Luxor to Aswan Nile Cruise, 4 Nights, Abu Simbel & Balloon

The boat does not move for the first two days. That is the shape of this five-day, four-night cruise from Luxor to Aswan: two full days on the east and west banks of Luxor before it sails south to Edfu and the Temple of Horus, which is a different weighting from cruises that treat Luxor as a place to board and leave. The operator pitches this as cruising the Nile without breaking the bank. At 838.29 EUR that framing needs qualifying. It is not a budget product, and there are shorter cruises on this site that cost less. What the money covers is five days of guided sightseeing with the boat as your accommodation for four nights, which is a different calculation from a cheap fare. The balloon goes up early on the second morning, before Karnak and Luxor Temple, launched from the west bank at first light. Luxor is the only place in Egypt where commercial ballooning operates, so the position of the flight in the itinerary is fixed by geography rather than by the operator. Weather scrubs flights and the boat sails on schedule regardless, and a flight lost that way is refunded at 25 USD per person. Children under 6 cannot fly at all. The later days bring Kom Ombo at sunset, a 5 am start for Abu Simbel, and the temple on Philae island with the High Dam at Aswan.