nile.guide helps you plan a Nile cruise and the days around it: which direction and length to choose, which class of ship fits your budget, what the price really includes, which ship is behind a "5-star ship or similar" listing, and what can go wrong. We cover multi-day cruises between Luxor and Aswan, cruises from Cairo and Hurghada, Lake Nasser and Abu Simbel, dahabiyas, luxury ships, Cairo dinner boats, felucca rides, the Luxor balloon, the temples along the river and the best time to go.
What you will find here
- Guides to cruise routes and lengths, prices, the best ships by type, things to do in Luxor, Aswan and Cairo, and planning topics such as seasons and booking platforms. Start with the Nile cruise guide or all cruise options.
- Reviews of named Nile ships, river lines, Cairo dinner boats and two agencies, collected in the ships directory and the operators directory. Each review says what the ship really is, who runs it, how it is sold, and what comparable cruise you can book today.
- Live booking calendars and product cards from GetYourGuide, Headout and Tiqets, so you can check a date and a price without leaving the page you are reading.
The guides are written in English and translated into Arabic, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Turkish and Greek. Ship and operator reviews, the two directories and these company pages are in English only.
How we work
We check facts against the sources that set them, not against other travel sites:
- Entry fees and opening hours against the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities ticket shop, egymonuments.com.
- Ships, cabins, itineraries and published rates against the operators' and ships' own websites, and against tour operators that sell them, named on each page.
- Rules that change, such as visa fees, site closures and new ships, against official sources and Egyptian and international press.
- Safety and health against official travel advice, such as the UK Foreign Office's Egypt travel advice.
Platform prices are read from GetYourGuide, Headout and Tiqets and dated on each page with the "updated" line. They change daily, so the booking calendar shows the live price for your date.
When sources disagree, we say which one we used. When something cannot be confirmed, such as a ship's owner, its build year or a cabin count, we leave it out or tell you what to ask the seller instead. We would rather publish less than guess.
Our reviews and scores
Ship reviews carry an editorial score from 1 to 5. It is our own judgement, based on what can be checked: cabins, itinerary, value, how much the seller publishes, and how easy the ship is to book. It is not an average of guest reviews, and no ship, line, agency or platform can pay for a review, a score or a better position on a page.
Most Nile ships are not sold by name on the booking platforms. Our reviews say so plainly and point you to the closest comparable cruise you can book, rather than pretending a platform listing is a particular ship.
How the site earns money
nile.guide earns a commission when you book through our links to GetYourGuide (through its partner programme), Headout and Tiqets (through their affiliate programmes). The links are marked as sponsored and take you straight to the partner's page. The price is the same for you as if you had gone to the partner directly. The commission pays for the research and keeps the site free of paid placements. More detail is in the disclaimer and on our page about the three booking platforms.
What we don't do
- We don't sell cruises, take bookings or handle payments: your contract is with the platform or the operator.
- We don't run user accounts, newsletters or analytics; see the privacy policy.
- We are not affiliated with any ship, hotel group, river line, tour operator, museum or Egyptian authority.
Get in touch
Found a price, a weekday or a ship name that has changed? Write to us at contact@nile.guide; corrections are the most useful mail we receive. See the contact page for what we can and cannot help with.