Egyptian Nile Cruise Holidays
Cruising Down the Nile River to Visit Egypt's Ancient Sites
Cruises vary from the option of a luxury Nile cruise to cheaper, fun filled cruises. Either way, Nile cruises offer tourists a way of visiting the major tourist destinations in Egypt without worrying about the logistics of getting around Cairo or dealing with the chaos of road or train transport between destinations.
Egypt Nile cruises are becoming a more popular way of seeing the most famous sights.
Land and Nile River Combination Tours
A one week land and Nile river cruise combination will typically incorporate 3 nights in hotel accommodation in Cairo to see sights such as the Egyptian museum and Cairo bazaars and a 4 night cruise to follow.
After transferring to Luxor, visitors embark on a cruise ship to take up the remainder of the trip which usually ends in Aswan. Escorted excursions along the way include visits to the major sights such as the Valley of the Kings, Valley of the Queens, and the temples at Karnak, Luxor and Esna.
Most cruise operators have the services of an Egyptologist on board who is able to take visitors to the most famous historical sites and give them a good all round overview of the history. Luxor alone is known as “the World's Biggest Open Air Museum” and visiting all the sights can take weeks. The few hours available to the cruise tourist needs to be maximized to the full. Having an expert guide along is very helpful.
In-between excursions, meals and teas are served on board and there are usually optional excursions available such as felucca trips. Belly dancing shows and parties are usually part of the deal.
Tips on Cruising the Nile
Tour operators specializing in Nile cruise holidays proliferate. The Nile is teems with boats of varying quality from basic but romantic feluccas, to badly maintained tubs, to luxury yachts. To choose not only a reputable operator but also one that is well-recommended, read forums online to get reviews.
There is a lot of competition among cruise operators and often it is possible to get a good last-minute deal or discounts when traveling out of season.
For those who want a Nile cruise holiday without any chaos, look for operators which have vessels with their own moorings at Luxor, Edfu, Aswan and Qena . This means the visitor will not have to trample through rows of moored boats to get to the docksides at busy times.
Good months are to travel to Egypt are October (about 30C in Aswan) or February and March (25-30C). It is hot and sunny during these times but not too debilitating thanks to the lack of humidity. In Cairo (the base for visiting the Pyramids and the museum), temperatures will be in the pleasant low 20s.
Every year for the entire month of June and from 1 to 15th December, the lock at Esna is closed for maintenance, to all cruise vessels. This does affect cruises since there is no sailing north of the lock, that is between Luxor and Esna. It does not affect sailing south, towards Aswan. The journey between Luxor and Esna will have to take place by road during this time (1½ hour road trip).
Source:
timesonline.co.uk, article “How to get the best from a Nile Cruise” by Caroline Hendrie, information retrieved on 21 September, 2009.
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