This private 6 day Cairo Luxor and Aswan tour puts the three cities that matter most in ancient Egypt into a single week, and it does it without the compromise most six-day itineraries make. Abu Simbel is included in the price. Two domestic flights carry you between Cairo and the south so that your days are spent in front of monuments rather than on the road, and a qualified Egyptologist guides you at every site from the Giza plateau to the Valley of the Kings.
You begin in Cairo with the Great Pyramids of Giza, the Sphinx and the Grand Egyptian Museum, where the complete Tutankhamun collection and his golden mask are now displayed together for the first time. A morning flight takes you to Aswan for the High Dam, the Temple of Isis on Agilkia Island and the Unfinished Obelisk. Day four is the one most six-day tours leave out: the colossal rock-cut temples of Ramses II and Queen Nefertari at Abu Simbel, followed by the seated train north through the farmland of Upper Egypt to Luxor.
In Luxor you cross to the west bank for the painted royal tombs of the Valley of the Kings and the terraced temple of Hatshepsut, then to the east bank for Karnak, the largest religious complex ever built, and the elegant Temple of Luxor in the late-afternoon light. An evening flight returns you to Cairo, and your final morning belongs to the Citadel of Saladin, the churches of Coptic Cairo and the lanes of Khan El-Khalili before your departure transfer.
The tour runs every day of the year as a private tour for your party only, with your own Egyptologist guide, private air-conditioned vehicle and handpicked hotels in two categories. Prices start from $1,090 per person in a triple room in low season. If a Nile cruise is what you had in mind instead of the Aswan and Luxor hotel nights, see the Egypt in 6 days Cairo and Nile cruise package; if you would rather stay in ultra-deluxe and luxury hotels on the same route, see the 6 day luxury tour to Cairo, Luxor and Aswan.
Abu Simbel is included, not optional. The full guided excursion from Aswan, with private transfers and entrance fees covered. Most six-day itineraries sell Abu Simbel as a paid extra or leave it out altogether
Two domestic flights are built into the price. Cairo to Aswan on day three and Luxor back to Cairo on day five. Between Aswan and Luxor you travel by seated train, the classic way to see the Nile valley at ground level.
An Egyptologist guides you at every site. Not a general tour escort but a qualified Egyptologist, from the Giza plateau to the Valley of the Kings, with a licensed local operator behind every arrangement.
A licensed operator led by an Egyptologist. Egypt Best Vacations is a licensed local tour operator led by an Egyptologist and a TripAdvisor Travelers’ Choice Award winner for three consecutive years, 2024, 2025 and 2026. Every detail of your private tour is arranged for you: Egyptologist guides, domestic flights, handpicked hotels and seamless transfers.
An Egypt Best Vacations representative meets you inside the arrivals terminal at Cairo International Airport with a signboard and assists you with visa and passport formalities. A private air-conditioned transfer takes you to your hotel, where the rest of the day is free. If you land early and want to use the evening, ask us about an optional dinner cruise on the Nile or a sound-and-light show at the Pyramids.
Overnight: Cairo
Meals Plan: No Meals Included
After breakfast, your private Egyptologist guide picks you up from your hotel for the day every traveler dreams about. At the Giza Plateau, stand before the Great Pyramids of Giza — Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure — and the enigmatic Sphinx that has guarded them for 4,500 years. Your guide brings the plateau to life: how the pyramids were built, why they were built, and what they meant to the ancient Egyptians. For the adventurous, entering the Great Pyramid of Khufu — the last surviving Wonder of the Ancient World — is available as an optional extra.
Savor lunch at a local restaurant, then continue to the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM), the largest archaeological museum on earth. Here you will stand face-to-face with the complete Tutankhamun collection — including his golden mask — displayed together for the first time in history. After exploring the immersive galleries, transfer back to your hotel.
