4-Day 3-Night Nile Cruise from Aswan to Luxor - Private Tour

We took this tour as it has always been my partner’s dream to visit the breath taking ancient Egyptian monuments and to cruise down the Nile. All of the staff went out of their way to make sure we had an amazing time, and the facilities were perfect (except for the cruise ship wifi, but we had an Egyptian sim for internet as a backup). We were also lucky to have our amazing tour guide, Mustafa. He was friendly, funny, very knowledgeable about all of the sites we visited (and ancient Egyptian history in general), and he made sure we had an amazing trip. If you want a tour guide who takes extra care to make sure you see the best of Egypt, then you need Mustafa!

2 DIFFERENT REVIEWS!!!! So this is 2 different reviews for this package. First is for the tour guide and all of the sites we saw along the way: 100/10. Our tour guide was Ahmed. Best tour guide I've had traveling to over 50+ countries. His knowledge is next level and he knows how to read a room. Some people want to spend 5 min seeing things others 5 hours, he lets you go at your own pace while explaining everything along the way. Also was able to let us know when to tip/how much as well as meeting us all along the way, which for him could be up to 3 hours or more from his home town. Helped us negotiate prices of things we wanted to buy and showed us his favourite local spots to hit up to eat. The 3 of us unanimously agreed he was the bees knees. Couldn't recommend him more!! Second part of review.... the boat. So we didn't get much info about which boat we were traveling on before the cruise, so be it, came into it with an open mind. Our boat was pretty outdated, service was decent, and food was beyond bland. Wasn't expecting a mega cruise ship and all its modern amenities, but we saw some other boats along the nile that seemed much nicer, and it would be great if this tour company would allow you to choose your own boat, could charge more don't care about that, to make sure your expectations met your experience. Keep in mind this portion of the review has nothing to do with the actual sites/tour guide just the boat, of which the tour company has no true affiliation with besides partnering up for the cruising portion of this package. Wi-Fi was non existent, drinks on board are 4-5X as much as they would be on land. (buy a bottle or two in duty free at aswan airport, if that's where you're flying into first, if not stop at a drinkies in luxor to bring some booze at a way lower price point on board the ship. You have a fridge and are allowed to bring on your own supplies.) Linens and towels were "Clean" but always looked and seemed dirty and rooms/doors are very thin so you hear everything in the hallways and above you. If you can choose, try to get a room on the 2nd or 4th floor, not the third. People were making a lot of noise on early morning excursions ie 4:30am so bring some industry standard ear plugs if you are not joining those optional early morning excursions. Other than that the boat floated, sun was out and was an enjoyable transportation option to get you in between cities/sites.

Before my trip to Egypt I was in doubt if I wanted to book a cruise or not. I went for it though and I was so happy that I've chose this one. Everything was perfect! Our tour was very small, just me and another passenger, which made it so much more personal. Mostafa was a great guide, he has so much knowledge about the history of Ancient Egypt and can answer any question. The cruise was wonderful, on the Blue Shadow ship. The room was great as well. I liked that every day there was something going on on board, from afternoon tea on the sun deck to specialised parties and belly dancers. One evening we had Egyptian food in the restaurant, which was a great way to taste the local dishes.

It was a very memorable trip. It exceeded my expectation - the accommodation, food and the tour. Our tour guide Mahmoud was very helpful with the tour. He took us to the sites just in time when there isnt much crowd. The boat MS Medea was super clean and I never felt like I was travelling so convenient, like we were staying in a normal hotel. Boat doesnt smell. Food was just excellent and sanitary.

Ship environment was cozy, room was clean and cozy too.  Restaurant food was delicious, high quality with variety of dishes. Staff was nice very attentive and helpful. We had our own personal guide Salami who told interesting stories about the glorious Egyptian temples.  Everything was organized to a great level.

