Our packages join Cairo, a Nile cruise and optional Abu Simbel or Red Sea days under one specialist and one written price, with domestic flights, hotels, transfers and a licensed Egyptologist included. Eight to twelve days is the usual length. Nothing is paid online — every package is confirmed in writing first.
We build Egypt packages around one decision: how many nights you spend on the Nile. Everything else — Cairo, the flights, the hotels, Abu Simbel — arranges itself around that. Our six packages run from $1,670 to $4,160 per person, and the sections below explain which one fits which kind of trip.
Most Egypt package pages are written by people who have never stood on a dock at Esna at six in the morning waiting for a lock to clear. We run these trips. So this page is less a brochure and more the conversation we have with travelers who email us asking which package to take.
A package exists to remove the four things that go wrong when people book Egypt piece by piece: domestic flights that do not connect, a cruise that departs the day before you arrive, temple tickets bought at the gate, and a guide who turns out to be a driver with opinions.
Ours cover:
What sits outside the package is listed plainly further down. We would rather you saw that number before you booked than discovered it on the boat.
| Package | Length | From | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9 Days Family Egypt Adventure | 9 days | $2,100 | Traveling with children |
| Best of Egypt Tour | 8 days | $1,670 | Cairo and a 4-night Nile cruise |
| Classic Egypt Discovery | 7 days | $1,800 | Cairo, Aswan, the Nile, Luxor |
| 10 Days Egypt Highlights | 10 days | $1,800 | The complete first visit |
| 12 Days Egypt & Red Sea Honeymoon | 12 days | $3,180 | Nile then Red Sea, unhurried |
| Luxury Egypt Grand | 12 days | $4,160 | Dahabiya sailing, 5-star throughout |
Prices are per person sharing a double room. The full list sits on our Egypt packages page, and current reductions are on special offers.
People arrive at this page thinking the big choice is Cairo hotels. It is not. It is how many nights you sail, and in which direction, because that determines your flights, your Cairo nights, and roughly half your budget.
We run four itineraries:
If you are weighing the two directions, we wrote a full comparison: Aswan to Luxor or Luxor to Aswan. Short version — the temples are identical either way, and the ship and the guide matter far more than the compass.
We work with 77 vessels, from mid-range five-star ships to the small luxury end.
The honest guidance we give every caller: the star rating on paper matters less than the boat’s current condition and its passenger count. A 250-passenger ship arriving at Edfu alongside four others is a different morning from a 40-passenger one. Use compare ships to put them side by side, or ask us and we will tell you which ones came back from refit well and which did not.
We do not sell anything below four stars. Below that line, air conditioning and cleanliness become genuinely variable, and you are on board for at least three nights.
The most common planning mistake is compressing Egypt into a week and then spending two of those days in airports.
Seven days works if you accept a trade. Cairo and Luxor, or Cairo and a short cruise — not both properly. Eight days is the shortest shape that fits both: our Best of Egypt Tour gives Cairo three nights and the Nile four, sailing from Luxor to Aswan.
Nine to ten days is where Egypt starts to breathe. Three nights in Cairo, a four-night cruise, a day in Aswan, Abu Simbel if you want it. 10 Days Egypt Highlights is the package we recommend more than any other, and the one most first-time visitors should take.
Twelve days lets you add something that is not a monument — the Red Sea on the honeymoon itinerary, or the slower dahabiya pace on Luxury Egypt Grand. After eleven days of temples, most people are glad of a beach.
Traveling with children changes the maths again. 9 Days Family Egypt Adventure is paced for shorter attention spans and picks ships where the pool is not an afterthought.
| Item | In the package |
|---|---|
| Domestic flights within Egypt | Yes |
| Cairo hotels and all transfers | Yes |
| Nile cruise, full board | Yes |
| Temple entrance fees on the route | Yes |
| Licensed Egyptologist guide | Yes |
| International flights | No |
| Egypt visa — $30 on arrival | No |
| Drinks beyond water at meals | No |
| Tips for crew and guide | No |
| Abu Simbel and optional excursions | Quoted separately |
| Travel insurance | No |
Realistically, budget $100 to $215 per person on top for the things outside the package. We break every line of that down in what’s included in a Nile cruise and what a Nile cruise costs, including the tipping figures most operators leave you to guess at — those are in our tipping guide.
Almost nobody books one of these exactly as listed, and that is fine — the published version is a starting shape, not a fixed product.
Things we move regularly: swapping the ship for a specific vessel you have read about, adding Abu Simbel, extending Cairo by a night for Saqqara and Dahshur, moving to a dahabiya, adding a hot air balloon over the West Bank, extending into Alexandria or the Red Sea, or arranging a private guide instead of a group one.
Things we will push back on: a four-night cruise crammed into a six-day trip, or a mid-August itinerary for someone who has told us they struggle in heat. We would rather lose the booking than sell you a trip you will not enjoy.
October to April is the season. November and March are the two best months — warm enough to sit on deck after dinner, cool enough to walk Karnak at midday, and priced below the Christmas peak.
December 21 to January 5 is the most expensive two-week period of the year and sells out four to six months ahead. Summer is 30 to 50 percent cheaper and genuinely 106°F (41°C). The full month-by-month breakdown, including Ramadan and the Abu Simbel Sun Festival dates, is in our best time for a Nile cruise guide.
We are an Egyptian operator based on the river we sell, running Nile cruises since 2013. That means the ships are inspected by people who work here, the guides are ones we have used for years, and if something goes wrong at eleven at night in Aswan there is somebody local to call.
How it works: tell us your dates and roughly what you want, and we send back a real itinerary with a real price — not a range. No deposit until you are happy with the shape of it.
You can read what previous travelers said on our reviews page, browse the FAQ, or just send us the dates.
Keep reading: Nile Cruise vs Land Tour of Egypt: Which Should You Choose? · Best Time to Visit Egypt: Region by Region and Month by Month
Our packages run from $1,670 to $4,160 per person sharing a double room, covering domestic flights, Cairo hotels, the Nile cruise, temple entries, transfers and a licensed guide. Budget $100 to $215 more per person for tips, drinks, the visa and optional excursions.
Ten is the number we recommend. Seven works but forces a trade between Cairo and the Nile. Twelve lets you add the Red Sea or move to a dahabiya without rushing.
No. Domestic flights inside Egypt are included and timed to your cruise. International flights are yours to book, and we will tell you which arrival times work.
Yes, and most people do. Ships, cruise length, Cairo nights, Abu Simbel, private guiding and post-trip extensions are all adjustable.
77 vessels, from mid-range five-star ships to the small luxury end. Nothing below four stars.
Not in the base price. It is quoted separately because not everyone wants the early start — roughly three and a half hours each way by road from Aswan, about ten hours all in.
Three to four months ahead for November and March. Four to six months for Christmas and New Year, which sells out earliest. Summer dates can be booked three to six weeks out.
Both. Solo travelers should ask about dedicated single cabins rather than accepting a supplement — some ships have a few, and they are priced far better. Families should look at the 9-day family package, which is built around ships with proper pool decks and a gentler pace.
Send us your dates and a rough budget — a specialist replies with three ships across categories, live availability and a written price. No online payment.
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Written by
Magdy Fattouh
39 guides published on this site
Magdy Fattouh is a Cairo University history graduate and the writer behind the guides on this site. Over 13 years he has researched and written about Egypt's history, its monuments and how to travel to them — from the pharaohs and the temples to month-by-month planning, ship comparisons and day-by-day itineraries. He speaks English and Arabic, and reviews every guide here for accuracy before it is published.
Read more by Magdy Fattouh →
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