Egypt Short Breaks Itinerary: What to See in 3, 4, or 5 Days
November 19, 2025
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about Egypt Short Breaks Itinerary: What to See in 3, 4, or 5 Days
From:
$460
4.9
Tour Details
| Duration |
4 Days / 3 Nights |
|---|---|
| Tour Location |
Aswan / Kom Ombo / Edfu / Luxor |
| Tour Type |
Daily Tour |
| Pickup |
Aswan Airport or Your Hotel |
5 Star Nile Cruise From Aswan to Luxor
This 4 day Nile cruise from Aswan covers the full Upper Egypt temple circuit in three nights aboard a 5-star motor cruiser departing directly from Aswan, with no transit days to Cairo, and arriving in Luxor on day four. The departure point is Aswan itself, which means every hour of the itinerary is spent on the river or at the temples it was designed around. It's the same route covered across Tripidays' Luxor and Aswan Nile cruise, worth a look if you want to see how this specific departure stacks up against similar ones.
Day 1 begins at the Aswan High Dam, the Unfinished Obelisk, and Philae Temple before boarding in Aswan that afternoon. Day 2 takes the cruise north through Kom Ombo Temple and Edfu Temple. Day 3 arrives in Luxor for the West Bank Valley of the Kings, Hatshepsut Temple, and Colossi of Memnon. Day 4 closes the circuit on the East Bank at Karnak Temple and Luxor Temple before transfer to Luxor airport or hotel.
Why Book This Tour
- Direct 4-day Nile cruise sailing from Aswan to Luxor.
- Private licensed Egyptologist guide throughout the journey.
- All sightseeing transfers by private air-conditioned vehicle.
- 3 nights aboard a 5-star Nile cruise with full-board meals.
- Flexible itinerary customization available before travel.
- 24/7 customer support and in-destination assistance.
Included
- Meet and assist with the Tripidays representative at the hotel or the Airport
- 3 nights aboard a 5-star Nile cruise ship ( full-board )
- Private licensed Egyptologist guide for all temple and site visits
- All transfers by modern private air-conditioned vehicle
- Entrance fees to all Aswan and Luxor attractions are included
- One Bottled water throughout all touring days
- All taxes and service charges
- 24/7 customer support and in-destination assistance
Excluded
- International flights to Egypt
- Personal expenses (souvenirs, extra meals, etc.)
- Tips for guides and drivers
- Travel Insurance
- Egypt Entry Visa
Highlights
Aswan Attractions
- Aswan High Dam
- Unfinished Obelisk
- Philae Temple
- Kom Ombo Temple
- Edfu Temple
Luxor Attractions
- Valley of the Kings
- Hatshepsut Temple
- Colossi of Memnon
- Karnak Temple
- Luxor Temple
Itinerary
Your Tripidays guide meets you at Aswan airport or your hotel and takes you directly to Aswan’s most important monuments before you board your 5-star Nile cruise. After lunch on board, the cruise sails north to Kom Ombo for an evening visit before continuing along the Nile.
Aswan High Dam
You'll stand on a structure that redirected the entire Nile 3.6 kilometres wide, built between 1960 and 1970 to end the flood cycles that had governed Egyptian agriculture for millennia. Your guide will point out the reservoir on one side and the transformed floodplain on the other, which makes the scale of the decision legible in a way the numbers alone don't.
Unfinished Obelisk
Still lying in the granite quarry where it cracked before completion, this is the largest obelisk ancient Egypt ever attempted — at 42 metres, it would have outweighed all others by over a third. You'll walk its full length and see the chisel marks still visible in the stone, the only surviving record of how these monuments were actually made.
Philae Temple
Our guide takes you to Philae by boat. The temple sits on its own island, relocated stone by stone in the 1970s when the High Dam's rising waters threatened to submerge it permanently. Dedicated to the goddess Isis, the complex is one of the last ancient Egyptian temples to have remained in active religious use into the 6th century AD.
Sailing to Kom Ombo
After embarkation, your cruise begins sailing north through Upper Egypt toward Kom Ombo.
Kom Ombo Temple
Approaching by river, you'll see one of Egypt’s most distinctive temples rising above the Nile bank. Kom Ombo is uniquely dedicated to two gods—Sobek the crocodile god and Haroeris the falcon god—with twin sanctuaries mirrored throughout the structure.
Sail to Edfu
The cruise continues sailing overnight toward Edfu.
Meals
Lunch and Dinner
The cruise arrives in Edfu during the morning before continuing its journey north toward Luxor. The cruise arrives in Luxor later in the day and overnights there.
Edfu Temple
Stand before one of the best-preserved temples in Egypt, dominated by a gateway that rises 36 metres above the courtyard. Dedicated to Horus, the temple preserves detailed reliefs that recount the legendary battle between Horus and Seth, still remarkably clear after more than two thousand years.
