Three nights under the pyramids, a sleeper train south through the desert, and three more drifting down the Nile from Aswan to Luxor. Five thousand years in a week, and you unpack twice.
FromUS$1,030per person, twin share — three nights in Cairo, the overnight sleeper to Aswan, and a three-night Nile cruise with all meals and guided temple visits. Budget separately for flights, site tickets and the Cairo transfers. Compare the three hotel tiers
Fly into Cairo International (CAI) and home from Luxor (LXR), which usually connects through Cairo. An open-jaw ticket saves you doubling back 700km. Tell us your departure city and we will price the flights with the tour.
Confirmation
Tell us your dates and a tier → we confirm the Cairo hotel, the sleeper cabin and the boat within 24 hours → a deposit holds all three → vouchers by email before you fly. Departs most days, though the boats sail on fixed cycles — tell us your dates early.
The sleeper train is included, and that is deliberate. It is the one leg on this trip you could not sort out yourself on the day, because the cruise starts in Aswan and a client who booked the cruise but not the train would be holding something they could not reach. It is also the better way to go: an overnight train through the desert with dinner in your cabin is part of the trip, not a chore. If you would rather fly to Aswan, say so and we will price that instead — it is about an hour.
The trip at a glance
Cairo
Days 1–4 · the pyramids
01
Cairo
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Arrive Cairo AT LEISURE
Into Cairo International. Transfers are not included — the airport is 20km out and a metered taxi or Uber runs about US$8–12.
Settle in Cairo. Nothing today is time-critical, which is deliberate: the flight in is usually long.
Cash matters here. Cards work in hotels and better restaurants; markets, taxis and tips do not. Draw Egyptian pounds at the airport and keep small notes.
Overnight in Cairo.
02
Cairo
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Giza & the Grand Egyptian Museum AT LEISURE
The Pyramids of Giza — Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure, built around 2560 BC, and the only one of the seven ancient wonders still standing.
Going inside a pyramid is a separate ticket, and it is a hot, low, airless climb. Worth it once; skip it if you are claustrophobic.
The Grand Egyptian Museum next door — the largest archaeological museum in the world, with Tutankhamun's complete tomb collection, over 5,000 objects, together for the first time.
Give the museum half a day, not two hours. Almost everyone underestimates it.
Overnight in Cairo.
Add to this day — approximate gate prices
Grand Egyptian MuseumEGP 1,450 · about US$30Book aheadThe one unmissable ticket in Cairo. Foreign visitors must book online in advance — there is no gate sale — so let us add it to your tour rather than arriving hopeful.
Inside the Great PyramidEGP 1,500 · about US$31More than the plateau ticket and more than the museum, for a hot, low, airless climb. Worth it once; skip it if you are claustrophobic. Khafre's pyramid is EGP 280 and Menkaure's EGP 200 — you go inside a pyramid either way, at a fifth of the price.
The Giza plateau itselfEGP 700 · about US$14General entry, covering the plateau and the Sphinx but no pyramid interior. Cash at the gate — there is no official online sale for Giza, so bring Egyptian pounds.
We can book any of these with your tour. Tell us which you want when you confirm and the tickets travel with your documents.
03
Cairo
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Saqqara & Khan el-Khalili AT LEISURE
Saqqara — the Step Pyramid of Djoser, older than Giza and the first large stone building anyone ever put up. Far quieter than the Giza plateau.
Back into the city for Khan el-Khalili, a market since 1382 and still a working one.
Coffee at El Fishawy in the middle of it, which by local account has not closed in two hundred years.
Overnight in Cairo.
Add to this day — approximate gate prices
Saqqara & the Step PyramidEGP 600 · about US$12Its own site ticket, separate from Giza. Quieter, older, and many people prefer it.
Khan el-KhaliliFree to enterYou pay for what you buy, and haggling is expected rather than rude.
We can book any of these with your tour. Tell us which you want when you confirm and the tickets travel with your documents.
04
The sleeper
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Cairo → Aswan by sleeper TICKETS INCLUDED
Evening at Ramses Station for the overnight train south. Your cabin is included — twin berths, a fold-down basin, and dinner served at your seat.
The train runs about 13 hours. Breakfast arrives as the desert outside turns pink, which is the reason to take the train rather than fly.
Tonight is your bed — there is no hotel on day 4, which is why this is an 8-day trip with 7 nights.
Overnight on the train.
In your price today — go at your own pace
The overnight sleeper to Aswan, twin cabin
The Nile
Days 5–8 · Aswan to Luxor
05
Aswan
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Aswan & Philae GUIDED
Into Aswan at breakfast and straight aboard. The boat is your hotel for three nights, full board, with an Egyptologist guide.
Philae Temple in the afternoon — a temple to Isis, moved stone by stone to a higher island when the High Dam flooded its own. You reach it by boat, which is half the pleasure.
A felucca at sunset if the boat offers it. The granite islands at Aswan go orange for about twenty minutes and then it is dark.
Overnight aboard, moored at Aswan.
In your price today — with your guide
Three nights on the Nile, Aswan to Luxor, full board with an Egyptologist guide
06
On the Nile
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Kom Ombo & Edfu GUIDED
Sailing north with the current. Kom Ombo first — a double temple split down the middle between two gods, with three hundred mummified crocodiles in the museum next door.
On to Edfu, the temple of Horus and the best-preserved in Egypt, because it lay buried in sand until the 1860s.
