These new Nile cruises make Egypt’s ancient wonders accessible
Call it the ultimate Nile River cruise experience.
River cruise giant Viking has unveiled an epic new itinerary that sails the entire 600-mile stretch of the waterway between Cairo in the north and Aswan in the south.
Dubbed the Grand Nile Journey, Viking’s 19-day trip revives a longer Nile cruise route that dates back to the late 1800s, when paddle steamers carried travelers from Cairo on the 465-mile journey south to Luxor, home to some of ancient Egypt’s most famous temples and burial grounds.
From there, the vessels would continue to Aswan, another 130 miles to the south, with stops at ancient temples along the way.
Nowadays, most Nile River sailings skip the first 465 miles of this historic route, with ships only traveling along the 130-mile stretch of the Nile between Luxor and Aswan. Passengers reach the ships by flying from Cairo to Luxor, typically after a few days exploring Cairo.
Related: The ultimate guide to Nile river cruises and cruisetours
Only a handful of vessels currently operate a longer itinerary of the sort that Viking has announced — and none at the luxury level for which Viking is known on the river.
Kicking off in 2028 but available to book now, Viking’s new Grand Nile Journeys will begin with a three-night stay at a luxury hotel in Cairo (the line often puts guests in the elegant Fairmont Nile City, along the banks of the river). Then, passengers board the line’s one-of-a-kind, all-suite vessel Viking Ra for the 14-night journey south to Aswan.
The voyages will include stops at ancient sites along the 450-mile stretch from Cairo to Luxor that most Nile River travelers never see, including the 4,600-year-old Meidum Pyramid near Beni Suef and the striking cliffside Noble Tombs of Beni Hasan.
Other rare stops will include a visit to Tell el-Amarna, the once-lost royal desert capital founded by the Pharaoh Akhenaten, and the Abydos Temple, famous for drawings of ancient pilgrims to the sacred Festival of Osiris.
After a week traveling south along this lesser-visited stretch of the Nile, the Viking Ra will arrive in Luxor for another week of travel southward along the more popular parts of the river.
An extended stop in Luxor will bring visits to the temples of Luxor and Karnak, the royal tombs of the Valley of the Kings and the Temple of Seti I at Abydos.
Additional stops include the Temple of Horus in Edfu and the Temple of Philae near Aswan, among other sites in this area.
Related: The 5 best destinations you can visit on a Viking ship
By following this long route from Cairo to Aswan, the new Grand Nile Journeys will echo the long Nile sailing that Agatha Christie made famous in her 1937 novel “Death on the Nile.” She wrote the book after taking one of the long journeys in 1933 on the Thomas Cook & Son luxury paddle steamer S.S. Sudan.
The first few days of each of the new Grand Nile Journeys in Cairo will include visits to the Great Pyramids of Giza, the Great Sphinx and the Grand Egyptian Museum.
At the end of the trip, passengers will also spend a final night at a hotel in Cairo before departing.
Passengers can extend their trips with optional pre- and postcruise land tours that include an extra two-night stay in Cairo and a four-night, fully guided excursion to nearby Jordan for visits to the Dead Sea, Petra and Amman.
While dating back to the late 1800s, when Thomas Cook & Son introduced “rapid steamers” that sailed the Nile from Cairo to Aswan, such longer Nile itineraries continued to be common until 1994, when the Egyptian government officially closed the 465-mile stretch of the river between Cairo and Luxor to overnight passenger ships due to security worries. Low water levels and shifting sandbars in the river also played a role.
After nearly 20 years of closure, the Egyptian government reopened the Cairo-to-Luxor stretch of the river to cruise vessels in 2012, following extensive river dredging, irrigation upgrades and major security overhauls. But long sailings from Cairo to Aswan have been slow to rebound.
Among the handful of other companies offering such trips is Movenpick Hotels & Resorts, which markets 14-night sailings from Cairo to Aswan on the 52-cabin MS Darakum.
Planning a cruise? Start with these stories:
