Spend the festive season where the sun still shines. Our 8 day Egypt Christmas tour pairs four nights in Cairo with a three-night Nile cruise from Aswan to Luxor, so you see the Giza Pyramids, the Grand Egyptian Museum, Philae, Kom Ombo, Edfu, Karnak and the Valley of the Kings in one relaxed week — with Christmas dinner on the Nile or at the hotel.
This is Cairo and Nile cruise Christmas tour is built around two internal flights, so no long road days eat into your holiday. It is one of our most popular Egypt Christmas tours. You fly Cairo–Aswan on day 3, sail north with the current, and fly Luxor–Cairo on day 6. Every site is explained by a licensed Egyptologist guide, and Egypt Best Vacations — winner of the TripAdvisor Travelers’ Choice Award in 2024, 2025 and 2026 — handles every transfer, ticket and hotel.
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 run only over the Christmas and New Year holidays, starting every day.
Egypt at Christmas means mild 20–24°C days, clear skies and the Nile at its most peaceful. This 8 day Egypt Christmas tour is one of the shortest itineraries that still covers the full classic circuit — Cairo, Aswan and Luxor — without a single overnight train or six-hour drive. Short on time? Our 6 day Egypt Christmas tour covers Cairo and the same Aswan–Luxor cruise in two days less.
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 Plan: No Meals Included
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. Its galleries hold more than 50,000 objects, with the complete Tutankhamun collection shown together for the first time and the colossal statue of Ramesses II in the atrium. Return to your hotel in the evening.
Meals Plan: Breakfast & Lunch
Transfer to Cairo Airport for the short flight to Aswan, where your guide meets you 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 in Aswan
Meals Plan: 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. Sail on to Edfu for the night.
Meals Plan: 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 Plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
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.
Optional tour: Sunrise Hot Air Ballooning over Luxor
Meals Plan: Breakfast & Lunch
Begin in 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. Return to your hotel.
Meals Plan: Breakfast & Lunch
After breakfast, check out and transfer to Cairo International Airport for your flight home.
Meals Plan: Breakfast Only
