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SightsEgypt tours with a Nile cruise

Nile tours: Egypt tours with a Nile cruise, from Cairo and beyond

Almost every Nile tour has the same shape: two or three nights in Cairo, a flight south, a 3- or 4-night cruise between Aswan and Luxor, a flight back. The price gap is in what's included, not in the route.

Stretch of the Nile

Cairo to Aswan

Typical length
5–11 days, Cairo + a 3- or 4-night cruise
Platform packages
from $1,068 (5 days) to $2,310 (11 days)
Best-rated package
6 days, 4.8 from 56 reviews, from $1,700
International lines
$4,949 (Avalon) to $16,995 (A&K) per person
UK fly-cruise
TUI, 7 nights all-inclusive, from £1,499
Entry fees if excluded
EGP 4,060 per adult for the eight cruise sites
Best season
October–April

Updated 19 October 2026Facts checked against official sourcesContains affiliate links

Nile tours: what you can book

12 options · Prices checked on 19 October 2026

See everything on GetYourGuide →See everything on Headout →See everything on Tiqets →

Nile tours sold to foreign visitors almost all follow one pattern: Cairo and Giza for two or three nights, a domestic flight to Aswan or Luxor, a 3-night or 4-night cruise between the two, optional extras (Abu Simbel, a balloon over Luxor), then a flight back to Cairo. Whether you book a $1,068 package on GetYourGuide or a $16,995 journey with Abercrombie & Kent, the temples are the same. What changes is the ship, the group size, the guide, and above all what the price includes. This page shows the standard route, the packages worth booking, the international and UK operators, and the line-by-line check that stops a cheap tour becoming an expensive one.

How a Nile tour from Cairo is put together

No cruise ship sails from Cairo on these packages: every GetYourGuide "from Cairo" Nile tour flies you south (about an hour to Luxor, an hour and a quarter to Aswan). The only scheduled Cairo river cruise is Mövenpick's Darakum, a 12–14-night trip with about a dozen departures a year; see Nile cruises from Cairo.

A typical 8-day Nile tour from Cairo (most packages follow this shape; details vary)

  1. Day 1

    Cairo

    Arrive, transfer to your hotel

    —

  2. Day 2

    Giza pyramids

    Pyramids, Sphinx and the Grand Egyptian Museum

    Saqqara on some tours

  3. Day 3

    Aswan

    Early flight; embark around noon; High Dam and Philae in the afternoon

    Philae admits until 15:00

  4. Day 4

    Kom Ombo

    Kom Ombo early, Edfu after lunch

    Esna lock overnight

  5. Day 5

    Luxor

    West Bank: Valley of the Kings and Hatshepsut

    balloon at dawn if booked

  6. Day 6

    Karnak

    Karnak and Luxor Temple, often after check-out; fly to Cairo

    book a flight after 13:00

  7. Day 7

    Cairo

    Old Cairo, the Citadel or the Egyptian Museum

    free day on some tours

  8. Day 8

    Cairo

    Fly home

    —

CairoCairoGiza pyramidsGiza pyramidsHurghadaHurghadaDenderaDenderaAbydosAbydosLuxorLuxorEsnaEsnaEdfuEdfuKom OmboKom OmboAswanAswanAbu SimbelAbu Simbel
Circles: towns; diamonds: temples; squares: locks and dams. Green: the cultivated valley. · Map data: Natural Earth (public domain)

The cruise section is usually the downstream run from Aswan to Luxor (3 nights), because it fits a week. Tours that start the cruise in Luxor get the 4-night upstream version with Kom Ombo at dusk and an extra afternoon in Aswan (Luxor to Aswan cruise). Abu Simbel means either a pre-dawn road trip from Aswan (about 280–300 km, 3.5–4 hours each way) or a short flight; a Luxor balloon means a pick-up around 05:00. Both are often sold as options on top.

Nile tour packages on GetYourGuide: which to book

GetYourGuide is the biggest shop window for Egypt tour packages with a Nile cruise. They are run by Egyptian agencies, the listings never name the ship ("5-star cruise ship or similar"), and review counts vary hugely. Our ranking, on rating, reviews and price per day:

Egypt tours with a Nile cruise worth booking

1

Best rated, 6 days

4.8 from 56 reviews; "all-inclusive" in the title, about $283 a day. Still check that entry fees are listed.

2

The classic 8 days, most reviewed

227 reviews at 4.3, with Abu Simbel and 5-star hotels; about $260 a day.

3

Shortest private option

5 days with flights, cruise and balloon; 302 reviews at 4.3. Tight but complete.

4

Strong newcomer

8 days with cruise, flights and balloon, 4.7, but only 12 reviews so far.

