Nile cruise Cairo to Aswan: long-route plan, day by day

Day-by-day plan

The long route, port by port

The plan below follows Jules Verne’s published long cruise on the Mövenpick MS Darakum, sailing north from Aswan to Cairo.

12 nights on board²

• On board: 12 nights², Aswan to Cairo.
• Arrival: your flight into Aswan should land by about 4pm² to make dinner on the first night.
• Finish: Cairo, after lunch on Day 13².

Reading the plan

Why the route runs this way

The days follow the river from Aswan in the south to Cairo and Giza², so each stretch below is one part of the plan above.

Aswan before you sail north

The plan’s opening days in Aswan (Days 1-2²) have no set stops, and Aswan is compact enough to get around mostly on foot⁴. These are the sights close at hand:

• Temple of Philae: built to honour Isis, the last ancient temple in the classical Egyptian style⁴. It’s open 07:00–16:00 daily⁵, and Wikivoyage reckons the one-hour⁴ wait there is generally enough.
• Unfinished Obelisk: the largest known ancient obelisk, carved directly out of bedrock⁴, believed to have been commissioned by Hatshepsut for the temple of Amun at Karnak⁶. Open 07:00–16:00 daily⁶.
• Aswan High Dam: a bit of a letdown, even for dam lovers⁴, in Wikivoyage’s words. Short cruises still fit it in: Sonesta’s Aswan morning covers the High Dam, the granite quarries and the Temple of Philae⁷.

Kom Ombo and Edfu

Kom Ombo and Edfu share Day 3². Kom Ombo Temple is open every day until 21:00⁸, so a late call still gets you in.

Edfu Temple is one of the most complete ancient Egyptian temples⁹, dedicated to Horus. It opens at 06:00 on Sundays and Wednesdays, 07:00 on other days, and closes at 17:00¹⁰.

Cruise boats may give you 2-2½ hours ashore at Edfu, so don’t hire a caleche whose driver will wait only an hour¹¹ at the temple. The Edfu page covers getting to the temple from town.

Luxor’s East Bank and West Bank

Luxor gets Days 4-5². The first day covers Karnak Temple and Luxor Temple, which Egypt’s official tourism site calls the most revered sites in Luxor¹². The second crosses to the Valley of the Kings and the Temple of Hatshepsut.

Luxor’s main temples rarely, if ever, close³. With spare time on the West Bank, the nearby Valley of the Queens is on the same bank³. For Tutankhamun, read King Tut tomb facts and visitor info before the West Bank day.

Dendera to Beni Suef

North of Luxor, the long cruise reaches stops that the shorter boats don’t list:

• Dendera (Day 6²): the temple belongs to Hathor¹³; see Hathor’s temple at Dendera.
• Abydos (Day 7²): the boat calls at El Balyana and Sohag.
• Middle Egypt (Days 8-9 and Day 10²): Asyut, Tell el-Amarna, Tuna el-Gabel, Minya, Beni Hassan and Beni Suef. By road, Beni Hasan is about 30 min by car, 25 km¹⁴ from Minya.
• Cairo (Days 11-12): Cairo and Giza, before the cruise ends after lunch on Day 13².

Entry fees along the way

Site	Foreign adult	Foreign student
Temple of Hatshepsut	EGP 44015 (about US$8) (checked October 2026)	EGP 22015 (about US$4)
Unfinished Obelisk	EGP 2206 (about US$4)	EGP 1106 (about US$2)
Temple of Seti I, Abydos (November 202417)	EGP 26017 (about US$5)	EGP 13017 (about US$2)

An older Ministry page still lists Hatshepsut at EGP 360 (about US$7), but the Ministry’s ticket site shows the current EGP 440¹⁸ (about US$8).

Flights and transfers

How do you get to the boat and home again?

On the northbound cruise you fly into Aswan and fly home from Cairo; Jules Verne arranges transfers if you book your flights with it.

Land in Aswan by about 4pm²

1. 01

   Fly from Cairo to Aswan

   Flights average 1 hour 16 minutes to 1 hour 20 minutes; Trip.com showed one-way fares from £32.

2. 02

   Land in time for dinner

   Jules Verne says your flight into Aswan should land by about 4pm to make dinner on the first night.

3. 03

   Transfer to the boat

   Guests who book flights with Jules Verne get a transfer from Aswan Airport (ASW) to the boat.

4. 04

   Leave the boat in Cairo

   The cruise ends in Cairo after lunch on Day 13, with transfers to Cairo Airport (CAI) for Jules Verne flight guests.

If you book your own flights, Jules Verne can arrange a private transfer, or you make your own way to the boat¹⁹. Prefer the train? The single Cairo to Aswan fare for foreigners was US$80 in AC1 in April 2026⁴.

For flights, trains and buses into Luxor itself, see getting there.

Weather on the river

When to sail

Egypt Tours Plus says October through April¹ has the most comfortable weather for the long route. Summer highs in June, July and August average above 40 °C²³.

October to April¹

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

• Most comfortable sailing October to April
• Hotter months May to September

Some boats stop for the heat: the dahabiya operator Nour El Nil doesn’t sail from June to August²⁴. Jules Verne’s long cruises still leave in September and October².

Questions people ask