A cruise along the Nile is one of the most iconic experiences you can have on a trip to Egypt. It offers an unparalleled blend of luxury and ancient history as you glide along the same waters that once carried pharaohs and queens. From the comfort of your cabin, you’ll wake each morning to stunning views of palm-fringed riverbanks, traditional feluccas sailing by, and ancient temples emerging from the desert landscape. These floating boutique hotels feature world-class amenities, including gourmet restaurants serving both local and international cuisine, sun-drenched pool decks perfect for watching the sunset, and spacious lounges where you can relax with fellow travelers while watching rural Egyptian life unfold along the shoreline. Expert Egyptologists accompany you throughout the journey, bringing the magnificent temples and tombs to life with their knowledge and stories.

There are seemingly limitless cruise companies to choose from and most of them follow a very similar itinerary. We booked a 12-day itinerary (7-night cruise) through Uniworld on the S.S. Sphinx so read on to find out what to expect, the full itinerary and things to know before you book!

The full Itinerary of the 12-day Splendors of Egypt trip

The 12-day Splendors of Egypt trip with Uniworld on the S.S. Sphinx combines land touring and a 7-night Nile River cruise. The journey begins in Cairo with city tours before flying to Luxor to board the cruise ship. During the cruise portion, you travel between Luxor and Aswan, visiting significant archaeological sites like the Dendera Temple Complex, Luxor Temple (both day and night visits), and Kom Ombo Temple. The itinerary includes special experiences such as a hot air balloon ride over the Valley of the Kings (booked separately), a felucca ride on the Nile, afternoon tea at the Old Cataract Hotel, and bird watching.

The cruise then continues with visits to Philae Temple, the Aswan High Dam, and an optional paid day trip to the impressive Abu Simbel temples. After sailing back north through the Esna Lock, you return to Cairo for the final portion of the trip, which includes visits to the Giza Pyramids, Sphinx, and Saqqara. The daily schedule is quite structured with early morning starts to beat the heat and crowds, including breakfast as early as 4:45 AM on some days. Most days include multiple guided tours, with breaks for meals aboard the ship. We will detail our October trip below with time estimates to give you a full breakdown of what every day consists of.

Saturday, October 5: Arrival in Cairo

• This was the main travel day to arrive in Cairo. If you book a flight into Cairo on the first day, you do have the option to take the shuttle bus run through Uniworld from the airport. The wait times can be long so if you choose to take a taxi or uber, it costs approximately $20-30 USD.
• The S.S. Sphinx uses the Four Seasons Nile Plaza for their pre-cruise and post-cruise property. We were already in Cairo so we checked in easily around 3pm. Note that regardless of your room category on the ship, all cruise guests are booked in the lowest tier rooms at the hotel. You do have the option to upgrade at check in and I highly recommend upgrading to a renovated Premium Room Nile View.
• The Four Seasons is by far the best luxury property currently available in Cairo. Mandarin Oriental claims to be opening a property soon which would bring another amazing luxury brand to the city.
• There was no welcome reception on this night so you are on your own for all meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner)

Sunday, October 6: Tour begins in Cairo

• There was a “welcome” meeting at 8:00am that was supposed to be the kickoff to the tour. They did not provide an agenda for the day or the rest of the week, but they did heavily sell all the add-on tours. The meeting was a big turnoff to most guests as we were told the included tours were “mediocre” and it was best to pay for the add-ons. You were told you had to purchase the add-ons immediately that day. This went on for about 2 hours before we were told to get on the buses to leave for the tour of the day.
• There were three stops on day 1 to Citadel of Salah al-Din, the Alabaster Mosque and Egyptian Museum.
• At the end of the three stops, one bus returns back to the Four Seasons at 2:30 and one bus departs for the Mummy Museum extension ($). Note that if you do go to the Mummy Museum, you will not be back until 5pm and there is no food stop between the departure from the hotel to your return around 5pm.
• Dinner is NOT included on this evening so you are on your own for everything except breakfast on this day

Monday, October 7: Fly to Luxor

• Breakfast begins at 5:30 for a 6:30am departure to the airport to fly to Luxor
• Uniworld uses the discount airline AirCairo to fly to Luxor so note that regardless of cabin tier, you will be seated in Economy as there is no first class option
• Upon landing in Luxor around 10:30am, you depart for Temple at Karnak to tour for approximately 2 hours
• At 12:30pm you will depart for the boat to check into the ship
• Lunch is served after 1pm and you will spend the rest of the day sailing
• There is a daily happy hour (6pm-7pm) and dinner served on the ship starting at 7:00pm-9:00pm