The rest of the day is the point of a Nile cruise: a deck chair, a river that has looked much the same for five thousand years, and nowhere you need to be.
Overnight aboard.
In your price today — with your guide
Aboard your Nile cruise — full board, and the guided visits to Kom Ombo and Edfu
07
Luxor
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Luxor & the Valley of the Kings GUIDED
Into Luxor — ancient Thebes, with more of ancient Egypt standing above ground here than anywhere else on earth.
Karnak on the east bank, then across the river to the Valley of the Kings: sixty-three rock-cut tombs, including Tutankhamun's.
Your standard ticket covers three tombs. Tutankhamun, Seti I and Ramses V/VI are each a separate charge on top — decide before you go in, not at the gate.
Overnight aboard, moored at Luxor.
In your price today — with your guide
Aboard your Nile cruise — full board, and the guided day at Luxor and the Valley of the Kings
08
Departure
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Luxor → onward AT LEISURE
Disembark after breakfast. Luxor airport is 10 minutes out and connects through Cairo.
If you have the morning, the Luxor Museum is small, superbly lit, and the opposite of overwhelming after a week of temples.
Your Hotels
Three nights in Cairo, then four beds you do not choose: one on the sleeper train and three aboard the boat. The Cairo hotels below are named properties rather than a star-rating filter — Egyptian hotels self-declare their stars, and a search for “4-star Giza” returns guesthouses at eight dollars a night. Every property here has thousands of recent reviews.
Comfort · 4★ downtown
Central Cairo, and a well-regarded boatA large, long-established 4-star in downtown Cairo, rated above 9 by more than eleven thousand guests, paired with a comfortable standard cruise boat. The best value on this trip by a distance.
Deluxe · 5★ on the Nile
A Nile-side 5★, and a deluxe boatA 5-star on the river in Zamalek or Garden City — pool, garden, and a Nile view — with a deluxe cruise boat carrying larger cabins and a better table.
Luxury · at the pyramids
A pyramid view from the room, and a luxury boatThe landmark address on the Giza plateau, where the pyramids are the view from your balcony, with a luxury or boutique boat on the Nile leg. Named on booking.
You will know exactly where you are staying before you pay a balance. We name the property in your confirmation, in writing, as soon as the room is held — and if it is ever unavailable for your dates we substitute at the same tier or better, never below it.
Restaurants worth trying
Your nights on the Nile cruise include all meals. In Cairo they are yours to choose, so here is where we would eat. We do not arrange any of these and you would pay for them yourself. They are simply places we rate, near where the trip goes. Tick any you like and they appear on the map.
Suggested, not included. Opening hours and prices are theirs, not ours — and a place that is busy at eight will be busy whether or not you booked through us.
Tour Price
All prices are per person, twin share, in US dollars — the figure below is what you pay us. It covers three nights in Cairo with breakfast, the overnight sleeper cabin to Aswan, and the three-night Nile cruise with full board and its guided temple visits. The tiers differ by hotel and by boat. These are website estimates, confirmed against live availability for your actual dates.
Hotel tier
Per person, twin share
Single supplement
Comfort — 4★ downtown & standard boat
from US$1,030
+US$220
Deluxe — 5★ Nile-side & deluxe boat
from US$1,675
+US$325
Luxury — pyramid view & luxury boat
from US$2,600
+US$630
Included
3 nights in Cairo with breakfast · the overnight sleeper train to Aswan, twin cabin, with dinner and breakfast served on board · a 3-night Nile cruise from Aswan to Luxor, full board, with an Egyptologist guide and the temple visits at Philae, Kom Ombo and Edfu · all transfers between the train, the boat and the sites once you are on the Nile leg
Not included
International flights · Cairo transfers and the Cairo sightseeing days — you are free to arrange them or we will quote · site tickets, which in Egypt add up: the Grand Egyptian Museum, the pyramid interiors and the Valley of the Kings are all separate · the Egyptian visa · lunches and dinners in Cairo · tipping, which is customary and constant · travel insurance
How the flexi tour works. Choose any departure date and a hotel tier → we confirm availability and the exact price within 24 hours → pay a deposit to hold it → your final documents and vouchers arrive by email a week before you fly. There is no group to join and no fixed departure day.
Seasonal pricing.Summer is low season and these rates come from it — Upper Egypt reaches 40°C and beyond in July and August, which is exactly why it is cheap. Sites open early and shut in the afternoon heat. October to April is the pleasant stretch and costs meaningfully more, with Christmas and New Year the peak. Ramadan changes opening hours and the mood of the country — not a reason to avoid it, but a reason to ask us first.
Budget separately for:site tickets, which in Egypt genuinely add up — the Grand Egyptian Museum, the Giza plateau, going inside a pyramid, Saqqara and the extra Valley of the Kings tombs are all separate · Cairo transfers and your three Cairo sightseeing days · tipping, which is customary, constant and expected in small notes · lunches and dinners in Cairo · the Egyptian visa · international flights and travel insurance · the single supplement above covers the hotel and the train cabin; a solo cabin on the boat is quoted separately.
Start your booking
Tell us who you are and when you want to go.
We’ll reply within a business day with the price and what’s available.
A deposit holds it, and comes back in full if we can’t get your dates.
✓
That is with us
If you do not hear from us, email
info@dltravel.net and we will pick it up.