Things to do along the Nile in Egypt, town by town from Cairo to Abu Simbel

The things to do on the Nile in Egypt line up along a single river, so the easiest way to plan them is town by town, north to south. Cairo has the museums and the pyramids; Luxor holds the great temples and the royal tombs; Esna, Edfu and Kom Ombo are the temple stops in between; Aswan is granite islands, feluccas and Philae; Abu Simbel is a long road south to the edge of Lake Nasser.

Most visitors see Luxor to Aswan from a cruise ship and add Cairo at one end. Below: what each town is for, how long to give it, what the gates cost and which bookings are worth making, with a link to each town's full guide.

The Nile in a week: how the towns fit together

The river runs north, so "upstream" means south, towards Aswan. Luxor and Aswan are about 200 km apart by river; Cairo is about an hour's flight from Luxor and about an hour and a quarter from Aswan. A typical first trip looks like this, with a 4-night cruise from Luxor in the middle:

If you start in Aswan instead, the same sights come in reverse on a 3-night ship, with Kom Ombo and Edfu squeezed into one day. Our Luxor to Aswan cruise guide explains both directions and which ships sail on which day.

Cairo: museums, pyramids and a night on the river

Most Nile trips begin or end in Cairo, and two full days cover it. The Grand Egyptian Museum at Giza now holds Tutankhamun's treasures; it sells tickets only on tickets.gem.eg (about EGP 1,450 for a foreign adult; check the live price), and its galleries stay open to 21:00 on Wednesdays and Saturdays. The Giza pyramids cost EGP 700, interiors extra. Saqqara (EGP 600) is the half day most first-timers wish they had added.

The royal mummies are at the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization (NMEC) in Fustat, not at the GEM or the old Egyptian Museum on Tahrir Square (EGP 550). With one day only, a GEM and pyramids tour with lunch from $97 covers both headline sights.

Evenings belong to the river: a dinner cruise with a belly dancer and a tanoura (whirling skirt) dancer, from $31 on Nile Crystal to $70 on Nile Maxim through Headout, or a quieter private felucca (a wooden sailing boat with one triangular sail). The full Cairo plan is in things to do in Cairo, and the boats are compared in our Cairo dinner cruise guide.

Luxor: temples, tombs and the dawn balloon

Luxor deserves two full days, one for each bank. The East Bank is the town, with Karnak and Luxor Temple; the West Bank holds the Valley of the Kings, Hatshepsut's temple at Deir el-Bahari, Medinet Habu and the balloon airfield.

• Karnak, EGP 600, last entry 16:00. The ticket now includes the Open-Air Museum; only the Mut precinct is extra, at EGP 200.
• Luxor Temple, EGP 500, last entry 19:00, so you can walk through it lit up after dark.
• Valley of the Kings, EGP 750 for a set number of the tombs open that day (usually quoted as three). Tutankhamun's tomb adds EGP 700 and Seti I's EGP 2,000.
• Hatshepsut, EGP 440. West Bank sites open at 06:00; go early.

Queen Nefertari's tomb has been closed since March 2024, so ignore any tour or pass sold on the strength of it.

The hot-air balloon flies only from the West Bank, at sunrise; pick-up is roughly 05:00–05:30 in winter and 04:30–05:00 in summer. The Civil Aviation Authority grounds flights in wind, so fly on your first morning and a cancellation can roll to the next dawn. One flight on three platforms today:

Headout is cheapest of the three today, with hotel transfers; GetYourGuide's cheapest flight, Luxor: West Bank Hot Air Balloon Ride with Hotel Pickup, is from $70. Operator, basket size and pick-up differ, so read each listing. Our Luxor balloon guide covers safety and cancellations, and things to do in Luxor has the full two-day plan.

A shared tour of both banks from $30 (4.6 from 2,229 reviews) is the best value in town; check "includes" for entry tickets.

Esna, Edfu and Kom Ombo: the temples between

Esna (Temple of Khnum, EGP 200) sits beside the lock every ship queues for, yet most short cruises sail past it. Its ceiling and columns have been cleaned by an Egyptian-German team and show their original colours. It stays open to 18:00 on Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays; on other days the last entry is 16:00.

