Dahabiya collection
Three boats, one direction: south from Luxor down to Aswan, full board throughout, with a private guide and an air-conditioned car waiting at every stop. Pick 4 nights for a tighter loop or 7 for a slower one.
From £1,300 per person
This is the roomier half of our Nile dahabiya cruise collection: heading south from Luxor to Aswan, leaving every Monday, on whichever of our three five-star boats suits you best. The idea behind a dahabiya never changes: a flat-bottomed sailing boat, a fraction the size of a big river cruiser, that moves on her own schedule and tends to tie up along quiet stretches of bank rather than crowded pontoons.
Take your pick from the Iris dahabiya, which offers the broadest cabin range of the three, four tiers from Double Deluxe up to a Royal cabin with veranda; the Akhenaton dahabiya, the simplest and most affordable way into the fleet; or the Per-ba dahabiya, built around her Double Deluxe and Junior veranda cabins.
Board any of the three and the formula holds: full board, a private guide, and a private air-conditioned car for every visit and every transfer.
For a longer look at how this compares with a large cruise ship, see the SEV team's dahabiya versus Nile cruise ship guide. There is more to explore too, among our wider Egypt cruises and the full set of Nile cruise packages on offer.
Every boat on this route offers both 4 and 7 nights, always leaving on a Monday, and the two versions cover identical ground: Philae, Abu Simbel, Kom Ombo, Edfu, Karnak, the Valley of the Kings, the Temple of Hatshepsut and the Colossi of Memnon, tickets, private guide and air-conditioned car all included either way.
Go for 7 nights and you simply get more slack between stops; the SEV team lays out the day-by-day order once you request your quote. Heading the other way, from Aswan up to Luxor in 3 nights on a Friday, has its own page: the Aswan to Luxor dahabiya cruise.
Picking between 4 and 7 nights really comes down to how much time you have and how relaxed you want the pace to be: 4 nights keeps things tight between Luxor and Aswan, while 7 gives you far more room to enjoy being aboard rather than rushing from temple to temple. Get in touch with our Cairo team and they will match the length and the cabin to whatever dates you have free.
Travellers who start their Egypt trip in Luxor before pushing on to Aswan, and often a connecting flight south, are the natural fit for this route. It suits a honeymoon just as well as it suits a second or third trip to Egypt, this time favouring a gentler pace on the river over the same eight sites, just visited in reverse order.
Which boat to pick usually comes down to cabin preference: four tiers on the Iris, two apiece on the Akhenaton and the Per-ba, every one of them full board with a private guide included.
Where time allows it, travellers tend to stretch to 7 nights, which buys more room both between stops and simply relaxing aboard; a shorter stay in Egypt points more naturally towards 4 nights, which takes in the same eight sites at a brisker clip. Our Cairo team can talk through the length and the boat against the rest of your time in the country.
The dahabiya is not a recent invention. In the nineteenth century, European travellers were already sailing up the Nile in flat-bottomed boats able to handle both open current and shallow water. The writer Amelia Edwards recorded one such voyage in a book published in 1877, an account that introduced the Nile valley and its temples to a wide readership back home.
Sailing today aboard a five-star dahabiya extends that older way of travelling with a great deal more comfort.
A dahabiya is generally set apart from a large river cruiser by her smaller size, her reliance on sail, and her ability to moor away from the big jetties. These are general traits of the style of boat rather than precise measurements for any one dahabiya.
The word dahabiya comes from Arabic and once described the sail-powered boats reserved, before the age of motor shipping, for notable travellers making their way up the Nile. The fleet of large cruise ships that now dominates the Luxor to Aswan run developed much later, from the twentieth century onward, with vessels built to carry far more passengers at once.
The three dahabiyas on this route have kept the smaller scale and the dependence on wind that belong to that earlier tradition, run today to a five-star standard.
