3 Night Nile Cruise Aswan to Luxor

A 3 night Nile cruise is the shorter of the two standard sailings between Aswan and Luxor: four days and three nights on board, with full board, private guided visits to Philae, Kom Ombo, Edfu and the Luxor temples and tombs, and entrance fees included. With us it costs from $860 per person in a double cabin (September to April), and on most ships the short sailing boards in Aswan and finishes in Luxor.

Below you can compare the ships we sell on this length by fare, class and departure days, see how the three nights are usually spent, and decide whether the extra night of a 4 night Nile cruise is worth it for you.

3 Night Nile Cruise Prices by Ship

Fares are per person sharing a double cabin for 3 nights / 4 days, with the season shown exactly as each ship’s fare table labels it. Classes follow each ship’s own page: compare them in more depth on our deluxe, ultra deluxe and luxury Nile cruise pages. Where a ship’s page gives no class, the table says so.

Each ship page also lists triple-cabin and single-cabin fares. Summer sailings outside the seasons above are quoted on request. Prices in the table cover the cruise itself; flights or the train to reach Aswan are booked separately.

What the 3 Nights Cover, Day by Day

The outline below is the usual shape of a 3 night Nile cruise from Aswan. The order of visits can shift with the ship’s mooring plan, and we confirm the program for your departure when you book.

1. Day 1, Aswan. You are met and transferred to the ship, settle into your cabin over lunch, and visit Philae Temple, which stands on an island and is reached by boat. Dinner and the first night are on board.
2. Day 2, Kom Ombo and Edfu. The ship heads north. You stop at the riverside double temple of Kom Ombo, then at Edfu for the Temple of Horus, with long stretches of sailing past farmland and palm groves in between.
3. Day 3, Luxor East Bank. After arriving in Luxor, your guide takes you to Karnak and Luxor Temple. Your last night on board is in Luxor.
4. Day 4, Luxor West Bank and departure. An early start for the royal tombs on the West Bank, then you leave the ship after breakfast and transfer to the airport, the station or your hotel.

For background on each stop and how the river route works as a whole, read our Luxor to Aswan Nile cruise guide.

Aswan to Luxor: Why the Short Cruise Starts in the South

The Nile flows north toward the Mediterranean, so a ship leaving Aswan travels with the current. On the ships whose fare tables name a start port, the 3-night sailing boards in Aswan and the 4-night one in Luxor, and our other ship pages note that this is the usual pattern, with the direction confirmed for each date.

That shapes the rest of your trip. You can reach Aswan from Cairo on a morning flight or on the overnight train and be on board by lunchtime. Ending in Luxor means the West Bank tombs are your last visit, and the short hop by air from Luxor back to Cairo makes it easy to continue to the Pyramids or your flight home. If you plan to see Abu Simbel, it fits best before boarding, with a day trip from Aswan by road or by air.

3 Nights or 4 Nights: An Honest Comparison

Choosing the short sailing does not mean missing a major temple. Philae, Kom Ombo, Edfu, Karnak, Luxor Temple and the West Bank all stay on the program. What you give up is slack: the sightseeing is packed into fewer days, so mornings start early and there is less idle time on deck.

• What you save. On the ships priced at $860, the 3-night sailing is $152 per person cheaper than the 4-night one, and on the most expensive ship, Historia, the saving is $800. That money often pays for a domestic flight or an extra night in Cairo.
• Solo travelers. Single cabin fares climb more steeply than shared fares when you add a night, so the short cruise keeps the single supplement down.
• When to stretch. If early alarms put you off or you want afternoons at the pool, read our 4 night Nile cruise from Luxor page before you decide.

Who the 3 Night Cruise Suits

• Travelers on a one-week Egypt trip who want Cairo and the Pyramids as well as the river. Our pyramids and Nile cruise tours combine both.
• Anyone adding Abu Simbel from Aswan before boarding, since the cruise starts where that excursion ends.
• Couples and friends watching the budget, who see the main temples for less outlay.
• Solo travelers, who pay a smaller single supplement than on the longer sailing.
• Visitors combining the Nile with the Red Sea in a short holiday.

If you would prefer to travel slowly under sail, our dahabiya Nile cruises run five nights from Esna to Aswan, with a small number of guests on board.

Departure Days and How to Plan Around Them

The last column of the table shows when each ship sails, and on the 3-night program that is the day you board in Aswan. Work backwards from it: if a ship leaves Aswan on a Monday, you need to be in Aswan by Monday morning, which usually means a Sunday night train or an early Monday flight from Cairo. Ships with Wednesday and Saturday sailings are useful when a Monday or Friday start would leave you with a spare day. Oberoi Zahra sails only on selected dates, which we confirm on request.

The ship fares in the table cover the main season. For the trade-offs of each month on the river, see the best time to take a Nile cruise.

What the 3 Night Cruise Fare Includes

The fare bundles the essentials of the sailing: you are met on arrival and moved by private air-conditioned car, you sleep three nights on board with breakfast, lunch and dinner, and your guided visits in Aswan and Luxor are private with an English-speaking guide. Entrance tickets for the sites in the ship’s program, service charges and taxes are also covered. You pay separately for international flights, the Egypt visa, optional excursions, extras outside the program and tips.

Book a 3 Night Nile Cruise With Delta Tours Egypt

Delta Tours Egypt has been arranging trips from its Cairo base since 1974 and is still run by the same family. While you are on the river, our team can be reached on WhatsApp. Send us your dates and the ship you like, or ask us to place the cruise inside a longer route through our tailor-made Egypt tours.