Aswan to Luxor Nile cruise: the 3-night downstream trip, day by day

An Aswan to Luxor cruise is the quick way to do the Nile: three nights, four days, the river carrying you north. It is the same ship and the same river as the 4-night Luxor to Aswan cruise: on most ships the two trips are simply the two halves of one weekly loop. Going downstream you lose the extra afternoon in Aswan and the dusk visit to Kom Ombo, but you see every major temple between the two cities and save a night.

It suits people with a day or two in Aswan or Luxor on either side. If you only care about the river, not the temples, a dahabiya is a slower kind of trip.

Aswan to Luxor cruise: 3 nights, and why "4-Day" means the same thing

The platforms count calendar days, not nights. A "4-Day Nile Cruise from Aswan to Luxor" is three nights on board: you board on day one at lunchtime and leave after breakfast on day four. A "3-Day" listing from Aswan is two nights, and an "Overnight" cruise is one. More on the shorter versions below, but the short answer is that three nights is the real product and the others are slices of it.

Why is downstream one night shorter? The timetables are built that way: the upstream run adds a dusk visit to Kom Ombo and an extra afternoon in Aswan. Sonesta's St George I, for example, leaves Luxor on Monday for a 4-night run to Aswan, then leaves Aswan on Friday for the 3-night run back. Mövenpick's Royal Lily, Royal Lotus and Hamees keep the same Monday/Friday rhythm. Join both legs and you have the 7-night round trip, where the second half repeats the stops with "free time" instead of second visits.

Not every ship squeezes the trip into three nights. The luxury end runs it longer: A&K's riverboats sail four nights in either direction, and the Oberoi Philae runs four nights Aswan to Luxor with the tombs of Tutankhamun and Ramses VI included.

Aswan to Luxor cruise itinerary, day by day

This is the standard downstream timetable, based on the published day-by-day of Sonesta St George I and Mövenpick. Most 5-star ships follow the same pattern, with small differences in times and in where Karnak falls.

Day 1: Philae is a race against the gate

Ships board at noon, and Philae stops admitting visitors at 15:00, the same last entry as every other Aswan site. That leaves one afternoon for the dam, the boat to Philae and, on some ships, the Unfinished Obelisk. It works because the ship plans it, but it means a late flight into Aswan is a real risk: if you land after lunch on embarkation day, you miss Philae. Fly in the day before, or take the overnight sleeper train from Giza, which reaches Aswan in the morning.

Day 2: two temples, one long day

Kom Ombo and Edfu both fall on day two. Downstream boats reach Kom Ombo around 07:00–09:00. The temple is open into the evening (last entry 20:00), which is why upstream ships go at dusk. That lit-up visit is the main thing you give up by sailing this way.

Edfu, the great temple of Horus, follows after lunch. Horse carriages take you from the quay to the temple; on many packages the ride is included, so ask. The afternoon sail towards Esna is the best stretch of daylight river you get on this trip, so be on the sun deck.

Day 3 and day 4: Luxor, and the after-check-out trap

The West Bank starts at 07:00–07:30, before the heat and the crowds build. The general ticket covers a set number of the tombs open that day (usually quoted as three); open tombs rotate, and Tutankhamun's tomb is extra.

Then read your itinerary for the last morning. Mövenpick and the Oberoi Zahra fit Karnak and Luxor Temple into day 3. Sonesta leaves them for day 4 after check-out, so you tour Karnak with your suitcase in the coach. Mayfair asks guests on its 3-night cruise to book a flight after 17:00 on disembarkation day. Either way, don't book an early-morning flight out of Luxor on day 4.

Which day do Aswan to Luxor cruises leave?

There is no single departure day. Each ship has its own weekly rhythm, and choosing your date in practice chooses your ship:

• Friday from Aswan (ships that leave Luxor on Monday): Sonesta St George I and Moon Goddess, Historia, Mövenpick Royal Lily, Royal Lotus and Hamees, Steigenberger Legacy, JAZ Elite Regent, JAZ Crown Empress, Nile Dolphin, Nile Shams and many mid-range ships.
• Wednesday from Aswan (Saturday ships from Luxor): Sonesta Star Goddess, Steigenberger Regency, JAZ Elite Viceroy, Esplanade, Concerto, Concerto II and Nebu.
• Monday from Aswan (Thursday ships from Luxor): Steigenberger Minerva and Royale, JAZ Crown Jubilee, Mövenpick Sun Ray, Semiramis III and Medea.
• Saturday from Aswan: mostly the Oberoi Zahra.

Two Mövenpick details are worth knowing. Royal Lily's own FAQ says its 3-night Aswan to Luxor cruise includes a free airport transfer. And while Royal Lily, Royal Lotus and Sun Ray don't sail from mid-June to the end of August, Hamees keeps leaving Aswan every Friday through the summer. See the Mövenpick review for the whole fleet.

A platform listing will not tell you which of these ships you get: it says "5-star ship or similar" and the agency assigns the ship. Ask for the name before you pay.

