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 guide · Egypt
Most trips to Egypt need three bases: Cairo for the pyramids and museums, Luxor or a Nile cruise for the temples, and a Red Sea resort if you want a beach. In each city, the area matters more than the hotel. Stay in central Cairo or by the pyramids, on Luxor's east bank, and on Aswan's corniche or Elephantine Island. On the coast, pick Hurghada, El Gouna or Sharm el Sheikh by how you want to spend your evenings. This page gives the short answer for each place, with a link to the full guide.
Hotels in Luxor and AswanA Nile cruise boat| Hotels in Luxor and Aswan | A Nile cruise boat | |
|---|---|---|
| Packing and unpacking | Once per city | Once for the whole river trip |
| Edfu and Kom Ombo | A long day out by road | Stops on the way |
| Time in Luxor | As long as you like, on either bank | One west bank morning and Karnak with the group |
| Meals | Usually breakfast. Eat out in the evenings | Full board on the boat |
| Sightseeing | Private, at your own pace | Off the boat in a small group of around 15 on our partner's cruises |
| Best for | Slow travellers and anyone who wants Luxor's west bank in depth | First visits and anyone who wants the river itself |
The short answer
A cruise is the easiest way to see the temples between Luxor and Aswan on a first trip. Add a hotel night or two in Luxor or Aswan if you want more time in either. Our Nile cruise vs land tour guide goes deeper.
Most of what visitors come for sits along the Nile. Cairo and Giza are in the north. Luxor, Aswan and Abu Simbel are in the south. The Red Sea coast lies east of the river, with Hurghada on the mainland and Sharm el Sheikh in Sinai.
A first trip usually splits into Cairo, then Luxor and Aswan by cruise or by hotel, then the coast if you want a beach. In every city, the bank of the river or the stretch of coast decides more than the hotel does.
The sections below give the short answer for each place. Each links to a full guide with travel times and the hotels our partner's tours use.
Stay in Zamalek or Downtown for most first visits. They are close to the old city, the Tahrir museum and good restaurants. Stay in Giza, by the pyramids, for one or two nights if the pyramids, the Grand Egyptian Museum and Saqqara fill your days.
Traffic is the reason this matters. Giza to Downtown is roughly 20 km, which can take half an hour early in the morning or most of two hours at busy times. Our Cairo and Giza guides compare the areas in detail.
Stay on the east bank for most trips. It has Karnak, Luxor Temple, the restaurants, the station, the airport and nearly every hotel. The west bank is quieter, with small hotels and guesthouses close to the Valley of the Kings.
A local ferry links the two banks in a few minutes. Two full days in Luxor is the working minimum, and three is comfortable.
Stay on the east bank corniche for one night or an early Abu Simbel start. Stay on Elephantine Island for river views and quiet, a short boat ride from town. Stay in a Nubian guesthouse on the west bank for village life.
Aswan is calmer than Cairo or Luxor. If you can add one night at the end of a cruise, add it here.
On a Nile cruise, the boat is your hotel between Luxor and Aswan. You unpack once, and Edfu and Kom Ombo become stops on the way. Our partner's cruises take three nights from Aswan to Luxor, or four nights from Luxor to Aswan, on full board.
Thirteen of the sixteen trips we sell include a cruise on one of three boats: MS Radamis II, Movenpick Royal Lily or Sonesta St. George. Your boat depends on the accommodation option you choose. Our Nile cruise ships page compares them.
The Nile Cruise from Aswan to Luxor, four days, starts at US$840 per person. Cairo, Luxor and a Nile Cruise, eight days, starts at US$2,135. Both prices are per person, land only.
Hurghada runs about 40 km along the coast. Stay near Sakkala and the marina for restaurants and the dive boats. Stay in Sahl Hasheesh or Makadi Bay, south of town, for a quiet resort with a house reef.
El Gouna, about 20 minutes north, is a tidy lagoon town you can walk around. It costs more than Hurghada and suits kitesurfers. Hurghada is about four hours by road from Luxor, which makes it the usual beach end to a Nile trip.
Marsa Alam suits divers who want the best reefs and few people. Hotels sit in their own compounds, kilometres apart along one desert road, so you eat where you sleep. All-inclusive is close to essential.
The further south you stay, the better the reefs and the longer the transfer. The airport is well north of the town and runs mostly on charter and seasonal flights. Check the drive time from the airport before you book.
For a week, take two or three nights in Cairo and a three or four night cruise. For ten days, add a hotel night in Luxor or Aswan, or a few nights on the Red Sea. For two weeks, you can give Cairo, the river and the coast proper time each.
Group your days by place, and move as few times as you can. Domestic flights link Cairo with Luxor, Aswan and Hurghada, and Luxor to Hurghada is a four-hour drive.
There is no single base for all of Egypt. Most trips need Cairo for the pyramids and museums, then Luxor or a Nile cruise for the temples. Add a Red Sea resort such as Hurghada if you want a beach.
Most stay in central Cairo or Giza, then on a Nile cruise boat or in Luxor, and often finish in Hurghada or Sharm el Sheikh. On our partner's tours, 14 of the 16 trips include Cairo nights and 13 include a cruise.
Central Cairo, in Zamalek or Downtown, suits most first visits and longer stays. Giza, by the pyramids, suits one or two nights of early starts at the plateau, the Grand Egyptian Museum and Saqqara.
A cruise suits a first visit, because Edfu and Kom Ombo become stops on the way. A hotel in Luxor gives you more time on the west bank. Many trips do both, with a night or two in Luxor around the cruise.
Hurghada or El Gouna on the mainland, or Sharm el Sheikh in Sinai. Hurghada is the easiest to add to a Nile trip, about four hours by road from Luxor. Marsa Alam suits divers who want quieter reefs.
Two or three nights in Cairo, two or three days in Luxor, two in Aswan, and three or four nights on a cruise covering both. Add two to seven nights on the Red Sea if you want a beach.
Memphis Tours, the operator whose tours we sell, uses three hotels each in Cairo, Luxor, Aswan and Hurghada, one per accommodation level. Each city guide above names them and says where they are. It uses none in Sharm el Sheikh.
For current advice, read the US State Department and UK FCDO travel pages for Egypt before you book. Check the advice for every place on your route.
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.
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
16 days · Classic Egypt
Sixteen days and very little left out: Cairo, a flight to Aswan, three nights sailing down to Luxor, two more days of Luxor on land, three nights on the Red Sea, then back to Cairo for Saqqara and Dahshur.
from US$3,910 / per person