From the start to the end, Mohammed (the owner of the tour) was amazing, he also help us to bought a ticket to flight from Cairo to Aswan, unfortunatly we had an issue with the hot ballon that was cancelled due to bad water and Mohammed do not hesitate and return our money, it was 100% excelent!!! Our both guides were amazing as well, both Mohammed with so much information to give!!!

You pay for a 4 day program but it doesn’t mention anywhere that you have to be in Aswan by 9am at the latest if you want to join the 1st day of activities. Even though we were lucky to join as we arrived a day early, our guide tried to skip the unfinished obelisk from the program. He simply asked the driver to pull over next to the fence on the way back to say what it is and then asked him to continue a minute later even though the tickets to the site are included in the price you pay. After our objection and convincing 4 of the people from our group that there is nothing to see he let us go in saying that we have 5 to 10 minutes to go around. This was very difficult for the other couple which came together with us because they had 2 small children that needed to be carried up and down the site. The guide did not even join us for explanations of the site and the money for the entrance fees for the other people who did not join I assume he kept for himself. In contrast, there was no time limit when he brought us to a parfum shop. We had to spend about an hour there even though we were ready to leave after the first 10 minutes, so I assume he earns a commission. Prices there are negotiable btw, and can be easily cut in half or more, unless you are stupid enough to pay the initial price. The same goes for the alabaster shop where he brought us. We felt really rushed at all the sites that we were supposed to visit, including Philae temple where at the end we spend an hour sitting at the café in front of the exit, so he can tell us about all the overpriced optional tours we can book. 120 USD per person for Abu Simbel, 80 USD pp for a Hot air balloon and so on, which you can book for half the price elsewhere. For example, we paid only 17eur pp for the Sound & Light show at Karnak temple, even though this tour asked for 50usd or 60usd for it. Btw, we do not recommend that show at all. Was so boring we couldn’t wait to leave. Every time the guide says this is the last time you see this driver it means you have to tip. For the boat to Philae temple he asked everyone in the boat to tip 10 egp (for a full boat) even though the day before the tour we paid the same amount for a private boat for 2 people over the same distance. All in all, I felt rushed and cheated during the tours. Our guide spent more time trying to sell us things and bragging over his PhD than he spent actually telling us something over the sights. About the cruise boat, we were first told that we will travel on board of either Ms/Blue Shadow, Ms/Crown Prince or Radamis II cruise. Then a day before the tour we were told we will be on board of Jaz crown Jewel Nile cruise with a review score of only 7 out of 10 on Booking.com which I found disappointing given that we booked a more expensive tour hoping for a better boat. Luckily, in the end we traveled on board of Steigenberger Legacy Nile Cruise with a review score of 9.3 as there were not a lot of tourists for our dates. The room were nice and clean. The quality of the food on board was good. There was even a short entertainment program on the last day despite the fact the boat was almost empty. The only part that was not ok was the stereo music which had some sort of malfunction and kept going drastically up and down in volume or stopping all together, but I assume they will fix that. PS. I also forgot to mention that we were not picked up from our hotel because it was on the west bank of the Nile and were asked to meet the guide on the East side of the river.

Muhammed Hosny (tour guide) is passionate and a PhD expert in the field of Egyptian history, specifically in hieroglyphics. His English is fluent and without a doubt, advanced. Not only did he explain as much of the monuments and their details as possible, and used his sense of humor to describe the territories ancient stories. Mr. Hosny gave us plenty of free time to explore the areas on our own and without haste. He goes above and beyond to make us comfortable and feel safe everywhere we go. We loved his outgoing demeanor and pure love and enjoyment for Egyptian culture. He even let us stop a few times around the city to enjoy Egypt’s sweet treats such as baked goods and fruit drinks, on him! He is friendly, funny, organized, thorough, and reliable. A really cool guy and our new friend. We highly recommend recommend Muhammad! Also, the ship Legacy was very clean and the staff were all VERY friendly. 10/10 I will recommend to all my friends!

