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Choose from our collection below of 5* Luxury Nile cruise boats and 5* Luxury hotels on the Red Sea Riviera.
11 Guided Excursions included (NO HIDDEN EXTRAS) with our highly experienced PhD qualified English-speaking Egyptologist-Guide
Magical Egypt is our 10-night holiday pairing 3 nights all-inclusive at a 5-star Red Sea hotel with a 7-night full-board cruise between Luxor and Aswan, from £2179pp. It is the shortest and lowest-priced of our Nile cruise and Red Sea combinations, built for travellers who want the temples of Upper Egypt and a few days on the coast without giving up a fortnight of annual leave.
The running order matters, and ours puts the coast first. You fly into Hurghada, settle into your all-inclusive hotel for 3 nights, then travel by road to Luxor to board the boat. That means the holiday builds rather than winds down: you arrive relaxed, and the last week is spent among the Valley of the Kings, Karnak, and the Temple of Philae, with the sights still fresh when you fly home. Guests who want longer on the sand tend to look at our 14-night Jewels of Egypt instead, which includes 7 nights on the Red Sea.
We have sold Egypt and nothing else for over 30 years, and every vessel and hotel we use has been inspected in person by our own team. The cruise element operates on 5-star vessels holding an Intertek Cristal food hygiene certificate, and you can see the standard for yourself on our 5-star Nile cruise boats pages. Guiding is handled throughout by English-speaking Egyptologists, not general reps, which is the difference between being walked past a cartouche and having it read to you.
Departures are genuinely regional. Magical Egypt flies on a Friday from Birmingham, Bristol, East Midlands, Gatwick, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Luton, Manchester, or Newcastle, and on a Tuesday or Saturday from Cardiff. Flights, transfers, and taxes are included in the lead price, as are 11 guided excursions across the cruise, so the figure you see is close to the figure you pay. The same guiding team and fleet serve our wider range of Nile cruise holidays.
Traditional in style, with modern arabesque architecture and unique interior design, El Gouna, situated twenty kilometres North of Hurghada, offers a fine selection of hotels. All the hotels and resorts are located in idyllic settings between the majestic mountains of the desert and the clear blue waters of the Red Sea, surrounded by natural and artificial lagoons designed to form the shape of a star.
One of Egypt’s premier leisure destinations, visitors can mingle with the locals and explore the Old Town, where quaint and sophisticated shops offering both International and local products are vying for passing trade. Dining options are plentiful and varied, with restaurants, cafes, bars and local inns all within easy reach. Entertainment and sports are plentiful with an open-air cinema, go-karting, museum, an aquarium and swimming during the day.
For night owls, there are nightclubs where they can dance the night away. With an eighteen-hole Championship golf course catering to golfers in this calm and relaxing oasis, El Gouna has something for everyone.
Originally a sleepy, remote fishing village, Hurghada has become one of the liveliest and busiest resorts in the Red Sea, retaining the character and charm of bygone days. It is emerging as one of the modern treasures of Egypt for luxury holidaymakers.
The resort boasts all the facilities of a modern Egyptian city without losing its timeless desert quality. Some of the finest underwater gardens in the world offshore beckon snorkellers and divers alike to experience the beautiful corals and spectacular marine life for which the Red Sea is renowned. Hurghada has a fine selection of quality hotels with water sports facilities, including windsurfing, sailing, deep sea fishing, swimming, colourful bazaars and a lively, varied nightlife. Hurghada is a haven for water sports enthusiasts and sun seekers.
Those who want to glimpse the wonders of the Red Sea without getting wet can visit the Red Sea Aquarium. Alternatively, you can dive to dizzy depths in comfort aboard the Sinbad Submarine. Another window to the underwater world of the Red Sea is offered to you on board a glass-bottom boat.
Merging the old with the new, Hurghada has something to offer those interested in the resort’s history with excursions to Roman sites or the monasteries of St. Paul and St. Anthony.
Depart UK. Upon arrival at Hurghada Airport, you will be met and transferred to the hotel of your choice in the Red Sea for a 3 nights stay.
Relax on the wonderous Red Sea with clear blue waters, golden beaches and Luxury Hotels.
You will be transferred from your hotel to Luxor to board your five star Nile cruise boat. Dinner on board. Overnight in Luxor.
Breakfast on board, early morning visit to the West Bank, including the Colossi of Memnon, Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens, burial sites for many of the most powerful and successful pharaohs and high priests, as well as the Temple of Hatshepsut.
Breakfast and lunch are on board whilst continuing the journey south before sailing to Kom Ombo to visit the temple before dinner. Unlike many others in Egypt, this temple was dedicated to two gods; the Southern section is dedicated to Sobek, the crocodile-headed man, god of fertility, and the Northern section to the Falcon-headed god Horus. There is also a fascinating crocodile museum to visit, which has many artefacts and mummified crocodiles. Sail to Aswan and overnight in Aswan.
After breakfast, visit the High Dam in Aswan, built between 1960-1971 to provide electricity to the villages along the Nile, the Unfinished Obelisk and the Temple of Isis on Philae Island. Lunch on board and afternoon at leisure with an opportunity to revisit the Temple of Philae for an **optional sound & light show in the evening (priced at approx. £55pp).
After breakfast, there is the option of a morning at leisure or an early morning **optional visit to Abu Simbel (priced at approx. £120pp by road or £280pp by air). This impressive temple, built by Rameses II stands on the banks of Lake Nasser. After lunch on board, there is a relaxing boat trip around Elephantine Island to the Botanical Gardens on General Kitchener Island. Dinner and overnight in Aswan.
