Nile cruises
| country: | Egypt |
| location: | Nile Cruises, Luxor |
| departures: | Dates are open and very flexible. The duration of the cruise can be as short as 3 nights and as long as 7 nights |
| price: | From £585 (8 days) excluding flights |
| vouchers: | Gift vouchers can be used with this holiday |
read 4 travellers reviews
the amazing things you'll be doing
Anyone who has travelled along the Nile River, either on one of Egypt's modern floating hotels, or by other transport, usually feel as though they have stepped back in time. Watching the banks of the Nile, one sees farming, donkey carts piled high with various products and it struggle as it moves along, while in the background mud brick houses, perhaps not altogether different than their Pharaonic counterparts. Actually all these activities are conducted in much the same way they were hundreds, and even thousands of years ago. Cruising on the Nile is, for many people, a unique experience that literally makes one feel as though they have stepped inside a time machine.
A good Nile Cruise is one of the best ways to travel the Nile. There are over 280 cruisers on the Nile, which range between 3- 5 stars in standard. The variety is wide and suiting one of these cruisers depends very much on the personal preferences .Some cruisers are big and they take over 100 passengers, others are small they take an average of 50 passengers.
A good Nile Cruise is one of the best ways to travel the Nile. There are over 280 cruisers on the Nile, which range between 3- 5 stars in standard. The variety is wide and suiting one of these cruisers depends very much on the personal preferences .Some cruisers are big and they take over 100 passengers, others are small they take an average of 50 passengers.
day-by-day itinerary
| Day 1: | Fly to Luxor (or take the overnight train to Luxor). Upon arrival drive to the Nile cruiser for check in. Overnight Luxor with the choice of doing the Sound & Light show of Karnak temples. ( Lunch& Dinner on board) |
| Day 2: | Early morning tour of the West Bank of Luxor. The tour will include visits to the tombs of the pharaohs in the Valley of the Kings and tombs of the princes & queens in the Valley of the Queens and the mortuary temple of Queen Hatshepsut finally view the Colossi of Memnon. Return to the boat and sail to Edfu Overnight Edfu( BRK, lunch& dinner on board) |
| Day 3: | This morning travellers will visit the best-preserved temple in Egypt: the Temple of Horus, the falcon god, built in 230 BC by Ptolemy III. Return to the cruiser and sail to Aswan. |
| Day 4: | Spend the morning visiting the High Dam, the quarries of the Unfinished Obelisk a practical demonstration of the methods used by ancient craftsmen. Then end the tour with visiting the exquisite Temple of Philae on the island of Agilkia. Return to the boat for lunch, and in the afternoon the travellers will sail in a felucca past Elephantine Island and Lord Kitchener’s Botanical Gardens. Return to the boat & overnight Aswan (Brk,Lunch& Dinner on board) |
| Day 5: | This morning fly or drive to explore the great rock-cut temple of Abu Simbel that were carved out of solid rock at a site on the west bank of the Nile south of Aswan in the land of Nubia. They are among the most magnificent monuments in the world. When the temples (280 km from Aswan) were threatened by submersion in Lake Nasser, due to the construction of the High Dam, the Egyptian Government secured the support of UNESCO and launched a world wide appeal and their removal and reconstruction was an historic event in itself. Return to Aswan in the afternoon Afternoon at leisure or make use of the chance to explore more of Aswan Overnight Aswan (Brk,lunch&Dinner on board) |
| Day 6: | In the morning visit the Nubian Museum of Aswan one of the newest museums of Egypt. Afternoon sailing to Kom Ombo. Upon arrival visit the Greco Roman temple of Kom Ombo uniquely dedicated to two gods: Sobek, the crocodile god and Haroeris, the sun god. Return to the cruiser (Brk, lunch & dinner on board) |
| Day 7: | A free morning sailing to Luxor a chance to relax and enjoy the scenery. After lunch go on an afternoon trip to explore the Temple of Luxor and the Temples of Karnak, Egypt’s greatest compound of temples Overnight Luxor (Brk, Lunch& Dinner on board) |
| Day 8: | Disembarkation after breakfast. |
travellers' tales
Nothing was too much trouble. The crew on the felucca were lovely - helpful and charming, and even thanked us for being good passengers! Travelling on a felucca is a delightful, relaxing experience. (more)
how this holiday makes a difference
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All the Nile cruises that we use in this program are managed by local operators. Most of these operators employ at least two-thirds of their staff from Southern Egypt. These jobs have helped many of the Southern Egyptians to open more to the world around them and to start addressing a lot of the social, health and educational issues they are facing without waiting for the government to take the initiative.
One of the main issues that has been successfully tackled was the employment of girls on Nile cruise; some of the Nile cruises have employed female staff. Another issue is preserving the environment. The staff, through private and public organisations, have received various workshops that taught them how to use the water of the Nile, and try as much as possible not to pollute it by their daily life practices. Since we believe that our travellers should also have a positive impact on the communities they visit, recommendations will be given out to each traveller on how to act around the different sites visited, and how to behave around the small local communities they will visit. |
Tourism can be good and bad for destinations & local people. We carefully screen every holiday against our criteria for responsible travel. 'Look behind the brochure' to find how each holiday makes a difference (see left). We don't claim to be perfect - there is no global accreditation - but we've led the way since 2001 and screened 1000's of holidays. We invite every traveller to write a review about their experiences and responsible tourism. This valuable feedback is sent to the people who run the holidays. We keep a very close eye on it and take off holidays that don't live up to our standards. |