Tuesday, October 8: Dendera

• Breakfast is served from 5am-6am
• You will depart for Dendera via bus at 6am and return to the ship at 9:45am
• There was a “welcome snack” served at 10am with a prosecco toast and it was a wonderful way to meet others and watch the landscape as we sailed up the Nile
• Most of the guests hung out on the upper deck until lunch was served from 12pm-2pm
• We continued sailing until 5pm
• Once you arrive in Luxor, there are two options for tours. You can either do the daytime tour to Luxor Temple OR the paid night tour at 8:45pm. If you want to do both tours, you end up needing to pay for both tours.
  • The normal tour departs at 5pm and returns at 6:30pm
  • The night tour departs at 8:45pm and returns at 10:40pm (we highly recommend the night tour as the two uniworld ships were the only ships with this access)
• Dinner is served from 7pm-9pm
• Note: tomorrow is the Hot Air Balloon excursion- you must book in cash on the ship on this day for the next morning. It is an excursion not operated by Uniworld and is entirely separate but you will take the Uniworld bus to the hot air balloon drop site.

Wednesday, October 9: Dendera to Luxor

• Early riser breakfast begins at 4:45am-5:15am
• If you sign up for the balloon ride, you will depart at 5:15am
• You will take the Uniworld bus to the drop site and arrive at 5:50am. There are dozens of balloons being blown up for different groups all over the drop site and it’s remarkable to watch. Our group was put in a 30-person basket with a mix of other people
• The experience is about 1.5 hours and once you land back at the site, you are taken by the bus to meet up with the rest of the guests from the ship who did not do the excursion around 8am.
• From there, you are taken by the Uniworld bus to the Valley of the Kings, Colossi of Memnon and Hatshepsut Temple. There is no lunch or rest stop break during this day so if you are part of the early morning crew, you are essentially without a meal from 5:15am until 2:30pm.
  • On the way back to the ship, we did stop at a very overpriced Alabaster studio. It was very cool to see how they make Alabaster, but I would not recommend a purchase here as the pricing is very high
• We arrived back to the ship at 2:30pm for lunch and sailed the remainder of the day
• Tonight was the Pharaoh party where guests can dress up in Galabayas and traditional garb, purchasable onboard for a very reasonable amount ($25 for the whole outfit). This was a very fun even and all the guests onboard dressed up and had a wonderful time with the crew.

Thursday, October 10: Luxor to Kom Ombo and onwards to Aswan

• Thankfully, this morning is a “late” start with a 7:30-8:30am breakfast
• The only stop this morning is Kom Ombo temple which is a quick 5 minute walk from the ship. We left at 8:30am to visit this beautiful temple
• We arrived back at the ship at 10am to depart for Aswan. Lunch is served at 12pm-2pm while you sail. Since this was one of the first “relaxing” days, many guests spent the day on the sun deck enjoying the pool
• We arrived to Aswan around 2pm and the first excursion of Aswan is a Felucca sailboat ride that ran from 3pm-4:25pm. They Felucca sold some knick knacks as well for set prices:
  • Necklaces, bracelets: $1
  • Dolls, trinkets and accessories: $2
• After the Felucca ride, we had about 1 hour to prepare to head to the Old Cataract Hotel for high team from 5:30pm-7:15pm
• Dinner was served back on the ship from 7:30pm-9pm

Friday, October 11: Stay in Aswan

• This morning is jam packed starting with a 6am-7am breakfast
• We departed for Philae Template at 7am which was one of the highlights of the trip. we arrived to Philae around 8:30am
• At 10am, we left to visit a Papyrus studio which was really just a gift shop. It was interesting to see how they make real papyrus and learn how to tell fake papyrus from real papyrus but the pieces are expensive and many of them were printed versus painted.
• At 11am, we visited the Aswan dam, a true feat of engineering. This is a quick stop and drive over the dam. Then we visited a glassblowing studio that also sold essential oils. By this point, people were quite exhausted and we arrived back to the ship at 1:15pm.
• Lunch was served from 1:30-2:30pm
• Some guests chose to go on the bird watching boat tour from 3pm-4pm
• Max and I signed up for the added excursion of Dune Surfing which departed at 4:30pm. This was a bit disappointing from a luxury perspective as the hill was small and the equipment was in bad shape. It was fun to experience but it was run very poorly. We arrived back at the ship at 6:15pm. Anyone who was booked on the added ($) excursion to see the Philae light show should not do the dune surfing as the times overlap.
• Dinner was served from 7pm-9pm

