9 Days Egypt Tour to Cairo, Nile cruise, Abu Simbel and Balloon

We bargained for souvenirs at the local market in Aswan. It was a fun cultural experience. There is no admission fee for the market. We visited for about an hour. The atmosphere is vibrant and full of colors and smells. The crowd was a mix of tourists and locals. The shopkeepers were friendly and liked to chat. This is best for people who enjoy local culture and buying spices or crafts.

Our tour in Egypt was truly remarkable. Each day’s itinerary was thoughtfully planned, ensuring a smooth and enjoyable experience. In Aswan, our guide, Amr Mekky (“Micky”), was exceptional—he provided a wealth of knowledge, offered fascinating insights at every stop, and maintained excellent communication. This tour exceeded our expectations, and we would highly recommend it to anyone seeking a well-organized and enriching travel experience.

My husband and I went on a Nile cruise to reach the Abu Simbel Temple in Egypt and it was one of the best trips I took this year. We enjoyed the peaceful, picturesque and culturally immersive view of the Nile River, which is undoubtedly the best way to explore the Pharaonic temples, royal tombs and hieroglyphic chambers of ancient Egypt.

Very well organized tour. It was a great experience. Special thanks to our guides Mohamed in Upper Egypt during the cruise from Aswan to Luxor and Mustafa in Cairo and Alexandria.

We were traveling as a couple and enjoyed the tour. All tour guides and drivers were friendly. Our leader Mohammed at the pyramids was very funny and we would have liked to spend more time with him. Our leader Mohamed during the Nile cruise impressed me with his knowledge and always made sure that we did not slip or hurt ourselves on the uneven ground. The temples and sights have been great, of course, I will never forget. Our ship was cozy and especially the sundeck and pool we liked. For me as an elderly lady the journey was exhausting, but I am glad to have experienced Egypt, and found even the somewhat unpleasant experiences interesting. Not everyone ever took a rattling night train! I wish everyone every success in the future and that the next tourists can also enjoy their journey.

