This trip is for travelers who want Upper Egypt and only Upper Egypt: five days, four nights on the water, Luxor to Aswan, no Cairo and no pyramids. If Giza has to happen on the same vacation, one of our longer land programs is the better fit.

You board the ship in Luxor, sail south against the current, and step off in Aswan having walked through Karnak, Luxor Temple, the Valley of the Kings, Hatshepsut, Edfu, Kom Ombo, Philae and Abu Simbel. The boat is your hotel the whole way, so you unpack once and never chase another check-in desk. Every gate fee on that list is paid before you land, and a licensed Egyptologist who speaks English walks each site with you.

One thing to settle before you book any flights, because it will shape your dates: this program runs entirely in Upper Egypt and includes no air travel of any kind. Not the international flight, and not the domestic hop from Cairo down to Luxor or the one from Aswan back north. Our service starts when we meet you at Luxor airport or Luxor railway station, and ends when we hand you over at Aswan airport or Aswan station.

Trip at a glance

Five days, four nights, one direction: south. You sleep aboard a four-star Nile cruise ship for all four nights on full board, and the ship moves while you eat and sleep, so your mornings go to temples rather than transit. The route runs Luxor, then the west bank, then upriver through the Esna lock to Edfu, on to Kom Ombo, into Aswan, and out across the desert to Abu Simbel.

Nine major sites are on the program: Karnak, Luxor Temple, the Valley of the Kings, Hatshepsut, the Colossi of Memnon, Edfu, Kom Ombo, Philae and Abu Simbel. A Nubian village at Aswan is in there too, the one stop that is about people living now rather than people buried three thousand years ago.

Three things separate this from the standard shopping-cart Nile cruise. First, the direction: sailing Luxor to Aswan means the trip builds rather than unwinds, and because you end in Aswan the Abu Simbel morning is a short desert run instead of a detour. Prefer to finish in Luxor? We run that as its own program, the Aswan to Luxor cruise, at the same price. Second, Abu Simbel is included rather than sold to you once you are already in Aswan. Third, the entrance tickets are prepaid, and we print what they cost further down.

What is included

Transfers

Private air-conditioned pickup at Luxor airport or Luxor railway station, direct to the ship
Private air-conditioned transfers between the ship and every site in Luxor and Aswan
Road transfer from Aswan to Abu Simbel and back, in a private air-conditioned vehicle
Motorboat out to Philae island and back
Motorboat to the Nubian village and back
Private air-conditioned drop-off at Aswan airport or Aswan railway station

Accommodation

Four nights aboard a four-star Nile cruise ship, in a double cabin with private bathroom and air conditioning
Night 1 moored at Luxor, night 2 between Luxor and Edfu, night 3 on the run into Aswan, night 4 moored at Aswan

Meals

Full board aboard, from lunch on day 1 through breakfast on day 5
Four breakfasts, four lunches and four dinners, all served on the ship

Guide

A licensed Egyptologist guide who speaks English, with you at every site on the program
Private guiding for your party only, not a coach group of forty and not an audio headset
The same guide stays with you across Luxor, Edfu, Kom Ombo, Aswan and Abu Simbel

Monument entries, one gate at a time, all prepaid

Karnak temple complex, 600 EGP
Luxor Temple, 500 EGP
Valley of the Kings, three tombs, 750 EGP
Temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari, 440 EGP
Temple of Horus at Edfu, 550 EGP
Temple of Kom Ombo, 450 EGP
Temple of Philae at Aswan, 550 EGP
Abu Simbel, both temples, 822 EGP
Colossi of Memnon, no gate and no charge

Extras

The full Abu Simbel excursion from Aswan: transport, entry and guiding
Visit to a Nubian village on the water at Aswan
WhatsApp support on +20 103 229 5513 before you travel and every day you are in Egypt