Morning at leisure. Lunch on board and then set sail to Kom Ombo. After a brief stop at Kom Ombo, continue sailing and overnight.
After lunch, you will be taken by coach to visit the ‘world’s largest and greatest open-air museum’ known as Karnak Temple, which covers a large area of land and includes several temples, the largest of them being the Temple of Amun. Then, drive a short distance to Luxor Temple. Originally, the temple was joined to Karnak by a long avenue of Sphinxes, many of which can still be seen today. Returning to the boat for Dinner on board. Overnight in Luxor.
**Optional early morning balloon ride for the adventurous (priced at approx. £110pp). Breakfast on board followed by check-out and onward transfer to the airport.
Please note: the order or content of your itinerary may be amended due to lock closures, low water levels or any other unforeseeable circumstances.
The road transfer from Hurghada to Luxor takes approx. 4 hours and Hurghada to El Gouna takes approx. 4.5 hours.
The cruise is 7 nights aboard a 5-star vessel sailing between Luxor and Aswan on full board, with 11 guided excursions included and an Egyptologist accompanying every one of them.
Luxor bookends the cruise. On the first full day, you cross to the west bank for the rock-cut tombs of the Valley of the Kings, then the Valley of the Queens, the terraced Temple of Hatshepsut beneath its cliff at Deir el-Bahri, the Temple of Medinet Habu, and the two weathered Colossi of Memnon standing alone in a field. The east bank is saved for the return to Luxor: Karnak, an enormous complex built and rebuilt over many centuries, with the hypostyle hall and its forest of columns as the centrepiece, and Luxor Temple, best appreciated in the late light.
Sailing south, the boat calls at Kom Ombo, unusual for its double sanctuary dedicated to Sobek and Haroeris, sitting right on the riverbank. At Aswan, the pace shifts: the Temple of Philae in its island setting, the High Dam, the Unfinished Obelisk still lying in the granite quarry where it cracked, and a boat trip around Elephantine Island past the palm-fringed banks and the Nubian villages.
Days follow a rhythm. Excursions start early to beat the heat, and afternoons belong to the sun deck as the banks change from plentiful cane and banana fields to bare desert edge. Evening moorings are usually within walking distance of town. Optional extras are priced at £199pp for the all-inclusive drinks upgrade on the cruise; approximately £120pp for Abu Simbel by road or £280pp by air; approximately £55pp for the Philae sound and light show; and approximately £110pp for a hot air balloon over the Luxor west bank at sunrise.
Every Magical Egypt booking is made through our UK office under ABTA membership P7508 and ATOL 12904. ATOL protection applies to flights and flight-inclusive holidays, but not to non-flight holidays and travel services.
The two holidays share the same 7-night cruise but run in the opposite order. Magical Egypt starts with 3 nights on the Red Sea and finishes on the Nile, all within 10 nights from £2179pp, so the coast is a short warm-up before the cruise rather than a fortnight in the sun. Jewels of Egypt starts with the cruise and finishes with 7 nights on the Red Sea across 14 nights. Choose how much leave you have and how much beach you actually want. If 3 nights feels tight but 14 nights is too long, we can add extra Red Sea nights to Magical Egypt on request.
The £2179pp lead price covers return flights from your chosen UK airport, all airport and hotel transfers in Egypt, taxes, 3 nights all-inclusive at a 5-star Red Sea hotel, 7 nights full board on a 5-star Nile cruise vessel, and 11 guided excursions with an English-speaking Egyptologist. Drinks on the cruise, Abu Simbel, the balloon flight, and the Philae sound-and-light show are optional extras.
Magical Egypt runs for 10 nights in total. The first 3 nights are spent all-inclusive on the Red Sea coast, then a road transfer takes you to Luxor on day 4 to join the boat for 7 nights, sailing to Aswan and back. You disembark in Luxor and fly home on day 11.
The 3 nights are spent at a 5-star hotel in Hurghada, Makadi Bay, El Gouna, or Sharm El Sheikh. Hurghada is the arrival airport and offers the widest hotel choice at the lowest prices; Makadi Bay is quieter and hotel-led; El Gouna is a walkable lagoon town; and Sharm El Sheikh suits divers. Transfer times differ by resort, so tell us which you prefer, and we will confirm the arrangements before you book.
Yes. All 3 nights on the Red Sea are on an all-inclusive basis at a 5-star hotel, so meals, snacks, and local drinks are covered. The cruise element operates separately on a full-board basis, which includes all meals but not drinks. If you want drinks covered on the boat as well, the all-inclusive upgrade is £199pp for 7 nights.
Yes, extra nights on the coast can be added to the standard 10-night package on request, subject to hotel availability and flight days. Because departures run on fixed days from each UK airport, the number of additional nights that work cleanly varies by region. Call us on 0800 041 8400, and we will price the extension against your preferred departure airport before you commit.
October through to April brings the most comfortable conditions for sightseeing in Upper Egypt, with warm days and cooler mornings that suit the early starts at the Valley of the Kings. Summer sailings are hot inland but often carry lower prices, and the Red Sea half of the holiday is warm for most of the year. Tell us your dates, and we will advise honestly.
We are an ABTA member (number P7508) and hold ATOL 12904. ATOL protection applies to flights and flight-inclusive holidays, but not to non-flight holidays and travel services. We trade as Co-op Travel Services Ltd, with Accredited Body Membership of the Co-operative Travel Consortium. Our UK call centre handles every booking directly rather than through an overseas agent, and every holiday carries our peace of mind guarantee.
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
