Day tours from a Nile cruise boat in Luxor and Aswan

Seven of our tours collect you from a Nile cruise boat: in Luxor, the East Bank tour, the sunrise hot-air balloon ride, Karnak Temple with a guide and Valley of the Kings and Hatshepsut; in Aswan, the Nubian village boat trip, Philae Temple by boat and the felucca sail. Every other tour on Egypt Day Tours, a site dedicated to day tours in Egypt, starts and ends at your hotel, so if you sleep on a boat, ask before booking whether the pickup can be there.

Cruise boats, and what this site sells

Nile cruise boats, floating hotels that sail the river, operate between Luxor and Aswan and are based in those two cities. This site sells only day tours: no cruises, no hotel bookings and no multi-day packages. A tour from a boat is booked like any other, for one date, and Luxor and Aswan have 10 tours each.

Pickup and return, tour by tour

The table shows where each Luxor and Aswan tour page says the day starts and ends. Where a page names a Nile cruise, the day can start or end at the boat; for the rest, ask.

The tours that start at the boat

The Luxor East Bank tour is the short day, listed as a morning, back after lunch. From the pickup it is 3 km to Karnak, about 4 min without traffic, and Luxor Temple is 3.2 km further, about 4 min without traffic; lunch at a local restaurant is included. The guide is an English-speaking Egyptologist, a guide trained in ancient Egyptian history.

The hot-air balloon ride picks you up before sunrise and takes you by ferry to the launch site on the West Bank, for a flight with views of the Valley of the Kings, Hatshepsut Temple and the Nile. The transfers and the tour leader are private; the balloon itself is shared with other guests. If the flight is canceled for weather, you get another date or a full refund. Our balloon guide covers the morning in more detail.

In Aswan, the Nubian village tour starts from your hotel or Nile cruise. A motorboat takes you on the Nile, past islands and through the cataract area, a stretch of rocks and rapids in the river, to the village of Gharb Soheil, where you visit a Nubian home and meet a local family. The motorboat there and back is included.

Four newer tours also start at the boat. In Luxor, Karnak Temple with a guide is a morning of about 3 hours, 3 km from the pickup, about 4 min without traffic, and Valley of the Kings and Hatshepsut is a morning of about 5 hours on the West Bank: the Valley of the Kings, 16.2 km from the pickup, about 26 min without traffic, then Hatshepsut Temple and the Colossi of Memnon, with the Tutankhamun tomb ticket as an option. In Aswan, Philae Temple by boat includes the motorboat to Philae Island and back, and the felucca sail is an afternoon around Elephantine Island with a stop at the botanical garden on Kitchener's Island. These four are new tours: their programs follow how the market runs that day and are confirmed with the quote.

A guide only, from the boat

If you would rather keep the cruise's own program and add a guide of your own, Luxor and Aswan have a guide-only booking: a licensed guide in English, Spanish, Portuguese, German, French or Italian meets you at your hotel, your cruise boat or the first site, as you choose, for the sites and hours you pick. A car and the entrance fees are added on request, and the price comes with the quote. See a guide only in Luxor and a guide only in Aswan.

Evenings and long days

An evening tour leaves the day free. The Philae sound and light show takes a boat to the temple island, where the legend of Isis, Osiris and Horus is told with lights and narration among the lit columns; the tour page lists the pickup at your hotel and the return to your hotel or Nile cruise in Aswan. Philae by day is covered in the Philae guide. In Luxor, the Karnak sound and light show lists a hotel pickup, 3 km from Karnak, about 4 min without traffic.

The long days list a hotel pickup only. Abu Simbel is 283.4 km from an Aswan hotel, about 3 h 26 min without traffic, and Abydos, on the Dendera and Abydos tour, is 171.2 km from a Luxor hotel, about 2 h 13 min without traffic. If your boat stays in port that day, ask whether the pickup can be at the boat.

Before you book from a boat

• Name the boat. Send the boat's name and where it is moored with the date, the number of people and your contact details.
• Pickup time. The clock times on the tour pages are approximate; the pickup time is confirmed when you book.
• Compare the stops. If your cruise already includes Karnak, Luxor Temple or Philae, read the tour's stop list first so you do not visit the same temple twice.
• Paying. No payment is taken with the request; the reply gives the price for that date and the plan for the day. A booking is confirmed with a 25% deposit paid online, by card or PayPal, and the rest is paid in cash on the day of the tour.
• If the cruise plan changes. The date can be changed free of charge up to 24 hours before, subject to availability, and cancellation is free up to 24 hours before the tour starts.

The steps from request to pickup are in how to book an Egypt day tour, and questions about a pickup from a boat go through the contact page. Every tour in both cities is on the Luxor page and the Aswan page.