What is not included

International flights. We do not sell, book, quote or coordinate the flight that brings you to Egypt or the one that takes you home. Buy it before you lock dates with us so the two line up.
Domestic flights inside Egypt, including Cairo to Luxor at the start and Aswan back north at the end. This program excludes internal flights. Some of our longer land programs do include the domestic sectors. This one does not.
Egypt entry visa. 30 USD single entry, 65 USD multiple entry, through the official portal at visa2egypt.gov.eg. You will find 25 USD printed on plenty of travel sites. It is out of date.
Tips for your guide, the drivers and the cruise crew. Customary, not compulsory, with a breakdown by role in the questions below.
Drinks, including bottled water, and any meal not written into the day-by-day. Water is small money, but it is not in the price and we would rather say so here than let you find out at the bar.
Travel insurance. We do not sell it and it is not bundled in. For American travelers this is the exclusion worth reading twice.
Separately ticketed tombs in the Valley of the Kings. Three tombs are covered by the ticket we buy for you. A few headline tombs are sold on top of it at the gate: extra cost, paid at the ticket office on the day. We do not print a figure because the ministry revises these without notice.
Photography permits where an individual site charges one. Extra cost, paid at the ticket office.
Personal spending: shopping, laundry, the bar tab, anything from the ship's shop.

If something is not on either list, treat it as included. There is no small print on this program and nothing gets added to your bill after you arrive.

Day by day

Day 1: Luxor, Karnak and Luxor Temple

We meet you at Luxor airport or the railway station and drive you straight to the ship. Check in, drop your bags, eat lunch on board. Nothing is scheduled for the morning on purpose, because most people arriving into Luxor have already been traveling the better part of a day.

In the afternoon you walk into Karnak, the largest religious complex the ancient world built. The part everyone remembers is the hypostyle hall, one hundred and thirty-four columns standing close enough together that you lose sight of the sky. You finish at Luxor Temple, timed for the end of the afternoon so you are still there as the lights come up.

Meals: lunch and dinner on board. Sleep: aboard, moored at Luxor.

Day 2: The west bank, then cast off for Edfu

Early breakfast and across the river to the west bank, the side the ancient Egyptians reserved for the dead. You go down into three tombs in the Valley of the Kings, where the paint is original rather than restored and photographs do not prepare you for how much color survived. Then the Temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari, three terraces cut back into the cliff, built for the woman who ruled as king and whose successor tried to chisel her out of the record. You stop at the Colossi of Memnon on the way back, fifteen minutes and no charge.

Back on board for lunch, and the ship casts off south toward Edfu. The afternoon is deliberately empty: sun deck, pool, tea, the bank sliding past at walking pace. This is the part of Egypt a bus cannot give you.

Meals: breakfast, lunch and dinner on board. Sleep: aboard, between Luxor and Edfu.

Day 3: Edfu and Kom Ombo

After breakfast you go ashore at Edfu to the Temple of Horus, the falcon god, and the most completely preserved temple in Egypt. Sand buried it for centuries, and sand turns out to be a better conservator than any government. The roof is still on.

Back aboard, and the ship carries on to Kom Ombo: a double temple split down the middle, one half for Sobek the crocodile god and the other for Haroeris. Two sanctuaries, two sets of gates, mirrored. It sits on a bend of the river close enough that you walk off the boat almost into it. Late afternoon the ship continues toward Aswan.

Meals: breakfast, lunch and dinner on board. Sleep: aboard, on the run into Aswan.

Day 4: Aswan, Philae and a Nubian village

A motorboat takes you out to the island where the Temple of Philae stands. The story matches the building: when the dam raised the water, the whole temple was cut into numbered blocks, moved to higher ground and rebuilt stone by stone. You are looking at a temple that is the right shape in the wrong place, and it works.

In the afternoon you are back on the water to a Nubian village. Houses painted cobalt and orange, hibiscus tea, a completely different Nile from the one you saw in Luxor two days earlier. Last dinner on board, tied up at Aswan. Set an alarm.

Meals: breakfast, lunch and dinner on board. Sleep: aboard, moored at Aswan.

Day 5: Abu Simbel, then home

Out before dawn and south across the desert to Abu Simbel. There is nothing to look at on the drive, and then there is: four seated figures of Ramses II cut straight into the mountain, each around twenty meters tall, with the smaller temple he built for Nefertari beside it. You get proper time at both temples before the day-trip traffic from Aswan builds.

Then back to Aswan, where we transfer you to the airport or the railway station and our services end. Because this program carries no internal flight, book your onward ticket north with a real buffer after the Abu Simbel return rather than a tight connection. If you are unsure which departure works, message us before you buy.