Packages to read carefully before booking: an 8-day private tour rated 3.6 (97 reviews), a 6-day tour at 3.9 (189 reviews) and an 11-day tour at 3.9 (26 reviews). A low score on a week-long package usually means one bad link in a long chain: a tired ship, a rushed guide or a shopping stop.

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

Most GetYourGuide bookings can be cancelled free up to 24 hours ahead and many allow "reserve now, pay later", but multi-day tours may have stricter terms: check the box on the listing. After booking, ask the operator for the ship's name, your cabin deck and the exact list of entry tickets included.

What a Nile tour includes, and what it doesn't

Titles say "all-inclusive", "with flights", "with balloon". None of that tells you whether the temple tickets are in the price, and on most listings they are not mentioned at all. The eight sites of a standard cruise cost a foreign adult EGP 4,060 at official prices (students half), before Tutankhamun's tomb (EGP 700), Seti I (EGP 2,000) or Abu Simbel (EGP 822).

The sites on a standard Luxor–Aswan cruise
SiteTicketNotes
Karnak Temple (incl. Open-Air Museum)EGP 600Student EGP 300 · opens 06:00, last entry 16:00 · the Mut precinct is a separate ticket
Luxor TempleEGP 500Student EGP 250 · opens 06:00, last entry 19:00 — visit after dark
Valley of the Kings (general ticket)EGP 750Student EGP 375 · opens 06:00, last entry 17:00 summer / 16:00 winter
Hatshepsut Temple (Deir el-Bahari)EGP 440Student EGP 220 · last entry 17:00 summer / 16:00 winter
Edfu: Temple of HorusEGP 550Student EGP 275 · opens 07:00 (06:00 Sun and Wed), last entry 16:00
Kom Ombo Temple (incl. Crocodile Museum)EGP 450Student EGP 225 · last entry 20:00 — ships visit at dusk
Philae: Temple of IsisEGP 550Student EGP 275 · boat to the island not included · last entry 15:00
Unfinished ObeliskEGP 220Student EGP 110 · last entry 15:00

Official ticket prices checked on 19 October 2026. Many cruise packages include these, many don't: read the listing. Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities ticket shop (egymonuments.com) ↗

Checking a Nile tour package line by line

  1. Entry fees: does "includes" list them, and which sites? If not, budget EGP 4,060 per adult for the core sites.
  2. The Grand Egyptian Museum: tickets are sold only on tickets.gem.eg, dated and in your name, about EGP 1,450 for a foreign adult. If the tour doesn't include it, buy your own slot.
  3. Flights: which domestic flights, and at what time. A 3-night cruise often visits Karnak after check-out, so a morning flight back to Cairo can cost you a temple.
  4. Abu Simbel and the balloon: included, optional or missing? They change the price more than anything else.
  5. Tips: usually excluded. Agencies suggest roughly US$5–10 per person per night for the crew plus US$10–15 per person per day for the guide.
  6. Drinks and New Year's Eve: drinks are extra on most ships, and many charge a compulsory gala supplement on 31 December.
  7. The ship: ask for its name before paying the balance, then look it up in our ship reviews.

GEM is open daily, with galleries to 21:00 on Wednesday and Saturday. A late visit there pairs well with a Nile dinner cruise on your last Cairo evening (Cairo dinner cruises).

Nile river tours from international lines and UK operators

International river lines sell the same Cairo-plus-cruise shape with their own or chartered ships and more included. The prices below are per person, two sharing, from each line's own site.

Seller Programme Ship From
Viking Pharaohs & Pyramids, 12 days Cairo–Cairo, 8-night Luxor round trip with Dendera and Esna Viking's Nile fleet $6,999 (US price)
Uniworld Splendors of Egypt & the Nile, 12 days, all tips included S.S. Sphinx or River Tosca (partner ships) $6,099
AmaWaterways Secrets of Egypt & the Nile, 11 nights incl. 3 in Cairo AmaDahlia, AmaLilia, AmaNubia €2,740 cruise-only (EU site)
Avalon Waterways Taste of Egypt, 10 days, internal flights included MS Farah $4,949
Tauck Egypt: Jewels of the Nile, 10 days, chartered flights to Abu Simbel Oberoi Philae or Oberoi Zahra £8,990
Abercrombie & Kent Egypt and the Nile, 10 days, max 18 guests, Abu Simbel by air Sun Boat IV (some dates Nile Seray) $16,995 / £13,760

Per day, Viking works out at about $583 against roughly $260–290 for the best GetYourGuide packages. The difference buys a known ship, drinks with meals (Viking), all tips (Uniworld), flights to Abu Simbel (A&K, Tauck) and a fixed group. Reviews of each line: Viking, Uniworld and A&K.

