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
Travel style
The routes that cover the things you came for, without trying to do everything.
Most people booking a first time in Egypt end up with the same route: Cairo, then a flight south to Luxor or Aswan, then a Nile cruise between the two. That is not laziness. The country's best-known sites sit in exactly those three places, and the gaps between them are long. Follow the standard shape and you see the most, with the least time lost on the road.
Cairo covers the pyramids at Giza, Saqqara and the museums. Luxor holds Karnak and Luxor Temple on the east bank, and the tombs and mortuary temples on the west. Aswan is quieter, greener and the base for Abu Simbel, roughly three hours away by road. The cruise stitches Luxor and Aswan together and takes care of your transfers, hotel and sightseeing at once. Sailing between them beats driving the same stretch twice.
Eight to ten days is the honest minimum. Three nights in Cairo, a short domestic flight south, then three or four nights on the river covers the core without a punishing pace. Squeeze the same route into five days and you will spend most of it in transit, half asleep at early airport check-ins. Egypt rewards a slightly slower plan more than most destinations.
Two weeks buys real breathing room. You can add the Red Sea for a few days at the end, or spend longer in Cairo, which most people underrate. If you only have a week, cut something rather than compress everything. A week of Cairo and Luxor done properly is better than a week of three cities seen through a coach window.
Timing matters as much as length. The season runs roughly October to April, and that is when the weather works. Summer in Luxor and Aswan is genuinely extreme, and sightseeing stops by mid-morning. If July is your only window, go in with low expectations for daytime touring, or wait. Shoulder months either side of the season are usually the best trade between heat and crowds.
First-timers over-plan the sightseeing and under-plan the recovery. Egypt's big sites are hot, dusty and physically demanding, and four temples in a day blur into one. Two proper visits and an afternoon doing nothing beats a full checklist. The other thing people under-plan is money for tips and small extras, which come up constantly and catch you out if you have no small notes.
Skip the long day trips on a first trip. Cairo to Luxor and back in a day is a real product and a bad idea: most of it is airports. Alexandria in a day from Cairo is a similar story, mostly motorway. If a place matters to you, sleep there. If it does not, leave it for a second trip.
Sinai and the western desert are worth seeing, but not squeezed into ten days with everything else. The same goes for adding Jordan. Egypt on its own is enough for one holiday. Keep the route simple, allow slack for delayed flights and slow mornings, and you will come home wanting to return rather than needing a holiday to recover.
You can skip it. Luxor and Aswan both work as fixed bases, with day trips to the temples in between. The cruise is popular because it handles transfers, meals and sightseeing in one, and the sailing hours are genuinely restful. If you dislike fixed schedules or shared boats, land-based works out just as well.
For most first-timers, yes. It is roughly three hours from Aswan each way, so the day is long and starts before dawn. The temples are unlike anything else in Egypt, and photographs undersell the scale. If you are travelling with young children or you are already short on days, it is a reasonable one to drop.
Independent travel is possible, and plenty of people do it. Domestic flights, site tickets and drivers all take arranging, though, and the admin eats into a short trip. A planned itinerary run by a local company mainly buys you time and someone to call when a flight moves. On a first trip that is usually worth it.
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.
10 itineraries
5 days · Short break
Five days in Cairo and nowhere else: Giza, the Grand Egyptian Museum, the Egyptian Museum, the Citadel, Coptic Cairo and Khan el-Khalili. Four nights in one hotel, and every sightseeing day run privately.
from US$935 / 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
5 days · Nile cruise
Four nights sailing south from Luxor to Aswan: Karnak and Luxor temples on the first afternoon, the Valley of the Kings, Edfu, Kom Ombo and Philae. Full board throughout, with sightseeing in a shared group of about fifteen.
from US$1,095 / per person
5 days · Short break
Giza and the Grand Egyptian Museum, then a flight south for one night in Luxor covering both banks, and a flight back. Five days, two cities, both domestic flights in the price and every day guided privately.
from US$1,480 / per person
7 days · Classic Egypt
A 7 day Egypt itinerary that takes the river the other way round: Giza and the Grand Egyptian Museum first, then a flight south to Aswan and three nights sailing down to Luxor.
from US$1,890 / per person
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
9 days · Classic Egypt
The standard Cairo and Nile cruise route with the day most itineraries cut: a second Cairo day at the end for the Royal Mummies, the Citadel and Coptic Cairo.
from US$2,385 / 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
12 days · Classic Egypt
The standard Cairo-and-cruise route with two extra nights in a Luxor hotel before boarding, which is what buys you the Valley of the Queens, Medinet Habu, the Ramesseum, and a day out to Dendera and Abydos.
from US$3,160 / per person