Meals: breakfast on board. The Abu Simbel run leaves before the galley normally opens, so confirm with reception the night before how your ship handles it. Sleep: not applicable, this is your departure day.

What the entrance tickets are worth

These are the 2026 gate prices published on Egypt's official ministry ticketing platform, per person. You hand over none of it at a ticket window, because we buy them in advance. We print them because almost nobody else does, and it is the fastest way to see what is actually inside the price you are quoted.

Gate	Official 2026 fee	Approx. USD
Karnak temple complex	600 EGP	about $12
Luxor Temple	500 EGP	about $10
Valley of the Kings, three tombs	750 EGP	about $15
Temple of Hatshepsut	440 EGP	about $9
Temple of Horus, Edfu	550 EGP	about $11
Temple of Kom Ombo	450 EGP	about $9
Temple of Philae	550 EGP	about $11
Abu Simbel, both temples	822 EGP	about $17
Colossi of Memnon	no charge	free
Total already paid on your behalf	4,662 EGP	about $94

The dollar column is an approximation and it is dated: it uses 1 USD = 49.79 EGP, the Central Bank of Egypt rate on 6 August 2026. The market rate moves week to week, so read the Egyptian pound column as the real number. Ministry fees are published in pounds and can change without notice, which is one more reason we lock them in before you travel rather than after.

How much this trip costs

From US$755 per person, double occupancy. That is two people sharing a cabin on a four-star ship with full board, with all nine gates above already paid.

The price moves, and here is what moves it. Season is the biggest lever: the same cruise in a high-demand week runs up to around US$1,190 per person, because cabin space between Luxor and Aswan is finite and everybody wants the cool months. Ship category is next, with four-star as the standard here and a superior vessel changing the number. Cabin type matters, and a solo traveler pays a single supplement rather than the double rate, so ask us for that figure on your dates. Party size shifts guiding and transfer cost per head, so a family of four is not four times one traveler.

What does not move is the ticket line: that 4,662 EGP sits inside every version of this quote.

There is no cart on this page and no payment button. You tell us your dates and how many people are traveling, we come back the same day with an exact figure, you hold the booking with a deposit, and the balance is settled once you are in Egypt. If you want to weigh this against the land alternative, the Aswan and Luxor land itinerary covers a similar set of sites while you sleep in hotels, and it flexes around your international flight times instead of a fixed sailing schedule.

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to arrange my own way to Luxor?

Yes. This program excludes internal flights, so the Cairo to Luxor leg at the start and the Aswan to Cairo leg at the end are yours to book, by air or by sleeper train. We take no cut of them. What we will do is tell you which departures line up with the ship's check-in window and the Abu Simbel return on day 5, so send us your international flight times before you buy.

Is Egypt safe for American travelers right now?

Check it yourself rather than taking a tour operator's word for it, at travel.state.gov. Egypt sits at Level 2, Exercise Increased Caution, with a separate Do Not Travel carve-out for North and Middle Sinai. No part of this itinerary goes near Sinai: Luxor, Edfu, Kom Ombo, Aswan and Abu Simbel are all in Upper Egypt, on the Nile, running south, while Sinai is the peninsula in the far northeast. Advisory levels change, so read the live page rather than a level quoted on a travel site.

What does the Egypt visa cost, and how do I get it?

30 USD for a single entry and 65 USD for multiple entry, through the official portal at visa2egypt.gov.eg, either before you fly or on arrival. You will see 25 USD on plenty of American travel pages and 32 USD on the Egyptian embassy site in Washington. The first is out of date; the second is the embassy's own consular service, a different product. Buying on arrival means US dollars cash, so bring crisp, unmarked bills. Worn or older series notes get refused.

Should I bring dollars or Egyptian pounds?

Both, for different jobs. Clean US dollar bills for the visa if you buy on arrival. Egyptian pounds for everything on the ground, because pounds are what a kiosk, a taxi or a village stall wants. ATMs in Luxor and Aswan beat an exchange desk on rate, but cards stop being useful once you step off the main streets. Carry cash and ask for small denominations: nobody at a temple gate can break a 500 note.

How much should I tip, and to whom?

