Nile River Cruises

A Nile cruise is one of those journeys you feel  is a must to take, at least once in a lifetime. A Nile River Cruise takes you up close through 5,000 years of ancient Egyptian history. A first time visitor to Egypt who wants a classical  experience would do well to book a Nile cruise. Of course modern airlines shuttle tourists to the southern region of Egypt, but historically the Nile cruise was really the only way to visit the temples and tombs located along this stretch of the river. It is still a popular means of visiting upper Egypt and has many advantages to other means of travel.

Nile cruises may vary considerably, but typical Nile cruises are either three, four or seven nights. The shorter tours usually operate between Luxor and Aswan, while the longer cruises travel further north to Dendera, often offering day tours overland to more remote locations. Therefore, a fairly complete 14 day tour of Egypt might include several days around Cairo, seeing the pyramids, museums and other antiquities, a short flight to Abu Simbel in the very southern part of Egypt, completed by a seven day Nile Cruise.

The usual cruise is aboard a Nile cruiser, often referred to as a floating hotel. The better boats have most of the accommodations of a land based hotel, including small swimming pools, hot tubs, exercise rooms, discos, good restaurants, stores and even small libraries. A much more adventurous style of Nile cruise, very different from the floating hotels can be arranged aboard feluccas, Egypt's traditional Nile sailboat. Most felucca trips are short, enjoyable trips of several hours, but multi-day felucca cruises can be arranged aboard larger vessels traveling between Aswan and Luxor.

The ultimate time for a Nile cruise is between October and mid April, when the weather is fairly cool, making a visit to Upper Egypt quite pleasant. However, most cruise boats operate all year.

At the lower base of the Nile River and located just below the Aswan Dam and Lake Nasser is the city of Aswan, Egypt's gateway to Africa. On the city's east bank, see the Nubian Museum and Unfinished Obelisk, the largest known ancient obelisk, while the west bank holds the Tombs of the Nobles and the 7th century Monastery of St. Simeon. Other popular attractions include the High Dam, Philae Temple, Aswan Souk, the Nubian villages and Aswan Museum on Elephantine Island.

A short excursion from Aswan is Abu Simbel fringing the Egypt-Sudanese border. Built by Pharaoh Ramses II over 3,000 years ago, these temples are complete examples of ancient Egyptian architecture and showcase statues towering over 60-feet-high and carved from solid rock.

Just above Aswan is the Greco-Roman Temple of Kom Ombo. Built during the Ptolemaic dynasty, this double temple honors Sobek the Crocodile God on the southern end and Horus the falcon-headed Sun God on the northern half. A number of crocodile mummies are also on display here. In nearby Edfu there is another Greco-Roman temple dedicated to Horus the Sun God. One of the best-preserved temples in Egypt, it features rich designs and elaborate details depicting ancient mythology.

North of Edfu on the Nile is Luxor, known as Thebes to the ancient Egyptians. Once the dynastic and religious capital of the country, Luxor is often thought to be the most amazing open-air museum in the world with its massive array of ruins and monuments.

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Rawhide Travel & Tours Inc
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