Aswan to Luxor cruise price

The cheapest well-reviewed listing is a plain 3-night cruise with a guide from $450 per person on GetYourGuide, about $150 a night. The same trip with Abu Simbel and a Luxor balloon flight added is from $580, and it is the one most people book: 555 reviews and a 4.5 rating.

⛵ Aswan

GetYourGuide3 nightsFrom Aswan

From Aswan: 4-Day Nile Cruise to Luxor with Abu Simbel and Balloon Flight

4.5 (555)

from $580Check dates

⛵ Aswan

GetYourGuide2 nightsFrom Aswan

Aswan: 3 Days Nile River Cruise & Hot Air Balloon Ride

4.4 (21)

from $630Check dates

⛵ Aswan

GetYourGuide2 nightsFrom Aswan

From Aswan: 2-Nights boutique Dahabiya Nile Cruise to Luxor

5.0 (3)

from $900Check dates

⛵ Aswan

GetYourGuide3 nightsFrom Aswan

Aswan to Luxor: 3-Nights Felucca Sail to El Silsila, Luxor

5.0 (1)

from $450Check dates

⛵ Aswan

GetYourGuide7 nightsFrom Aswan

From Aswan: 8-Day Nile River Cruise to Luxor with Guide

4.5 (2)

from $1,258Check dates

⛵ Aswan

GetYourGuide1 nightFrom Aswan

Aswan to Luxor: 1 Night Felucca Sail to Daraw, End Luxor

4.0 (1)

from $230Check dates

See everything on GetYourGuide →See everything on Headout →See everything on Tiqets →Prices checked on 19 October 2026

For a sense of what the ships themselves charge, these are agency prices per person in a double cabin for the 3-night trip, as published for the current season. Agency prices usually include full board, a guide and the standard entry fees — confirm that line before paying.

Mayfair Cruises publishes its own rates per person per night, entrance fees and airport transfers included: $230 in September and May, $330 from October to April, $400 over Christmas. Its 3-night trip starts in Aswan on the sister ship Mayflower — see the Mayfair review.

Three things push the price up whatever you book: winter (October to April) costs more than summer; Christmas and New Year bring a compulsory New Year's Eve gala supplement on many ships (agencies quote roughly US$50–180 per person); and tips. Budget roughly US$5–10 per person per night for the crew, paid in one envelope at reception on the last evening, plus US$10–15 per person per day for your guide. The Nile cruise prices guide compares every class of boat.

What the price includes, and the entry fees on top

On a platform listing, "full board" means meals; it does not mean drinks, and it rarely says anything about entry fees. Most GetYourGuide cruise listings do not state whether the temple tickets are included, so open the "includes" box before you book. If they are excluded, the eight sites of a standard cruise cost EGP 4,060 per foreign adult (students half), paid at the gates:

The downstream trip visits the same core list as the 4-night one. The High Dam has no ministry ticket, and the boat to Philae is not part of the Philae ticket. Tutankhamun's tomb (EGP 700) and Seti I (EGP 2,000) cost extra. Current prices are on the ministry's ticket shop at egymonuments.com, for example the Philae page.

Direct bookings with the big hotel brands are the other trap. Sonesta's own rates state that sightseeing is not included, and JAZ and Steigenberger charge sightseeing separately at check-in. The Oberoi Zahra and Mayfair include entry fees and the guide in their rates. Headout's 4-Day 5-Star Nile Cruise, a 3-night trip, is the only platform cruise that promises entrance fees in its title: from $325, but with no reviews yet, and it excludes a tipping kitty of about US$45.

Aswan to Luxor cruise with Abu Simbel and a balloon flight

Abu Simbel and a balloon over Luxor are the two favourite add-ons. Both mean very early starts, and on three nights both are tight.

Abu Simbel is about 280–300 km south of Aswan, 3.5–4 hours by road. Tour transfers leave before dawn (expect an alarm around 03:30) and pass police checkpoints; the road is reported closed to tourist traffic overnight. A day trip from Aswan takes about ten hours, so it cannot share an afternoon with Philae and a noon boarding. In practice it means a night in Aswan before the cruise, or a package that builds the visit in. Mayfair, for one, asks guests who want Abu Simbel to book an extra night on board. The ticket is EGP 822, or EGP 1,272 on the sun-festival days of 22 February and 22 October. More in the Abu Simbel guide.

Balloons fly only from Luxor's West Bank — there are no balloon flights in Aswan. On this route that means a dawn flight in Luxor on day 3 or day 4, with pick-up about 05:00–05:30 in winter and 04:30–05:00 in summer. The Civil Aviation Authority cancels flights in wind, and with only one or two Luxor mornings there is little room to rebook. If the balloon matters to you, add a night in Luxor after the cruise. See the Luxor balloon guide.

