Egypt Nile Cruise Packages: 10-Day Luxury Journey

Welcome to Egypt. You are met on arrival and driven privately to the Kempinski Nile Hotel, the five-star riverside hotel in Garden City, on the banks of the Nile. Many rooms overlook the Nile. Rest after your flight, dine at the hotel, and let your Egyptologist introduce the days ahead.

Start at Saqqara, where Imhotep built the Step Pyramid of Djoser, the first great stone building in history. After lunch at a local restaurant, continue to Dahshur for the Bent and Red Pyramids of King Sneferu, two steps in the story of how the true pyramid was perfected. Dinner and a restful night follow at the hotel.

Spend the morning at the Grand Egyptian Museum with your guide, from the Grand Staircase of royal statues to the complete Tutankhamun collection and the restored Khufu Solar Boat. After lunch, visit the Citadel of Saladin and its Alabaster Mosque, then end in Khan el-Khalili, the old bazaar of lanterns, spices and silver, with coffee at one of Cairo's oldest coffee houses.

Take an early flight to Luxor and cross to the West Bank. Explore royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings, then the Temple of Hatshepsut rising from the cliffs of Deir el-Bahari, and stop at the Colossi of Memnon. Board MS Le Fayan for a late lunch. As evening falls, visit Luxor Temple when its columns are lit against the night sky.

Spend the morning at Karnak, the largest temple complex ever built, home to the Great Hypostyle Hall and its forest of 134 columns, the obelisk of Queen Hatshepsut and the Sacred Lake. Return to the ship for lunch as MS Le Fayan sets sail south. Pass through the Esna Lock and watch river life from the sun deck, with tea time on board and an overnight mooring at Edfu.

After breakfast, ride by horse-drawn carriage to the Temple of Horus at Edfu, the best preserved temple in Egypt, its roof, walls and towering pylon still standing. Sail on to Kom Ombo for its double temple dedicated to Sobek and Haroeris, and the small Crocodile Museum. In the evening, dress in a traditional galabeya for a festive dinner with Egyptian music on board.

Set off early for Abu Simbel, where Ramses II carved his great temple, and a smaller one for Queen Nefertari, into the mountainside. Both were moved block by block in the 1960s to save them from the rising waters of Lake Nasser. Return to Aswan for lunch on board, then take a motorboat through the granite islands of the First Cataract to a Nubian village, where a local family welcomes you for tea.

Leave the ship after breakfast and visit the Unfinished Obelisk, still lying in the granite quarry where it cracked, and which would have been the largest ever raised. Take a short boat ride to the island Temple of Philae, dedicated to Isis and rebuilt stone by stone on Agilkia Island. In the afternoon, fly to Cairo and check in to the Waldorf Astoria Cairo Heliopolis.

Visit the Giza Pyramids and the Sphinx with your Egyptologist guide, the monuments that have drawn travellers for thousands of years. The afternoon is free to rest at the Waldorf Astoria Cairo Heliopolis, before a farewell dinner celebrating your journey along the Nile.

A last breakfast in Cairo closes one of our most loved Egypt Nile cruise packages. Depending on your flight time, enjoy a final stroll along the Corniche or simply pack at leisure. A private transfer takes you to Cairo International Airport, where our team assists you through check-in and security. Your trip concierge remains available until you are on board.