10 Days in Egypt: Luxury Itinerary

A good 10 days in Egypt itinerary gives Cairo 3 nights for Giza, Saqqara and two museums, flies to Luxor for 4 nights on a five-star cruise to Aswan, spends day 8 at Abu Simbel and ends with 2 nights in Cairo. Two other versions keep the 10 days but swap the cruise ship for a dahabiya, or for palace hotels and a 3-night cruise.

Key takeaways

Cairo and a Nile Cruise, 10 Days: 3 nights in Cairo, 4 nights on board from Luxor to Aswan, Abu Simbel by air on day 8, then 2 nights in Cairo.
Egypt by Dahabiya, 10 Days: 2 nights in a Luxor hotel, then 4 nights sailing from Esna on the Akhnaton Dahabiya, stopping at Edfu, Gebel El Silsila, Kom Ombo, Daraw and Koubania.
Egypt's Palace Hotels, 10 Days: the Marriott Mena House, one night in Aswan at the Old Cataract, 3 nights on The Oberoi Zahra and a night at Al Moudira Hotel in Luxor.
Abu Simbel is 45 minutes by air from Aswan, or about 280 km (174 miles) by road, 3 to 3.5 hours each way by private car.
Domestic flights and tips are not included in any of the three; each version can be adjusted and is quoted in a written proposal.

10 days in Egypt itinerary: three versions compared

The site has three 10-day journeys. All three start in Cairo, fly south and come back to Cairo for the flight home; they differ in how you travel on the Nile and where you sleep.

	Cairo and a Nile Cruise	Egypt by Dahabiya	Egypt's Palace Hotels
Collection	Luxury	Luxury	Ultra-luxury
Nights in Cairo	5: 3 at the start, 2 at the end	3: 2 at the start, 1 at the end	4: 2 at the start, 2 at the end
On the river	4 nights on a cruise ship, Luxor to Aswan	4 nights sailing from Esna to Aswan on the Akhnaton Dahabiya	3 nights on a cruise ship, Aswan to Luxor
Hotel nights in the south	None	2 in Luxor	1 in Aswan, 1 in Luxor
Cairo sights	Giza, Saqqara, the Grand Egyptian Museum, the Egyptian Museum, the Citadel, Coptic Cairo, Khan El Khalili	Giza and the Egyptian Museum	Giza and the Grand Egyptian Museum
Abu Simbel	In the plan, by air	Not in the plan	Not in the plan
Domestic flights to book	Cairo to Luxor; Aswan to Abu Simbel; back to Cairo	Cairo to Luxor; Aswan to Cairo	Cairo to Aswan; Luxor to Cairo

Day by day: the Nile cruise and Abu Simbel version

Cairo and a Nile Cruise, 10 Days is written for a first visit that wants the museums and the great temples in one trip.

Day	What you see	Where you sleep
Day 1	Landing in Cairo, met at passport control; private transfer to your hotel	Cairo
Day 2	The Giza pyramids and the Sphinx, then Saqqara	Cairo
Day 3	The Grand Egyptian Museum and the Egyptian Museum	Cairo
Day 4	Flight to Luxor; you join the ship; Karnak and Luxor Temple on the East Bank	On board
Day 5	The Valley of the Kings and Hatshepsut's temple; the ship heads for Edfu	On board
Day 6	Edfu, by carriage to the Temple of Horus; Kom Ombo; the ship continues toward Aswan	On board
Day 7	The Temple of Philae and the Aswan High Dam	On board
Day 8	Flight from Aswan to Abu Simbel and its two temples of Ramses II; flight on to Cairo	Cairo
Day 9	The Citadel, Coptic Cairo and the Khan El Khalili bazaar	Cairo
Day 10	Private transfer to the airport for your flight home	Flight home

What sets this version apart is Cairo: three touring days in all. Day 2 adds Saqqara, about 40 km southwest of Cairo and home of the Step Pyramid of Djoser, the first pyramid the Egyptians built. Day 3 pairs the Grand Egyptian Museum, open to the public since 4 November 2025, with the older Egyptian Museum, inaugurated in 1902. Day 9 turns to the medieval and Coptic city. The journey proposes The St. Regis Cairo, with the Four Seasons Hotel Cairo at Nile Plaza or the Marriott Mena House as alternatives.

