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There is no better place to be at midnight on 31 December than the top deck of a Nile cruise ship. The river goes quiet, the temples on the bank are lit, fireworks open over the water from the ships moored around you, and the gala is happening one deck below.
This is the short version of the classic Nile cruise: four days, three nights, Aswan down to Luxor, taking in Philae, Kom Ombo, Edfu, Karnak, Luxor Temple and the Valley of the Kings. You unpack once. The ship moves while you sleep.
One thing to get right before you book. Ships sail on fixed days of the week, so not every departure has you on board on the night itself. So, this cruise is available on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Only certain sailings put you on the river at midnight, and those are the ones that sell out first. The table below shows exactly which.
Egypt Best Vacations is a licensed Egyptian tour operator based in Luxor and a TripAdvisor Travelers’ Choice winner for 2024, 2025 and 2026. Every departure is led by a qualified Egyptologist. Children under 6 travel free and ages 6 to 11 pay half.
| Departure | Nights on board | Midnight is spent | New Year’s Day looks like |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wed 30 Dec 2026 | 30, 31 Dec, 1 Jan | Moored at Edfu, after the day’s sail from Kom Ombo | A dawn horse-and-carriage ride to the Temple of Horus, then sailing on to Luxor for Karnak |
| Wed 29 Dec 2027 | 29, 30, 31 Dec | Moored in Luxor, after Karnak and Luxor Temple | The Valley of the Kings and Hatshepsut’s temple, then disembarkation |
| Fri 31 Dec 2027 | 31 Dec, 1, 2 Jan | Moored in Aswan, your first night on board | A free morning on the river, or the optional run to Abu Simbel |
Other departures in the same weeks — Monday 28 December 2026, Monday 27 December 2027, Friday 1 January 2027 — run the identical itinerary but do not have you on board on New Year’s Eve. They are excellent cruises. They are simply not New Year cruises, and we would rather say so than let you find out on arrival. If none of the three sailings above fits your dates, our Egypt New Year tours cover the Pyramids, Sharm El-Sheikh and Hurghada over the same nights.
Meet your Egyptologist guide at Aswan airport, railway station or your hotel. Begin at the High Dam, the 1960s project that ended the Nile’s annual flood and created Lake Nasser behind it. Continue to the Temple of Philae, dedicated to Isis and rescued block by block from the rising water — it now stands on an island it was never built on.
Finish at the Unfinished Obelisk, still lying in the granite quarry where it cracked around three thousand five hundred years ago. Had it been raised it would have been the largest ever cut.
Board your ship in the afternoon and settle in.
Optional: Nubian Village tour
Meals: Lunch and dinner
A free morning on the river, or take the optional early run south to Abu Simbel — the two rock-cut temples of Ramesses II and Nefertari, also relocated stone by stone above the waterline.
The ship sails around lunchtime for Kom Ombo. Disembark in the afternoon for the temple, unusual in Egypt for being built symmetrically along its axis and shared between two gods: Sobek, the crocodile, and Horus the Elder. The Crocodile Museum beside it holds mummified crocodiles recovered from the site.
Sail on for Edfu in the evening, with the sundeck open and the riverbank going dark on both sides.
Meals: Breakfast, lunch and dinner
Before breakfast, take a horse and carriage through Edfu to the Temple of Horus — the most completely preserved temple in Egypt, walls fully inscribed inside and out, and the best surviving picture anywhere of how an Egyptian temple actually worked.
Carriage back to the ship, which sails for Luxor through the lock at Esna. On arrival, visit the Temple of Karnak, the largest religious building ever constructed, and the Temple of Luxor at the other end of the avenue of sphinxes. Both were dedicated to the Theban Triad: Amun, Mut and Khonsu.
Return on board for your final evening.
Meals: Breakfast, lunch and dinner
Disembark after breakfast and cross to the West Bank. The Valley of the Kings holds sixty-odd tombs cut into the rock of a single dry valley; three are open on any given day and your guide will advise which are worth your time on yours.
Continue to the terraced temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari, built for the woman who ruled Egypt as pharaoh for roughly two decades, and finish with a photo stop at the Colossi of Memnon — all that stands of what was once the largest temple in Egypt.
Transfer to Luxor airport, railway station or your Luxor hotel.
Optional: sunrise hot-air balloon over the West Bank
Meals: Breakfast
900 USD per person in a triple cabin.
950 USD per person in a twin cabin.
1550 USD per person in a single cabin.
1100 USD per person in a triple cabin.
1250 USD per person in a twin cabin.
2050 USD per person in a single cabin.
1450 USD per person in a triple cabin.
1650 USD per person in a twin cabin.
2735 USD per person in a single cabin.
2150 USD per person in a triple cabin.
2400 USD per person in a twin cabin.
3950 USD per person in a single cabin.
All our prices are in USD per person per trip. You can also make your payment online through a secure payment gateway with no additional fees or surcharges. We accept USD, Euros, GBP, CAD, AUD and NZD. The starting price is for one adult in a triple room on a private tour. It shows the lowest price during the low season.
Tipping is not included in our tour packages and is left entirely to your discretion. While it is not mandatory, it is greatly appreciated by the people who assist you during your journey.
