See the year out under the pyramids and see the new one in on the Nile. Our 7 day Egypt New Year tour combines three nights in Cairo with a three-night Nile cruise from Aswan to Luxor, so in one week you stand before the Giza Pyramids and the Sphinx, walk the Tutankhamun galleries of the Grand Egyptian Museum, and sail past Philae, Kom Ombo, Edfu and Karnak to the Valley of the Kings — with the New Year’s Eve gala dinner included.
This Cairo and Nile cruise New Year tour is an Egypt Best Vacations package that puts both Cairo and the classic Aswan–Luxor cruise into a single New Year week. Two internal flights do the long distances, so every day is a sightseeing day, and every site is explained by a licensed Egyptologist guide. Egypt Best Vacations has won the TripAdvisor Travelers’ Choice Award three years running — 2024, 2025 and 2026.
Choose the Gold tier (5-star standard hotel and cruise ship) or the Platinum tier (5-star deluxe), in triple, twin/double or single rooms and cabins. Departures is daily over the New Year holidays, timed to the cruise embarkation in Aswan on day 3 — the table below shows where you will be at midnight on 31 December for each start date.
New Year in Egypt means 20°C afternoons, cool clear nights and a countdown with 4,500-year-old scenery. This 7 day Egypt New Year tour is the shortest itinerary that covers Cairo, Aswan and Luxor without an overnight train or a full day on the road.
Your Egypt Best Vacations representative meets you inside the arrivals terminal at Cairo International Airport, holding a signboard, and assists with your visa and passport formalities. Private air-conditioned transfer to your Cairo hotel for check-in and a welcome briefing.
Meals: none
After breakfast your Egyptologist guide takes you to the Giza Plateau to stand before the pyramids of Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure — the only surviving Wonder of the Ancient World — and the Great Sphinx, carved from a single outcrop of limestone. Entry inside the Great Pyramid is optional. After lunch at a local restaurant, continue to the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) beside the plateau, where the complete Tutankhamun collection is displayed together for the first time and the colossal statue of Ramesses II fills the atrium. Return to your hotel; on Wednesday departures this is New Year’s Eve, celebrated at your hotel’s gala dinner.
Meals: breakfast, lunch
Transfer to Cairo Airport for the short flight to Aswan, where your guide meets you outside the arrivals for a tour of the High Dam, the Unfinished Obelisk in the ancient granite quarries, and the Temple of Isis at Philae, moved stone by stone to Agilkia Island when the dam was built. Board your Nile cruise ship, settle into your cabin and enjoy dinner on board.
Optional tour: Nubian village tour
Meals: breakfast, lunch, dinner
Optional early-morning excursion to Abu Simbel, the two rock-cut temples of Ramesses II and Queen Nefertari. The ship sails around midday to Kom Ombo, where the unusual double temple is dedicated to the crocodile god Sobek and the falcon god Horus the Elder; building began under Ptolemy VI in the 2nd century BC and decoration continued into the Roman period. A short visit to the neighbouring Crocodile Museum follows before the ship sails on to Edfu.
On Monday departures tonight is New Year’s Eve: the ship’s gala dinner, live music and a midnight countdown on the sun deck, moored on the Nile.
Meals: breakfast, lunch, dinner
A horse-drawn carriage takes you to the Temple of Horus at Edfu, a Ptolemaic temple built between 237 and 57 BC and the most complete in Egypt, its roof, pylon and reliefs still intact. Return to the ship, pass through the Esna Lock and sail to Luxor. On arrival, visit Karnak — the largest religious complex ever built, covering around 100 hectares — and Luxor Temple, both dedicated to the Theban Triad of Amun, Mut and Khonsu. Luxor Temple is especially atmospheric after dark.
Meals: breakfast, lunch, dinner
Optional sunrise hot-air balloon flight over the Theban hills. Disembark and cross to the West Bank for the Valley of the Kings, where the New Kingdom pharaohs cut their tombs deep into the rock to protect them from robbers (Tutankhamun’s tomb, and the tombs of Seti I and Ramesses V/VI, carry separate tickets). Continue to the terraced Temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari. Hatshepsut began as regent for Thutmose III and went on to rule as a crowned king in full pharaonic regalia — with his regnal years still running alongside hers. Stop at the Colossi of Memnon, the two seated statues of Amenhotep III, then lunch before your transfer to Luxor Airport for the flight to Cairo and your hotel. On Saturday departures tonight is New Year’s Eve, celebrated at your Cairo hotel’s gala dinner.
Meals: breakfast, lunch
After breakfast and check out, you will visit the Coptic Cairo, inside the walls of the Roman fortress of Babylon: the Hanging Church, built over the fortress gate; the Church of St Sergius and Bacchus, where tradition holds the Holy Family sheltered; and the Ben Ezra Synagogue. Continue to the Citadel of Saladin, founded in 1176 to defend Cairo against the Crusaders, and the Alabaster Mosque of Muhammad Ali that crowns it, with panoramic views over the city.
After lunch, explore Khan el-Khalili, Cairo’s great medieval bazaar since the 14th century, for last-minute Christmas gifts of silver, spices, papyrus and lanterns. Then, transfer to Cairo airport for final departure.
Meals: breakfast, lunch
| Start date (2026) | Day of tour on 31 December | New Year’s Eve location |
|---|---|---|
| Saturday 26 December | Day 6 | Cairo hotel gala dinner (after Luxor West Bank) |
| Monday 28 December | Day 4 | On board your Nile cruise ship at Edfu |
| Wednesday 30 December | Day 2 | Cairo hotel gala dinner (after the Pyramids and GEM) |
