Egypt Itinerary 8 Days: Cairo, Luxor & Aswan by Train with Nile Cruise

Arrive at Cairo International Airport, where your Memphis Tours representative meets you inside the terminal, assists with passport control and baggage, and escorts you to your private air-conditioned vehicle.

Transfer to your hotel, where a welcome drink awaits and your tour manager reviews your Egypt itinerary across 8 days with you — including how the two overnight rail sectors work and what to pack for them. The remainder of the day is at leisure.

Overnight in: Cairo – Hilton Pyramids Golf Hotel (Golden) or The Pyramids Resort by Jaz (Silver)
Meals: None
Visits: —
Signature Experience: Welcome drink on arrival and a private pre-journey briefing covering your rail and cruise sectors
Good to Know: Your final hotel and vessel confirmation is issued with your travel documents before departure

After breakfast, meet your private Egyptologist and travel to the Giza Plateau to explore the Great Pyramids, the Sphinx and the Valley Temple, with time at the panoramic viewpoint. Lunch follows at a local Egyptian restaurant, then you visit the Grand Egyptian Museum and its complete Tutankhamun collection.

In the early evening you collect your luggage and transfer privately to Giza railway station, where your representative assists with boarding. Dinner is served aboard as the train heads south into Upper Egypt.

Overnight in: Sleeper train, Cairo to Aswan
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner (served aboard the train)
Visits: Giza Pyramids, Sphinx, Valley Temple, Grand Egyptian Museum
Signature Experience: Falling asleep in Cairo and waking beside the Nile in Aswan — the rail journey as part of the trip, not just transport
Optional Premium Experience: Upgrade to a domestic flight in place of the overnight train, approximately $295 per person.
Rail Note: This sector runs approximately 14 hours in a private two-berth sleeper compartment with fitted bedding, a washbasin and shared washrooms at each carriage end. Dinner tonight and breakfast tomorrow are included. One suitcase plus hand luggage per guest travels with you in the compartment

Breakfast is served in your compartment before arrival in Aswan, where you are met and transferred to your Nile cruise vessel — the point where your Egypt and Nile cruise journey properly begins. Settle into your cabin and take lunch on board as the river opens up around you.

In the afternoon, join your cruise sightseeing group for Philae Temple, reached by motorboat and rescued stone by stone from the rising waters of the High Dam, then the Unfinished Obelisk still lying in its ancient granite quarry. Dinner is served on board.

Overnight in: Nile cruise vessel, moored in Aswan – MS Salacia (Golden) or M/S Iberotel Crown Empress (Silver)
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Visits: Philae Temple, Unfinished Obelisk
Signature Experience: Stepping off the overnight train and onto your Nile vessel in a single morning
Good to Know: Sightseeing from the cruise is operated as a shared group excursion with an accompanying Egyptologist. Your Cairo touring is private; the cruise portion is not

Breakfast on board as the vessel casts off and begins sailing north. Midday brings you to Kom Ombo and its unusual double temple, shared between the crocodile god Sobek and the falcon-headed Haroeris — two mirrored sanctuaries under one roof, with the mummified crocodiles of the adjoining museum nearby.

Return on board for lunch as the vessel continues to Edfu, mooring for the evening. Dinner is served on board.

Overnight in: Nile cruise vessel, moored in Edfu
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Visits: Temple of Kom Ombo
Signature Experience: Watching the riverbank villages and palm groves of Upper Egypt pass from the sun deck between temples
Good to Know: Sightseeing today is a shared group excursion with an accompanying Egyptologist

After breakfast, visit the Temple of Horus at Edfu — the most completely preserved temple in Egypt, its roof, columns and sanctuary still intact after more than two thousand years buried in sand.

Back on board for lunch, the vessel sails on to Luxor through the afternoon. Tonight brings a traditional evening of music and dance on deck, followed by dinner on board.

Overnight in: Nile cruise vessel, moored in Luxor
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Visits: Temple of Horus at Edfu
Signature Experience: An evening of live Egyptian music and dance on deck as the vessel moors at Luxor
Good to Know: Sightseeing today is a shared group excursion with an accompanying Egyptologist

Breakfast on board, then disembark to explore ancient Thebes. On the East Bank, visit the vast Karnak Temple Complex, where the Great Hypostyle Hall's 134 columns still carry traces of their original color, and the ceremonial Luxor Temple.

Cross to the West Bank for the painted burial chambers of the Valley of the Kings, the terraced Temple of Queen Hatshepsut and a stop at the Colossi of Memnon. Transfer to Luxor station in the evening; dinner is served aboard the train.

Overnight in: Sleeper train, Luxor to Cairo
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner (served aboard the train)
Visits: Karnak Temple Complex, Luxor Temple, Valley of the Kings, Temple of Queen Hatshepsut, Colossi of Memnon
Signature Experience: Both banks of ancient Thebes in one day, ending with the overnight train north
Optional Premium Experience: Upgrade to a domestic flight in place of the overnight train, approximately $295 per person.
Rail Note: This sector runs approximately 11 hours in a private two-berth sleeper compartment with fitted bedding, a washbasin and shared washrooms at each carriage end. Dinner tonight and breakfast tomorrow are included

Breakfast is served in your compartment as the train arrives at Giza station. You are met and transferred privately to your hotel, where your room is ready and the day opens up in front of you.

This is your recovery chapter, left deliberately unhurried after five days of touring and traveling on your Egypt and Nile cruise. Rest at the hotel, or head out with a guide to Sakkara's Step Pyramid and the ancient capital of Memphis — the oldest stone monuments on your whole route.

Overnight in: Cairo – Hilton Pyramids Golf Hotel (Golden) or The Pyramids Resort by Jaz (Silver)
Meals: Breakfast
Visits: —
Signature Experience: A deliberately open day in Cairo, yours to spend at rest or on a guided excursion
Optional Premium Experience: Half-day private tour to the Step Pyramid of Djoser at Sakkara and the ruins of Memphis can be arranged at additional cost.
Good to Know: Your hotel room is ready on arrival from the station, so you can shower and change before deciding how to spend the day