Egypt and Nile cruise

We’re doing it this March. If you PM me after we get back I can let you know.

I did Egypt in 1985 with a Nile cruise and then took my wife back for a tour (Gate 1 was great) and Nile cruise as well as a cruise on Lake Nasser to see Abu Simbel.

We just came back a couple of weeks ago from our Gate 1 Tour, it was fantastic. Our guide was exceptional and well educated and informed on Egyptian history, archaeology and the ancient Egyptian religion.

We stayed in five star hotels in Cairo and Aswan, had two three day cruises and it was super.

Prior to booking with Gate 1, I priced several other companies like Viking. Viking is excellent but their price was about 80% HIGHER than Gate 1. No other company had a deal as good as Gate 1.

On going in Summer, unless you don't mind temperatures reaching 115 degrees F, it is way too hot. In fact, I am not sure that tours are available that time of the year, since people tend to avoid going in the Summer.

If you go, take a wide brimmed hat, wear sun screen and long sleeve shirts and paints. This is to protect your skin from the sun.

We went for 13 days in October of 2021. We did a 4 night Nile cruise on a Dahabiya. This is an authentic Egyptian sailboat. There was no A/C. It was not super buggy. It was very worthwhile and so glad we went. It WAS still blazing hot in October. I can’t imagine going in the summer.

My photobook of our trip.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/ZbqEi9TkLDCq9EYU6

Thank you all for your responses!

My wife and I just signed up for a 12-day tour with Uniworld in May, which includes 4 days in/around Cairo and a 7-day cruise down the Nile, visiting several sites along the way. A bit pricey, but this is a bucket list trip for us to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary.

Anyone have any past experience with Uniworld? Or maybe doing a similar tour/cruise with Viking or another similar companies?

Since Rick Steves is our usual go-to travel guide/advice site, but seem to have no recently updated Egypt guide books, can anyone recommend a good alternative guide book?

Regarding Nile cruises and Egypt tours, our 14 day Tour with two 3 day cruises cost about $3500 pp and that included airfare from JFK to Cairo.

Uniworld is a great river cruise company, there are several other like AMA Waterways, Emerald, Tauck, Avalon and more.

BUT CHECK THE PRICES and compare what you get.

Gate 1 is hard to beat on quality and price.

It's hot, really hot, in Egypt in the summer. I have done dahabiya (small sailing boat) cruises twice in shoulder seasons -- March and October. When we were there in October, the daytime temperatures were in the mid 90's toward the southern end of the cruise. Of course, it's a dry heat, there's a nice breeze on the Nile, and the temperatures cool off considerably in the evenings. In the summer you can expect temperatures over 110°. Honestly, I can't imagine going in the summer.

Personally, I prefer the small (10 passengers max) sailboats to the big cruise ships. In the summer, though, I might go for one of the big cruise ships. I would do a dahabiya cruise again in a heartbeat --- just not in the summer.