Is the package worth it? It costs about $130 more than the plain cruise ($580 against $450). Bought separately, an Abu Simbel day trip from Aswan starts at $40 and a balloon flight at $88, before the EGP 822 temple ticket if the trip excludes it: about the same money. The package saves you the planning; buying separately lets you choose the day.

Today GetYourGuide is the cheapest of the three for this trip: $580, against $600 and $700 for Headout's two versions, one of which has a single 2-star review. The ship, the cabin, the inclusions and the dates can differ between listings, so compare the "includes" boxes, not just the headline.

Best Aswan to Luxor cruise: which ship for which traveller

Our picks for Aswan to Luxor

1

First-timers who want it all in one booking

3 nights with Abu Simbel and the Luxor balloon, 555 reviews at 4.5 — the most proven listing on the route.

⛵ Aswan

GetYourGuide3 nightsFrom Aswan

From Aswan: 4-Day Nile Cruise to Luxor with Abu Simbel and Balloon Flight

4.5 (555)

from $580Check dates

2

Tight budgets

The plain 3-night cruise with a guide from $450, about $150 a night; add the temple tickets if they are excluded.

⛵ Aswan

GetYourGuide3 nightsFrom Aswan

From Aswan: 4-Day Nile Cruise from Aswan to Luxor with Guide

4.3 (654)

from $450Check dates

3

Best-rated with a balloon

4.6 from 76 reviews; costs more than the plain cruise.

⛵ Aswan

GetYourGuide3 nightsFrom Aswan

From Aswan: 4-Day 3-Night Nile Cruise with Hot Air Balloon

4.6 (76)

from $686Check dates

4

A smaller boat

A dahabiya listing from Aswan to Luxor, 4.8 from 58 reviews, the best rating on the route among listings with real review numbers.

⛵ Aswan

GetYourGuide3 nightsFrom Aswan

Aswan to Luxor: 4-Day Luxury Dahabiya Nile Cruise Adventure

4.8 (58)

from $1,100Check dates

Luxury downstream. The Oberoi Zahra leaves Aswan mostly on Saturdays, includes entrance fees and the guide, and does Karnak and Luxor Temple before you leave the ship; it does not sail in June. Sonesta St George I and Historia both leave on Fridays; Historia can be booked like a hotel room through Small Luxury Hotels of the World. Sonesta Star Goddess, all suites, is the Sonesta choice for a Wednesday start. A&K's boats and the Oberoi Philae take four nights rather than three; the luxury Nile cruise guide compares them in detail.

Rafting. At busy moorings ships often tie up side by side, so your window may face the next ship. Don't pay extra for a "Nile view" expecting it every night; A&K and Oberoi, with their own docks, avoid this.

Aswan to Luxor by dahabiya or felucca

A dahabiya is a traditional two-masted Nile sailing houseboat, usually with 6–10 cabins, no pool and no big-ship crowds. Most dahabiyas sail upriver, Esna to Aswan, because the prevailing north wind pushes them south, and the downriver version is a night shorter. Djed Egypt's boats, for example, run four nights Esna to Aswan and three nights Aswan to Esna, from €330 per person per night. Two things to know: a tug tows the boat on calm days, and a trip that ends at Esna leaves Luxor's sights outside the cruise. GetYourGuide's Aswan to Luxor dahabiya is from $1,100 for three nights and rates 4.8 from 58 reviews; it doesn't name the boat.

A felucca is the small open sailing boat you see on the river in Aswan, hired per boat. The classic Aswan sail is an hour or two around Elephantine and Kitchener's Island: see felucca rides in Aswan. A few platform listings offer to sail you north towards Luxor over one to three nights, but they have one review or none; this is not a standard product, and we would not plan a holiday around it. If the idea appeals, a dahabiya gives you the same river with a proper cabin.

Travel from Aswan to Luxor without a cruise

If you only need to get from Aswan to Luxor, the river is the slow way. The northbound Abela sleeper (train 87) leaves Aswan at 17:15 and reaches Luxor at 20:35; day trains also run, and the trip takes about 3–3.5 hours. Check times on abelatrains.com.

By road, the most useful option is a day tour that stops at the temples on the way: GetYourGuide's Edfu and Kom Ombo day tour with transfer to Luxor costs from $132 (4.4, 439 reviews) and ends in Luxor. It is a sensible alternative to a 1-night cruise: the same two temples, a bed in a Luxor hotel, and a fraction of the price. The Edfu and Kom Ombo guide covers both temples.

When to take an Aswan to Luxor cruise

October to April is the season: Luxor and Aswan days are 23–36 °C, and nights in December–February drop to about 7–12 °C, so pack a fleece for the sun deck. From June to August, average daytime highs in both cities reach 39–42 °C, sightseeing starts at 06:00, and several ships stop sailing (Mayfair's ships, Royal Lily, Royal Lotus and Sun Ray; the Oberoi ships in June). Summer is the cheapest time, as the agency prices above show, but the downstream trip already starts early, and in July the Philae afternoon is hard work. The when to go guide has the month-by-month detail.