Here is a suggested tipping list:
Driver – full day $3-5 per person per day.
Driver – transfer $1-3 per person per day.
Tour guide – full day $15-20 per person per day.
Tour guide – half day $10-15 per person per day.
Representative / tour leader $3-5 per person per day.
Standard & Deluxe Nile cruise crew $5–10 per person per night paid at the end of the cruise.
Ultra deluxe & Luxury Nile cruise crew $10-20 per person per night at the end of the cruise.
We do not charge cancellation fees for tours canceled due to ‘force majeure’ events such as natural disasters or other uncontrollable circumstances. However, if you cancel for personal or business reasons after we have incurred booking costs on your behalf, these costs will be charged to you.
A deposit between 25-50% is required to secure your booking through a payment link. The remaining balance will also be paid through payment links.
We don’t provide a travel insurance. We recommend to buy it beforehand if you want
Our tours do not include entrance fees for special archaeological sites such as:
These attractions require an additional fee. Please contact us if you would like to add or adjust anything in your itinerary.
Other personal expenses during your trip may include:
This cruise sails from Aswan on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, so only certain departures have you on the river at midnight on 31 December. For New Year 2027 it is the Wednesday 30 December 2026 sailing. For New Year 2028 it is either Wednesday 29 December 2027 or Friday 31 December 2027. Other departures in those weeks run the same itinerary but disembark before or board after the night itself.
It depends on your departure. Sailing Wednesday 30 December 2026, midnight finds you moored at Edfu after the day’s sail from Kom Ombo. Sailing Wednesday 29 December 2027, you are moored in Luxor, having seen Karnak that afternoon. Sailing Friday 31 December 2027, you are in Aswan on your first night on board.
Yes. Nile cruise ships across Egypt charge a compulsory gala dinner supplement on 31 December, and most operators pass it to you at check-in. Egypt Best Vacations builds it into the price you are quoted, so the figure you see on this page is the figure you pay. There is nothing further to collect on board for the gala itself.
A seated set-menu gala dinner, usually from around 8pm, followed by live music and typically a tanoura and belly dance show. Fireworks go up at midnight from the ships moored along the bank. Dress is smart-casual on Standard and Deluxe ships and closer to formal on Luxury vessels.
It depends on where the night falls in your itinerary. On the 30 December 2026 sailing, 1 January opens with a horse-and-carriage ride at dawn to the Temple of Horus at Edfu, then a sail on to Karnak. On the 29 December 2027 sailing, 1 January is your Valley of the Kings morning. Either way you wake up somewhere worth waking up.
Three nights on your chosen category of Nile cruise ship on full board — 3 breakfasts, 3 lunches and 3 dinners — plus airport pick-up and drop-off, all transfers by air-conditioned vehicle, guided visits to the High Dam, Philae, Kom Ombo, Edfu, Karnak, Luxor Temple, the Valley of the Kings and Hatshepsut’s temple with a licensed Egyptologist, and all entrance fees for those sites.
Ships are offered in four Egyptian categories. Egypt Best Vacations rates them honestly against Western expectations: Standard is roughly 3.5 stars, Deluxe roughly 4, Ultra Deluxe roughly 4.5, and Luxury a genuine 5. Almost every Nile cruise ship in Egypt is marketed as five-star, and most are not. We would rather tell you before you board.
Yes, as an optional excursion. The free morning in Aswan on Day 2 can be used for the trip south to the rock-cut temples of Ramesses II and Nefertari, returning before the ship sails for Kom Ombo. Ask Egypt Best Vacations to add it when booking so the timing can be arranged around your departure.
Warm days and cold nights. Aswan and Luxor see daytime highs of roughly 23 to 25 degrees Celsius at the turn of the year, ideal for temples, but nights drop to around 5 to 8 degrees. The sundeck at midnight is colder than most people pack for, so bring a proper jacket as well as something smart for the gala.
Yes. Children under 6 travel free, children aged 6 to 11 pay 50 percent of the adult price, and children 12 and over pay the adult rate. The gala supplement is charged separately by the ship and may apply to children — we confirm this with the vessel when quoting.
Four to six months ahead. New Year is the single busiest week of the Nile cruise season, and because only certain departures fall on the night itself, the workable sailings are a much smaller pool than the calendar suggests. The better ships in those slots are usually gone by September or October.
It starts in Aswan and ends in Luxor. You are met on arrival at Aswan airport, railway station or your Aswan hotel, and after the final West Bank morning you are transferred to Luxor airport, railway station or your Luxor hotel.
Yes. This cruise works as a standalone short break or as the middle section of a longer trip. Domestic flights between Cairo, Aswan and Luxor are straightforward, and a Red Sea extension from Luxor to Hurghada is a road transfer of a few hours. Tell us what you have in mind and we will build it around the sailing date. You can also browse our full range of Egypt New Year tours.
It is a private tour. Your Egyptologist guide, vehicle and driver are exclusively yours, and excursions run at your pace rather than to a coach timetable. The Nile cruise ship itself is shared with other guests, as every Nile cruise ship is — but your cabin, your guiding and your sightseeing are private throughout.
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