On the river it proposes The Oberoi Philae for the 4 nights, with The Oberoi Zahra or Sonesta St. George I as alternatives. Sailing south, the order is Luxor's two banks, Edfu, Kom Ombo, then Philae and the High Dam at Aswan.

Day 8 is the reason for the extra days. The two temples at Abu Simbel were cut for Ramses II; four seated figures of the king, each 20 metres (66 feet) tall, guard the entrance to the Great Temple. In 1968 both temples were moved from their original site, in an international effort led by UNESCO, because the High Dam threatened to submerge them. The flight from Aswan takes 45 minutes, but weather can stop it: EgyptAir suspended all flights to and from Aswan and Abu Simbel on 9 January 2026 because of a sandstorm. Sources differ on how many Aswan to Abu Simbel flights there are each week, so check the schedule for your dates.

The road is the alternative: about 280 km (174 miles), 3 to 3.5 hours each way by private car, with road day trips leaving Aswan around 4 a.m. Lake Nasser cruises reach the temples too; the three ways in are compared in how to get to Abu Simbel.

Day by day: the dahabiya version

Egypt by Dahabiya, 10 Days swaps the cruise ship for a sailing boat and adds two hotel nights in Luxor. A dahabiya typically has between four and 10 cabins; it sails with the wind and is towed by a small tug when the wind fails.

Day	What you see	Where you sleep
Day 1	Landing in Cairo and transfer to your hotel	Cairo
Day 2	The Giza pyramids, the Sphinx and the Egyptian Museum	Cairo
Day 3	Flight to Luxor; the temples of the East Bank	Luxor
Day 4	The West Bank: the Valley of the Kings and Hatshepsut's temple	Luxor
Day 5	Esna, where you board the Akhnaton Dahabiya; sailing toward El Kab	On board
Day 6	Edfu, then on foot at Wadi El Shat	On board
Day 7	The rock-cut chapels of Gebel El Silsila, then Kom Ombo	On board
Day 8	The camel market at Daraw and the Nubian village of Koubania	On board
Day 9	Leave the boat in Aswan and fly to Cairo	Cairo
Day 10	Private transfer to the airport for your flight home	Flight home

In Luxor the journey proposes the Hilton Luxor Resort & Spa, with Al Moudira Hotel or the Sonesta St. George Hotel Luxor as alternatives. One evening during the sailing, dinner is served around a campfire on the bank of the river. A dahabiya is shared with its other guests unless your group charters the whole boat; how the two kinds of boat differ is set out in dahabiya or Nile cruise ship.

Day by day: the palace-hotel version

Egypt's Palace Hotels, 10 Days belongs to the ultra-luxury collection and is built around where you sleep.

Day	What you see	Where you sleep
Day 1	Landing in Cairo; private transfer to the Marriott Mena House	Cairo
Day 2	Giza: the pyramids and the Great Sphinx	Cairo
Day 3	Flight to Aswan, then the High Dam and the Temple of Philae	Aswan, at the Old Cataract
Day 4	By boat to a Nubian village, then on board the cruise	On board
Day 5	Kom Ombo, then Edfu by horse-drawn carriage	On board
Day 6	The West Bank and the Valley of the Kings	On board
Day 7	Karnak and Luxor Temple, then a hotel night	Luxor
Day 8	Flight back to Cairo	Cairo
Day 9	A guided visit to the Grand Egyptian Museum, with the Tutankhamun galleries	Cairo
Day 10	Private transfer to the airport for your flight home	Flight home

All 4 Cairo nights are spent at the Marriott Mena House, close to the pyramids. The Aswan night is at the Old Cataract, which is open while renovation work continues. The 3-night cruise from Aswan to Luxor proposes The Oberoi Zahra, with Sonesta St. George I as the alternative, and the Luxor night proposes Al Moudira Hotel. Sightseeing is with a private English-speaking Egyptologist, and at this level one coordinator follows the journey from the first request to the departure.