Our 4-day, 3-night Nile River Cruise with Egypt Unlimited was beyond amazing. They were accommodating from the very beginning when I booked the tour all the way through to the very end and beyond. Our flight from Cairo to Aswan was delayed several times and the tour company kept in touch and was still waiting for us when we arrived over 3 hours later than originally planned. We met with Amr at the airport who helped us gather our bags and ushered us off to our waiting van and our guide for the next days-Mustafa. We quickly moved to our first sight to roam around the Philae Temple. Here we spent about 1-1.5 hours exploring the island and gathering knowledge from Mustafa on the history. We then went to an essential oils factory where we got to watch blown glass being created and sample hibiscus tea along with several essential oils made locally in Aswan. Our last stop before heading to the boat for lunch was the Unfinished Obelisk. The Unfinished Obelisk, if not included in the tour, we would have skipped. It is just a giant Obelisk on the ground in a quarry. Wasn’t really worth the time to see (about 30 minutes) and would’ve rather have spent more time exploring the Philae Temple. Check in on the boat was completely handled by Mustafa, we didn’t have to do anything but give him our passports and then he provided us with keys to our room and we were able to just sit down and eat. After lunch, we hopped on a felucca to sail on the Nile for the very first time. We met up with a powerboat which continued our travel to the Nubian village to explore how they live in Egypt. This is an additional cost but it was fun to see and if you are in the mood, there are plenty of shops for you to purchase souvenirs if wanted. Our second day started extremely early with another additional purchased tour to Abu Simbel Temple which is a 3 hour drive away. I highly recommend taking this tour even though the price is a little expensive, but the temples and the views are amazing. On our way back to the ship we stopped at the Aswan High Dam to see where they changed the direction of the Nile back in the 1990s. Back to the ship for lunch and to sail to Kom Ombo. We visited the Temple at night which included the museum of mummified crocodiles. Back on the ship for dinner, cocktail hour and cruise during the night up to Edfu. Day 3 started at 630 am and included seeing the Edfu (Horus) Temple. From here we went back to the ship for breakfast and a full day sail to Luxor. Once in Luxor we had the option to visit Luxor Temple that night or to save it for the next day. We opted to see it that night which was lit up and gorgeous. They were doing quite a bit of construction because they were working to open the Avenue of Sphinx the following week where the President was to be in town which made navigating the temple a bit more hazardous in the dark but still worth the visit. Back on board for the night was dinner and belly dancers. Our 4th and final day was to begin at 4am with a hot air balloon (additional purchase) however, this was postponed due to the weather, but the tour company still followed up to ensure we made the tour and had a good time. We instead began at 8 am and covered the Colossi of Memnon, Valley of the Kings, Temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el Bahari and finally Temple of Karnak before being dropped off at our hotel. All and all we would recommend paying the additional for Nubian Village, Abu Simbel Temple and Hot Air Balloon Ride as well as a private tour, it’s worth it to have a guide completely dedicated to your group rather than being placed in a larger group with everyone speaking the language you need. Mustafa was AMAZING! Helped us skip the lines, I mean every line from getting into temples to getting into the bathroom. He would buy snacks, coffee and pay for us to use the restroom when we didn’t have small bills. Really felt as if we became friends by the end of the tour and were sad to not have him with us for the rest of our time in Egypt. If booking any tour with Egypt Unlimited, which you should, we cannot recommend Mustafa enough. As for the boat, it was older and a bit run down but the beds/pillows were comfortable. The food was just ok, and we found it extremely odd to have to pay for every drink, including water. Lastly, time spent at the sights seemed rushed-not due to our guide but due to the decision to only do the 4 day tour rather than the longer 7 day option.

The private tour part of our tour was excellent. We felt taken care of and our guide Ahmed El Ansary really brought the history to life. The cruise part was a bit disappointing with unfriendly staff and having to pay for water. The food was alright though. Overall a good experience