By type of trip
Nile Cruises Luxor to Aswan: Routes, Boats and Prices
Classic Egypt Tours: Cairo, Luxor and Aswan Itineraries
Nile Cruise and Red Sea Holidays: Two-Week Egypt Trips
White Desert Tours from Cairo: Oases and Desert Camping
Short Breaks in Egypt: Three and Four Day Cairo Trips
Tailor-made Egypt Tours: Private Trips Built Around You
Aswan
The best Aswan itinerary is two days, plus a third if you want Abu Simbel. Day one is Philae Temple and the Unfinished Obelisk in the morning, then a felucca at sunset. Day two is Elephantine Island and a Nubian village. Abu Simbel takes a whole day of its own. Aswan rewards a slow pace, with sights early and late and rest in the hot middle of the day. Below are plans for one, two and three days.
Aswan has a short list of sights and a lot of river. The core is Philae Temple, the Unfinished Obelisk, a felucca, Elephantine Island and a Nubian village. Abu Simbel, 280 kilometres south, is a separate day.
Heat sets the timetable. Aswan runs a few degrees warmer than Luxor, and summer afternoons go well past 40C. So the good hours are early morning and late afternoon in every month. Plan one sight in each, and rest in between.
That is why two days beats one here. One day forces you out at midday. Two days gives you four good windows.
Most Nile cruise passengers get one day in Aswan, often squeezed around a flight. Make the most of it.
Go to Philae first thing. You reach it by motorboat from a jetty between the two dams, and an hour or two on the island is right. On the way back, stop at the Unfinished Obelisk, still lying in its granite quarry. Half an hour is enough. The High Dam is a fifteen-minute stop on the same road, if you want it.
Rest through the middle of the day. Then take a felucca in the late afternoon, out around the islands and back as the light goes. If you only have a few hours, keep Philae and skip the rest.
Day one, morning: the Unfinished Obelisk while the granite is cool, the High Dam on the way past, then Philae. Back by late morning. Late afternoon: a felucca for two to three hours. It sails past Kitchener's Island, with its botanical garden, and under the west bank cliffs below the Aga Khan mausoleum. Evening on the corniche.
Day two, morning: the public ferry to Elephantine Island. Walk the ruins of the ancient town, with the temples of Khnum and Satet and a Nilometer. Then wander the two Nubian villages on the island, which are free to walk. Give it about two hours.
Day two, late afternoon: a Nubian village visit at Gharb Soheil, with a Nubian guide, staying long enough to eat or talk. If the heat has beaten you, the Nubian Museum or Kalabsha Temple are the other choices.
Abu Simbel needs a day of its own. It sits about 280 kilometres south of Aswan, close to the Sudanese border. By road that is three to three and a half hours each way.
The usual day trip leaves Aswan very early and gives you an hour or two at the temples. You are back by mid-afternoon. Put it on day two or three, never on a day with a flight or a boarding.
The better version is a night at Abu Simbel. The temples empty out once the coaches leave, so you get the site in the late afternoon and again at opening. The ministry lists the site as open from 6:00 to 17:00.
On 22 February and 22 October each year the rising sun lights the inner sanctuary. Those mornings are very busy, and a normal day trip arrives too late. Our sun festival page covers how to be there in time.
Philae Temple takes an hour or two, plus the boat ride. Go early or late, because the island has little shade.
The Unfinished Obelisk takes half an hour. Finished, it would have stood about 42 metres tall. The ministry lists it as open daily from 7am to 4pm.
Elephantine Island takes about two hours. The ministry lists the archaeological site as open daily from 8am to 4pm. The villages have no ticket.
A felucca takes two to three hours. It is slow, and if the wind drops you sit, which is part of the point. Agree the time and the price before you step aboard. Ask whether the botanical garden entry is included, because it usually is not.
Most Nile cruises start or end at Aswan. On the cruises we sell, sailing north from Aswan to Luxor takes three nights. Sailing south from Luxor takes four, and finishes here.
On those cruises Aswan gets Philae and the Unfinished Obelisk, and Abu Simbel is a paid optional trip. The felucca, Elephantine and the Nubian villages are usually left to you.
The best fix is one extra hotel night in Aswan, before or after the boat. It buys an unhurried afternoon on the water and a morning with no countdown. If you have to choose between a better cabin and an extra night here, take the night.
November to February is the comfortable window, and also the busiest. March, April and October work with early starts and a long midday break. June to August is severe.
The air is very dry. That makes the heat feel easier than the numbers suggest, and it also makes it easy to get dehydrated without noticing. Drink more than you think you need.
We sell the tours of one Egyptian operator, Memphis Tours. Prices are per person, land only.
The four-day Aswan to Luxor cruise, from US$840, meets you at Aswan airport. The same afternoon covers the Unfinished Obelisk and Philae, then the boat sails north. Domestic flights are not included.
Cairo, a Nile Cruise and Hurghada in 13 days, from US$2,945, flies you to Aswan for the quarries and Philae. You spend a night in an Aswan hotel before boarding, and Abu Simbel is offered the next day as an option.
The fifteen-day Cairo, Luxor and Nile cruise, from US$3,985, ends its cruise at Aswan. It adds a hotel night, then Kalabsha Temple and lunch with a Nubian family before the flight to Cairo.
Two days covers everything except Abu Simbel, with rest through the hottest hours. Add a third day for Abu Simbel. One day gets you Philae and not much more.
Philae Temple first thing, the Unfinished Obelisk on the way back, and the High Dam if you want it. Rest through midday. Then a felucca around the islands in the late afternoon.
Yes, if you can give it a whole day. It is about 280 kilometres away, three to three and a half hours each way by road. A night at Abu Simbel is the better version, with the temples quiet in the late afternoon and at opening.
By motorboat from a jetty between the two dams, south of the city. A guided tour or a driver will take you to the jetty. Allow an hour or two on the island.
Yes. Late afternoon is the best time, for two to three hours around the islands. Agree the price and the time before you step aboard. Ask whether the botanical garden entry is included.
Yes, on Elephantine Island. The public ferry takes a few minutes, and the two villages are free to walk. For a visit to Gharb Soheil, go with a Nubian guide and arrive late in the afternoon.
June to August is severe, with afternoons well past 40C. If you go then, see sights only early and late, and rest indoors between. November to February is the comfortable window.
Either works. One extra night in Aswan gives you the felucca, Elephantine and a calm evening on the corniche. It changes the trip more than any cabin upgrade.
Entry rules, opening hours, security advice and exchange rates all move. Check them at the source, not here.
Written and checked by the Nile Trip Guide editorial team · Last reviewed . Entry rules, prices and opening hours change — check anything critical against the official sources linked on this page.
Plan this trip
A real itinerary with real prices, usually within 24 hours. Nothing is booked and nothing is charged until you say yes.
13 days · Nile & Red Sea
Thirteen days that give the ancient sites a week and then stop moving: Cairo, a flight to Aswan, three nights sailing down to Luxor, and three nights on the Red Sea at Hurghada before flying back for a last day in Cairo.
from US$2,945 / per person
15 days · Classic Egypt
Fifteen days of the ancient sites without a beach stop: Cairo, two days of Luxor on land, four nights sailing to Aswan, a Nubian village, then back to Cairo for Alexandria, Saqqara and Dahshur.
from US$3,985 / per person
4 days · Nile cruise
Three nights sailing north from Aswan to Luxor, taking in Philae, Kom Ombo, Edfu, the Valley of the Kings and finally Karnak. Full board on board, and the sightseeing runs as a shared group of about fifteen.
from US$840 / per person
