A Nile cruise with kids

Does a Nile cruise with kids actually work?

A Nile cruise with kids is easier than the same trip by road, and the reason is dull: you unpack once. No hotel changes, no early-morning transfers with a half-asleep toddler, no repacking every second morning. The boat moves while you sleep or while you sit on deck. Egypt in a hire car with children is hard work. From a boat it is considerably less so.

The other advantage is having somewhere to go when they have had enough. After a long morning out, the shaded deck and the air-conditioned cabin are a minute apart. On land the same moment means a coach back to the hotel and a lost afternoon. Larger boats usually have a pool, though not every boat does, so confirm it with the operator before you book.

The daily rhythm helps, once you know how yours is shaped

Cruise days have a shape, and it is worth knowing yours before you book. Sites are usually visited early, while the air is cool. But afternoon and evening visits are normal too: Philae and the High Dam, Luxor Temple late in the day or after dark, Kom Ombo at the end of the afternoon when the boat has come from Edfu after lunch. Ask how your departure is arranged.

Early starts are the trade-off, and getting a seven-year-old up for the third time in a week takes negotiation. Sailing hours vary by route and by waiting time at the lock, so the timetable may move on the day. Deck time is not filler either. Buffalo on the bank, children waving from rowing boats, a heron lifting off ahead of the boat: that is the part they remember.

Which stops work with children, and which drag

Kom Ombo is the easiest win. The temple sits on the riverbank a few steps from where the boat ties up, so there is no coach and no long walk in the sun. Crocodile carvings, and the crocodile museum beside it, give children something to look at that is not another row of columns.

Edfu needs a ride from the mooring, usually by horse-drawn carriage or minibus depending on the day. Plenty of children enjoy the ride more than the temple at the end of it. If carriages are running, look at the horses before you get in; if any look poorly kept, ask for a minibus instead. Nobody will mind, and it saves an awkward conversation with a child who notices.

Karnak and the Valley of the Kings are the hardest with young children. Karnak is enormous and mostly unshaded. The Valley is a hot, dusty bowl with steep tomb entrances and no pushchair access worth the name. Both are still worth doing. Go early. The standard ticket covers three tombs, and two may be plenty with a flagging child; a few famous tombs need a separate ticket anyway.

Bigger boat or dahabiya: which suits your family

A larger cruise boat gives you space, and space matters with children. More deck, usually a pool, a lounge for a windy afternoon, and other families aboard. That last point cuts both ways. Some children want someone their own age to muck about with by day two. Others are content with their own family, a pack of cards and a book.

A dahabiya is a small sailing boat carrying far fewer passengers. It is quieter, slower and moors at places the bigger boats pass. There are usually few or no other children aboard, and rarely a pool. That suits a family with older children who read, draw and watch the bank go by. It suits a bored eight-year-old badly.

Either way, put the questions to the operator in writing before you commit. Is there a pool, and is it in use in your month? What cabin layouts exist for a family of four, and are connecting cabins or triples available? What is provided for young children? Do not assume a facility exists because a photograph showed one.

Ages, trip length, and the two things parents actually manage

Toddlers are hardest. They will not remember the temples, their naps clash with the excursions, and open railings need watching all day. Primary age is the sweet spot: old enough to walk a site, young enough to be taken with painted tomb walls, hieroglyphs and animal-headed gods. Teenagers are easy on the walking and harder on the enthusiasm, and the river Wi-Fi they counted on is unreliable.

Temple fatigue arrives faster for children than for adults. Three or four nights carries less risk than seven: the trip ends before the children do. A shorter cruise with a couple of nights on land at each end gives everyone a break from the same corridor. If your child cannot sit through a guided walk, the temples will be a battle whatever the transport.

The two things parents really manage are the railings and the sun. Walk the deck when you board and decide where a small child may and may not go on their own. Then take the sun seriously: hats, long sleeves, cream reapplied through the day, water on every excursion. There is almost no shade at the sites, and stone and sand throw the light back.