Package 7-Days 6-Nights Cairo Pyramids, Nile Cruise&Alexandria by Sleeper Train

The most remarkable part of this seven-day Egypt tour is its sweep. In one tightly packed trip, you move from Saqqara and the pyramids to Alexandria, then south by sleeper train for a three-night cruise between Aswan and Luxor. It is a fast, practical way to see the country’s headline sights without arranging each transfer yourself.

I like two things here. First, the Nile cruise gives you time to slow down after Cairo’s busy streets, with meals, evening shows, and deck time built in. Second, the route includes both famous monuments and places with a different feel, such as Alexandria’s Roman remains and Philae’s island setting. The possible drawback is the pace: two overnight trains and several long touring days leave little room for rest.

Key points to know before booking

• The route covers Egypt’s major sights: Giza, Saqqara, Alexandria, Philae, Kom Ombo, Edfu, Luxor, Karnak, and the Valley of the Kings.
• The Nile cruise lasts three nights: It includes full-board meals and sightseeing between Aswan and Luxor.
• Sleeper trains save daytime hours: The Cairo to Aswan and Luxor to Cairo journeys take about 12 to 14 hours each.
• Entrance fees are extra: You pay admission charges for the listed sights by card, while the High Dam and Philae motorboat are treated differently.
• The group is capped at 20 people: Tours use air-conditioned vehicles, with pickup from Cairo International Airport or Cairo and Giza hotels.
• The schedule is energetic: You will tour ancient sites by day, ride trains at night, and finish with a 12-hour Alexandria excursion.

A smart route for seeing Egypt in seven days

At $1,200 per person, this package bundles a surprising amount: one Cairo hotel night, three nights on a five-star Nile cruise, two sleeper train journeys, airport and station transfers, private-style sightseeing with an English-speaking guide, and a full day in Alexandria.

That price is useful to judge as a package, not as a simple hotel-and-tour rate. You still pay the entry tickets, visa, drinks, tips, Wi-Fi on the ship, and personal expenses. Even so, the transportation and cruise arrangements remove some of the hardest pieces to organize independently.

The trip is best for you if this is your first visit to Egypt and you want the major monuments in one run. It is less suitable if you prefer slow mornings, long stays in each city, or the freedom to change plans as you go.

Day 1: Cairo arrival and an easy first evening

You are met at Cairo International Airport and driven to your hotel. The first night includes a welcome meeting, where the schedule is explained, followed by free time.

That free evening gives you a little choice. If your flight arrives early, you can pay extra for the sound and light show at the pyramids or arrange an optional Nile dinner cruise with a show in Cairo. Neither is included, so treat them as add-ons rather than part of the core value.

The included hotel is four-star, and the pickup service is available from Cairo International Airport or hotels in Cairo and Giza. That door-to-door arrangement matters after an international flight, especially because the following day begins the main sightseeing.

Day 2: Saqqara first, then the pyramids at Giza

After breakfast and checkout, you begin with Saqqara, home of the Step Pyramid of Djoser. This is a smart order. Saqqara lets you see an earlier stage in pyramid design before you face the huge, familiar monuments at Giza.

The Step Pyramid is described as Egypt’s oldest pyramid, dating to about 4800 B.C. You have around 90 minutes here. Admission is not included, and the tour information says entrance fees for the listed sights must be paid by card. Keep that requirement in mind before leaving Cairo.

From Saqqara, the route continues to the Giza Plateau. You see the pyramids of Cheops, Chephren, and Mycrenos, along with the Sphinx. The visit lasts about two hours, with time for views and photographs. A local Egyptology guide explains the monuments and the wider story of ancient Egypt.

Lunch is optional. That wording is important because you should budget separately for it and confirm the arrangement with your guide. After the pyramids, you are transferred to Cairo train station for the overnight sleeper train to Aswan, a journey of roughly 12 to 14 hours.

This is a full day followed by a long night. You gain time by sleeping on the train, but you do not gain much comfort compared with a hotel room. You must provide passport copies when booking so the sleeper tickets can be purchased. If you would rather avoid the train, an upgrade to flights is available for an extra charge.

Day 3: Aswan, the High Dam, and Philae Temple

On arrival at Aswan railway station, your guide meets you and transfers you by air-conditioned car to the cruise ship. Check-in is scheduled before lunch, with lunch served on board.

The first stop is the Aswan High Dam, built in the 1960s to help control flooding and generate electricity. It is a short visit of about 45 minutes, and admission is not included. The dam is not as visually ornate as the temples, but it helps explain the modern engineering behind the creation of Lake Nasser and the changes to the Nile.

