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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
Top 10 · Food and culture
The ten Egypt movies to watch before a trip are Death on the Nile (1978), The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), The English Patient (1996), Cairo Time (2009), The Mummy (1999), Cairo Station (1958), The Night of Counting the Years (1969), The Blazing Sun (1954), The Yacoubian Building (2006) and Yomeddine (2018). Half are Hollywood or British films. Half are Egyptian. Together they show the temples, the Nile and the desert, but also modern Cairo and village life.
Every film here is set in Egypt or is about it. We wanted a mix: famous Western films that sell the country's image, and Egyptian films that show how people live. Each title, year and director is checked against the film's records.
We say where each film was shot when that is known. Some famous "Egypt" films were made in Morocco, Tunisia or a studio. That is worth knowing if you want to stand where a scene was filmed.
There is no ranking by quality. Taste in films is personal. We start with the films most travellers know and end with Egyptian cinema.
John Guillermin directed this Agatha Christie mystery, with Peter Ustinov as Hercule Poirot. A murder takes place on a paddle steamer sailing the Nile in the 1930s.
It was really filmed in Egypt. The crew spent seven weeks there in late 1977, four of them on a historic steamer. The rest was shot at Aswan, Abu Simbel, Luxor and Cairo. It is the best film to watch before a Nile cruise.
The tenth James Bond film, directed by Lewis Gilbert, stars Roger Moore. Bond chases stolen submarine plans across Egypt and meets the steel-toothed Jaws.
The Egyptian scenes were shot in Cairo and Luxor in 1976. Look for Karnak, the Mosque of Ibn Tulun and the Gayer-Anderson Museum. The film also lists the Abu Simbel temples among its locations.
Anthony Minghella's film is based on Michael Ondaatje's novel. It follows a desert explorer in the 1930s and his love affair in Cairo. The story is a fictional take on the explorer Laszlo Almasy.
The desert and Cairo are at its heart, but it was shot in Tunisia and Italy. Watch it for the mood of desert exploration before the war.
Ruba Nadda's small romantic drama stars Patricia Clarkson and Alexander Siddig. A woman waits in Cairo for her husband, and his friend shows her the city.
It won Best Canadian Film at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2009. It is a calm film about the pace of Cairo, its cafes, streets and the Nile.
Stephen Sommers wrote and directed this action film with Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz. Treasure hunters wake a cursed priest in a lost city of the dead.
It is pure fun, with little history. It was filmed in Morocco and the UK. It is a good one for families before a trip.
Youssef Chahine directed this crime drama and also plays its lead, a newspaper seller at Cairo's main railway station. His obsession with a drinks seller turns dark.
It competed at the Berlin Film Festival and is now seen as a masterpiece of Egyptian cinema. It shows the bustle of 1950s Cairo, all within one station.
This was the only feature film by Shadi Abdel Salam. It is set in 1881 on the west bank at Luxor. A family has found a hidden cache of royal mummies and is selling objects from it in secret.
It is based on a true story. The real cache, now called DB320, held the mummies of great kings such as Seti I. The film is slow, beautiful and serious. Watch it before a visit to the Valley of the Kings.
Youssef Chahine directed this drama, starring Faten Hamama and Omar Sharif in his first film role. A rich landowner floods a village in southern Egypt to ruin the farmers.
It played in the main competition at Cannes in 1954. It shows village life beside the Nile, and its climax takes place in an ancient temple.
Marwan Hamed directed this film of Alaa Al Aswany's bestselling novel, with Adel Emam in the lead. The lives of the people in one Downtown apartment block tell the story of modern Egypt.
The real building still stands at 34 Talaat Harb Street, in Downtown Cairo. It is a frank, adult film, and one of the best known Egyptian films abroad.
A.B. Shawky's first feature follows Beshay, a man shunned because of leprosy, and a Nubian orphan boy. Together they travel across Egypt to find Beshay's family.
It played in the main competition at Cannes in 2018 and won a prize there. The cast are non-professional actors. It shows rural Egypt that most visitors never see.
The 1978 version was. The crew spent seven weeks in Egypt, at Aswan, Abu Simbel, Luxor and Cairo, and on a historic Nile steamer. Kenneth Branagh's 2022 version was filmed only in England.
The Spy Who Loved Me, from 1977, with Roger Moore. It was filmed in Cairo and Luxor, with scenes at Karnak and the Mosque of Ibn Tulun.
No. The 1999 film was shot in Morocco and the UK. If you want to see real sites from a film, watch Death on the Nile (1978) or The Spy Who Loved Me instead.
Start with Cairo Station (1958) and The Night of Counting the Years (1969), two classics. For something recent, try The Yacoubian Building (2006) or Yomeddine (2018).
Yes. Karnak, Abu Simbel and Aswan all appear in films from the 1970s. Nile cruises stop at Karnak and Aswan, and many tours add Abu Simbel. The Yacoubian Building is a real block in Downtown Cairo, though it is private flats.
Yes, two big ones. The Cairo International Film Festival is held in the capital, and the El Gouna Film Festival runs on the Red Sea coast. Our pages on each give the dates.
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.
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A real itinerary with real prices, usually within 24 hours. Nothing is booked and nothing is charged until you say yes.
8 days · Classic Egypt
The route most people take first, at the length it was built for: Giza and the Grand Egyptian Museum, then a flight to Luxor and four nights sailing down to Aswan.
from US$2,135 / per person
8 days · Nile & Red Sea
No boat on this one. Giza and the Grand Egyptian Museum, a night in Luxor for both banks, two nights on the Red Sea, then back to Cairo for the Citadel, Coptic Cairo and the Royal Mummies.
from US$2,040 / per person
10 days · Classic Egypt
Five nights in Cairo either side of a four-night sail from Luxor to Aswan. The Cairo days are private, just your party and a guide; the sightseeing off the boat is shared with a small group.
from US$2,635 / per person
