Blue Shadow Nile Cruise

Cross to the West Bank for the Valley of the Kings, descending into three painted royal tombs (Tutankhamun and Seti I are optional). Visit the terraced Mortuary Temple of Queen Hatshepsut and pause at the towering Colossi of Memnon. After lunch on board, the Blue Shadow sails south through the Esna lock toward Edfu. A sunrise hot-air-balloon flight over the necropolis is available as an optional extra. Dinner and overnight on board.

A horse-drawn carriage carries you to the Temple of Horus at Edfu, the best-preserved Ptolemaic temple in Egypt, with its colossal pylon and vivid reliefs of the falcon god. Lunch is served as you sail to Kom Ombo, where the unusual double temple honors both Sobek the crocodile god and Horus, alongside a museum of mummified crocodiles. Continue cruising toward Aswan with dinner and an overnight on the river.

Morning visits take in the High Dam and its sweeping views over Lake Nasser, the island Temple of Philae dedicated to the goddess Isis, and the Unfinished Obelisk in its ancient granite quarry. Enjoy lunch on board, then an afternoon at leisure or an optional felucca sail and a visit to a colorful Nubian village to meet local families. Dinner and overnight moored in Aswan.

After breakfast you disembark in Aswan. Travelers who wish can add an early-morning excursion to Abu Simbel (by road or short flight) to stand before the colossal rock-cut temples of Ramses II and Queen Nefertari above Lake Nasser, a UNESCO-rescued wonder. Otherwise your cruise concludes with a transfer to Aswan airport, station, or your hotel.

Embark in Aswan before lunch. Your afternoon begins at the High Dam with its panorama over Lake Nasser, followed by a short motorboat ride to the Temple of Philae on Agilkia Island, sacred to Isis. Finish at the Unfinished Obelisk, where you can read the tool marks of ancient stone-cutters in the granite quarry. Return to the Blue Shadow for dinner and an overnight in Aswan.

An optional pre-dawn excursion takes you to Abu Simbel to see the temples of Ramses II and Nefertari. Back on board, the ship sails north. In the afternoon you tour the Temple of Kom Ombo, dedicated jointly to Sobek and Horus, and inspect its crocodile-mummy museum and finely carved medical reliefs. Dinner and overnight as you continue sailing toward Edfu.

Take a horse carriage to the magnificent Temple of Horus at Edfu, then sail on to Luxor with lunch served en route. In the afternoon and evening your guide reveals the Karnak Temple complex, its great hypostyle hall and sacred lake, followed by Luxor Temple glowing under the golden-hour sun. Dinner and overnight moored in Luxor.

After breakfast and check-out, head to the West Bank for the grand finale: the Valley of the Kings with three royal tombs (Tutankhamun optional), the elegant Temple of Queen Hatshepsut, and the seated Colossi of Memnon guarding the Theban plain. Your Blue Shadow cruise ends with a transfer to Luxor airport, train station, or your hotel.