Luxury 7-Night Nile Cruise from Luxor to Aswan
Offered in English - Small Group
Cruising the Nile river is the most interesting way to explore the Egyptian Nile valley, and to see the fantastic ancient monuments in Upper Egypt, especially in Luxor and Aswan.
The 7-night Nile river cruise from Luxor to Aswan allows you to see their main landmarks and enjoy the natural beauty while cruising.
This Nile cruise itinerary includes sailing from Luxor to Aswan and returning to Luxor within 8 days.
This program gives you enough time to enjoy visiting historical sites along with some leisure time for relaxation and amusement on the Nile cruiser.
Itinerary
Day 1: Embarkation on the Nile cruise in Luxor
On the first day, we will pick you up from “the Luxor international airport”, and then you will be transferred to our luxury Nile cruise ship to start your unforgettable journey. After checking in and getting your cabin, you will enjoy dinner on board, in case of arriving late you can have a light snack instead, then you will stay overnight in Luxor.
Day 2: visit the temple of Karnak and the temple of Luxor
The Nile river divides Luxor into two banks, the eastern bank where the great gods' temples were built, and the western bank where you can find tombs and funerary constructions. After breakfast, you will have an astonishing tour of the east bank of Luxor to see its great temples. The most impressive one is “the complex of Karnak” which comprises many temples, but the largest one is “the great temple of Amun-Ra”. This temple incorporates the largest hypostyle hall in Egypt along with 10 pylons, the temple of Ramses III, the sacred lake, and many shrines dedicated to different gods. The next tour will be to “the temple of Luxor” which was once connected to the temple of Karnak by a long avenue flanked by sphinxes.
King Amenhotep III built the temple of Luxor in the new kingdom, and many preceding rulers added constructions to it. After the tour, you will return to the ship to enjoy your lunch on board, then the ship will sail south to “Esna” and overnight there.
Day 3: the temple of Edfu and the temple of Kom-Ombo
The breakfast will be served on board, then it will be time to see one of the best-preserved temples in Egypt, it is “the temple of Edfu”. It is a huge Ptolemaic temple dedicated to the falcon-headed god “Horus”. The temple of Horus in Edfu is preceded by a huge pylon that leads to an open court followed by two hypostyle halls, an antechamber, and the sanctuary of the god Horus.
Following to this tour, the ship will resume sailing towards the city of Kom-Ombo where you will see its remarkable temple. “The temple of Kom Ombo” is unique because it is a double temple dedicated to two different gods, the god “Horus” and the god “Sobek”. The duality of the temple appears in the two sanctuaries at the end of the temple. By the end of the tour, you will return to the Nile cruiser to continue sailing to Aswan, and stay overnight there.
Day 4: Visit the unfinished obelisk and the Philae temple
After having breakfast on board, you will start a tour of “the High dam”, a rock dam built across the Nile river in Aswan to save the flood water to avoid floods and drought. Then you will see “the unfinished obelisk” which lies on the site of Aswan's ancient quarries; it was unfinished due to cracks found in it during work.
The unfinished obelisk is the largest one in the world and is considered an important source of information about the process of carving obelisks in Ancient Egypt. Later on, you will have a boat trip to “The temple of Philae” which was built by Ptolemy II for the dedication of the goddess “Isis”. It is to be noted that this temple was moved from its original location on Philae island to the island of Agilika in lake Nasser after building the high dam. After finishing the tour, you will have lunch on board, and the afternoon will be leisure time. Also, there is an optional tour in the evening to the temple of Philae for attending the sound and light show.
Day 5: Abu Simbel temples and Aswan botanical gardens
In the morning you can choose to have some leisure time or to visit the Abu Simbel temple. Abu Simbel is a huge rock-cut temple built by Ramses II and dedicated to the gods Amun, Ra-Hor-Akhty, and Ptah. Ramses II also built another smaller rock-cut temple in Abu Simbel for his wife.
Soon after lunch, you will have a felucca ride around the island of Elephantine to “the Botanical Gardens” on General Kitchener Island. Finally, you will enjoy dinner on board and overnight in Aswan.
Day 6: plan your day
This morning will be at leisure until lunch, afterwards the ship will start sailing towards the north. On the way, there is a brief stop at the city of Kom-Ombo then it will continue sailing to Edfu to overnight there.
Day 7: valley of the kings and the temple of Deir El-Bahari
After arriving at Luxor, you will have a guided tour of the west bank of Luxor. The most impressive site there is “the Valley of the Kings” where the kings of the new kingdom are buried. It comprises more than 60 royal tombs but the most famous one is that of king “Tut-Ankh-Amun” since it was found unstolen and teeming with treasures.
You will also visit "the Valley of the Queens" where the royal wives and sons were buried. To the east of the Valley of the Kings, there is "the temple of El-Deir El-Bahari" which was built by queen Hatshepsut in the eighteenth dynasty. It has a unique design consisting of three levels divided by terraces and connected by ramps.
On the west bank, you will also see “the Colossi of Memnon”, are two huge statues of king Amenhotep III which were once preceding his mortuary temple.
Day 8: hot air balloon ride in Luxor and checking out
If you want an adventurous time, you can join the optional balloon ride in the early morning to see the beauty and greatness of Luxor from the sky.
Then you will enjoy breakfast on board, check out, and be transferred to the airport or any other destination.