Edfu (Temple of Horus, EGP 550) is the big set-piece of the middle river. It opens at 07:00, or 06:00 on Sundays and Wednesdays, with last entry at 16:00. Horse carriages take you from the quay to the temple; on many packages the ride is included, so ask. An Edfu sound and light show runs at 20:00 and 21:00 (USD 15).

Kom Ombo (EGP 450, the Crocodile Museum included) stands on the riverbank and admits visitors until 20:00. Ships coming upstream from Luxor often arrive at dusk; ships coming down from Aswan visit in the morning. Gebel el-Silsila and El Kab, further along, are stops only the small sailing dahabiyas make.

Without a cruise, a private road day from Luxor to Aswan with Edfu and Kom Ombo (From Luxor: Edfu, Kom Ombo, Aswan Private All-Inclusive Tour, from $193) does the job, and Esna is on the way. Details, timetables and the lock are in our Edfu and Kom Ombo guide.

Aswan: Philae, feluccas and the Nubian village

Aswan is the slow end of the river and the best felucca water on the Nile: granite islands and the rocks of the old cataract. Two days is generous; one well-planned day covers the essentials. Start early, because Philae, the Unfinished Obelisk and Kalabsha stop admitting visitors at 15:00 every day of the year.

• Philae (Temple of Isis, EGP 550): on an island reached by motorboat from the Shellal landing. The boat is not in the ticket; agree its price per boat before you board.
• A felucca round Elephantine and Kitchener's Island (the Botanical Garden), past the Tombs of the Nobles and the Aga Khan Mausoleum. A booked two-hour sail starts from $15.
• The Nubian village of Gharb Soheil, painted domed houses upstream, by motorboat; a shared half-day trip is from $25.
• The Nubian Museum (EGP 400), also open on Thursday and Friday evenings, and the High Dam, which has no ministry ticket.

One thing Aswan does not have is balloons: flights leave only from Luxor's West Bank. If your cruise starts in Aswan, choose one that includes the Luxor flight. Cruises usually cover the High Dam and Philae and often a felucca, so check your programme before booking the same sail twice. More in things to do in Aswan and our felucca guide.

Abu Simbel and Lake Nasser

Abu Simbel's two rock-cut temples, the Great Temple of Ramesses II and a smaller one beside it, stand about 280–300 km south of Aswan, 3.5–4 hours by road. The ticket is EGP 822, or EGP 1,272 on 22 February and 22 October, when sunlight reaches the inner sanctuary of the Great Temple and thousands come to watch. Gates open at 06:00 and the last entry is 16:00.

Road trips leave Aswan with pick-ups around 03:00–04:00 and pass police checkpoints; the road is reported closed to tourist traffic overnight. The cheapest shared day trip is from $40, but check whether the ticket is included; the group tour with guide and entrance fees, from $65, can be the better deal once you add EGP 822. Short flights from Aswan take about 45 minutes.

The slow way is by water. Lake Nasser cruise ships sail between Aswan and Abu Simbel in 3 or 4 nights, stopping at Kalabsha, Wadi es-Sebua and Amada, and moor overnight at Abu Simbel. That night, or a night in a hotel there, is what it takes to see the sound and light show (USD 20, 20:00). They cannot pass the High Dam, so they are a separate fleet from the Luxor–Aswan ships. See the Abu Simbel guide and our page on Lake Nasser cruises.

What to do on a Nile cruise

On a standard 3- or 4-night cruise, the guided programme covers the eight core sites: Karnak, Luxor Temple, the Valley of the Kings, Hatshepsut, Edfu, Kom Ombo, Philae and the Unfinished Obelisk. Whether their tickets are in your price is the big question. On most GetYourGuide cruise listings it is not stated, so check "includes"; if the fees are extra, budget EGP 4,060 per adult. Booked direct with Sonesta, JAZ or Steigenberger, sightseeing is extra; Oberoi and A&K include it.

