Trade the rush of the mainland for the slow, sunlit rhythm of the river aboard the Mövenpick MS Royal Lily, a five-star floating hotel that carries you gently between Luxor and Aswan. Mornings begin with coffee on the sun deck as reed beds and lateen-sailed feluccas slide past the bow; afternoons pass beside the pool while palm groves, mud-brick hamlets, and gilded sandbanks unfold on both banks. Step ashore with your guide to walk the hypostyle forest of Karnak, descend the painted burial shafts of the Valley of the Kings, and stand before the Ptolemaic elegance of Edfu, Kom Ombo, and Philae. Come nightfall, generous buffets, live music, and quietly appointed cabins wrap the day in comfort. Book your Royal Lily voyage with Daily Pyramids Tours and let ancient Egypt come to you.
Refined, unhurried, and beautifully appointed, the Mövenpick MS Royal Lily is a 5-star Nile cruiser designed for travellers who want the treasures of Upper Egypt served with genuine comfort. Broad panoramic windows, chef-led restaurants, a top-deck pool, and attentive Egyptian hospitality turn the journey itself into a highlight as you thread between Luxor, Edfu, Kom Ombo, and Aswan.
Day 1: Arrival in Aswan – Aswan City Tour
Your representative meets you the moment you land at Aswan Airport, or collects you from your hotel, and stays with you throughout the day. Settling into a private air-conditioned vehicle, you head first to the High Dam, an ambitious feat of twentieth-century engineering that tamed the annual flood and rescued Nubia’s threatened temples.
A short drive on takes you to the Unfinished Obelisk, still lying in the granite bedrock of its ancient quarry where a hidden crack forced its abandonment — a rare, honest window onto how the pharaohs quarried and shaped their monoliths.
A motorised felucca then carries you across sparkling water to Philae Temple, the island sanctuary of Isis that engineers painstakingly moved, block by block, to higher ground on Agilkia Island. If you wish, you can extend the visit with a gentle sail around Elephantine Island and the granite outcrops of the First Cataract.
Lunch is enjoyed at a well-chosen local restaurant before you board the cruise vessel for check-in and settle in. Dinner is served on board, followed by your first night on the river in Aswan.
Meals: Lunch – Dinner
Day 2: Kom Ombo & Sailing to Edfu
After breakfast on board, a private vehicle drives you roughly 45 km north of Aswan to reach Kom Ombo, where one of the Nile’s most curious temples awaits. Uniquely twinned along a perfect axis of symmetry, it honours Sobek, the crocodile-headed lord of the river, on one side and Haroeris, a warrior aspect of Horus, on the other.
Your guide walks you through both sanctuaries, the mirrored hypostyle halls, and the ritual chambers behind them, then leads you into the small Crocodile Museum, where mummified specimens uncovered nearby are beautifully displayed.
Lunch follows at a local restaurant, after which you rejoin the ship for a lazy afternoon of sailing towards Edfu. Sugarcane fields, riverside villages, and pale sandstone cliffs slip past the rail — the classic scenery of Upper Egypt at its most photogenic.
A briefing prepares you for tomorrow’s visit, and the vessel moors overnight at Edfu.
Meals: Breakfast – Lunch – Dinner
Day 3: Edfu Temple & Arrival in Luxor
After breakfast, a horse-drawn carriage clatters through Edfu’s streets to deliver you at the gates of the Temple of Horus, the most completely preserved of all Egypt’s ancient temples.
Inside, colossal pylons frame courtyards and halls covered in crisp reliefs that tell the mythic contest between Horus and Seth and record the temple rituals of the Ptolemaic age. Because the sanctuary was buried for centuries beneath desert sand, almost every architectural level survives intact, including the upper roof terraces.
Back on board, the ship pushes north towards Luxor while lunch is served in the dining room.
On arrival, you head straight to Luxor Temple on the East Bank, a monument reshaped over generations by Amenhotep III, Ramesses II, and others.
Its long colonnades, sweeping courtyards, and processional avenue of sphinxes still convey the ceremonial pulse of ancient Thebes. The vessel remains docked in Luxor for the night.
Meals: Breakfast – Lunch – Dinner
Day 4: Luxor West Bank & Departure
After breakfast and disembarkation, you cross to the West Bank, the great necropolis of Thebes. The morning begins in the Valley of the Kings, where you descend into three royal tombs whose painted walls glow with sacred spells written to steer the pharaoh safely through the afterlife.
You continue to the Temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari, a startlingly modern-looking terraced sanctuary sculpted into the cliff face for one of the very few women ever to rule Egypt as king.
A final pause is made at the Colossi of Memnon, the twin seated giants that once flanked the entrance to a now-vanished mortuary temple. Lunch follows, and you are transferred to Luxor Airport or your hotel for onward travel.
Meals: Breakfast
Day 1: Arrival in Luxor – East Bank Exploration
Whether you fly into Luxor Airport or step off the sleeper train, your representative meets you and settles you into a private air-conditioned car for the transfer to your Nile cruiser.
After a quick check-in on board, sightseeing begins with the Karnak Temple Complex — the largest religious site ever raised by human hands, extended and embellished over two thousand years by successive pharaohs.
From there you move on to Luxor Temple, a New Kingdom jewel once linked physically to Karnak by the ceremonial Avenue of Sphinxes.
Lunch is enjoyed at a good local restaurant during the day before you return to the ship for your first night in Luxor.
