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:
$1215
4.9
Tour Details
| Duration |
3 Days / 2 Nights |
|---|---|
| Tour Location |
Aswan / Abu Simbel / Luxor |
| Tour Type |
Daily Tour |
| Pickup |
Cairo Airport or Your Hotel |
Private 3 Days Tour to Luxor, Aswan & Abu Simbel
This private 3-day tour covers Luxor, Aswan, and Abu Simbel as a fully private guided circuit flying into Aswan, traveling overland to Abu Simbel, and finishing in Luxor with a domestic flight back to Cairo. It includes a traditional Nile felucca ride to Elephantine Island and Lord Kitchener's Island, offering a more intimate Upper Egypt experience than group circuits. These 3 days are one of our signature Egypt Classic Tours, blending iconic temples, timeless history, and the serene charm of the Nile.
The itinerary opens in Aswan on Day 1 with the Aswan High Dam, Philae Temple on Agilkia Island, the Unfinished Obelisk in the granite quarries, a Nubian Village visit, and the Philae Sound & Light Show. Day 2 is a dedicated Abu Simbel day, a 3-hour private overland drive south from Aswan to the Great Temple of Ramses II and the Temple of Nefertari, followed by a return to Aswan for a felucca ride to Elephantine Island and the botanical gardens of Lord Kitchener's Island, then an evening transfer to Luxor.
Why Book This Tour
- Fully private 3-day journey from Cairo to Aswan and Luxor with a licensed Egyptologist guide.
- Domestic flights included: Cairo–Aswan and Luxor–Cairo for maximum sightseeing time.
- Traditional Nile felucca ride, Nubian Village visit, and Philae Sound & Light Show included.
- Private Abu Simbel excursion with ample time to explore the temples without group schedules.
- Two nights in carefully selected Nile-view hotels in Aswan and Luxor.
- All entrance fees, private transfers, and a flexible itinerary tailored to your pace.
Included
- Meet and assist with the Tripidays representative at the airport
- Private Egyptologist guide for all 3 days
- Private air-conditioned vehicle for all overland transfers
- Domestic flight: Cairo to Aswan
- Domestic flight: Luxor to Cairo
- 1 night hotel accommodation in Aswan
- 1 night hotel accommodation in Luxor
- Meals are mentioned in the itinerary
- Entrance fees to attractions are mentioned in the itinerary
- Traditional Nile felucca ride: Elephantine Island and Lord Kitchener's Island
- One Bottled water throughout
- All taxes and service charges
- Our assistance during your stay
Excluded
- International flights to Egypt.
- Personal expenses (souvenirs, extra meals, etc.)
- Tips for guides and drivers.
- Travel Insurance
Highlights
Aswan Attractions
- High Dam
- Philae Temple
- Unfinished Obelisk
- Nubian Village
- Light & Sound Show
- Felucca Ride
- Elphinatine Island
Luxor Attractions
- Valley of the Kings
- Temple of Hatshepsut
- Colossi of Memnon
- Karnak Temple
- Luxor Temple
Abu Simbel Attraction
- Temples of Ramses II
Itinerary
Your private guide meets you at Cairo Airport for the domestic flight to Aswan, the starting point of this private 3-day Luxor to Aswan tour. On arrival, a private air-conditioned vehicle is ready for the day, no group transfers, no shared schedule.
High Dam
You stand at one of the largest embankment dams ever built, stretching 3.8 kilometres across the Nile at its widest point. Your guide explains how its completion in 1970 ended millennia of annual flooding and created Lake Nasser, 550 kilometres long, the world's largest artificial reservoir.
Philae Temple Tour
Your boat carries you across to Agilkia Island, where the entire temple complex was dismantled and reassembled stone by stone to save it from the rising waters of Lake Nasser. The carved reliefs inside the hypostyle hall are among the best-preserved in Upper Egypt — your guide reads them as you move through.
The Unfinished Obelisk
You step down into the ancient granite quarries south of Aswan, where the largest obelisk ever attempted lies exactly where it was abandoned 3,500 years ago — still attached to the bedrock, cracked before it could be freed. The scale makes you understand the ambition: at 42 metres, it would have been the heaviest stone monument Egypt ever erected.
Nubian Village
Your guide walks you through a working village where the painted houses — indigo, ochre, terracotta — back directly onto the Nile. This is not a reconstruction. Families here have lived on this stretch of riverbank since before the temples were built.
Philae Light & Sound Show
As darkness falls over Agilkia Island, the temple columns and pylons are lit in sequence while the story of Isis and Osiris narrates through the ruins. You sit facing the Nile, the water reflecting the lights.