In the Nile valley, the months from October to April are generally the mildest and driest, with comfortable temperatures for visiting the temples during the day. Summer, by contrast, is a very hot season across the whole valley. The SEV team recommends favouring autumn, winter or early spring for this cruise, without ruling out other periods depending on availability across the three boats.
A departure from Luxor towards the end of the year also suits a Christmas cruise; the SEV team has gathered its advice in the Christmas cruise on the Nile guide. For a honeymoon, this intimate style of cruise suits time together on the river particularly well, as set out in the honeymoon in Egypt guide.
Anyone planning around UK school terms should note that October half-term, the Christmas holidays and the Easter holidays are the busiest windows to book; before travelling, it is worth checking the FCDO's travel advice at gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice for the latest guidance.
The fares below are given per person, full board, for the Luxor to Aswan route, according to the boat, cabin category and length chosen. All prices are in pounds sterling.
Large figures: 2026-2027 season departures. “Festive”: Christmas, New Year and Easter departures.
From £1,590 per person
Per person, full board, visits, entry tickets and private guide included
From £1,300 per person
Per person, full board, visits, entry tickets and private guide included
From £1,730 per person
Per person, full board, visits, entry tickets and private guide included
Runs four times a year: 1 Oct to 21 Dec 2026, all of Jan 2027, 1 Feb to 30 Apr 2027, and all of May 2027.
Three fixed dates only: Christmas (Mon 21 Dec 2026), New Year (Mon 28 Dec 2026), Easter (Fri 26 Mar 2027 southbound, Mon 29 Mar 2027 northbound).
Prices converted from euros at the European Central Bank reference rate of 2 October 2026; your quote confirms the final amount.
On the Luxor to Aswan route, the sailing begins near Luxor before heading down towards Aswan. The exact order of visits is confirmed at the time of booking, according to mooring times on the day; the order below follows the general geography of the route, the reverse of the Aswan to Luxor direction.
To place these sites between the two cities that bracket the cruise, the SEV team also has dedicated pages for Luxor and Aswan, as well as a detailed guide to the Luxor Aswan itinerary and a guide to departing from Aswan.
Most of our travellers fly out from Heathrow, Gatwick or Manchester, usually into Cairo, with a short domestic flight or a road transfer on to Luxor to join this cruise. Flight schedules shift by season and by airline, so the SEV team works out a sensible arrival window against your chosen Monday departure once you request a quote, leaving enough slack for a delayed connection.
Before you travel, it is worth checking the FCDO's current advice at gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice, which covers entry requirements as well as the latest safety guidance for the areas on your route.
Because this cruise has a fixed Monday start, most travellers either build in a day or two of buffer in Cairo beforehand, or extend their stay in Egypt either side of the boat itself. The SEV team can arrange either approach, along with the flight or road transfer down to Luxor, and will work around UK school holiday dates such as October half-term, Christmas or Easter if that is when you need to travel.
Both versions sail from Luxor to Aswan, departing every Monday, and visit the same eight sites. The 7-night version leaves more time on the river between stops than the 4-night version.
Three five-star dahabiyas: the Iris, the Akhenaton and the Per-ba, all full board, with a private guide and a private air-conditioned vehicle.
Philae, Abu Simbel, Kom Ombo, Edfu, Karnak, the Valley of the Kings, the Temple of Hatshepsut and the Colossi of Memnon, with all site entrance tickets included.
Every Monday, for both lengths, 4 nights or 7 nights.
Yes: a Christmas departure on Monday 21 December 2026, a New Year departure on Monday 28 December 2026, and an Easter departure on Monday 29 March 2027, at the festive fares.
The choice mainly comes down to the cabin category you want: the Iris offers four categories, from Double Deluxe up to a Royal cabin with veranda; the Akhenaton and the Per-ba each offer two. The SEV team helps compare the options against the dates available.
The SEV team prepares a detailed quote by WhatsApp or through our contact form, according to the boat, cabin category, length and date you choose.
