This 7-night Nile cruise for solo travelers starts and ends in Luxor, so you unpack once and stay put for eight days. You have a single cabin to yourself, 21 meals on board, and guided visits to the Valley of the Kings, Karnak, Edfu, Kom Ombo and Philae in a group of no more than 12. It boards every Monday, Thursday and Saturday.
The price is per solo traveler in a cabin of their own. There is no roommate matching and no supplement to add at the end.
Most Nile cruises run three or four nights and go one way. This one joins the Luxor to Aswan sailing to the return sailing, and that changes the pace of the week. The ship stays in Aswan for two days, not one. Day 4 covers the High Dam, the Unfinished Obelisk and Philae Temple. Day 5 is open: Abu Simbel if you want it, a Nubian village, or a book on the sun deck.
The return sailing is the part solo travelers tend to value most. The temple visits are behind you, the ship moves north through farmland and palm groves, and there is time to talk to the people you have been touring with all week. Then the cruise ends where it began, with Karnak and Luxor Temple on the last full day.
Shorter on time? The same single-cabin arrangement runs on our four-night solo Nile cruise Luxor to Aswan and our three-night solo Nile cruise Aswan to Luxor.
If you fly in, an Egypt Best Vacations representative meets you inside the arrivals terminal at Luxor International Airport with a signboard and helps with visa and passport formalities. If you arrive by train, we meet you on the platform at Luxor Railway Station. From there it is a short transfer to your Nile cruise ship, where you check into your single cabin, your floating home for the next seven nights.
Meals: Lunch and dinner
After breakfast on board, cross to Luxor’s West Bank. In the Valley of the Kings you descend into the painted tombs of the New Kingdom pharaohs, cut deep into the limestone cliffs. 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. On the way back, stop at the Colossi of Memnon, the two seated statues of Amenhotep III that once guarded the entrance to his mortuary temple. In the afternoon the ship sails south towards Edfu.
Meals: Breakfast, lunch and dinner
Ride by horse-drawn carriage from the quay to the Temple of Horus at Edfu, the best-preserved temple in Egypt. It is Ptolemaic, built between 237 and 57 BC, and its complete pylons, courtyard and inner sanctuary show how a working Egyptian temple was laid out. Back on board, sail to Kom Ombo and visit the double temple dedicated to Sobek, the crocodile god, and Horus the Elder, then the neighbouring Crocodile Museum with its mummified crocodiles. The ship continues to Aswan for the night.
Meals: Breakfast, lunch and dinner
Your first of two days in Aswan begins at the Aswan High Dam. Continue to the granite quarries and the Unfinished Obelisk, abandoned in the bedrock when it cracked and still showing how obelisks were carved. Finish at the Temple of Isis at Philae, moved block by block to Agilkia Island when the dam’s reservoir threatened to submerge it. Return to the ship for lunch and a free afternoon.
Optional: Nubian village visit in Aswan
Meals: Breakfast, lunch and dinner
A free day in Aswan to relax on the sun deck or explore the town, or join the optional excursion to Abu Simbel, the two rock-cut temples of Ramesses II relocated above the waters of Lake Nasser.
Meals: Breakfast, lunch and dinner
The ship turns north and retraces the river. It calls again at Kom Ombo and Edfu for guests who joined the cruise in Aswan; having already toured both temples, you have the day free on board to watch the Nile go by, then pass through the Esna Lock towards Luxor.
Meals: Breakfast, lunch and dinner
Explore Luxor’s East Bank. Start at Karnak, the largest religious complex ever built, covering about 100 hectares, with precincts dedicated to Amun, Mut and Khonsu and the great hypostyle hall of 134 columns. Then visit Luxor Temple, begun by Amenhotep III and extended by Ramesses II, and once linked to Karnak by the avenue of sphinxes. Return to the ship for the farewell dinner on the last night of your 7-night Nile cruise for solo travelers.
Optional: Sunrise hot-air balloon flight over Luxor
Meals: Breakfast, lunch and dinner
Breakfast on board, then disembark and transfer to Luxor International Airport or Luxor Railway Station for your onward journey. If you would like to add Cairo, the Red Sea or a longer Egypt tour, ask us and we will build it around this cruise.
Meals: Breakfast
