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Choose from our collection below of 5* Nile cruise boats and hotels in Cairo.
Every vessel and hotel on this itinerary is personally inspected by Classic Holidays. The cruise boats carry the Cristal Award, an international certification assessed against health, hygiene, and quality standards, and upper and middle deck cabins with balconies are included as standard at no extra charge.
The Cairo hotels sit on the Giza side of the city, close to the plateau and the Grand Egyptian Museum, with half board as the standard basis. A pyramid-view room upgrade and a bed-and-breakfast option are both available on request.
The cruise boats on this itinerary are selected from a personally inspected fleet of 5-star Cristal-awarded vessels, with a choice of cabin layouts and specifications to suit different preferences. Speak to the team to find the right combination of boat and Cairo hotel for your dates.
The Essence of Egypt is Classic Holidays’ shortest Egypt holiday: 7 nights covering the two things most first-time visitors come for, a Nile cruise holiday and the Cairo pyramids, without the extended schedule of the longer itineraries. It runs as a 4-night cruise from Luxor to Aswan, then a short flight north to Cairo for 3 nights by the Giza plateau. From £2,389 per person, it is the most compact way to take in Egypt’s greatest ancient sites without cutting any of them short.
The short Egypt holiday format is not a compromise; it is a design choice. The Luxor to Aswan cruise covers every major Nile valley site in 4 days, with 7 guided excursions included in the price. Cairo then adds the pyramids, the Great Sphinx, and the option of a morning at the Grand Egyptian Museum. The whole itinerary fits into a standard week’s leave. Travellers who want more time on the ground should look at the Classic Egypt Tour, which runs to 10 nights. For a 7-day Egypt tour that covers the essentials properly, Essence is the most direct route.
The Essence of Egypt price from £2,389 per person includes return flights from Heathrow or Manchester, all road and air transfers including the internal flight from Luxor to Cairo on Day 5, airport taxes and fuel supplements, 4 nights full board on the 5-star Cristal-awarded Nile cruise, and 3 nights half board at a 5-star Cairo hotel on the Giza side of the city. All 7 cruise excursions are included with entrance fees, with no hidden extras at any of the ancient sites on the Nile leg.
Full board on the cruise covers breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea, and dinner every day. An all-inclusive drinks upgrade is available at £140 per person. The Cairo hotel is half board as standard, with a bed-and-breakfast option available, and a pyramid-view room upgrade can be arranged if you want to wake up facing the ancient world.
The Cairo sightseeing days are structured as optional excursions rather than included visits. The Day 6 programme covers Giza and the Grand Egyptian Museum; Day 7 covers Memphis, Saqqara, the Citadel, and the Khan el-Khalili Bazaar. All Cairo excursions can be purchased before departure. An optional Abu Simbel visit (approximately £120 per person by road or £280 per person by air) and the Philae sound and light show (approximately £55 per person) are also available. There is no hot air balloon option on this itinerary, as the cruise ends at Aswan rather than returning to Luxor.
Classic Holidays trades as Co-op Travel Services Ltd, an Accredited Body Member of the Co-operative Travel Consortium, and holds ABTA membership P7508 and ATOL number 12904. All flights and flight-inclusive holidays are financially protected by the ATOL scheme; protection does not apply to non-flight holiday and travel services. Our UK call centre is open 7 days a week from 9am to 9pm on freephone 0800 041 8400.
Depart the UK and arrive at Luxor International Airport, where you are met and transferred to your 5-star Nile cruise boat. Dinner is served on board, or a light snack for late arrivals. Overnight in Luxor.
Breakfast on board, then an early morning visit to the West Bank, taking in the Colossi of Memnon, the Valley of the Kings, the Valley of the Queens, and the mortuary temple of Hatshepsut.
Breakfast and lunch are served on board as you continue south. Before dinner, visit Kom Ombo Temple, dedicated to both Sobek (the crocodile god) and the falcon god Horus in a unique double-sided layout, along with the adjacent crocodile museum with its mummified artefacts. Sail to Aswan and overnight.
After breakfast, visit the High Dam (built 1960 to 1971), the Unfinished Obelisk, and the Temple of Isis on Philae Island. Lunch is on board, with the afternoon at leisure. An optional sound and light show at the Temple of Philae is available in the evening (approximately £55 per person).
There is an optional early morning visit to Abu Simbel (approximately £120 per person by road or £280 per person by air). After breakfast, check out and transfer to Luxor Airport for the internal flight north to Cairo, where you are met and transferred to your 5-star hotel on the Giza side of the city.
There is an optional morning visit to the Giza Plateau, where the 3 Fourth Dynasty pyramids and the Great Sphinx stand as the best-preserved monuments of the ancient world. After lunch, an optional guided visit to the Grand Egyptian Museum, the world’s largest archaeological museum, takes in the complete Tutankhamun collection. Evening at leisure. All Cairo excursions are optional extras purchasable before departure.