Meals: Lunch, Dinner
Day 2: West Bank of Luxor – Sailing Toward Edfu
After breakfast, you ferry across to the West Bank to explore the Valley of the Kings, where more than 60 royal hypogea preserve some of the most vivid afterlife imagery ever painted.
The itinerary continues to the Temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari, a colonnaded architectural triumph carved into the honey-coloured cliffs for the woman who ruled Egypt as pharaoh.
A brief stop follows at the Colossi of Memnon, the pair of enthroned statues that mark what remains of Amenhotep III’s vast mortuary temple.
Lunch is served at a local restaurant, then you rejoin the ship as she casts off for a gentle sail south towards Edfu, spending the night cruising the Nile.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 3: Edfu and Kom Ombo Temples
The cruiser arrives at Edfu, where a horse-drawn carriage takes you through town for a guided visit to the Temple of Horus.
Buried beneath desert sand for centuries, this Ptolemaic sanctuary to the falcon god remains astonishingly complete — one of the finest and best-preserved temples anywhere in Egypt.
Returning aboard, you sail on to Kom Ombo to visit its extraordinary twin temple, shared equally between Sobek, the crocodile god, and Haroeris, a form of Horus.
Its mirror-image plan and dramatic bend-in-the-river setting make it one of the most memorable stops on the Nile. Lunch is served on board during the sail south, and the ship continues its journey towards Aswan.
Overnight is spent on board in Aswan.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 4: Aswan Highlights and Nile Sailing
The morning opens at the High Aswan Dam, the modern colossus that reshaped Egypt’s farmland, secured its water supply, and gave rise to Lake Nasser.
Next comes the Unfinished Obelisk, an enormous granite shaft still lodged in its quarry — a rare chance to see, up close, how ancient masons hewed monoliths from the living rock.
A motorboat then whisks you across to Philae Island for a guided visit to the Temple of Isis, a Ptolemaic sanctuary rescued from the rising floodwaters after the dam was built.
Following lunch at a local restaurant, you drift around Elephantine Island by traditional felucca, taking in the granite boulders, mudbrick villages, and easy river life at their most photogenic pace.
You return to the ship for your final night on board.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 5: Departure from Aswan
Enjoy a final breakfast on board before checking out of your cabin. A private air-conditioned vehicle then transfers you to Aswan Airport or the train station in good time for your onward journey.
Meals: Breakfast
At Daily Pyramids Tours, all prices are quoted in US Dollars (USD) unless otherwise specified. However, we gladly accept payments in other major currencies such as Euros (EUR), British Pounds (GBP), and more, based on the official daily exchange rate on the payment date.
Our prices reflect current market conditions, seasonal fluctuations, and service availability, so they may change without prior notice. Once a deposit or full payment is received, your booking price is locked in and guaranteed.
What’s Included in Our Packages:
Please check your specific booking confirmation and itinerary for exact inclusions and exclusions.
Holiday Supplement:
A 25% surcharge applies to all Nile Cruises and tour packages booked during Christmas, New Year, and Easter holidays due to peak demand.
To ensure a smooth booking process with Daily Pyramids Tours, our payment terms vary depending on the service type:
After payment, you will receive written confirmation, a tailored itinerary, and travel documents via email. Receipts for all payments will be provided.
We understand plans can change. Our cancellation terms are:
Refunds, when applicable, are processed within 14 business days of receiving your written cancellation notice. Some cruises or hotels may have stricter cancellation policies, which will be clearly communicated in your itinerary.
At Daily Pyramids Tours, we welcome families and offer the following children’s pricing:
Discounts apply only when children share accommodation with two full-paying adults. Note that certain Nile Cruises and luxury hotels may have different policies or restrictions for young children, which will be detailed in your itinerary if relevant.
Some special experiences are optional and not included in standard packages. You may book these in advance or arrange on-site (subject to availability). Examples include:
Optional tours are payable in USD or local currency (EGP). We recommend booking in advance, especially during peak seasons.
While our packages are comprehensive, travelers should budget for:
We advise carrying small amounts of local currency (EGP) for convenience, especially for tipping and shopping at local markets.
Tipping (“baksheesh”) is a customary way to show appreciation for good service in Egypt. Though not mandatory, it is widely appreciated:
Tipping is generally not included in your package price. We recommend carrying small USD or EGP bills for tipping convenience.
Fares for a Nile cruise shift with the length of the itinerary, the class of the vessel, and what is bundled in. As a working benchmark, expect roughly $600 to $900 per person for a 3-4 night sailing on a mid-range to luxury ship. Longer voyages or top-tier ships with fuller inclusions come in higher.
The prime window for cruising the Nile is October through April, when clear skies and cooler days make sightseeing genuinely comfortable. The peak of summer, from May to September, is best avoided as temperatures in Upper Egypt can be punishing.
Yes — a Nile cruise remains one of the most rewarding ways to see Egypt. It pairs slow, scenic river days with expert-led visits to the great temples and tombs, all wrapped in comfortable, all-inclusive travel that couples, families, and solo travellers alike appreciate.
Swimming directly in the Nile is not advised. Water quality, unseen currents, and river traffic all raise safety concerns, and cruise operators do not permit guests to swim over the side. If you fancy a dip, use the ship’s on-board pool instead.
Daywear on board is relaxed — light, breathable clothing works best in Egypt’s warmth. Evenings tend to be smart-casual, particularly for dinner or themed nights. When you step ashore to visit temples or other religious sites, please dress modestly, covering shoulders and knees.