Next comes Philae Temple, reached by a small motorboat. The temple is dedicated to Isis and reflects the Greek and Roman period of Egyptian worship. The boat ride adds a pleasant change from road transfers and gives the temple a distinct setting. The sightseeing portion lasts about two hours.

The High Dam and the motorboat to Philae are exceptions to the general entrance-fee arrangement. Confirm exactly what is covered with the local representative, since most other admission charges remain your responsibility.

Dinner, a folkloric show, and your first night on the ship follow. An optional early morning trip to Abu Simbel is also available. The tour information notes that this UNESCO World Heritage site was dismantled and rebuilt when Lake Nasser flooded the original area. It is a major optional outing, but it would make an already demanding schedule even earlier.

Three nights on the Nile: the best breathing room in the program

The cruise is the part of the trip that gives the schedule some balance. You have full-board meals, a sundeck, afternoon tea, evening entertainment, and time to watch the Nile pass by between guided visits.

The cruise is described as five-star, but you should still budget for drinks and Wi-Fi, neither of which is included. You also need to account for tips to the guide, drivers, and cruise crew. The package includes three breakfasts, three lunches, and three dinners on the ship, with cruise meals beginning at lunch and ending with breakfast.

One especially useful feature is the handling of an early Aswan arrival. If your train arrives before the ship’s noon check-in, the tour may begin sightseeing right away rather than leaving you waiting at the cruise lobby. That helps turn an awkward transfer morning into useful touring time.

A guide such as Ismail Haroun may lead the cruise section. His role is more than pointing out monuments: the supplied comments describe him as highly helpful, warm with the group, and strong at explaining what you are seeing. Guide quality matters in Egypt, where an inscription, temple alignment, or carved figure can mean much more with clear context.

Day 4: Kom Ombo and the crocodile gods

After breakfast, you have a free morning on the deck before lunch and the afternoon sailing to Kom Ombo. This is one of the calmer stretches of the itinerary, and I would use it well. Sit outside, watch the riverbank, and let the cruise do some of the work.

At Kom Ombo, you visit the temple dedicated to Horus, the falcon god, and Sobek, the crocodile god. The unusual double dedication gives the temple a character different from the sites at Aswan and Luxor. You also visit the Crocodile Museum before returning to the ship.

The visit takes about an hour, followed by dinner and continued sailing to Edfu for the night. Admission is extra. Because the stop is brief, listen closely to your guide and avoid wandering too far from the agreed meeting point.

Day 5: Edfu by horse carriage and a night at Luxor Temple

After breakfast, a horse carriage takes you to the Temple of Horus at Edfu. The carriage is part of the transfer experience and brings you into the town in a way that feels different from another air-conditioned vehicle.

Edfu is considered the most complete and best-preserved of Egypt’s temples in the program. Allow around two hours for the visit and return to the cruise. The temple’s condition makes it easier to picture how a working religious complex once looked, though your guide remains important for sorting out the gods, rulers, and symbols carved across the site.

Back on board, you sail toward Luxor, with lunch, afternoon tea, and time on the deck. The cruise passes through the Esna lock before reaching Luxor harbor later in the day.

Luxor Temple is visited in the evening, when its lighting gives the columns and statues a different mood. The site sits in the center of town and shows layers of ancient Egyptian, Christian, and Islamic use. You have about 90 minutes there, followed by dinner and a belly dancing show on board.

This is one of the strongest days for variety: carriage ride, temple visit, river sailing, lock passage, and a night monument. It is also another long day, so keep your expectations realistic if you are carrying fatigue from the sleeper train.

Day 6: The West Bank, Karnak, and another overnight train

After breakfast, you check out and cross to Luxor’s West Bank. The Valley of the Kings is the main stop, where New Kingdom pharaohs cut tombs into the hills to protect royal burials and treasure. You have about 90 minutes here.

The tour then continues to the mortuary temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari. Hatshepsut’s position as a female pharaoh makes the site especially interesting, while the temple’s broad terraces create a strong contrast with the enclosed tombs in the valley.

A photo stop at the Colossi of Memnon follows. Lunch at a local restaurant is optional, so again, plan for an extra meal cost. The afternoon finishes at Karnak Temple, one of the largest and most important religious complexes in the Luxor area.

Karnak rewards careful attention. The Hypostyle Hall contains 134 towering columns, with carved scenes and hieroglyphic inscriptions across the surfaces. The complex was connected to Luxor Temple by a sphinx-lined avenue, another detail that helps you see Luxor as a connected ceremonial center rather than a collection of separate ruins.

After about 90 minutes at Karnak, you transfer to Luxor railway station for the overnight sleeper train back to Cairo. This second train ride is the biggest practical strain in the package. You have already spent the day touring the West Bank and Karnak, so the overnight journey can feel like a hard finish rather than a gentle departure.

