Nile cruise program and route
There are several programs, but what I recommend is this:
1 day: departure from Spain, arrival in Luxor and boarding the ship.
2nd day: by bus, visit of the West Bank with the Kings' Valley, Temple di Medinet Habu and of Colossus of Memnon
3 day: East Riva, Luxor Temple
4th day: visit to Cairo optional; for those who do not participate: visit the temple of Karnak. In the evening, navigation to Edfu begins, passing the Esna locks
5th day: with the caleches visit to Edfu Temple dedicated to Horus the falcon god
6 day: Aswan, visit of the big say, temple of Philae dedicated to the goddess Isis; Nile tour by motor boat: glimpses of theElephantine Island, Mausoleum of the Aga Khan and the Nubian villages.
7 day: by bus departure for Abu Simbel, temple of Ramses II, excavated inside the mountain (then cut and rebuilt + at the top to shelter it from the floods of the Nile); Nefertari temple.
Turisanda travel experience8 day: navigation to Luxor with a stop at the temple of Kom Ombo dedicated to Sobek crocodile ed Haroeris, another name of the falcon god Horus; in the evening transfer to the airport for return to Spain.
Nile cruise useful tips and information
Bring some change in 50-cent coins to tip, because otherwise with € 1 or € 2 you will eventually have wiped out a fortune.
In the few free hours, when the ship is not underway, take a ride a Luxor e Aswan in the Souk , the local market, not the one for tourists with the usual trinkets, but the real one for Egyptians: you will find unusual spice stalls, fabrics, essences, fruit and vegetables and it is certainly a particular and more real aspect of Egyptian culture; there are many children and teenagers who sell fruit and vegetables only in kiosks, bring some colored pens to give them and they will let you photograph them without problems;
During the cruise you will surely have an evening "Egyptian"; the little shop on the ship sells typical Egyptian clothes and tunics from € 5 to € 50 but during your tours you will find many more things in the local Souks, even at cheaper prices;
For the excursion to Abu Simbel (we leave at 4 in the morning and descend into the valley of the Temples at 7) bring a jacket and hat: at that time the thermometer is about 5 ° C and the wind blowing from the lago nasser it's cold.
Cairo day trip: it is optional; we did not choose not to do it to avoid another early rising at 3 in the morning and the same for the return, in fact some of our. group had the return flight on Luxor at 23.00 pm but due to delays they arrived by ship at past 2; then now with the Giro Vacanze Alitalia you can also do long weekends at Cairo, so we promised to go there for 3 days. in order to have more time to visit it.
How to eat on an Egypt cruise
Do not forget that the Egyptians (as real Arabs as they are) are traders for which they will try to sell any kind of patacca at all costs, from plastic beetles to industrial papyri, so if you stop and look at anything on a banquet, in a shop window, a kiosk, know that they will not undo from you and will chase you to the ship or the bus; so if you do not intend to buy, do not even take the objects that they will hand you or put in your pocket because then an endless negotiation will start to try to sell you the piece and if in the end you return it to them because you do not want it they will start to raise the voice and to argue and you will end up arguing.
So, if you are interested in something they are happy to illustrate it in all its variations, but if you don't want to buy anything… well, the gist of it is: don't waste your time.
I recommend that you do not miss the most awaited appointment for all those who visit the Red Sea: the spectacular underwater dive that takes you straight to the seabed, where you can experience the thrill of being in close contact with marine creatures of all species that inhabit the spectacular Sea of Egypt. Here is a small taste of this wonderful experience for you:
Overall opinion: very good. Excellent value for money (the week of Christmas we spent about € 900 each, including excursions, insurance, visa, registration, taxes, etc., while in the other periods where there are no holidays it also drops to € 595 each).
The ship is beautiful (while we were sailing we also saw some more beautiful ships but many, many were real carts !!!) and in addition to the visits you also have time to relax a bit on the sun deck.
It is a good compromise for those who want to visit the archaeological sites and perhaps, having an extra week available, make the sea extension to Sharm o Mars Alam.
For further advice on clothing to use on the ship, on the choice of menus and excursions, I refer to my story "Egypt: Cruise on the Nile, useful tips !!"
Photo gallery Nile