Overnight: Cairo
Meals Plan: Breakfast & Lunch
This morning, your journey heads south. Transfer to Cairo Airport for your short flight to Aswan, Egypt’s most relaxed and beautiful Nile city, where your private guide meets you at the arrival terminal. Begin with the High Dam, the engineering marvel of the 1960s that tamed the Nile’s ancient floods and powers Egypt to this day.
Then sail by motorboat to Agilika Island to visit the graceful Temple of Isis, dedicated to the goddess of love and magic and rescued stone by stone from the rising waters of the Nile. End your Aswan tour at the granite quarries of the Unfinished Obelisk, where a single abandoned monument reveals exactly how the ancient Egyptians carved their giants from the living rock. Transfer to your hotel and enjoy a free evening by the Nile.
Optional tour: Tour to the Nubian Village in Aswan
Meals Plan: Breakfast Only
Today is the highlight many travelers say made their whole trip: the Temples of Abu Simbel. An early start (breakfast box provided by your hotel) takes you deep into Nubia, where Ramses II carved two temples into the cliffs 3,200 years ago — the Great Temple for himself and the Small Temple for his beloved Queen Nefertari. Four colossal statues, each 20 meters tall, have watched the desert sunrise here for over three millennia.
Just as remarkable is the story of their survival: when the High Dam’s waters threatened to submerge them, a legendary international rescue operation cut both temples into blocks and reassembled them on higher ground, exactly as they were. Return to Aswan, then board your comfortable seated train to Luxor, watching the timeless scenery of Upper Egypt glide past your window. On arrival, transfer to your hotel in Luxor.
Meals Plan: Breakfast Only
After breakfast, explore the world’s greatest open-air museum. Begin on the west bank at the Valley of the Kings, the hidden royal necropolis where the pharaohs of Egypt’s golden age (1550–1080 BCE) were laid to rest in tombs painted with astonishing color that survives to this day. Continue to the Temple of Hatshepsut, the grand terraced monument of Egypt’s most famous female pharaoh, rising dramatically against the cliffs of Deir El-Bahari. Pause for a photo at the towering Colossi of Memnon, the last guardians of a vanished mortuary temple.
Savor lunch at a local restaurant, then cross to the east bank for the Temple of Karnak, the largest temple complex ever built — a forest of towering columns where pharaohs added their mark for 2,000 years. Conclude at the elegant Temple of Luxor, built by Amenhotep III and Ramses II and especially beautiful in the late afternoon light. This evening, transfer to Luxor Airport for your flight back to Cairo and your final night’s hotel.
Optional tour: Sunrise hot air balloon over Luxor
Meals Plan: Breakfast & Lunch
Your final day reveals a different Egypt. After breakfast, visit the Citadel of Saladin, the medieval fortress built in 1176 to defend Cairo from the Crusaders, crowned by the magnificent alabaster Mosque of Mohamed Ali. Continue to Coptic Cairo, where faith has been practiced continuously for nearly two thousand years: the Hanging Church with its beautiful wooden ceiling and historic icons, Abu Serga Church, built above the cave where tradition says the Holy Family sheltered, and the Ben Ezra Synagogue, famed for the discovery of the Cairo Geniza manuscripts.
Culminate your journey at the legendary Khan El-Khalili bazaar, wandering its narrow lanes filled with spices, jewelry, handmade souvenirs, and lively historic cafés — the perfect place for final gifts and one last Egyptian coffee. Then transfer to Cairo Airport for your departure. Saying goodbye is never easy, but we would love to plan your next adventure in Egypt — the Nile will be waiting.
Meals Plan: Breakfast Only
This is the standard six-day version of our most popular route. If you have a day less, the 5 day Cairo Luxor and Aswan tour covers the same three cities with the Abu Simbel excursion; if you would rather sleep on the river than in hotels, the Egypt in 6 days Cairo and Nile cruise package replaces the Aswan and Luxor nights with a three-night cruise, from $1,075; and the 6 day luxury tour to Cairo, Luxor and Aswan follows this exact itinerary in ultra-deluxe and luxury hotels, from $2,110. All of our six-day itineraries are compared on the 6 day Egypt vacations page.
