Our 3 night Dahabiya Nile cruise from Aswan to Esna carries more temples on the water than any other dahabiya route we run: Philae, Kom Ombo, Edfu and the sandstone quarries at Gebel el-Silsila — the last of which the large cruise ships cannot moor for at all.
A Nile cruise ship carries between 100 and 150 guests. A dahabiya carries between 8 and 28, depending on how many cabins she has, and our own group is capped at 16. She sails rather than motors, and ties up at sandbanks and quarry landings rather than concrete quays.
The journey opens in Aswan with the High Dam, the Unfinished Obelisk still lying where it cracked in the granite quarry, and Philae — the temple of Isis, lifted block by block onto Agilkia Island when the water rose behind the dam. You board that afternoon and sail for Kom Ombo.
Kom Ombo is the only temple in Egypt built as a true double: two entrances, two halls, two sanctuaries, one side for Sobek the crocodile god and one for Haroeris. The Crocodile Museum beside it holds the mummified crocodiles found on the site. From there you sail to Gebel el-Silsila, where the Nile narrows between sandstone cliffs and where most of the stone for Karnak and Luxor Temple was quarried. The chapel Horemheb cut into the rock face is still there. This is the stop that makes the route — there is no quay, which is precisely why the cruise ships pass it by.
Day three begins with a horse and carriage up to the Temple of Horus at Edfu, the most completely preserved temple in Egypt. Buried in silt for centuries, it kept its roof, its inner chambers and its inscriptions when others lost theirs. The black granite falcon still stands at the gate.
One thing to be clear about: Esna is where you disembark, not a sightseeing stop. The cruise ends at its mooring there, and you transfer by road to Luxor — about an hour — for a full day among the monuments. The Valley of the Kings, Hatshepsut’s terraces at Deir el-Bahari, the Colossi of Memnon, Karnak and Luxor Temple. It is a long, rich day, and all of it is included.
If you would rather sail the whole way and take Luxor at a slower pace across two days, our 4 days Dahabiya cruise from Aswan to Luxor does that instead. It trades Edfu and Gebel el-Silsila for a visit to the Temple of Khnum at Esna and an arrival in Luxor by water. The comparison is further down this page.
Please keep in mind that slight changes in the itinerary might occur due to circumstances beyond our control.
Your guide meets you outside the arrivals terminal at Aswan airport or the railway station. You begin at the High Dam, built through the 1960s to end the annual flood and power the country — and, in the process, creating Lake Nasser and forcing the rescue of Philae and Abu Simbel. Then the Unfinished Obelisk, still lying where it cracked in the granite quarry; at nearly 42 metres it would have been the largest ever cut. Last, Philae itself, reached by a short boat ride across to Agilkia Island. Board your dahabiya and sail for Kom Ombo, where you moor for the night.
Meals: lunch and dinner
Breakfast on deck, then the twin temple of Kom Ombo — two entrances, two hypostyle halls, two sanctuaries: one side for Sobek the crocodile god, one for Haroeris. It took roughly four centuries to finish, from Ptolemy V through to the Roman emperors. The Crocodile Museum alongside holds the mummified crocodiles recovered from the site.
Back aboard, lunch is served while you sail to Gebel el-Silsila, where the Nile narrows between sandstone cliffs. This is where the stone for Karnak, Luxor Temple and much else came out of the ground. You walk the quarry face, where the tool marks and half-cut blocks are still visible, and visit the rock-cut chapel of Horemheb. There is no quay here, which is exactly why the cruise ships do not come. Sail on to Edfu for the night, dinner served under way.
Meals: breakfast, lunch and dinner
After breakfast, a horse and carriage takes you up through the town to the Temple of Horus at Edfu — the most completely preserved temple in Egypt, built between 237 and 57 BC. Buried in silt for centuries, it kept its roof, its inner chambers and its inscriptions when others lost theirs. The black granite falcon still stands at the gate.
Carriage back to the boat, then the final stretch of sailing to Esna, where you moor for your last night aboard.
Meals: breakfast, lunch and dinner
Disembark at Esna after breakfast and transfer by air-conditioned vehicle to Luxor, about an hour north. This is a full day, and a rewarding one.
The West Bank first: the Valley of the Kings, where your guide picks the three strongest tombs open on the day — which ones are open rotates, and the choice matters. Then Hatshepsut’s mortuary temple, rising in three terraces against the cliff at Deir el-Bahari, and the Colossi of Memnon, all that stands above ground of Amenhotep III’s own temple.
Lunch at a local restaurant, then the East Bank: Karnak, thirty pharaohs building on one site across two thousand years, and Luxor Temple, joined to it by the Avenue of Sphinxes. Both were dedicated to Amun, Mut and Khonsu, the Theban triad.
Transfer to your Luxor hotel, the airport or the railway station.
Meals: breakfast and lunch