Day 7: Alexandria after the night train

When you arrive at Cairo railway station, you meet your guide for a full-day trip to Alexandria. The total Alexandria outing lasts about 12 hours, including the road journey from Cairo and the return to the airport.

Alexandria offers a welcome change from the pharaonic sites. The day includes the National Museum, where Greek and Roman material is presented; the Catacombs of Kom El Shoqafa; the Roman Theater; the Citadel of Qaitbay; and the New Alexandria Library.

The catacombs take you below ground, while the Roman Theater shows Alexandria’s later classical character. At Qaitbay, you take in views from fifteenth-century fortifications. The library visit is explored at your own pace, giving you a little flexibility within an otherwise carefully managed day.

This final day is ambitious. You will be coming off a sleeper train and then spending hours on the road before your return flight. The program provides a comfortable vehicle and a direct transfer to Cairo Airport, but you should confirm your flight time before booking. If you add extra nights in Cairo, the schedule becomes far less pressured and you can arrange more optional sightseeing.

What the $1,200 price really includes

The strongest value comes from the number of moving parts handled for you. You receive:

• One night in a four-star Cairo hotel
• Three nights on a five-star Nile cruise
• Full-board cruise meals
• Sleeper train tickets from Cairo to Aswan and Luxor to Cairo
• Air-conditioned transfers and sightseeing vehicles
• English-speaking Egyptology guides
• Cairo, Giza, Saqqara, Alexandria, Aswan, Kom Ombo, Edfu, and Luxor touring

The weaker point is the list of extras. Entry tickets are not included, nor are the Egyptian entry visa, drinks, cruise Wi-Fi, tips, personal expenses, or optional lunches. Since many admissions must be paid by card, bring a dependable payment card and allow room in your budget beyond the advertised price.

The package can also cost more during Christmas, New Year, and Easter holidays. Child pricing applies only when a child shares with two paying adults. A child aged five to eleven traveling with one adult is charged as an adult.

Who should book this Egypt tour?

I would recommend it to a first-time visitor who wants the main ancient sites, prefers planned transport, and can handle early starts and overnight travel. A group limit of 20 keeps it smaller than a large coach tour, while the private guide arrangement gives you more direct help at each major site.

It also suits people who like a clear route from north to south. You do not have to work out how to connect Cairo, Aswan, Edfu, Kom Ombo, Luxor, and Alexandria on your own.

I would hesitate if you need a quiet vacation, dislike sleeper trains, or want to spend several days in Cairo alone. The Alexandria finale is especially demanding after the return train from Luxor. Paying extra for flights between Cairo and Aswan may be worth considering if rest matters more than saving on transport.

The free cancellation policy allows a full refund when you cancel at least 24 hours before the start time. Changes or cancellations inside that window are not accepted or refunded, and the tour requires a minimum number of bookings to operate.

Should you book it?

Book this tour if you want a strong first look at Egypt and value one coordinated plan over a relaxed pace. The combination of the pyramids, a three-night Nile cruise, Luxor’s temples, and Alexandria is hard to match in seven days.

Before paying, ask yourself three questions: Can you manage two overnight sleeper trains? Are you comfortable paying entry fees and tips separately? Can your return flight follow a 12-hour Alexandria day without making the schedule too tight?

If the answer is yes, this is a practical, sight-filled introduction to Egypt. If not, keep the cruise and add extra Cairo or Luxor nights, or upgrade the train segments to flights.

FAQ

How long is the tour?

The experience lasts approximately seven days and includes six nights.

Where does the tour begin?

It begins with pickup at Cairo International Airport or from hotels in Cairo or Giza.

Is the Nile cruise included?

Yes. The package includes three nights on a five-star Nile cruise with full-board meals and sightseeing between Aswan and Luxor.

Which train journeys are included?

The package includes a sleeper train from Cairo to Aswan and a return sleeper train from Luxor to Cairo.

Are entrance fees included?

No. Entrance fees for the listed sightseeing stops are not included. The tour information says these fees must be paid by card, except for the High Dam and the motorboat to Philae Temple.

Is Abu Simbel included?

No. Abu Simbel is an optional early morning visit from Aswan and costs extra.

Are meals included?

The cruise includes meals beginning with lunch and ending with breakfast, including three breakfasts, three lunches, and three dinners. Optional lunches during the Cairo and Luxor touring days are not included.

Can I upgrade from the sleeper train to flights?

Yes. An upgrade to flight tickets instead of the sleeper train is available for an additional charge.

What is the cancellation policy?

You can cancel at least 24 hours before the experience start time for a full refund. Cancellations or changes made less than 24 hours before the start time are not accepted or refunded.