Saturday, October 12: Aswan + added excursion: Abu Simbel

• Today, you have the chance to visit Abu Simbel which is the most expensive excursion by far at $450 a person. If you go on this very worthwhile but pricey trip, you start with a early breakfast from 5:30am-6:30am
• You depart for the airport at 6:30am for the 8am flight. Pack light because it’s a quick day trip and you need to go through airport security
• We arrived to Abu Simbel at 10am and only had until 11:30am to experience the majestic site. Due to arriving at 10am, we actually ended up having the entire place to ourselves by 11am because all the other tour buses had already left. We did wish we could have spent at least 1 more hour exploring the site and grabbing a snack
• We had to depart at 11:30am sharp to make the 12pm flight that lands back in Aswan at 12:45pm
• We arrived back at the ship at 1:30pm for lunch and sailed the rest of the day to Esna.
• Dinner, as usual was served after the happy hour at 7pm-9pm

Sunday, October 13: Esna to Luxor

• Today is another “late” morning with breakfast running from 7:30am-8:30am
• We had a quick excursion a 5 minute walk from the ship from 8:30am-10am to the Esna Temple, a magical site that was recently fully uncovered
• This was a very quick stop and we did have to be back on the ship by 10:15am to depart immediately. There are some cute shops along the way to the temple so if you can, build in a few minutes to explore
• We spent the rest of the day sailing back to Luxor and the main highlight of the afternoon is sailing through the Esna lock which is a must-watch from the sun deck
• The final dinner of the cruise started with a wonderful cultural show with dancers from Luxor before dinner from 7:30pm-9pm

Monday, October 14: Back to Cairo

• This morning you fly back to Cairo from Luxor so breakfast runs from 6:30am-7:45am. All bags should be packed and ready to go before breakfast
• We departed promptly for the airport at 7:45am for the 10am flight on the same discount airline, AirCairo. The flight was unfortunately a bit delayed but departed at 11am and landed at 12pm. There is a lounge in Luxor that you can access with Priority Pass (via major credit cards like Chase Sapphire Reserve, AmEx Platinum etc) so there is a nice place to sit with coffee and water.
• When we landed in Cairo, there were two options: if you purchased the added ($) excursion to the Grand Egyptian Museum, you depart immediately from the airport on one bus without lunch. If you did not purchase the excursion, we were sent back to the Four Seasons and arrive around 1:45pm to check in.
• We checked back into the Four Seasons Nile Plaza and upgraded to the same Nile View Premium Room which was, again, completely worth it
• There is a 6pm “farewell dinner buffet” in the main restaurant. It was unfortunately not private and there was no real sense of community, it was just a “free” dinner that included 2 drinks so it was a bit disappointing as a “farewell” dinner.
• Lunch is on your own on this day

Tuesday, October 15: Giza & Saqqara Pyramids, Cairo

• The final day of the tour is a trip to the famous Pyramids including Giza and Saqqara. The day starts with an early 6am -7am breakfast in the main restaurant
• We left promptly at 7am for the excursion and arrived at the main tourist entrance to Giza at 7:45am
• We stopped at the major pyramids and were allowed into a couple of the pyramids to see the inside which was super cool. By 10:30am, we made a stop so people could ride camels ($20 each paid in cash) in the view spot overlooking the pyramids. Since we had already done that the previous week, we chose to take a quick break since there was no lunch stops at all on this excursion
• By 11:45am we stopped at a “cotton store” which was just a gift shop that did not sell snacks or water so be sure to plan ahead when you are at the camel riding stop. This stop was a truly tragic move by Uniworld and most people were extremely frustrated at the wasted time.
• We departed the gift shop at 12:30pm for Saqqara temple and arrived at 1pm. We were held up for a while due to a power outage with the ticketing machines so we had about 1 hour to explore Saqqara and left at 2:15pm. We returned back to the hotel at 3pm.
• There was no lunch or dinner provided on this day

