin | from US$2,829 per person | from US$3,349 per person | from US$4,889 per person |
| Junior, main deck | from US$3,229 per person | from US$3,869 per person | from US$5,799 per person |
| Junior, upper deck with veranda | from US$3,609 per person | from US$4,369 per person | from US$6,679 per person |
| Royal, upper deck with veranda | from US$4,369 per person | from US$5,399 per person | from US$8,479 per person |
Two patterns are worth noticing. First, the step from one category to the next is gentle on the short route and wider on the long one, so an upgrade costs relatively less on 3 nights. Second, the 4-night route from Luxor costs only moderately more than the 3-night route from Aswan, which makes it good value if your dates allow a Monday start.
Payment conditions are not fixed on this page: our team agrees them with each traveler when the booking is made. Read more about each itinerary on the Aswan to Luxor 3-night dahabiya page and the Luxor to Aswan 4 or 7-night dahabiya page.
The best way to describe the Iris is to walk through what the photographs show, space by space. What you see here is what you will find when you step aboard, and nothing beyond it.
From the riverbank, the Iris looks like the dahabiyas in nineteenth-century engravings: a long wooden hull, a low profile on the water and canvas sails rigged above the upper deck. Those sails give the boat its unmistakable outline against the riverbank, the image most people have in mind when they picture a journey up the Nile.
Up top, the photos show an open deck set with loungers, the place to spend the long light of the afternoon as fields, mud-brick villages and date palms pass on either bank. Part of the upper deck is shaded for dining, so lunch can be served outside with the river as the backdrop rather than behind glass.
The photographs also show a bar area and an indoor lounge with seating, a useful retreat on a breezy evening or after a long morning among the tombs. Below, a dining room is laid out for meals indoors. In the cabin photos, the bathrooms include a tub; the team tells you which cabin layout you are getting when it confirms your booking.
If you want a fuller sense of daily life on a boat like this, from the pace of the mornings to how moorings work, our page on the dahabiya experience on the Nile describes it in detail.
An Iris Nile cruise with Explora Egipto is a private program. The boat is shared with other guests, but your sightseeing is not: you have your own private English-speaking guide, a private air-conditioned vehicle for every visit and every transfer, and all entrance tickets to the sites on the program.
Meals are on a full-board basis, so breakfast, lunch and dinner are covered for the length of the cruise. The Iris is rated 5 stars, like the other two dahabiyas we sell.
The programs include these visits:
International flights are not part of the trip. Your Iris cruise begins in Aswan or Luxor, and the section below explains how to get there.
The Iris makes most sense when you care about the cabin itself. If you picture yourself on a private veranda at sunset, a book in hand and the West Bank hills turning gold, the upper-deck categories are the reason to choose this boat over the others.
Honeymooners and anniversary trips. The Royal and the upper Junior both put a veranda outside your door, which gives a couple private outdoor time without leaving the cabin. If you are planning a wedding trip, our honeymoon Nile cruise page shows how to build the rest of the journey around the river.
Groups with different budgets. Friends or relatives traveling together can each pick the category that suits them and still share the same boat, meals and guide. With four categories on one boat, the Iris makes that easy.
Travelers who want a proper sailing boat. The wooden hull and sails put the Iris firmly in the traditional style. If that romance matters more to you than a modern look, the Iris is a strong match.
Luxury travelers building a longer trip. The Iris fits naturally into a luxury Egypt tour that adds Cairo and the pyramids before or after the river. Travelers flying in from the United States can see how the pieces connect on our page about Egypt tours from the USA.
Who might look elsewhere? If the lowest possible price is the priority, the Akhenaton is the better fit, as the comparison below shows.
Explora Egipto sells three 5-star dahabiyas on the same routes, with the same private guide, full board and temple visits. What changes is the boat's character and the cabin choice.
| Boat | Cabin categories | Character from the photos | Regular price, 3 nights Aswan to Luxor |
|---|---|---|---|
| Iris | 4: Double Deluxe; Junior, main deck; Junior, upper deck with veranda; Royal, upper deck with veranda | Wooden hull, sails, sun deck with loungers, shaded dining | from US$1,849 per person |
| Akhenaton | 2: Double Deluxe; Double with veranda | Two white sails, covered deck terraces, long dining table with river windows | from US$1,639 per person |
| Per-ba | 2: Double Deluxe; Junior with veranda | White hull, bright interiors with wooden floors | from US$2,059 per person |
The Akhenaton dahabiya has the lowest prices of the three and still offers a cabin with a veranda, so it is the natural choice for travelers who want a veranda at a gentler rate. The Per-ba dahabiya has a brighter, lighter feel on board and a Junior category with a veranda.