From the UK, the main fly-cruise names are:

  • TUI: its own ships, TUI Al Horeya and TUI Bahareya, on 7-night all-inclusive Luxor round trips in winter, with flights from Gatwick and Manchester; past seasons from £1,499–1,785. Only the Edfu and Kom Ombo excursions were included at launch; Karnak and the Valley of the Kings cost extra. See TUI Nile cruises.
  • Riviera Travel: "Wonders of the Nile", the 14-night Cairo to Aswan river cruise on Mövenpick's Darakum, from £7,589 with flights.
  • Saga: "Magic of the Nile (Solo)", 11 days on the Livingstone from £4,495, flights, visa and drinks included.
  • Classic Collection Holidays: 7-night packages with flights on ships such as Semiramis II and Royal Princess.
  • Specialists: Audley Travel sells the new Soleil, Steppes Travel a 13-day trip on the Oberoi Zahra from £8,495 excluding flights, Original Travel the SS Sudan steamer.

Egypt and Jordan tours with a Nile cruise

Several lines pair the Nile with Petra. Avalon's "Taste of Egypt with Jordan" runs 14 days from $7,348; Tauck's "Petra to the Pyramids" includes three nights on the Oberoi Zahra; A&K sells a 15-day "Ancient Treasures of Egypt and Jordan", and one of its Egypt–Jordan journeys sails on the Zein Nile Chateau dahabiya. Viking adds Jordan as a four-night extension from $2,799. GetYourGuide's Egypt packages don't cover Jordan: you would book the two halves separately.

Nile cruise tours from Hurghada

No ship sails from the Red Sea. Hurghada packages drive about four hours to Luxor and join a cruise there; the drive passes police checkpoints, and transfers leave early. Multi-day Hurghada tours with a cruise exist on GetYourGuide but have only a handful of reviews. The better-tested way to see the Nile from a beach holiday is a 2-day Luxor trip with an overnight and a balloon (from $270, 1,215 reviews) or TUI's cruise & stay, which adds Hurghada hotel nights to a 7-night cruise. Details on Nile cruises from Hurghada.

Nile cruise for solo travellers

Single supplements are where solo travellers lose money. Saga's solo departure removes the problem; AmaWaterways publishes a 50 % supplement for cabins and 100 % for suites. A few Nile ships have true single cabins, including the Nebu (four solo cabins) and the Tulip (two singles without a supplement). Platform packages are priced per person, so read how a solo booking is charged before paying.

Building your own Nile tour

A tour package saves you the logistics; building it yourself saves money and lets you choose the ship. The pieces: a Cairo hotel and a day with a guide, a flight or the Abela sleeper train south (Giza to Aswan from US$115.50 per person in a double cabin), a 3- or 4-night cruise (Nile cruise prices), and the entry tickets on the official shop egymonuments.com. Compare platform prices on our booking platforms guide.

Nile tours: questions

How many days do you need for an Egypt tour with a Nile cruise?

Eight days covers Cairo, Giza and a 3-night cruise from Aswan to Luxor without rushing. Five or six days is possible but leaves no slack for delayed flights; ten or eleven adds Abu Simbel, the 4-night cruise or Red Sea days.

What is the best Egypt tour with a Nile cruise from Cairo?

On GetYourGuide, the 6-day all-inclusive package rated 4.8 from 56 reviews; for the longest track record, the 8-day Cairo, Luxor and Aswan tour with 227 reviews. With a bigger budget, Viking, Uniworld or A&K give you a named ship and more included.

How much does a Nile tour cost?

Platform packages run from about $1,068 for 5 days to $2,310 for 11 days per person. Full packages from international lines run from $4,949 (Avalon) to $16,995 (A&K); AmaWaterways' cruise-only fare starts at €2,740. Add entry fees if they are excluded, plus tips.

Are entry fees included in Nile tours?

Sometimes. Most platform listings don't say, so check the "includes" list. A&K and Oberoi include them on their own cruises; TUI included only Edfu and Kom Ombo.

Can you do a Nile tour from Hurghada?

Yes, by road: about four hours to Luxor, where you join the ship. A Luxor day trip from Hurghada takes about 14 hours.

Is there a Nile cruise for solo travellers?

Saga sells a solo departure on the Livingstone from £4,495, and a few ships (Nebu, Tulip) have single cabins. Elsewhere, expect a supplement.

Keep exploring

SightsThings to do on the Nilefrom $30 SightsThings to do in Luxorfrom $23 SightsAswanfrom $40 SightsCairofrom $30 SightsEdfu & Kom Ombofrom $125 SightsAbu Simbelfrom $40 PlanWhen to gofrom $450 SightsNile tripsfrom $23