There is an optional morning visit to Memphis, Egypt’s founding capital, and Saqqara, where Djoser’s Step Pyramid is widely regarded as the oldest large-scale stone structure in history. After lunch, visit the Citadel, the medieval fortification begun by Saladin in 1183 and home to the Mosque of Mohamed Ali, followed by the Khan el-Khalili Bazaar in Islamic Cairo. Evening at leisure.
Transfer to Cairo International Airport for your return flight to the UK.
*Excursions in Cairo are optional extras which can be purchased before departure. View all our optional extra Cairo excursions here
Please note: the order or content of your itinerary may be amended due to lock closures, low water levels or any other unforeseeable circumstancese.
The Essence of Egypt tour is available from £2,389 per person, including flights from Heathrow or Manchester, all transfers, 7 guided cruise excursions and full board on the cruise. Friday, Saturday and Monday departures are available, with alternative Cairo-first or cruise-first sequences on request.
To get a personalised, no-obligation quote, contact our team online or call us on freephone 0800 041 8400. Our UK call centre is open 7 days a week from 9am to 9pm. Use the quote form on this page if you prefer, and a specialist will call you back.
Classic Holidays has been arranging Egypt holidays for over 30 years. If the 7-night Essence itinerary feels too short for what you have in mind, the Classic Egypt Tour extends to 10 nights with 3 nights in Cairo and a full 7-night cruise. If you want the cruise without the Cairo extension, the 4-night Nile cruise itinerary is available as a standalone booking.
The Essence of Egypt tour is 7 nights in total: 4 nights on the 5-star Nile cruise from Luxor to Aswan, then an internal flight to Cairo for 3 nights by the Giza pyramids. You depart the UK on Day 1 and return from Cairo on Day 8, making it a full-week holiday that fits into a standard week’s leave.
The price from £2,389 per person covers return flights from Heathrow or Manchester, all transfers including the internal Luxor to Cairo flight, airport taxes and fuel supplements, 4 nights full board on the 5-star Cristal-awarded Nile cruise, 3 nights half board at a 5-star Cairo hotel, and all 7 guided cruise excursions with entrance fees. An all-inclusive drinks upgrade for the cruise is available at £140 per person. Cairo sightseeing excursions are optional extras.
Yes, if the itinerary is well designed. The 4-night cruise covers all the main Nile valley sites between Luxor and Aswan, with 7 guided excursions included. The 3 Cairo nights give time for the pyramids, the Great Sphinx and the Grand Egyptian Museum on Day 6, and Memphis, Saqqara and the Citadel on Day 7. The pace is full but not rushed. Travellers who want a slower schedule, or an extra night in Cairo, should look at the Classic Egypt Tour at 10 nights.
The cruise runs from Luxor to Aswan over 4 nights. Day 2 covers Luxor’s West Bank, including the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens. Day 3 sails south via Esna to Kom Ombo and on to Aswan. Day 4 visits the High Dam, the Unfinished Obelisk and the Temple of Isis on Philae Island. The cruise ends at Aswan, and you fly north to Cairo on Day 5.
The 7 cruise excursions are included in the tour price with entrance fees. The Cairo sightseeing days are optional: Giza and the Grand Egyptian Museum on Day 6, and Memphis, Saqqara, the Citadel and the Khan el-Khalili Bazaar on Day 7. All Cairo excursions can be purchased before departure. There is no included sightseeing in Cairo in the base price.
The standard cruise basis is full board: breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner are served on board every day. An all-inclusive drinks upgrade is available for £140 per person, covering house wines, beers, soft drinks and water throughout the 4-night cruise. Note that the drinks upgrade on this tour is £140 per person, not £199, as the cruise runs for 4 nights rather than 7.
Classic Holidays trades as Co-op Travel Services Ltd, an Accredited Body Member of the Co-operative Travel Consortium, and holds ABTA membership P7508 and ATOL number 12904. All flights and flight-inclusive holidays are financially protected by the ATOL scheme; protection does not apply to non-flight holiday and travel services. For further details, see the booking conditions or visit the Civil Aviation Authority.
Classic Holidays when selling travel arrangements is a trading name of Co-op Travel Services Ltd. Classic Holidays is an Accredited Body Member of Co-operative Travel Consortium. (ABTA P7508, ATOL 12904).
Your Financial Protection: Book with Confidence. Classic Holidays is a Member of ABTA. ABTA and ABTA Members help holidaymakers to get the most from their travel and assist when things don’t go according to plan. We are obliged to maintain a high standard of service to you by ABTA’s Code of Conduct.
All of the flights and flight-inclusive holidays on this website are financially protected by the ATOL scheme but ATOL protection does not apply to non-flight holiday and travel services offered on this website. Classic Holidays will provide you with information on the protection that applies in the case of each holiday and travel service offered before you make your booking. If you do not receive an ATOL Certificate then the booking will not be ATOL protected. If you do receive an ATOL Certificate but all parts of your trip are not listed on it, those parts will not be ATOL protected. Please see our booking conditions for information, or for more information about financial protection and the ATOL Certificate go to: www.caa.co.uk