The Iris stands apart because it is the only one of the three with four categories and a Royal cabin. If you want the most choice, or the top cabin on any of our dahabiyas, this is the boat.
The Iris sails from Aswan to Luxor every Friday on the 3-night route, and from Luxor to Aswan every Monday on the 4 or 7-night route. The regular departure windows for the coming season are:
Festive departures use the festive price table:
October, November, February and March bring warm days and cool evenings, ideal for time on the open deck. December and January are the coolest months, with crisp early mornings on the river that call for a light jacket. By late April and May the afternoons turn hot, and the shaded deck and indoor lounge earn their place. If you have your heart set on a festive date or a veranda cabin, ask early so the team can check the category you want.
Explora Egipto does not sell international flights. Your Iris cruise starts in Aswan (Friday departures) or in Luxor (Monday departures), and from there our team handles every transfer in a private air-conditioned vehicle.
Most travelers reach the boat through Cairo. Our guide to what to see in Cairo helps you plan a few days there first, and our page on domestic flights in Egypt explains how to get from Cairo to the south. If you arrive early, it is worth adding a night or two in town: see what to see in Luxor and what to see in Aswan.
Before you travel, check the Egypt visa requirements for your passport, and read our list of what to pack for a Nile cruise, especially if you are sailing in winter.
Booking starts with a message. Send us your preferred route, your approximate dates, the number of travelers and the cabin category you have in mind. If you are torn between two categories, say so and we will lay out both.
Our team replies with a quote that confirms which cabins are available on your departure and the full program for your route. Conditions are agreed with each traveler at that stage, so there are no surprises later.
Want to extend the trip beyond the river? We can build the cruise into a custom Egypt tour or one of our Egypt tour packages, adding Cairo, a felucca ride on the Nile or extra Luxor excursions and Aswan excursions.
Four: Double Deluxe; Junior on the main deck; Junior on the upper deck with a private veranda; and Royal on the upper deck with a private veranda. It is the widest choice among the three dahabiyas Explora Egipto sells.
Both are in the Junior category. One is on the main deck without a veranda; the other is on the upper deck and opens onto a private veranda. The upper Junior costs more, and in return gives you outdoor space of your own.
The Junior on the upper deck and the Royal on the upper deck. The Double Deluxe and the main-deck Junior do not have one, though every guest can use the shared sun deck.
On regular departures, from US$1,849 per person in a Double Deluxe cabin on the 3-night Aswan to Luxor route, up to US$5,289 per person in the Royal on the 7-night Luxor to Aswan route. Festive departures follow a separate table shown above.
Three nights from Aswan on a Friday suits a tight schedule. Four nights from Luxor on a Monday adds time on the river for a moderate difference in price. Seven nights is for travelers who want the slowest, most relaxed pace and the most time on board.
Yes. Every program is private: a private English-speaking guide, a private air-conditioned vehicle for every visit and transfer, and all entrance tickets. Other guests share the boat, but not your sightseeing.
Yes, the cruise is full board, so breakfast, lunch and dinner are included throughout.
No. Explora Egipto does not sell international flights. The trip begins in Aswan or Luxor, and our pages on Cairo and domestic flights explain how to reach your starting port.
Yes. There are festive departures for Christmas, New Year and Easter, listed with their exact dates in the seasons section above and priced on the festive table.
Yes. When you ask for a quote, our team checks availability on your departure and tells you which cabin in your chosen category is free, together with the full program for your route.
It is one of the best, because the Royal and the upper Junior both come with a private veranda over the river. Our honeymoon Nile cruise page has ideas for the rest of the trip.
Tell us your route, your dates and the category you are considering, from the Double Deluxe to the Royal with its veranda. Our team comes back with availability, the full program and a quote for your trip on the Iris dahabiya.
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