Tipping in Egypt is frequent rather than large, which is the part Americans find unfamiliar. Workable ranges, not rules: your Egyptologist guide around 10 to 15 USD per day for the party, the driver 3 to 5 USD per day, and the cruise crew through the tip box at reception on the last night, roughly 5 to 8 USD per person per day. Then 20 to 50 EGP for the motorboat crew at Philae and 10 to 20 EGP for a restroom attendant.

Can I drink the water, and how do I avoid getting sick?

Do not drink the tap water and do not brush your teeth with it. Bottled only, sealed, and check the seal before you pay. Water is not included but it is cheap and sold everywhere. Skip ice in drinks bought off the ship. Raw salad and pre-cut fruit catch out most visitors; hot food straight from the kitchen is fine. Bring tissues and hand sanitizer for the restrooms at Karnak and the Valley of the Kings.

What should I wear, especially as a woman?

Egypt is more relaxed than first-timers expect and more conservative than a beach resort. At the temples and in the tombs, cover shoulders and knees in loose cotton or linen; trousers or a long skirt beat shorts, mostly for the sun. On the ship's sun deck, ordinary swimwear is fine. In a mosque women cover their hair, and mosques that receive visitors keep scarves at the door. Outside a mosque, none is expected. Add closed shoes with grip and a sweater for the Abu Simbel start.

Do I need travel insurance?

We do not sell insurance and we do not include it, so treat this as advice rather than a sales line. Most US health plans and Medicare give you little or no coverage outside the country, and there is no reciprocal arrangement of the kind European travelers rely on. A policy for Egypt should cover overseas medical treatment, medical evacuation and trip cancellation. Evacuation is the clause worth reading properly, because the river between towns is a long way from a good hospital.

Is Abu Simbel really included, or is it an optional extra?

Included, and it is worth checking this line when you compare cruises. Many operators sell the Luxor to Aswan sailing and then offer Abu Simbel as a paid add-on once you are already in Aswan and it is hard to say no. Here the road transfer, the 822 EGP entry to both temples and your English-speaking guide are inside the quoted price. The Aswan to Abu Simbel flight is not part of it and is not needed, because the itinerary goes by road.

Can I book this as a solo traveler?

Yes. Everything on this program is private, so there is no fixed group departure and no minimum number of travelers before it runs. The one thing to know is the cabin: the from-price is per person with two sharing, so a solo traveler pays a single supplement. Ask us for the figure on your dates. Guiding and transfers are yours alone, which beats being the odd number in someone else's coach group.

Why book with an Egypt-based operator

We are in Egypt. The guide who meets you in Luxor, the drivers, the cabin bookings and the ticket purchases are handled by the same local team, not passed down a chain from a reseller who then buys from an operator like us. That has one practical consequence: when something goes sideways at 6am in Aswan, the person answering your WhatsApp is in the same time zone as the problem and can call the driver directly. Cairo runs seven hours ahead of US Eastern, so a US-based call center opens at roughly the moment your day in Egypt is ending.

Now some honest limits. Those are UK financial protection schemes and an Egyptian company cannot hold them. If bonded financial protection is a requirement for you, that is a legitimate reason to book through a UK seller instead. What we do instead is decline to take the full amount up front: a deposit holds your booking and the balance is settled once you are in Egypt.

We also do not put a star rating on this page. We have twelve written reviews from travelers, rated 5.0, and they are about the agency and about our guide Shady Said. Not one of them is about this specific cruise, so attaching a product rating to it would mean inventing something.

The last piece is the one you have already seen: we printed the gate fees. Every operator says tickets are included. Printing 4,662 EGP line by line against the official ministry figures is a claim you can verify on a government website in about two minutes.

If a five-day cruise is the wrong shape for your trip, the 8-day Egypt tour and the 10-day Cairo, Luxor and Aswan program pair the pyramids with a Nile stretch and do include the domestic flights. The 2-day Luxor tour covers the Valley of the Kings on its own, and the Abu Simbel day trip from Aswan works as a bolt-on. The full range sits on our Egypt tour packages page.

Tell us your dates and how many people are traveling and we will come back the same day with a firm number. One WhatsApp conversation, no payment today. Message us on +20 103 229 5513, or use the contact page if you would rather write.

Nile Cruise from Luxor to Aswan: 5 Days, 4 Nights