Thirteen days is the length at which Egypt stops being a highlights reel. Cairo and Giza, the Grand Egyptian Museum, a Nile cruise between Luxor and Aswan — and still four or five days spare for whatever you actually came for. Our 13 day Egypt travel packages start at $1,699 per person and run to $6,300 for the 2027 eclipse itinerary.
The spine is the same across all seven trips: Cairo first, then south to Luxor and Aswan. What changes is the ending. Alexandria brings Greco-Roman Egypt and the Mediterranean, which almost no thirteen-day itinerary on the market includes. Hurghada or Sharm El Sheikh give you a week’s worth of beach in four days. The White Desert and the Siwa Oasis give you landscape you will not find anywhere else in the country — chalk formations, salt pools, palm groves, and virtually nobody else.
Every one of these itineraries includes a Nile cruise. Five use a standard cruise ship between Luxor and Aswan; two use a dahabiya, a small sailing boat of roughly ten cabins that can moor where the large ships cannot. Every operator in Egypt markets every boat as five-star. We grade ours honestly: Standard is a 3.5-star boat, Deluxe a 4, Ultra Deluxe a 4.5, and Luxury a genuine 5 by European or American measure. You will always be told which one you are booking.
Trips of seven days and over run as small groups capped at sixteen people, and any of them can be made fully private on request. Guiding is by qualified Egyptologists throughout. Egypt Best Vacations is a licensed Egyptian operator based in Luxor, run by working Egyptologists, and a TripAdvisor Travellers’ Choice winner three years running 2024, 2025 and 2026.
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At Egypt Best Vacations, we’re making this magic even more irresistible with unforgettable Egypt deals on our most popular Egypt tour packages, Nile cruises, and day tours!
Hubby and I have wanted to visit Egypt for ages but did not want to go as part of a large group. Found Egypt Best Vacations on Facebook and was impressed with the range of options available. We wanted to see as much of Egypt as possible and Egypt Best Vacations was great at helping us book the most suitable holiday for us at a reasonable price.
An awesome short 4 day trip for travelers wanting an authentic experience to explore ancient Egypt, with very informative and well known tour guides who were always helpful throughout the tour. Both Sara and Sami were great! Would recommend to anyone wanting to explore Egypt. A great experience!
Valley of Kings , Luxor Temple, Karnak Temple ,Felucca Ride in Aswan are very Good. Had wonderful time. The guide Mr.Essam Ali is Wonderful and Knowledgeable. He had taken very good care of us through our the trip at every place . We strongly recommend Mr.Essam Ali.
Great tour. Our guide Essam was excellent. He was very knowledgeable and articulated the tour well. Offering our group good advice on how to customize our tour based on our interests. He was sure to warn us on all potential scams aswell as unnecessary/non affiliated persons. He also went above by making our restaurant reservations for us.
We enjoyed our Egypt travels through Egypt Best Vacations. Essam is the best tour coordinator and guide one can find! I am so glad we found him because he made our trip memorable in so many ways! He was always able to make the tours fun by telling us stories of the past in engaging ways! He was always helpful and gave us honest guidance regarding all local experiences eg. How to behave with street vendors. You felt you could trust him and rely on him fully through the travel!
Thirteen days is more than enough for Egypt’s essentials and enough to add a second dimension on top. A standard route gives you three or four days in Cairo and Giza, a three or four-night Nile cruise between Luxor and Aswan, and then four or five days for Alexandria, the Red Sea or the Western Desert. Shorter trips force you to choose between the Nile and the coast; thirteen days does not.
Our seven itineraries run from $1,699 to $2,470 per person, plus the 2027 Luxor eclipse departure at $6,300. Prices are per person sharing a twin or double room on our Gold hotel tier, and include hotels, the Nile cruise on full board, transfers, Egyptologist guiding, entrance fees and domestic flights where the itinerary uses them. International flights, tips and the $30 visa are extra. The single supplement is 70% of the twin rate.