Sailing to Luxor
Return to the cruise and enjoy a relaxing afternoon sailing through the Nile Valley as the vessel continues toward Luxor.
Meals
Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner
After breakfast, the day focuses on Luxor’s East Bank, the religious centre of ancient Thebes and home to some of the most important temple complexes ever built in Egypt.
Luxor Temple
Built primarily by Amenhotep III and later extended by Ramesses II, Luxor Temple sits at the centre of the modern city — the town grew up around it, over it, and in some cases through it. You'll enter past the obelisk of Ramesses II, one of a pair (the other has stood in the Place de la Concorde in Paris since 1833), and walk through sanctuary rooms where the stone floors are still worn smooth from centuries of use.
Karnak Temple
You'll enter through an avenue of sphinx statues and arrive at the Hypostyle Hall — 134 columns, the tallest reaching 21 metres, arranged so tightly that the space between them narrows to the width of two people walking side by side. Karnak was built, expanded, and added to by successive pharaohs over 2,000 years; your guide will trace the layers of construction visible in the different stone colours and column styles, which makes the political history of ancient Egypt readable in a single building.
Meals
Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner
After breakfast and disembarkation, your guide accompanies you to Luxor’s West Bank and returns to Aswan.
Valley of the Kings
You'll descend into tombs cut 30 to 100 metres into the limestone cliffs, the burial chambers of 64 pharaohs, including Ramesses II, Tutankhamun, and Seti I. The painted ceilings and corridor walls show the complete Amduat, the ancient Egyptian guide to navigating the underworld, and the colours, protected from light for three millennia, remain some of the most vivid in any surviving ancient monument.
Hatshepsut Temple
Next, visit the impressive Hatshepsut Temple, built for Egypt’s most influential female pharaoh. Carved into the cliffs of Deir el-Bahari, the temple’s terraces and reliefs reflect architectural brilliance and political power rarely matched in ancient history.
Colossi of Memnon
Two seated figures of Amenhotep III, each 18 metres high and weighing over 700 tonnes, standing in an open field with no enclosing structure. What you're looking at is the entrance forecourt of what was once the largest mortuary temple in Thebes.
Meals
Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner
Notes:
* You can let us know if you'd like to customize your tour itinerary to meet your needs. We value your input and aim to accommodate your requirements.
Frequently Asked Questions
The package includes 3 nights full-board on a 5-star Nile cruiser, a private Egyptologist guide, all transfers by private vehicle, and entrance fees to all ten sites across Aswan and Luxor. International flights, visa, insurance, and tips are not included.
This cruise departs directly from Aswan, meaning no day is absorbed by a flight from Cairo — every night of the itinerary is spent on the river, and every temple in the Upper Egypt circuit is reached on schedule. For travellers choosing between departure points, prefer to start your cruise from Cairo instead.
Aswan is the southernmost point of the classic Upper Egypt temple circuit — departing here means the cruise travels the full route north, stopping at Kom Ombo and Edfu in sequence before reaching Luxor, rather than splitting the journey across two directions. If you're considering a different style of vessel for the same Aswan departure, experience a boutique Dahabiya sailboat from Aswan.
The cruise sails approximately 200 kilometres north across three nights — overnighting in Aswan on Day 1, near Edfu on Day 2, and docked at Luxor from Day 3. The sailing itself covers the stretch of the Nile that connects Egypt's densest concentration of surviving ancient temples.
No, this tour begins directly in Aswan, so no domestic flight is required or included. If you need to travel from Cairo to join the cruise, a separate Cairo–Aswan flight can be arranged; alternatively, the 4 Day Nile Cruise from Cairo includes the domestic flight within the package price.
What to Pack
Hat
Backpack
Comfy Shoes
Powerbank
Medical Kit
Comfy Clothes
Sunglasses & Sunscreen
Personal Hygiene Products
Valid Passport For 6 Months
Tour Locations
Tour Prices
From Jan 2026 to Apr 2026
- Solo $1170
- 2 - 4 Pax $700
- 5 - 8 Pax $600
- 9 - 16 Pax $580
From May 2026 to Sep 2026
- Solo $960
- 2 - 4 Pax $570
- 5 - 8 Pax $480
- 9 - 16 Pax $460
From Oct 2026 to Dec 2026
- Solo $1250
- 2 - 4 Pax $740
- 5 - 8 Pax $640
- 9 - 16 Pax $630
Xmas 21 Dec - 7 Jan Easter 29 Mar - 11 Apr
- Solo $1570
- 2 - 4 Pax $910
- 5 - 8 Pax $810
- 9 - 16 Pax $790
Cruises:
MS Royal Isadora – MS Blue Shadow II – MS Nile Style – MS Concerto Plus or similar
