Apart from a full day cruise from Luxor to Dendera and back, all Nile cruise ships sail between Luxor and Aswan (or vice versa). The length of a cruise can vary from three nights / four days to seven nights / eight days. The cruises that last three or four nights travel one way either from Luxor to Aswan or from Aswan to Luxor, while on the longer cruises you follow the ship both ways. This means that you in general will be able to visit all places included in a cruise on a shorter cruise - while a longer cruise gives you more time on the Nile.

All cruises give you full board while part of the cruise, and this mean that breakfast, dinner, lunch and tea / coffee break is included in the price. Visit to important monuments included entrance tickets, transport and Egyptologist guide is the other main part of the cruise. So all the meals, your cabin and the tours are included in the price of the cruise. The tours are:


Luxor:
In Luxor the cruise has following visits included:
On Luxor east bank Karnak Temple - the huge temple complex that mainly was dedicated the sun god Amon, one of the three principal gods of Luxor. Then the Luxor temple that's located in the middle of Luxor city. On Luxor west bank the visit goes to the Valley of the Kings, the terrace temple of Hatshepsut and the Memnon Colossus. Find the map of Luxor and more detailed information included the Luxor Temple, the Karnak Temple complex, the tombs of the Nobles, Medinet Habu temple complex, and Hatshepsut's Temple.

back to the map


Esna:
Before the temple of the creator god Khnum in Esna was part of a Nile Cruise, but due to the importance of no delay when passing the lock in Edfu - this visit has not been included the last years.

back to the map


Edfu:
Here the great temple of the Royal Falcon god Horus is located. Built in Greek / Roman times, and very important as it's the most intact of all temples in Egypt. Horus were married to the goddess Hathor who lived in Dendera Temple, and they sailed a private cruise each year to visit each other. Horus sailed once a year from Edfu to his wife in Dendera, and Hathor sailed south to Edfu to visit her husband Horus. This is documented in the temple, and of course the fight between Horus and Seth - as Seth was the brother murderer who killed the father of Horus. Today this temple unique as one really can see how a temple looked like while intact.

back to the map


Kom Ombo:
This is in many ways the most idyllic temple seen from the Nile. Special as the Nile here still flows so the Temple can be seen from a long distance when sailing up to it. The temple is a double temple, meaning that it was built as two parallel temples. One part for the crocodile god Sobek and the other part for a variant of the Royal god Horus. The legendary Imhotep is here found in a relief, the architect that built the first pyramid in Egypt. Imhotep was not responsible for the first pyramid - he was considered an expert in numerous fields, and among these was medicine. The medical part was so important that he later was considered a god, and during the Greek culture he was named as the father of Medicine. That Imhotep with representation of medical instruments are documentet at the Kom Ombo Temple shows that this was a temple for medical pilgrimage where people came to seek healing.

back to the map


Aswan:
Here in this ancient city that first was located on Elephantine Island, the main island in Aswan. This being an island where none less than the Nile god Hapi lived. Ancient Aswan was further the border area between the Egyptian kingdom and the kingdom of Nubia, and it was here one for the first time met any hindrance in the Nile if one came all the way from the Mediterranean. It's with this first cataract of the Nile that the first dam was built. The High Dam, thesecond and largest dam created the largest manmade lake in the world (Lake Nasser) and were finished in the end of the sixties. A cruise include visits to the High Dam and the Isis temple (Philae Temple) that lies between the old and the new dam - the Temple was moved to a new island as first dam put the temple under water. In Aswan the cruise program includes a sail tour on the Nile in a fellukka, the traditional Nile sailboats in Egypt.
See Map of Aswan.

back to the map


Additional in Luxor / Aswan:

Both Aswan and Luxor have so much to see that it's simply impossible to include all in a cruise. If you got time for this, we can absolutely recommend to have an extra day in Luxor and / or Aswan.


One Day Cruise to Dendera:

For those who don't want a full Nile Cruise there is the option of a full day cruise from Luxor to Hathor's Temple in Dendera. The temple is from Greek / Roman time and is a beautiful and well-preserved temple. The cruise starts early morning in Luxor with breakfast on the small cruise ship. Enjoy the legendary river and her landscape south to Dendera. Arrival to the temple around midday, and from the Nile there is a small tour to the temple itself. Visit to the temple with Egyptologist guide. Back to the ship there are dinner and the sailing start south again. In the afternoon a tea / coffee break after a full day on the Nile - and arrival in Luxor just after sunset.

From Cairo to Nile Cruise?

Most who come with regular flight to Egypt come via Cairo and there is a long way to the cruises, south in Upper Egypt. Flight is a good option, but have a look at the Sleeping Train from Cairo to Luxor and Aswan. It might just be what you would prefer...


back to the map

Contact us
tours - hotels - expeditions
www.egyptmyway.com/contactforms.html

MyWay Travel a.s. Tel. Egypt: +2 012 7739149 Tel. Norway: +47 45661608 Epost: post@egyptmyway.com Org. number: NO 987 180 633 Send a Post Card

To the top
 List of Egypt Maps
 Egypt Article List
 Egyptian Photo serials
 Printer friendly version
 Email this page to a friend