Trips of seven days and over, including all of these, run as small groups capped at sixteen people. Any of them can be made fully private on request — your own guide, driver and vehicle throughout — and we will quote the difference before you decide.
All seven cover Cairo and Giza, Luxor and Aswan, and a Nile cruise. From there they diverge: one adds Alexandria and Hurghada, one adds the Siwa Oasis, one adds the White Desert, one adds a desert safari with a dahabiya, and the eclipse itinerary finishes in Sharm El Sheikh. The comparison table above sets out which is which.
Yes. Every thirteen-day itinerary on this page includes a Nile cruise between Luxor and Aswan, either three or four nights. Five use a standard cruise ship and two use a dahabiya. The cruise covers Karnak and Luxor Temple, the Valley of the Kings, Edfu, Kom Ombo and Philae Temple on Agilkia Island.
A cruise ship carries 50 to 70 cabins, has a pool and sun deck, and moors in the main quays. A dahabiya carries around ten cabins, sails rather than motors, and moors at islands and sandbanks the big ships cannot use. The dahabiya is quieter and more private and costs roughly $500 more per person across a thirteen-day trip. Routes differ slightly too — the short Aswan-to-Luxor dahabiya leg does not call at Edfu.
If you have thirteen days, yes. Alexandria is Greco-Roman rather than pharaonic and Mediterranean rather than Saharan, so it genuinely changes the texture of the trip rather than adding more of the same. The Catacombs of Kom El Shoqafa and the Qaitbay Citadel, built on the foundations of the ancient lighthouse, are the two things to see. Very few thirteen-day packages include it.
Yes. Abu Simbel is the most popular addition to any Aswan itinerary and slots into all seven of these packages, either by road in a long day or by short flight. It is not included in the from-prices, so ask us to quote it when you enquire.
Yes, and thirteen days is the shortest trip where it works comfortably. Hurghada is roughly four hours by road from Luxor, so the cruise can end in the morning and your beach days begin the same afternoon. Sharm El Sheikh requires a flight but has better diving.
Egyptian star ratings are issued locally and run about one and a half grades above the equivalent property in Europe or North America, so we publish both figures. From-prices on this page are quoted on our Gold tier, which holds an Egyptian “5-star standard” license and is honestly around a 3.5-star Western hotel. Platinum (“5-star deluxe”) is roughly 4-star Western, and our Diamond (5-star ultra deluxe) and Elite (5-star luxury) tiers cover hotels such as the Sofitel Legend Old Cataract in Aswan and the Four Seasons at Nile Plaza in Cairo.
October to April, when Cairo, Luxor and Aswan sit in the low to mid twenties Celsius. Season matters more on a thirteen-day trip than a short one because you are outdoors most days. If your itinerary finishes in the White Desert or Siwa, travel between November and March — those legs are hard going above 40°C. The Red Sea works year-round.
It depends on the itinerary. Most of these packages include the Cairo–Luxor or Aswan–Cairo legs by air; some use overnight sleeper trains or private road transfers instead, which is part of why the prices differ. The tour page for each package lists exactly what is included.
Moderate, and spread out. Expect two to four hours on your feet at the major sites, on uneven ground at Karnak, the Valley of the Kings and Giza. There is no strenuous hiking on any of these itineraries apart from optional dune walking in the White Desert. If either of you would prefer a slower pace, tell us at the booking stage and the guide will plan around it.
Most nationalities can buy a visa on arrival at Egyptian airports for $30 per person in cash, or apply for an e-Visa in advance through the official government portal. Our representative meets you inside the arrivals terminal and handles the formalities with you. Check your own country’s requirements before you fly, as a small number of nationalities must apply in advance.
We are a licensed Egyptian tour operator based in Luxor, not an agency reselling somebody else’s ground handling. Our guides are qualified Egyptologists, our drivers are our own, and we have been a TripAdvisor Travellers’ Choice winner three years running 2024, 2025 and 2026. We also publish honest hotel and cruise ratings alongside the Egyptian ones, so you know before you pay what “five-star” actually means on your booking.