| Duration |
10 Days / 9 Nights |
|---|---|
| Tour Location |
Cairo / Luxor / Aswan / Abu Simbel / Bahariya Oasis / White Desert / Black Desert |
| Tour Type |
Daily Tour |
| Pickup |
Cairo International Airport |
This 10-day Cairo, Nile cruise, and Sahara adventure tour is one of the most immersive Egypt itineraries by Tripidays covers Cairo, Luxor, Aswan, and Abu Simbel on a private Nile cruise, then continues overland into the Sahara's Bahariya Oasis and Black Desert for a two-day desert safari and overnight camp. Egypt's only 10-day tour that combines a Nile cruise with the Sahara's Bahariya Black Desert delivers two bucket-list experiences in one trip without splitting them across separate bookings.
The itinerary moves in sequence from Egypt's ancient monuments to its desert interior. Day 2 covers the Giza Pyramids, the Great Sphinx, the Valley Temple of Khafre, and the Grand Egyptian Museum before an evening flight south to Luxor. Days 3 and 4 take in the Karnak Temple Complex, Luxor Temple, the Valley of the Kings, the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut, and the Colossi of Memnon on both banks of the Nile. Day 5 sails to the Temple of Horus at Edfu and the Kom Ombo Temple before reaching Aswan. Day 6 is a dedicated excursion to Abu Simbel, the Great Temple of Ramses II, and the Temple of Queen Nefertari. Day 7 covers Aswan's Philae Temple, the High Dam, and the Unfinished Obelisk before a flight back to Cairo. Days 8 and 9 leave the river entirely: a Toyota Land Cruiser takes you into Black Desert, Crystal Mountain, the Agabat Valley sandboarding area, and the sculpted formations of the White Desert, with a night spent camping under the Sahara sky.
Only on this route
Most Egypt tours that include a desert component treat it as a half-day add-on from Cairo — there isn't enough time to reach Bahariya Oasis and return without cutting the itinerary short. This tour gives the desert two full days and an overnight camp inside the White Desert National Park, with the same private guide who led the Nile cruise continuing into the Sahara.
Arc I · Cairo to Giza
Pyramids, Sphinx, and the GEM ancient Cairo in full
After breakfast, your private guide collects you for a full day on the Giza Plateau, followed by an evening flight to Luxor, where your Nile cruise begins.
Discover the majestic Great Pyramids of Giza, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient Egyptian World. Walk in the footsteps of pharaohs and marvel at these timeless structures that define Egypt’s legacy.
Continue to the monumental limestone statue in Giza, Egypt, believed to have been built during the reign of Pharaoh Khafre around 2500 BCE. With the body of a lion and the head of a human, it symbolizes strength and wisdom.
You'll enter a structure built from 100-tonne granite and limestone blocks, used by priests for the mummification rituals of the pharaoh whose pyramid stands directly above. The silence inside is disorienting, given how close the crowds are outside.
Your guide will walk you through galleries holding over 100,000 artifacts, including the complete treasures from Tutankhamun's tomb displayed together for the first time. The atrium built around a 3,200-year-old standing colossus of Ramses II gives you the scale of what's inside before you've seen a single exhibit.
Breakfast, Lunch
Arc II · Luxor to Abu Simbel
Nile cruise south from Luxor through Edfu, Kom Ombo, and Abu Simbel
After breakfast, your transfer takes you to Cairo Airport for your flight to Luxor. On arrival, you board your Nile cruise, your base for the next four nights on this Cairo Nile cruise and Sahara adventure tour.
Begin your Luxor journey at the East bank of the Nile with the Karnak Temple Complex, a monumental site filled with towering columns and sacred inscriptions. It’s one of Egypt’s most impressive ancient wonders.
Visit the Luxor Temple. From the outside, it looks like it belongs to one ruler. Inside, your guide will show you additions from Amenhotep III, Ramses II, and a Roman chapel built directly over the ancient sanctuary. The avenue of sphinxes, leading to the entrance, stretched 3 kilometers when it was intact.