It was quite an adventure. Long read, be prepared. I will not go into detail about temples, as there is enough info online. The booking process was relatively straight forward, but you will need whatsapp for everything you do before and during the trip. Make sure you have a working SIM over there. I suggest buying one at the airport. The team contacted us about pick up etc ( we were already staying in town), and it was arranged well enough. The hotel they chose (Jaz Pyramids View) was good and deserving of a high rating, except for the last day when our bathroom had issues. Next day we checked out at noon and were then soon picked up to go to the pyramids. Our guide that day, Mohammed was super fun, and we could have easily spent more time exploring with him, but unfortunately we only had the afternoon. We walked around on the plateau, took the pictures, fought off the kids wielding scarfs for sale. Going into the burial chamber costs extra, so be prepared to buy an extra ticket. It´s hot and claustrophobia inducing, and it is an empty room, fyi. The poor guard in there must have a tough hide. We don´t know if he expected a tip. Went to the sphinx and another photo opp, funny. Afterwards good food at some restaurant with loads of stray cats (drinks excluded), bathroom required tips. And then he made sure we were on the right train to Luxor (don´t mind the run-down train station, it is what it is). We chose the extra sleeper cabin option - which should be default, because no one wants to sit on this train for ten hours, so just add the price in your head when you make your booking, you will be able to pay cash later on. The train was old, but did its job. The cabin has two beds, one is folded down by staff later, don´t be surprised when you see seats - they´re convenient for eating dinner and breakfast, which are served and quite tasty (there is also cheap tea extra). Not sure what happens if you book only a single bed. Going south we also had towles and toiletries, going north nothing - not sure why. Bathroom was surprisingly pleasant smelling. Journey was of course noisy and jolting, but we slept surprisingly well, all things considered. Staff will knock to wake you and serve food. Arriving in Luxor we were picked up by the next Mohammed, who suggested a change of itinerary because of the arrival time, which was to our benefit actually, because at first there were no tourists. It was a lovely morning, the sun rose and colored the hills red. We did the Memnons first, at the same time admiring the rising hot air balloons from afar, then the valley of the kings and Hatschepsut´s temple after. Going into the more popular graves costs extra, again, so purchase another ticket if you need. There will be crowds by the time the guide is done explaining. Be prepared. Depending on who your guide is you might get a different experience - some of them can do with being a little less condescending, we can all agree that most of us are dumb tourist. Afterwards it was off to the ship for the cruise. It was a nice ship, MS Renaissance was ours - it varies though. Clean, and the staff made towel art for us, which was fun. There are also souvenir shops on board (of course), the usual inflated prices...Food on board was excellent. Times varied though, also whether buffet or served, I guess because of day trips sometimes, but drinks cost extra. There was a pool on the sundeck which was nice. It is luck of the draw who the other guests are, so be advised it might get rowdy if you have a bunch of Mexicans or Chinese. Staff for the most part try to be friendly but communication is sometimes wobbly - English is rather broken, but some other languages work too, depends on who´s there. There are the usual extras you can purchase if you´re in need of spa or whatever they are selling, and saying no-thank-you got quite draining over the course of the whole journey because it never stops. Anyway, next day another very early rise to go to the hot air ballon field, for our flight. We were picked up in the dark and driven by boat to the other side, then on a minibus (that had to wait til they were all ready and drove as a unit to the field). Seeing the ballons being inflated and then our actual ascend was super cool, watching the sunrise illuminating the world really is like what you see on the internet. We got a little certificate, and tipping was encouraged of course, but here highly deserved. Afterwards fight off the kids trying to sell bracelets. Back to the ship and later was the Karnak and Luxor temples. The city itself is not something to show off, the hassling by individuals or hordes of kids was extreme, I would not recommend walking alone, just stay on the boat. Then cruise along on the Nile, stopping for Edfu with a ride on a rickety cart drawn by a poor horse, and at night in Kom Ombo, which was beautifully illuminated. Next day docked in Aswan and another early rise to drive about four hours (be prepared) to Abu Simbel, ship prepared a breakfast bag for us. It was a long modern road, though quite bumpy at times. Halfway through is a coffeeshop, toilets 10 LE. We got to the temple around nine. Same deal as before, explanation and then time to explore before heading all the way back. Some kind of Nubian dance performance was put on during the last night, unfortunatley most guests had already departed, so it was only a handful who listened. Also they will ask you to dance, and do them a favor and join, because being on stage with a blazé audience sucks, just help them out and grit your teeth. On the last day you are supposed to settle your bill (drinks etc), and put an envelope with a tip for the whole crew in a box. Not sure why they require a room number on the envelope, as we are leaving, but yea. Guide suggested 5 € pp per day I think, so add another 30-50 € to your bill. Another night and the next day we left our room around eight, went to Aswan dam and then Philae, which was a bit hard to navigate with all the motorboats coming and going for transfer and ubiquitous merchants. At noon back and were able to stay on the ship until the evening, so we stayed on the sundeck. During the free afternoons and the last day you can opt for more tours around the towns etc, but all at an extra cost, so if you fancy, bring more money, it´s not cheap. Then were picked up and brought to the train station for our train back, about twelve hours, slept reasonably well. Train arrived around nine. Did another tour to the Museum of Civilization after being picked up from the station (for an additional 75 p.p. without guide, as other options were too pricey for our taste, though would have liked to go to Alexandria, but not for that price). Brought back to the first hotel, stayed the night and next day were driven to our next destination as we stayed another day and had a later flight. Shoutout and thanks to all the different drivers we had during our trip, who picked us up and droves us around the adventourus egyptian streets. All in all it was a journey we will definitely never forget. P.S.: General advice for Egypt - Seeing as this is a trip that might take up your whole holiday, here is some advice for first timers: -Bring money, and lots of it, Everyone and their uncle expects extra bakshish. Though you should of course have and use Egyptian pounds, everyone wants Dollar or Euro. (50 EL is about 1 €). If you can, have your bank order a load of one dollar notes, they are good for tipping and small purchases if you want to give the hasslers something. -All and I mean ALL attractions have a bazar that you must go through before the actualy site, so you will always have to either fight to ignore merchants or spend money. Also know what you want to spend or do your research how much it should cost. They will milk tourist for whatever you got. -Some staff at temples might approach you and ask you to change coins into bills, which I recommend. That is no scam - lots of people tip in Euro coins, but the people there cannot exchange coins at the bank, only notes, so do them a favor if you can. -Be prepared for the CONSTANT hassling by one or another shopkeeper/merchant/little kid/whailing lady/horse and cart driver - it will not stop during your whole time there. Walk straight and do not look at their wares unless you are prepared to deal with their attitude. Oftentimes they will exceed their pushiness and become downright aggresive if you do not spend every cent you got on their wares, it is almost comical if it weren´t so sad and scary. They are trying to get by, so keep that in mind, but be prepared for how bad it really is, because it IS bad. -Stuff the kids sell you can find at the airport before you leave. -You will at some point or another be brought to a papyrus/perfume/spice shop whith hefty prices. Usually this is attached to the end of some tour, not neccesarily this one, but if you take another tour be aware, and politely decline to buy. -Also be prepared for the occasional excessive attention if you are a woman. While there are loads of lovely people there, you will meet bad eggs. Seeing as we hardly met any local women on this trip and were usually surrounded by men of ages up and down the scale, it was rather draining to be afraid to smile for fearing the unneccessary attention, and seeing as most people smile by default it was stressful to try to keep people at bay. And if you did not smile constantly, or did once and then no more because you were getting up at 4 each day, you were met with aggresive confusion as if you owed them friendliness. So just fyi... -Last, but not least - towns are noisy. Cars honk constantly and muezzins call for prayer, so once you are on the road, you will get a taste for real life Egypt. The hotel we were at was quiet, though.

On Radamis Nile Cruise, the staff were incredibly attentive. From the waiters to the crew, everyone did everything to make our holiday comfortable and enjoyable.

Our guide Mervat brought Egypt to life with his knowledge and passion. From the great pyramids to the magical temples of Luxor, every stop was memorable. The ballooning experience was simply amazing, and the comfort on the Nile cruise was top notch.

This was such a great way to explore Egypt! I loved seeing the Great Pyramids, riding a hot air balloon in Luxor, and cruising down the Nile. The entire tour was well-organized, and I felt taken care of throughout.

The tour took me to Egypt's most iconic sights, including the pyramids, Luxor, and the Nile River. I especially loved the hot air balloon ride, and the Egyptologist guide provided so much fascinating information along the way.