Between the temples:

• The sun deck. Much of the sailing happens between 03:00 and 06:00, but Edfu to Kom Ombo and on to Aswan is usually in daylight.
• The Esna lock. Ships pass it between Luxor and Edfu, often at night; the newer lock takes two large ships at a time, and in the winter peak the queue can run to hours.
• The galabeya party. Most cruises have one evening when guests dress in the galabeya, the long robe of Upper Egypt. Some ships add a Nubian folk show or a belly dancer.
• Afternoon tea. On Mövenpick's ships full board means four meals a day, afternoon tea included.

What a cruise leaves out (the Nubian Museum, the Tombs of the Nobles, the balloon, Abu Simbel) is yours to add. Don't expect a Nile view from every cabin: at busy quays ships moor side by side, so your window may face the next ship.

A night on the Nile: things to do after dark

Summer evenings are the only comfortable time to be outside, and in midwinter the sun sets in Luxor at about 17:00. A Nile river night can mean several things.

• A dinner cruise in Cairo. About two hours on the water with a buffet or set menu and a show; drinks, even water, cost extra on the big boats. Nile Pharaohs, on the Giza bank, has a late sitting at 22:30.
• Temples lit up. Luxor Temple (last entry 19:00) and Kom Ombo (last entry 20:00) are the only big sites you can walk through after dark without a show ticket.
• Sound and light shows. Karnak and Philae cost USD 20 each, with English at 20:00 nightly at Karnak and on Fridays and Mondays at Philae (show times). Philae's show also needs the boat from Shellal.
• Museums in the evening. The Luxor Museum reopens from 17:00; the GEM stays open to 21:00 on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
• One night on a cruise ship. GetYourGuide sells a one-night Nile cruise from Aswan to Luxor from $550, but it is the worst value per night on the platform: a 3-night cruise starts from $450.

For a sunset felucca, check the time: sunset in Luxor moves from about 17:00 in December–January to about 19:40 in June–July.

Tickets, photos and the best time to visit the Nile

Prices above are the ministry's foreign-visitor rates. Students aged 24 or under pay half on most tickets with a card; children under 6 go free. E-tickets in EGP are sold on the official shop, egymonuments.com, or at the gates. The eight sites of a standard cruise:

Photography with a mobile phone is free at ministry sites; for other cameras, check at the gate. Drones are illegal without Ministry of Defence permission, and the UK government warns that flying one can bring up to seven years in prison (FCDO advice). Never swim or wade in the Nile: bilharzia (schistosomiasis) is present. Hotel and ship pools are fine.

The best time to visit the Nile is October to April. December to February is the coolest and busiest stretch, with Luxor nights down to about 7–9 °C, so pack a fleece for the balloon. From May to September days average 39–42 °C and sightseeing ends by 10:00; prices fall, but several ships stop sailing in midsummer. One summer date stands out: the total solar eclipse of 2 August 2027, with more than six minutes of totality near Luxor (NASA path); expect ships and hotels to sell out early. The month-by-month picture is in when to go, and our day trips guide adds Dendera and Abydos north of Luxor.

◐ Daytime

GetYourGuideFull dayLuxor

Luxor: Full-Day Shared Tour to West and East Banks

4.6 (2,229)

from $30Check dates

☀ Sunrise

GetYourGuide3 hLuxor

Luxor: Hot Air Balloon Ride over Luxor Relics

4.8 (1,869)

from $88Check dates

◐ Daytime

GetYourGuide2 hAswan

Aswan: Felucca Ride to Elephantine Island & Botanical Garden

4.7 (129)

from $15Check dates

◐ Daytime

GetYourGuideFull dayAswan

From Aswan: Abu Simbel Temple Day Trip with Hotel Pickup

4.5 (3,404)

from $40Check dates

◐ Daytime

GetYourGuideFull dayLuxor

From Luxor: Edfu, Kom Ombo, Aswan Private All-Inclusive Tour

4.7 (198)

from $193Check dates

◐ Daytime

GetYourGuideFull dayCairo

Cairo: Grand Egyptian Museum, Pyramids, Sphinx Tour & Lunch

4.8 (5,011)

from $97Check dates

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

Things to do on the Nile: questions

SightsThings to do in Luxorfrom $23 SightsAswanfrom $40 SightsCairofrom $30 SightsEdfu & Kom Ombofrom $125 SightsAbu Simbelfrom $40 SightsLuxor hot-air balloonfrom $63