12-Day Lake Nasser Nile Cruise and Cairo Stay (Small Group Egypt Tour)

DAY 1 – Arrive in Cairo for your Lake Nasser Nile Cruise and Stay

Your assigned tour manager meets you are the airport in Cairo when you arrive in Egypt for your Nile and Lake Nasser cruise and stay. He or she then escorts you to your boutique hotel in one of our deluxe air-conditioned vehicles. They will assist with check-in and then review your itinerary with you. They will also confirm pick up times for your upcoming tours and then you will have the rest of your first day in Egypt to yourself.

DAY 2 – Step Pyramid, Giza Pyramids and Sphinx Tour

Your personal expert guide and private driver fetch you from your hotel at the confirmed time. You then drive to an ancient royal burial ground at Saqqara to see the Great Step Pyramid. This was built for pharaoh Djoser during the time of the Old Kingdom. The Djoser Step Pyramid was the first pyramid ever built by the ancient Egyptians.

After visiting the pyramid, you then head to a good local restaurant for some lunch. Enjoy a leisurely lunch, and then you will drive to Giza on the outskirts of Cairo to see the famous Giza Pyramids and the Sphinx. You will also visit the Valley Temple located at the same site, and you will have the option of visiting the Solar Boat Museum, also at the same site. A ticket for the museum is not included in the price of our Cairo, Lake Nasser Nile cruise package but one can be purchased at the sight.

When your tour at Giza is finished, our guide and driver then transfer you back to your hotel and you will have the rest of the day to yourself.

Meals Include – Breakfast & Lunch

DAY 3 – Transfer to Luxor and Luxor East Bank Tour

Breakfast will be a bit early today so that we can get you to Cairo Airport in time for the early morning flight to Luxor. When you land in Luxor, you will again be met by one of our tour representatives and then you will be taken to board you 5-Star Nile River cruise.

Enjoy lunch shortly after boarding and the one of our guides will accompany you and a small group of our other clients on an East Bank. During this tour, you first visit Karnak Temple with its enormous granite columns, one of Egypt’s most famous landmarks.

Next, you visit the much better preserved Luxor Temple. We highly recommend return to Luxor Temple in the evening to enjoy a fully narrated Sound and Lights Show . Returning to the site for the show is optional and is not included in the list price of our Lake Nasser Nile cruise package.

Following your tour on the East Bank, you return to your cruise ship and you have the rest of the day for yourself.

Meals Included – Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

DAY 4 – Luxor West Bank Tour and Sail to Edfu

After breakfast, your guide accompanies you on another tour, this time on the East Bank. The tour begins with a visit to the Valley of Kings where you will find more than 60 ancient royal rock-cut tombs. The level of preservation in some of the tombs is truly remarkable. You will be able to enter three of the tombs as part of your tour. However, we cannot guarantee which tombs you will be able to enter. This is controlled by the Egyptian government and works on rotation.

Some tombs, such as the tomb of King Tutankhamun and the tomb of pharaoh Ramses VI, can only be entered by way of special tickets that must be purchased in person at the site.

After Valley of the Kings, you then visit the splendid terraced mortuary Temple of Queen Hatshepsut and the Colossi of Memnon. Your West Bank tours last until just before lunchtime, at which point you will return to the cruise.

With all passengers back on board the ship, it will then depart for Edfu via the Esna Lock. This night of your Lake Nasser Nile cruise vacation is spent on the river at Edfu.

Meals Included – Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

DAY 5 – Edfu Temple, Kom Ombo Temple and Cruise to Aswan

After breakfast this morning, your guide takes you and your small group to see the Temple of Horus, also known Edfu Temple. This is the best-preserved ancient temple ever discovered in Egypt. It was seized by the Romans who then later abandoned it. It then became buried under the desert sand and remained buried for more than 2,000 years. Being buried protected it from the elements.

Following your visit to the temple, you then sail to Kom Ombo where you will visit the Kom Ombo Temple. This is essentially a twin-temple complex that was built to honor two different gods.

After visiting Kom Ombo Temple, you return to your Nile cruise ship and it then sails to Aswan. There are no further excursions. Enjoy the remainder of the day as you wish and spend this night of your Lake Nasser Nile Cruise and Stay on the river at Aswan

Meals Included – Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

DAY 6 – Aswan Tour and Free Time

Breakfast on your Nile cruise and then your guide takes you to see three attractions in Aswan: the Aswan High Dam, the Unfinished Obelisk, and the ancient Temple of Philae. The temple was originally built to honor two goddesses: Isis and Hathor.

