Four nights on the river, a temple outside the window every morning – a Nile cruise is the most comfortable way to see ancient Egypt.
Photo: Xiaoqian Shen (Unsplash)
Full disclosure: the Nile cruise is on my list, but I haven't done it yet – it's the reason I got interested in river cruises in the first place. Friends who've come back all say the same thing: it's the only sensible way to see Luxor, Edfu, Kom Ombo and Aswan without changing hotels every day.
The classic route runs from Luxor to Aswan or the other way round, four nights, with the Valley of the Kings and Karnak at the start, the Temple of Edfu along the way and the Philae Temple in Aswan at the end. The flight to Abu Simbel is an extra day that nobody regrets.
The ships are small (80 to 150 guests), with a pool on the sun deck and full board. It's usually booked as a package with flights and a guide – the operators Hafermann and TourRadar on my cruises page offer the Nile cruise, often combined with beach days on the Red Sea.
On the ship; before or after, a hotel in Luxor (West Bank, quiet) or Aswan (the Old Cataract, the classic).
I almost always compare hotels, apartments and guesthouses on Booking.com – with genuine reviews and usually free cancellation.
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