7 nights / 8 days · Arab Republic of Egypt

Cairo, Aswan and Luxor

The Upper Egypt route done from hotels rather than a boat — Cairo, Alexandria, Abu Simbel, and two full days at Luxor.

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Duration: 7 nights / 8 days
Where you stay: Cairo → Aswan → Luxor
Style: Multi-city
From: AED 5,135per person

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About this trip

The same temples as the cruise itineraries, reached by plane and car and slept off in hotels. Three nights in Cairo cover Giza, the Civilization Museum and a full day up the Delta to Alexandria; then a flight south to Aswan for Philae and the four-o'clock convoy to Abu Simbel; then the four-hour road to Luxor.

What it buys you is space and time. Luxor gets two nights instead of one, so Karnak and Luxor Temple happen on the afternoon you arrive and the whole of the next morning is free for the Valley of the Kings — or for the balloon, if you are willing to be collected at four. What it costs you is Kom Ombo, Edfu and the river itself, which only the cruise packages reach.

What you go for

Two nights at Luxor, with the west bank given a full morning
Abu Simbel on the fixed early convoy from Aswan
Philae, the High Dam and the Unfinished Obelisk at Aswan
A full day in Roman Alexandria from a Cairo base

The route

Day by day

Times are the operator's planned schedule. They shift with the season, the light and the traffic on the day.

Day 1
Arrival in Cairo
Arrive at Cairo International
Met in the arrivals hall by our representative, who takes the group through immigration and customs formalities.
Transfer by private vehicle to your hotel, and check in.
Day 2
Giza, the Civilization Museum and Khan El Khalili
0800
The Pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx
Raised around 2500 BC as the necropolis of the fourth-dynasty kings, and close enough to the edge of the city that the scale takes a moment to land. The Sphinx — a lion's body under a human head — was set below them to keep watch. The morning also takes in the shop stops the operator builds in: a papyrus institute, a perfume factory and a cotton shop.
National Museum of Egyptian Civilization
The Royal Mummies Hall holds twenty royal mummies in a climate-controlled gallery arranged to explain how mummification worked and who these people were, rather than simply displaying them.
Khan El Khalili
The market on El Moez Street, laid out under the Mamluks in the fourteenth century and still the place to buy anything in Cairo. Touring ends here at about 1600.
Day 3
Alexandria and back
0700
Breakfast, then out of the city. Alexandria is 225 kilometres up the Delta, around two and a half hours by road.
Full day
Roman Alexandria
The Catacombs of Kom El-Shoqafa, a Roman cemetery cut three levels down into the rock; the Roman amphitheatre, with marble seating for around 800, its galleries, a surviving section of mosaic floor and a garden ringed by villas and baths; and Pompey's Pillar, a 25-metre granite column raised for the Emperor Diocletian in AD 297.
The Citadel of Qaitbay is seen from the outside. It stands on the site of the Pharos, the lighthouse of ancient Alexandria.
1800
Back in Cairo at about six, and check in at your hotel.
Day 4
Cairo to Aswan
Overnight: Aswan
Morning
Breakfast and check-out, then transfer to Cairo airport for the flight to Aswan. Met on arrival.
Philae, the High Dam and the Unfinished Obelisk
Philae was built for the worship of Isis and Hathor and moved stone by stone to its present island when the dam flooded the old one. The High Dam, completed in 1960 under Nasser, holds back the flood and generates the country's power. The Unfinished Obelisk still lies in its red granite quarry, cracked before it could be raised for Amun-Ra.
Transfer to your hotel and check in.
Day 5
Abu Simbel and back to Aswan
Overnight: Aswan
0400
Abu Simbel
Breakfast boxed, and away at the fixed convoy time. Ramses II cut both temples straight into the rock face; sand buried them until the nineteenth century, and the whole site was lifted above the rising lake in the 1960s.
Back to Aswan after the visit, and the rest of the day at the hotel.
Day 6
Aswan to Luxor by road
Overnight: Luxor
Morning
Breakfast and check-out, then the direct road north to Luxor — about four hours. Check in on arrival.
Afternoon
Karnak and Luxor Temples
Karnak was added to by pharaoh after pharaoh over some two thousand years, which is why it reads less as one building than as a record of everyone who wanted to be remembered there. Luxor Temple sits at the other end of the avenue of sphinxes, in the middle of the modern town.
Day 7
The west bank at Luxor
Overnight: Luxor
0400
Hot air balloon (optional)
Pick-up at about four for the balloon over the west bank. Priced separately at USD 115 per person.
Morning
Breakfast at the hotel.
Morning
Valley of the Kings, Hatshepsut and the Colossi
Three royal tombs in the valley the New Kingdom pharaohs chose for their burials. Then Hatshepsut's terraced mortuary temple at Deir el-Bahari, where the queen is shown wearing the pharaoh's beard, and the Colossi of Memnon — two seated figures raised around 1350 BC and all that is left standing of the funerary temple of Amenhotep III.
Day 8
Departure from Luxor
Morning
Breakfast and check-out, then transfer to Luxor airport for your onward flight.

Where you stay

Hotel options

Pick a line and the whole trip is costed against it, so you can see what the difference actually buys.

5★
- Movenpick Media City, Cairo
- Tolip Aswan
- Steigenberger Achti, Luxor
AED 5,135per person

Per person, twin share. Land only — international flights are not included. Rates move with the season, the number of you travelling and the hotel line you choose, so we confirm the final figure against your dates before anything is booked.

The detail

What is included

Included

Meet and greet at the airport, with assistance through immigration and customs formalities.
Sightseeing as set out in the day-by-day above, entrance fees included.
Qualified English-speaking guide on every touring day.
Transport by private air-conditioned vehicle. Sightseeing in Cairo is on a private basis.
Three nights in Cairo, bed and breakfast, standard room.
Two nights in Aswan, bed and breakfast, standard room.
Two nights in Luxor, bed and breakfast, standard room.
All transfers in Cairo, Aswan and Luxor, airport and hotel both ways.

Not included

International flights.
Meals other than the board basis listed above.
Beverages, drinks and mineral water with meals.
Inside entrance to the pyramids — USD 40 per person for the Great Pyramid, USD 15 for the second or third.
Grand Egyptian Museum supplement — USD 30 per person, in place of the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization.
Peak-period supplement of USD 25 per person per night over Christmas and New Year (22 December 2026 – 5 January 2027) and Easter (24 March – 4 April 2027).
Optional tours.
Expenses of a personal nature.
Egypt entry visa. No fee is quoted against this package; the other four Egypt packages here state USD 33 per person.
Domestic flights Cairo to Aswan and Luxor to Cairo.
Abu Simbel Sun Festival supplement — USD 25 per person on 22 October 2026 and 22 February 2027.
Hot air balloon over Luxor — USD 115 per person.
Tips, budgeted by the operator at USD 7 per person per day across eight days.

Meal upgrades

Festive gala dinner: A gala dinner falls in the Christmas, New Year and Easter periods. The operator has not yet advised its price, and we confirm the figure with your quote.

Entry rules, tourism taxes and health requirements change without notice and depend on your passport. Everything above is confirmed by our operations desk before your booking is finalised.

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