Egypt itinerary: 7 days with a Nile cruise, day by day
The short answer: Two days in Cairo, then fly to Aswan and let a three-night cruise carry you to Luxor past Kom Ombo and Edfu, with a last morning on Luxor's West Bank. For Abu Simbel in the same week, take the sleeper-train tour instead.
The seven days
Day 1The pyramids and the Grand Egyptian MuseumGiza
The plateau and the Sphinx, then Tutankhamun's galleries in the museum beside it.
- The tour
- Giza Pyramids and the Grand Egyptian Museum · from USD 60 per person
- Night
- Cairo or Giza
Day 2Historic CairoCairo
The Citadel and the Mosque of Muhammad Ali, Coptic Cairo, and Khan el-Khalili.
- The tour
- Historic Cairo in a day · from USD 60 per person
- Night
- Cairo or Giza
Day 3Fly to Aswan and board the shipAswan
A morning flight south. The cruise begins in Aswan with the temple of Isis at Philae and the High Dam.
- The tour
- Nile cruise, Aswan to Luxor, 3 nights · from USD 670 per person
- Night
- On board
Day 4Kom Ombo and EdfuThe Nile
Downstream to the double temple of Kom Ombo, built for the crocodile and the falcon, and to the temple of Horus at Edfu, which Richard Wilkinson calls the best preserved in Egypt.
- Night
- On board
Day 5Both banks from the shipLuxor
The cruise's Luxor day: the Valley of the Kings and the West Bank, and the temples of the East Bank.
- Night
- On board
Day 6Disembark and slow downLuxor
Leave the ship after breakfast. The afternoon is free: in our judgement this is the day people remember.
- Night
- Luxor
Day 7The tomb-builders' Luxor, then homeLuxor
A morning with the people behind the royal tombs: the Tombs of the Nobles, the workmen's village of Deir el-Medina and Medinet Habu. Then the flight home by way of Cairo.
- The tour
- Luxor's other West Bank: Nobles, Deir el-Medina, Medinet Habu · from USD 92 per person
The 4 tours in this plan start from USD 882 per person together. That is the sum of their starting prices at the lowest group rate; solo travellers and couples pay more, and hotels on nights no tour covers, domestic flights and visas are not in it. Your written quote confirms the price.
Open this plan in Your tripThe cruise's own programme sets the order of its sites. The rest of the order is our judgement.
The other way to spend seven days
Our 7 Days in Egypt tour reaches Abu Simbel in the same week because two of its nights are spent on the sleeper train. It trades the cruise's slow days for more sites. In our judgement, choose the cruise if you want rest, and the train if Abu Simbel is the point of the trip.
Why the cruise runs south to north
- Aswan to Luxor means you end near Luxor's airport and West Bank, with a night to spare there.
- Three nights on board carry you between the temples while you sleep, so no day is lost to the road.
- A free afternoon on day 6: a week of early starts needs one.
What seven days leave out
Abu Simbel, Saqqara and any time on the Red Sea. Egypt in 10 days adds Saqqara, a night in Aswan and Abu Simbel.
Where to go from here
Sources and review
Reviewed on by Deluxe Trips Egypt. Official statements are attributed to their source; where we give a judgement, we say so. This guide names no school, boat or hotel.
Photo: Mohammed Moussa, CC BY-SA 4.0
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