3 Night Nile Cruise Aswan to Luxor with Temple Tickets Included

What Is in the $600

The listing includes 3 nights on a 5-star deluxe cruise ship on full board, all entrance fees to the named sightseeing, all transfers in deluxe air-conditioned vehicles, service charges and taxes, a 24-hour emergency hotline, and bottled water at 2 small bottles per person per day. On the private-guide cabin options you get your own Egyptologist throughout. Vegetarian meals are available if you ask at booking.

Pickup from any Aswan hotel, the airport or the train station is part of the deal.

• 3 nights full board on a 5-star deluxe ship
• Entrance fees: Philae, High Dam, Unfinished Obelisk, Kom Ombo, Edfu, Karnak, Luxor Temple, Valley of the Kings, Hatshepsut
• All transfers by air-conditioned vehicle and hotel pickup in Aswan
• 2 small bottles of water per person per day
• Private Egyptologist on private-guide options, service charges and taxes, 24-hour hotline

What You Pay on Top

Abu Simbel is not included and is sold as an optional tour at extra cost. An early-morning optional tour on day 4 also carries an extra cost, and the listing does not name it, so ask the operator what it is before you book. Beverages beyond the daily water, laundry, phone calls and gratuities are excluded.

Travel from December 20 to January 2 adds $200 per person. The listing shows no mandatory checkout charge, which is not true of every cruise on this route.

• Abu Simbel, optional and extra
• Unnamed early tour on day 4, extra
• Drinks other than the daily bottled water, plus tips
• $200 per person surcharge for December 20 to January 2 travel

What the Included Tickets Are Worth

The table lists the official ministry ticket prices for the sights this cruise includes, so you can see what you are not paying at the gate. These are the foreign adult rates from the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities price list. Some sites on the itinerary, such as the High Dam and the Unfinished Obelisk, are not listed separately here and are left out rather than guessed.

Day 1, Aswan

Pickup between 8 and 10 AM from your Aswan hotel, the airport or the train station. The day is Aswan sightseeing: Philae Temple, reached by boat and dedicated to Isis, the Aswan High Dam, and the Unfinished Obelisk in the granite quarries, a block that would have measured about 41.75 m and weighed nearly 1,090 tonnes. You board the ship for the first night.

• Pickup from any Aswan hotel, airport or train station
• Philae Temple, High Dam and Unfinished Obelisk with tickets included
• First night on board

Day 2, Kom Ombo

The ship sails north from Aswan. Kom Ombo sits on the river about 45 to 50 km north of the city, and its double temple has two principal entrances, one side for the falcon god Haroeris. The visit is included in your ticket.

The rest of the day is time on deck as the boat continues toward Edfu.

• Sailing from Aswan toward Kom Ombo
• Kom Ombo temple visit with ticket included
• Afternoon sailing north

Day 3, Edfu and on to Luxor

Morning at Edfu, the Ptolemaic temple of Horus, finished in 57 BC. The listing includes the entrance fee. After Edfu the ship continues north through the Esna lock, where cruisers can face a wait to pass, so build slack into the day rather than planning around an exact arrival in Luxor.

Afternoon tours cover Karnak, whose Great Hypostyle Hall covers 5,000 m2 with 134 columns, and Luxor Temple. A lunch box replaces the sit-down lunch this day. Second and third nights are on board.

• Edfu temple with ticket included
• Passage through the Esna lock, waits are possible
• Karnak and Luxor Temple with tickets included, lunch box provided

Day 4, Luxor West Bank

The final morning crosses to the west bank, the necropolis side of ancient Thebes. You see the Valley of the Kings, the terraced temple of Hatshepsut and the Colossi of Memnon, all with tickets included. An optional early-morning tour is offered at extra cost, and the listing does not say what it covers.

Tours finish around 12 PM and you are dropped at your Luxor hotel or remain at the cruise.

• Valley of the Kings, Hatshepsut and the Colossi of Memnon
• Optional unnamed early tour at extra cost
• Finish around 12 PM, drop-off at your Luxor hotel or the cruise

Anyone Who Wants Abu Simbel Included

Abu Simbel is the single biggest exclusion. The temples sit on Lake Nasser south of Aswan, about 230 to 290 km from the city by road, and here they cost extra as an optional tour. If seeing them matters, the 3-night cruise with Abu Simbel and balloon bundles a group Abu Simbel trip and a Luxor balloon flight instead, though its temple fees are all paid locally.

Travellers Who Want a Small Boat

This is a large 5-star cruise ship. If you want a smaller boat, the luxury dahabiya cruise sails the same 3 nights on a small sail boat, with entrance fees, water and hot drinks included.

Travellers with More Time or Starting in Luxor

A 3-night sailing is typical in this direction. If you would rather sail upriver with an extra day and a slower pace, the 4-night Luxor to Aswan cruise runs 5 days from the other end. Note that its entrance fees are paid on site.

Practical Limits to Know Before Booking

Ages run from infants 0 to 4 to adults up to 90, and children must be with an adult, so there is no bar for families. The tour is stated as suitable for all fitness levels, and wheelchair access is not stated, so confirm with the operator if you need it. Temple visits involve walking and standing, and Luxor highs reach 35.0 C in April and above 40 C in summer at Aswan, so the cooler months from October to April are the comfortable ones.

Cancellation is free until 24 hours before departure, which is more flexible than the 6-day windows on some 4-night sailings. Group size is not stated, and the listing calls the product private while some options join a group, so pick the private-guide cabin if a shared guide would bother you.

Reaching Aswan and Leaving Luxor

Pickup is included from any Aswan hotel, Aswan airport or the train station, so send the operator your arrival details when you book. Aswan airport lies somewhere between about 10 and 16 km from the city centre depending on the source. Cairo to Aswan is 753 km in a straight line, with a flight of 3h48m door to door or a train of about 14h15m per Rome2Rio.

At the Luxor end you are dropped at your hotel or stay on the ship, and Luxor airport and the rail station serve the onward journey.

Abu Simbel, the Big Add-on

Because the cruise excludes it, budget separately if Abu Simbel matters to you. The official foreign adult ticket is EGP 750, open 6:00 to 17:00, rising to EGP 1,200 on the 22 October and 22 February sun alignment days. It is a long road trip south of Aswan, so it costs a full morning or more.

Book the optional tour through this operator, or pick a listing that includes it.

What Else to Add Around the Sailing

In Aswan a felucca is the classic filler. The Aswan felucca to Elephantine costs $15 for 2 hours around Elephantine and Kitchener's Islands, and the overnight felucca from Aswan sleeps on deck on the way toward Kom Ombo, with options from $25 depending on length. In Luxor, your Karnak and Valley of the Kings tickets are already covered, so the common extra is a hot-air balloon over the west bank at dawn, which this cruise does not include.

For more background before you go, read the guides to Philae Temple and Edfu Temple, both stops on this itinerary.