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
After breakfast on board, your guide takes you across the Nile to the West Bank, where the pharaohs built their tombs deliberately separate from the temples of the living.
You'll approach across open desert, and the three colonnaded terraces rising into the cliffside take a moment to process. She ruled Egypt for over 20 years, and this mortuary temple, constructed around 1479 BCE, was her architectural statement of legitimacy.
Explore the Valley of the Kings, and your guide will take you into tombs where ceiling paintings are so vivid they read less like decoration and more like a complete illustrated map of the afterlife. More than 60 royal tombs are cut into this valley, including that of Tutankhamun, whose quartzite sarcophagus remains in place.
Stop by the monumental Colossi of Memnon, look up at two seated figures rising 18 meters from the plain with nothing behind them but open sky and distant cliffs. They are all that remains above ground of what was once the largest mortuary temple ever built in Egypt.
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Breakfast on board as the cruise sails south toward Edfu. The desert escarpment closes in on both banks. Here, your first visual preview of the landscape awaits the Sahara adventure tour days ahead.
Take a horse drawn carriage to the Temple of Horus, one of Egypt’s best-preserved temples. Its detailed carvings narrate epic battles between gods.
Visit the Kom Ombo Temple, uniquely dedicated to two gods, Sobek, the crocodile god, and Horus, the falcon.
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
An early departure from the cruise takes you south by road for the excursion that anchors the Nile leg of this Cairo, Nile cruise, and Sahara adventure tour, Abu Simbel, the twin temples Ramses II cut directly into a sandstone cliff above what is now Lake Nasser.
Carved directly into the mountain by Ramses II, these temples are a symbol of eternal power and artistry. They’re also a UNESCO World Heritage Site, offering unforgettable moments for your 10-day Egypt adventure tour with the sahara.
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Arc III · Aswan to Cairo
High Dam, Philae, and the Unfinished Obelisk then a flight back north
After breakfast, you disembark the cruise in Aswan for a half-day of sightseeing, then fly back to Cairo. Tonight is your last night in a city hotel before the desert section of this 10-day Cairo, Nile cruise, and Sahara adventure tour begins.
Visit the modern marvel of the Aswan High Dam, your guide will take you to the observation point where the full scope becomes visible: a 3.6-kilometer structure holding back Lake Nasser, the world's largest artificial reservoir. When it was completed in 1970, it ended the annual Nile flood that had governed Egyptian agriculture for 7,000 years.
A short motorboat ride brings you to Isis's island sanctuary, relocated stone by stone after the High Dam raised the water around its original site. You'll arrive the way ancient pilgrims did by water, and the approach from the river is the best angle the temple has. Travellers interested in extending the southern Nile experience beyond Aswan and Abu Simbel may also consider the Lake Nasser Nubian dual cruise, which continues into the lesser-visited temples and landscapes surrounding Lake Nasser.
Your guide will show you a single piece of granite still attached to the quarry floor: 42 meters long and approximately 1,200 tons, abandoned when a crack appeared mid-carving. It tells you more about how ancient Egyptians worked stone than any finished monument does.
Breakfast, Lunch
Arc IV · Bahariya to the White Desert
Black Desert, Crystal Mountain, and a night camped under the Sahara sky
After breakfast, your guide and Toyota Land Cruiser head southwest from Cairo into the Western Desert. This is where the Cairo Nile cruise and Sahara adventure tour shifts completely from the river to the open Sahara, from ancient temples to the raw geology of the Bahariya Oasis. Travelers wanting a deeper Sahara extension beyond Bahariya can also explore the western desert Siwa Oasis safari in Egypt, expanding the journey farther west into Siwa Oasis for a broader desert expedition experience across Egypt's remote landscapes.
Your journey begins with a ride in a Toyota Land Cruiser to explore the Black Desert and the Bedouin Village of El Hez Shower. From there, you’ll continue to the mesmerizing Crystal Mountain before heading to the Agabat Area, also known as "The Wonders Area," where you can experience the thrill of sandboarding. The adventure ends with a visit to the enchanting Old White Desert, featuring remarkable sites such as Mushroom Rock, Tants Valley, the Panorama of the Old White Desert, and the captivating Flower Stone.