Which 10-day version fits

Abu Simbel matters: the Nile cruise version is the only one of the three with it in the plan.
Cairo matters: the same version gives Cairo 5 nights and three touring days, with Saqqara and both great museums.
A slower river: beyond Edfu and Kom Ombo, the dahabiya also calls at Gebel El Silsila, Daraw and Koubania.
The hotels themselves: the palace version spends its nights at the Mena House, the Old Cataract and Al Moudira, with 3 nights on board.

Flights, tips and what is not included

Domestic flights are not included in any journey; they are booked and paid separately. From Cairo, the flight to Luxor takes about 1 hour to 1 hour 5 minutes and the flight to Aswan about 1 hour 20 to 1 hour 25 minutes; EgyptAir, Air Cairo and Nile Air fly both routes nonstop. The Nile cruise version needs three domestic flights, the other two versions two each.

Tips, international flights, the visa and optional tours are not included either. All three include airport meet and assist, private guided sightseeing, entrance fees to the sites in the itinerary and private air-conditioned transfers.

Adjusting the 10 days

Each of the three is a starting point: its length, hotels and pace can be changed before you confirm, subject to availability, and either Luxury version can be quoted at the ultra-luxury level. The result is a written proposal that names the route, the hotels and room types, any Nile vessel, what is included and what is not. For shorter and longer trips, see how many days you need in Egypt; for a week, see the 7-day itinerary.

Questions travelers ask

Is 10 days enough for Egypt?

For Cairo, the Nile and Abu Simbel, yes. Ten days gives Cairo 5 nights in two stays, 4 nights on a cruise between Luxor and Aswan and a day at Abu Simbel. It does not leave room for the Red Sea as well; the site's journeys that add the coast run 11 days.

Is a cruise ship or a dahabiya better for 10 days?

Neither is better in itself. The cruise ship version adds Abu Simbel and more of Cairo; the dahabiya version gives 4 nights under sail from Esna to Aswan, with village and quarry stops, plus 2 hotel nights in Luxor. A dahabiya typically has between four and 10 cabins, so choose by the pace you want.

How do you get to Abu Simbel on a 10-day trip?

On the site's 10-day Nile journey, by air: you leave the ship in Aswan on day 8, fly to Abu Simbel in 45 minutes, then fly back to Cairo. By road it is about 280 km (174 miles), 3 to 3.5 hours each way by private car, and road day trips leave Aswan around 4 a.m.

Are domestic flights included in a 10-day Egypt itinerary?

No. Domestic flights are not included in any of the site's journeys. On the 10-day Nile journey you book three: Cairo to Luxor, Aswan to Abu Simbel and the flight back to Cairo. The dahabiya and palace-hotel versions need two each. Tips are not included either.

Which 10-day version is ultra-luxury?

Egypt's Palace Hotels, 10 Days is in the ultra-luxury collection, with the Marriott Mena House, the Old Cataract, The Oberoi Zahra and Al Moudira Hotel. Either Luxury version can also be quoted at the ultra-luxury level, using the operator's checked list, which includes The Oberoi Philae on the Nile.

Does a 10-day itinerary include the Grand Egyptian Museum?

Two of the three do. The Nile cruise version visits it on day 3 together with the Egyptian Museum, and the palace-hotel version on day 9. The dahabiya version visits the Egyptian Museum instead, and the plan can be adjusted. The museum's standard guided tour lasts about 2 hours.

10 Days in Egypt: A Luxury Itinerary, Day by Day