Felucca rides and Nile cruises from Luxor

6 min read Updated October 2026 Compare all tours

Luxor is the northern end of most Nile cruises, which sail between here and Aswan. A felucca ride is the short way onto the water: two hours under a traditional sail in the late afternoon, with tea on board. A cruise is a different decision. It takes four to seven days, links Luxor with Aswan and the temples between them, and often adds a long excursion to Abu Simbel.

A felucca at sunset

The private sunset felucca collects you from your hotel and spends about two hours on the river. Its description says the boat is towed by a motorboat when the wind is calm, so a still evening does not cancel the trip. Reviewers describe tea and coffee, a stop on a sandy bank where children played and paddled, Egyptian music from the crew and, on one trip, the chance to take the tiller. A family with children aged 5 and 9 found it easy going. Two points come up in the critical reviews: the crew is young, and there is no guide. If you want explanations of what you see, book a guided tour instead; the felucca is for two quiet hours on the water.

Another private ride picks you up by car or motorboat and serves bottled water and tea. A shared sunset trip with hotel pickup offers hibiscus tea on board. The sun sets early in winter, at about 17:04 in late December, and much later in summer, at about 19:44 in late June when Egypt is on summer time. Pickup times follow the season, so check yours the day before.

Felucca, ferry or motorboat

Crossing the river is not the same as a felucca ride. The public ferry between the banks runs every 10 to 15 minutes, and private motorboats also take passengers across. Some day trips from the Red Sea include a short felucca crossing to the West Bank. Reviewers of one all-inclusive day found a motorboat in place of the felucca they had expected, so check the wording of the tour page if the sail matters to you.

Cruises between Luxor and Aswan

Cruises run in both directions. From Aswan, the four-day cruise with Abu Simbel and a balloon flight takes in Philae, Kom Ombo and Edfu before ending in Luxor with a balloon at dawn and a West Bank tour. Reviewers describe days that start around 4 am, a long bus journey to Abu Simbel, and groups sometimes split over two ships. Some whose balloon flight was cancelled were not refunded for it. A similar four-day cruise from Aswan also ends with a balloon flight in Luxor.

From Luxor, the four-day cruise with guided tours picks you up at 7:10 am anywhere in Luxor city, visits the Valley of the Kings and Hatshepsut’s temple and only then boards the ship. It includes a cabin with its own bathroom, all meals from lunch on the first day and a horse carriage ride, but not the entrance fees. Its listing notes that the cruises follow a weekly timetable set by the Ministry of Tourism. The five-day cruise with full board stops at Edfu, Kom Ombo and Philae, with Abu Simbel as an option on the last day; it excludes entrance fees and charges a supplement between 20 December and 7 January and at Easter. The five-day cruise by Egypt 24 Tours is the one here that includes entrance fees to all the sights between Luxor and Aswan.

The seven-day cruise from Luxor by Nice Tours is the longest, with six nights on board, a Nubian village near Aswan, Abu Simbel and a balloon flight back in Luxor; temple entrance fees are extra. At the other end is a single night on board from Luxor to Aswan with meals but no guide and no land excursions, which works as a slow way of getting to Aswan rather than a sightseeing cruise.

What the cruise packages leave out

Read the exclusions as carefully as the route. The four-day cruise from Luxor leaves out entrance fees, tips, drinks and Wi-Fi. The five-day full-board cruise excludes entrance fees and tips. On the seven-day cruise, tips, drinks and temple fees are extra, while full board, a felucca ride, a horse carriage in Edfu and a small-group transfer to Abu Simbel are part of the package. The Princess Farida dahabiya leaves out flights, hotel nights before and after the trip, and travel insurance. Several cruises from Luxor collect you from the railway station or the airport as well as from hotels, so you can board on the day you arrive.

Under sail on a dahabiya

A dahabiya is a Nile sailing boat with cabins on board. The four-day dahabiya trip sails from Aswan to Luxor. The five-day Princess Farida starts with Karnak and Luxor Temple, spends the second day on the West Bank, then sails south past Edfu and Gebel el-Silsila to Kom Ombo, the High Dam and Philae. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are included, and children from 4 to 11 have their own age band. Its booking terms are strict: all sales are final and there is no refund after booking.

When to go on the river

The main season runs from October to April. Average highs at the Luxor weather station are around 23 °C in January and above 41 °C in July, and reviewers of one cruise describe days that begin around 4 am. One tour company puts winter evenings at 15 to 20 °C, so take a layer for the deck. For the West Bank sights that most cruises visit, see our page on West Bank tours, and for the temples on the East Bank, Karnak and Luxor Temple.