Cruzeiro Chateau Lafayette no Nilo

Cross to the West Bank to explore the Valley of the Kings, entering three painted royal tombs (Tutankhamun and Seti I optional). Visit the terraced Temple of Queen Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari and the Colossi of Memnon. After lunch on board, the ship sails toward Esna and passes through the Esna lock. A sunrise hot-air-balloon flight is available as an option. Dinner and overnight on the river.

A horse-drawn carriage takes you to the Temple of Horus at Edfu, the most completely preserved Ptolemaic temple, rich with reliefs of the Horus-Seth battle. Lunch is served as you sail to Kom Ombo, where the symmetrical double temple honors Sobek the crocodile god and Horus the sky god, complete with carved medical instruments and a crocodile-mummy museum. Continue toward Aswan with dinner and an overnight on board.

Tour the High Dam and its views over Lake Nasser, ride a motorboat to the island Temple of Philae dedicated to Isis, and inspect the Unfinished Obelisk in its ancient granite quarry. Lunch is served on board. Spend the afternoon at leisure or add 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 can add an early-morning excursion to Abu Simbel (by road or short flight) to marvel at the colossal rock-cut temples of Ramses II and Queen Nefertari overlooking Lake Nasser, relocated by UNESCO. Otherwise your cruise ends with a transfer to Aswan airport, station, or your hotel.

Board the Chateau Lafayette before lunch in Aswan. Your afternoon takes in the High Dam with its panorama over Lake Nasser, a motorboat ride to the Temple of Philae on Agilkia Island sacred to Isis, and the Unfinished Obelisk, where ancient tool marks reveal how Egypt's stone-cutters worked. Return to the ship for dinner and an overnight in Aswan.

An optional pre-dawn excursion visits Abu Simbel and the temples of Ramses II and Nefertari. Back aboard, the ship sails north. In the afternoon you explore the Temple of Kom Ombo, dedicated jointly to Sobek and Horus, study its rare carvings of surgical instruments, and visit the Crocodile Mummification Museum. Dinner and overnight while sailing toward Edfu.

Travel by horse carriage to the splendid Temple of Horus at Edfu, then sail on to Luxor. In the afternoon and evening your guide reveals the vast Karnak Temple complex and its 134-column hypostyle hall, followed by Luxor Temple lit up after dark. Dinner and overnight moored in Luxor.

After breakfast and check-out, cross to the West Bank for the Valley of the Kings with three royal tombs (Tutankhamun optional), the limestone Temple of Queen Hatshepsut, and the towering Colossi of Memnon, statues of Amenhotep III. Your Chateau Lafayette cruise concludes with a transfer to Luxor airport, train station, or your hotel.