Meals
Lunch
Your private vehicle departs Aswan at dawn for the 3-hour drive south toward Lake Nasser — a private 3-day Luxor to Aswan tour standard that group tours rarely match in pacing. Abu Simbel takes the full morning. The afternoon returns to the water.
Abu Simbel Temples
You arrive in the early morning before the tour coaches, which matters here — the interior of the Great Temple is narrow, and the four seated colossi of Ramses II on the façade are best read in raking light. Your guide points out the solar alignment: twice a year, sunlight penetrates 60 metres into the mountain to illuminate the sanctuary's innermost statues.
Felucca Ride & Elephantine Island
Back in Aswan, your felucca captain sets sail into the current with no motor, no schedule pressure. Elephantine Island sits in the middle of the Nile and holds the ruins of Khnum's ancient city directly below the surface. Your guide traces the outline from the water before you dock.
Visit Lord Kitchener Island
You walk through botanical gardens planted in the 1890s by Lord Kitchener, who used his island posting to import specimens from across the British Empire. Mango, ebony, and flame trees grow together in a place that feels deliberately unhurried, a useful counterweight to the morning's scale.
Meals
Breakfast and Lunch
Your guide collects you from the Luxor hotel and drives to the West Bank, where the private 3-day Luxor to Aswan tour ends with Luxor's full temple sequence. A domestic flight from Luxor back to Cairo closes the circuit.
Valley of the Kings
You enter the West Bank cliffs where 63 royal tombs cut into the limestone, their painted walls sealed for three thousand years before excavation began. Your guide selects three tombs based on current access, the combinations change seasonally, and walks you through the hieroglyphic programs that map the pharaoh's passage through the underworld.
Temple of Hatshepsut
The colonnaded terraces of Deir el-Bahari rise in three tiers against the cliff face, designed by Hatshepsut's architect Senenmut around 1480 BCE. You'll find yourself looking up at the upper terrace and understanding that the scale works not by size alone but by the relationship between the building and the rock behind it.
Colossi of Memnon
Stand at the base of the two quartzite colossi, each 18 metres tall, carved from a single block of stone, dragged from quarries near Cairo. They are the only things left of the mortuary temple they once guarded, which was systematically dismantled by later pharaohs for building material.
Karnak Temple
Your guide leads you through the Hypostyle Hall 134 columns, the tallest reaching 21 metres, arranged so closely that the light between them drops to near-darkness at ground level. Karnak was never finished in the modern sense; every dynasty added a pylon, a court, a sanctuary, so the complex grew for 2,000 years without a single unifying plan.
Luxor Temple
The East Bank temple sits at the edge of the modern city, its entrance flanked by a single surviving obelisk; its pair has stood in the Place de la Concorde in Paris since 1836. To explore more of Luxor's lesser-visited temples after this tour, see our Luxor Dendera and Abydos Tour.
Meals
Breakfast
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 tour includes two domestic flights (Cairo–Aswan and Luxor–Cairo), 5-star hotel accommodation in both Aswan and Luxor, a private Egyptologist guide for all 3 days, entrance fees to every site on the itinerary, a traditional Nile felucca ride, and all overland transfers by private vehicle. Breakfasts and lunches on Days 2 and 3 are included.
This tour operates as a fully private circuit; your guide, vehicle, and schedule belong to your group alone at every attraction. The felucca ride to Elephantine Island and Lord Kitchener's Island is a feature no group-based Upper Egypt circuit includes as standard. To add Cairo to your Upper Egypt trip with domestic flights, see our 3 Day Cairo, Luxor & Abu Simbel Tour.
A felucca is a traditional wooden sailing boat that has carried passengers on the Nile for centuries — no motor, no fixed schedule, driven by the current and the sail. On Day 2, your felucca takes you to Elephantine Island, one of Aswan's oldest inhabited sites, and on to Lord Kitchener's Island with its botanical gardens planted in the 1890s.
The Abu Simbel day (Day 2) involves a 3-hour private drive south from Aswan to the temples at the edge of Lake Nasser, then a return drive the same day. All overland travel throughout the tour is by private air-conditioned vehicle; there are no shared coaches or group transfers at any point. The final leg from Luxor to Cairo is by domestic flight on Day 3.
Yes, the private format is particularly well-suited to first-time visitors because the Egyptologist guide can adjust pace, depth, and sequence to your interests. There is no group schedule to keep to, and the itinerary is designed to cover Luxor, Aswan, and Abu Simbel in a logical south-to-north flow without rushing any site.
What to Pack
Hat
Backpack
Comfy Shoes
Powerbank
Medical Kit
Comfy Clothes
Sunglasses & Sunscreen
Personal Hygiene Products
Valid Passport For 6 Months
