Your trip
Nile & Aswanthen Luxorthen Abu Simbel
17 nights · 18 days · As a couple
Your itinerary
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The same interests with fewer full or active days. Your choices stay in place.
- Day 2 Aswan Felucca to Elephantine and the Botanical Garden · About 2 hours
- Day 3 Philae Temple, the Unfinished Obelisk and the High Dam · About 4.5 hours
- Day 11 Luxor Hot Air Balloon at Sunrise · About 1.5 hours including transfers
- Day 12 Luxor's Other West Bank: the Tombs of the Nobles, Deir el-Medina and Medinet Habu · Half day · about 4 hours
- Day 13 Luxor West Bank: Valley of the Kings and Hatshepsut · 5–6 hours

Nile & Aswan
Days 1–9 · 9 nightsWhat to know about Nile & Aswan
- How long
- 4–5 nights recommended. Temples by day and the river between them: choose a boat by its name and its hours ashore, and the Nile does the rest.
- What deserves priority
- A cruise or dahabiya, Philae and time in Aswan.
- Aswan High Dam
The monument that ended ancient Egypt's calendar.
- Edfu Temple
The temple of Horus, whose walls are a library turned outwards.
Open 06:00–17:00 · checked 3 September 2026
- Elephantine
A granite island at the first cataract, where Egypt used to end.
Open 08:00–16:00 · checked 3 September 2026
- Kom Ombo Temple
A temple built twice over, side by side, for the crocodile and the falcon.
Open 07:00–21:00 · checked 15 September 2026
- Lake Nasser
An archive of ancient Nubia that nobody can visit.
- Nubian Village
A living Nubian village on the west bank at Aswan, facing the island of Sehel.
- Day 1Arrival in Nile & AswanTime reserved for arrivalSee day
- Day 2Aswan Felucca to Elephantine and the Botanical GardenSuggested · About 2 hoursA slow afternoon on the river at the first cataract, where Egypt used to end.See day
- Day 3Kom Ombo and Edfu Day Tour from AswanSuggested · Full day · about 8 hoursTwo temples the Ptolemies built in the old Egyptian way, part of how Egypt kept reimagining eternity under Greek rule: Kom Ombo for a crocodile and a falcon, and Edfu for Horus, joined each year by Hathor sailing south from Dendera.See day
- Day 4Philae Temple, the Unfinished Obelisk and the High DamSuggested · About 4.5 hoursThree stops that explain Aswan's great works, ancient and modern.See day
- Day 5A free day in Nile & AswanOpen for us to plan with youSee day
- Day 6Another free day in Nile & AswanOpen for us to plan with youSee day
- Day 7Another free day in Nile & AswanOpen for us to plan with youSee day
- Day 8Another free day in Nile & AswanOpen for us to plan with youSee day
- Day 9Another free day in Nile & AswanOpen for us to plan with youSee day

Luxor
Days 10–14 · 5 nightsWhat to know about Luxor
- How long
- 2–3 nights recommended. Stay in Luxor and you reach the West Bank tombs in the cool of the morning, with Karnak in the afternoon light.
- What deserves priority
- Valley of the Kings, West Bank and Karnak.
- Colossi of Memnon
Two seated colossi of Amenhotep III, the gatekeepers of a temple the flood once filled.
- Karnak
Not a temple. A temple city.
Open 06:00–17:00 · checked 3 September 2026
- Luxor Temple
The temple the god came to visit.
Open 06:00–20:00 · checked 15 September 2026
- Medinet Habu
Ramesses III's temple and fortress, where the builders of the royal tombs came to demand their pay.
Open 06:00–17:00 · checked 29 September 2026
- Temple of Hatshepsut
Hatshepsut's terraced temple against the cliffs, facing Karnak across the river.
Open 06:00–17:00 · checked 3 September 2026
- The Ramesseum
The temple and grain store of Ramesses II, where the fallen colossus of Ozymandias lies.
Open 06:00–17:00 · checked 17 October 2026
- Day 10Travel to LuxorTravel estimate: about 3–3½ hours by road.See day
- Day 11Luxor's Other West BankSuggested · Half day · about 4 hoursThe New Kingdom hid its kings in the Valley of the Kings.See day
- Day 12Luxor East and West Bank Private Day TourSuggested · Full day · about 8 hoursTwo banks, one idea.See day
- Day 13Luxor Hot Air Balloon at SunriseSuggested · About 1.5 hours including transfersFrom the air, the plan of Thebes is plain: the river down the middle, the temples of the gods on the east bank, and on the west the hills where the kings were buried.See day

Our suggestion for this day
Dendera and Abydos Day Trip from Luxor: the Temples of Seti I and Hathor
- Abydos
- Dendera
Add to day 14More about this tour
- In a vehicle
- Long drives north: Dendera is about 70 km from Luxor, and Abydos lies further on
- At the sites
- The rest of the day inside the two temples, Abydos first
- Format
- Private
- Best time
- An early start in any season: the drive is long and the afternoons are hot
- Published departure window
- Early morning pickup
Our tip Visit Abydos first and Dendera on the way back. At Dendera, buy the roof and crypt tickets: they hold what the temple was for.
The full tour pageCompatible tours for day 14 (4)
Luxor's Other West Bank: the Tombs of the Nobles, Deir el-Medina and Medinet Habu- Tombs of the Nobles
- Tomb of Rekhmire
- Tomb of Sennefer
Luxor East and West Bank Private Day Tour- Valley of the Kings
- Colossi of Memnon
- Hatshepsut's temple
Luxor West Bank: Valley of the Kings and Hatshepsut- Valley of the Kings
- Hatshepsut's temple
- Colossi of Memnon
Luxor Hot Air Balloon at Sunrise- Valley of the Kings
- Hatshepsut's temple
- Colossi of Memnon
Add something extra (1)
Make this day better

Abu Simbel
Days 15–18 · 3 nightsWhat to know about Abu Simbel
- How long
- From an Aswan base. Ramses II's colossal temple on Lake Nasser, reached from Aswan by an early road trip of about six hours there and back, or by a short flight.
- What deserves priority
- The temples of Ramses II and Nefertari.
- Abu Simbel
Two temples cut into a cliff above the Nile, taken apart and rebuilt higher to save them.
Open 06:00–17:00 · checked 3 September 2026