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Wake before dawn, this is the moment the Bahariya Oasis, Egypt, adventure tour earns its place in the itinerary. After sunrise, a natural hot spring refreshes you before the Land Cruiser takes you back to Cairo.
Breakfast, Lunch
Breakfast at the hotel, checkout, and a private transfer to Cairo International Airport for your departure flight.
As you fly home, carry with you memories of the 10-day Cairo Nile cruise and Sahara adventure tour that combined the best of Egypt, the magic of Cairo, the timeless beauty of the Nile, and the endless charm of the Sahara. For visitors focused entirely on Egypt's pharaonic highlights and river journey, a classic Nile cruise without desert offers a more traditional route centered on Cairo, Luxor, Aswan, and the Nile Valley without the overland Sahara component.
Breakfast
* 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.
This tour includes 4 nights in a Cairo hotel, 4 nights aboard a Nile cruise from Luxor to Aswan, 1 night in the Sahara desert camping with Bedouin dinner, domestic flights (Cairo–Luxor and Aswan–Cairo), a private Egyptologist guide, all entrance fees, and all transfers, including a Toyota Land Cruiser for the desert safari. Breakfast is included daily; lunch and dinner are included on the cruise and at the desert camp.
This is Egypt's only 10-day tour that combines a complete Nile cruise, Luxor, Aswan, and Abu Simbel with a fully guided overnight Sahara safari into the Bahariya Black Desert and White Desert. No other Cairo, Nile cruise, and Sahara adventure tour packages both legs as dedicated multi-day components with the same private Egyptologist throughout.
Your guide takes you by Toyota Land Cruiser through the Black Desert, Crystal Mountain, Agabat Valley (with sandboarding), and the White Desert formations, Mushroom Rock, Tanta Valley, and Flower Stone before a Bedouin campfire dinner and an overnight stay under the Sahara sky. The following morning, you watch the sunrise over the White Desert and visit a natural hot spring before returning to Cairo.
The cruise boards in Luxor on Day 3 and sails to Aswan over four nights, stopping at Karnak Temple, Luxor Temple, the Valley of the Kings, Hatshepsut Temple, the Colossi of Memnon, the Temple of Horus at Edfu, and Kom Ombo Temple, with a dedicated day excursion to Abu Simbel on Day 6. The cruise disembarks in Aswan on Day 7.
Yes. The Cairo to Luxor flight on Day 3 and the Aswan to Cairo flight on Day 7 are both included in the tour price. All ground transfers are also arranged by Tripidays in private air-conditioned vehicles.
Prices shown include your hotel stay by default. Switch off to see tour-only pricing if you're arranging your own accommodation.
Xmas window: 21 Dec – 7 Jan / Easter window: 29 Mar – 11 Apr
Xmas window: 21 Dec – 7 Jan / Easter window: 29 Mar – 11 Apr
Xmas window: 21 Dec – 7 Jan / Easter window: 29 Mar – 11 Apr
Xmas window: 21 Dec – 7 Jan / Easter window: 29 Mar – 11 Apr
10 Days / 9 Nights
Cairo Airport or Your Hotel
Cairo / El Alamein / Siwa Oasis / Bahariya Oasis / White Desert
10 Days / 9 Nights
Cairo Airport
Cairo / Luxor/ Dendera / Abydos / Aswan / Abu Simbel
12 Days / 11 Nights
Cairo Airport
Cairo / Bahariya / White Desert / Aswan / Abu Simbel / Kom Ombo / Edfu / Luxor / Hurghada
13 Days / 12 Nights
Cairo Airport
Cairo / Alexandria / Luxor / Aswan / Abu Simbel / Lake Nasser
All things you should know before visiting Egypt & Beyond
Tripidays Egypt Tours has been offering an exceptional range of Egypt tours, vacation packages, Nile cruises, day trips, and shore excursions tailored to meet the diverse interests of travelers worldwide for over 45 years.