Wednesday, October 16: Cruise itinerary ends

• Breakfast was included on this final morning and most people went to the airport mid-morning to catch flights home or elsewhere in the region

Things we wish we knew before we went:

• Overall, the itinerary was jam packed with incredible temples, history and culture. I genuinely don’t believe we could have seen as much as we did without having dawn to dusk days like we did with Uniworld. There’s simply so much to see along the Nile. The itinerary was incredible and our Egyptologist was truly excellent. There are a few things we wish we knew before we went so I will detail there here for you.
• We were not prepared to have no lunch or break stops on any of the days of the cruise. If I had known, I would have brought power bars or snacks from the US to make sure we always had something to nibble on. Often, you would go 6-10 hours from breakfast to lunch without stopping and the Uniworld team did not seem to see an issue with the itinerary so it will likely not change. We did have water 90% of the time with the exception of the bus to and from the airport.
• The itinerary included 4 nights in Cairo which I felt were not super necessary or well organized. Removing those 4 nights would bring the cost down significantly – if I were to do it again, I would book a cruise leaving from Luxor to give me better flexibility to explore Cairo and take the flights on my own terms.
• Uniworld does not own or operate the ships. They run the tour through Spring Tours which had pretty bad on-ground support in Cairo. Uniworld puts its name on the tour and the buses, but does not guarantee the quality of service or offerings of the actual experience. I mention it because many cruisers on our tour had been on Uniworld ships in Europe that were very different in their service offering (all-inclusive, high quality beverages, better on ground support)
• You do not get a lot of time at the excursions or the stops unless it is at the shops that Uniworld takes you to. There are so many wonderful shops around the temples and in Luxor & Aswan so if you want to explore those, you may need to skip an excursion to do it. We wish we had spent more time in Aswan in particular due to the incredible shopping you can do in the area. If we were to do the trip again, I would have considered a cruise that ended in Aswan or spent more time there. Separately, the cruise told us to not shop off the ship because it’s “dangerous” which is entirely untrue. We found the local shopkeepers to be very kind and we found negotiating with them was fun and reasonable.
• If you have trouble walking far distances or need assistance with luggage, etc, this can be a very demanding trip. If you need special accommodations, be sure to inform your travel agent or the company in advance of your trip. There was a lot of walking and very little support for travelers needing special assistance. We did notice one of the guests had a permanent porter that assisted her at every excursion and that must be pre-booked.
• When docked at night, it is very common to have a ship parked directly next to you. About 50% of the time, we had a ship on our side and it makes hanging out in your room a bit uncomfortable. We had read about the “best side of the ship” to book but in the end it really didn’t matter as we had a ship next to us every night.
• Alcohol is only provided complimentary at lunch and dinner and they do not offer champagne. Their wines are all Egyptian or South African so I would not go in with expectations of Veuve Cliquot and wine from Provence. Only the Royal Suite has complimentary alcohol all day.
• The headphone set the cruise provides you with is easy to pair with your bluetooth headphones if you have an airfly – this would be a GREAT accessory to have so you do not need to deal with the poor quality headphones and extra attachments.

What paid excursions not to miss:

There are a couple of excursions that were worth the cost including Abu Simbel, the Luxor Temple at night and the hot air balloon ride.

• Abu Simbel is the highest priced add on at $450 a ticket and includes a roundtrip flight and access to the temple. While I strongly believe this tour should have been included, it is worth seeing.
• The Luxor Temple at night is more reasonable and offers you a way to see the temple with no other people from other tours around. The two Uniworld ships are the only ones with access at this time, which made for a magical experience.
• The hot air balloon experience is not run by Spring Tours or Uniworld. The ship brings on board a company that sells you the tickets in cash only because they are not affiliated with Uniworld. They told us it is because Uniworld does not want to accept liability for this excursion. In my opinion, it is a must-do. The hot air balloon ride takes you up and over the valley of the kings and it’s a magical sunrise experience.

Conclusion

Egypt is a magical destination and a Nile cruise is an amazing way to experience a lot of the history and culture in a short amount of time. There are dozens of similar experiences, some of them originating in Luxor versus Cairo, some that run 4 nights or 7 – there really are endless choices. If you need help reviewing your cruise options or are looking for perks and preferred rates, reach out to us at team@voyagerguru.com