Cairo, Luxor & Aswan, Egypt
Five nights on a dahabiya rather than a floating hotel — twelve guests, sails, and riverbank stops the big boats can't make.
The difference between a cruise ship and a dahabiya is the difference between a coach tour and a road trip. Twelve cabins, actual sails, and a draft shallow enough to moor at villages the four-hundred-berth boats sail straight past.
Cairo is two nights and tightly run — the Grand Egyptian Museum with a guide who'll get you to the Tutankhamun galleries before the buses, and Giza at opening.
The temples on the river are visited on the boat's schedule, not the fleet's, which usually means you're at Edfu around dawn with the place to yourself.
Met at the airport, transferred to a hotel with the pyramids from the roof.
Pyramids at opening, then the Grand Egyptian Museum with a guide who knows the route.
Morning flight. Philae temple in the afternoon, then board the dahabiya.
Kom Ombo, then moor at a village bank for the evening. No schedule beyond the wind.
Horus temple before the fleet arrives. Sailing on through the afternoon.
The stretch of river with nothing on it. Swimming, reading, a stop at a pottery village.
The recently restored ceiling at Esna, then the last night aboard.
Disembark. Valley of the Kings and Hatshepsut early, before the heat.
Karnak at opening, Luxor Temple after dark when it's lit. Optional balloon at dawn.
Fly Luxor to Cairo for onward connections.