Philae Temple is thought to be the last true Egyptian temple built by the ancient Egyptians. It once stood on an Island in the Nile but was moved in entirety to its current location in order to save it from the flooding of Lake Nasser.

After your tour, you return to the cruise ship and then you have the rest of the day to yourself. The last night of your Nile cruise is spent on the river at Aswan.

Meals Included – Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

DAY 7 – Cruise Disembarkation, Lake Nasser Cruise Embarkation and Abu Simbel Temples

After breakfast you check-out and disembark from the boat and you travel to Abu Simbel for your Lake Nasser cruise. The drive from Aswan to Abu Simbel takes about 3.5 hours. If you would rather avoid the drive, you can fly instead. This is an optional upgrade.

When you get to Abu Simbel you board your 5-Star Lake Nasser cruise. After lunch, your guide will then accompany you and your small group on a visit to the breathtaking rock-cut Abu Simbel Temples. These towering structures were built during the reign pharaoh Ramses II. They are by far, Egypt’s second-most instantly recognizable ancient monuments.

After your visit to the temples, you return to the boat and you have the rest of the day to yourself. Spend this night of your luxury Nile and Lake Nasser cruise vacation on the lake at Abu Simbel.

Meals Included – Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

DAY 8 – Lake Cruise and Amada Tour

Today you depart from Abu Simbel quite early and you have your breakfast while you are sailing to Kasr Ibrim to see the Kasr Ibrim Fortress. The fortress, along with the small island on which it sits, are off limits to visitors. However, your boat will stop near the island and you will be able to enjoy a close-up view of the fortress from the boat’s sundeck.

Next, you will sail to Amada where you will be taken to see three more ancient sites: the Temple of Amada, Ed Deir, and the Tomb of Pennut. Once everyone is back on board the boat, it then sails to Wadi El Seboua where it will anchor for the night. There are no other excursions today so you will have the rest of the day for yourself.

Meals Included – Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

DAY 9 – Lake Cruise and Sightseeing Excursion

Shortly after breakfast your guide will accompany on a visit to Wadi El Seboua, and then you will take a leisurely walk to see two more ancient sites: El Dakka and Mehraka. You will also have the option of getting to these two sites by way of a camel ride, but this is optional and it’s not included in the price of our Lake Nasser Nile Cruise package.

After your tour, you then sail towards Aswan. No other tours are scheduled for today, so you will have the rest of today for yourself.

Meals Included – Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

DAY 10 – Lake Nasser Sightseeing, Coach Transfer to Aswan and Flight to Cairo

After breakfast, visit Kalabsha Temple that was built to honor the Nubian god Mandulis. You will also visit the Kiosk of Kertassi to see another ancient Nubian-style temple which was built to honor the goddess Hathor.

Next, you will return to the boat to check-out, and then you will be transferred to Aswan Airport in one of our air-conditioned vehicles to board a flight back to Cairo. When you land in Cairo, your tour manager will meet you and then escort you to your hotel where you will be staying for the last two nights of your Lake Nasser Nile Cruise vacation.

Meals Included – Breakfast

DAY 11 – Cairo Private Guided Tour

Today your guide and driver fetch you from your hotel at the confirmed time, and then you will visit the Egyptian Museum. This incredible museum houses more than 120,000 artifacts, so expect to be here until lunch time.

When you are finished at the museum, enjoy lunch at a good local restaurant. After lunch, visit the famous Hanging Church of Cairo, and then enjoy some time at the city’s beloved Khan el Khalili Bazaar. This centuries-old bazaar is one of the biggest and oldest bazaars in the entire Middle East. It’s a great place to do some last minute shopping.

After you have finished at the bazaar, your guide and driver will take you back to your hotel and you will have the rest of the day for yourself.

Meals Included – Breakfast & Lunch

DAY 12 – Lake Nasser Nile Cruise Holiday Ends and Final Departure

Enjoy one last breakfast at your hotel, and then at the appropriate time your tour manager and driver will fetch you and take you to the airport in time for your flight back home. Be aware that most hotels in Egypt require that guests check-out before midday. Your Lake Nasser Nile Cruise holiday has now come to an end

Meals Included – Breakfast