discover an ancient culture with a cruise on the Nile

For many years, small and, later, larger boats traveled the Nile. Touristically, it was Thomas Cook, whose homonymous company recently went bankrupt, who organized the first cruise lines on the Nilein 1869.

Since then, what is the longest river in the world in length has attracted thousands of travelers. The most frequent stopping points are Luxor, esna, edfu, kom ombo, aswan and Abu Simbel. This means that the routes do not start or end in Cairo.

As this is the main tourist destination, it is common for the most complete travel packages to include travel to Luxor or Aswan.

Egypt, belonging to the group of developing countries, naturally presents idiosyncrasies less common in the West.

An example of this is the fact that in some ports not enough space for all the ships to dockwhich causes the vessels to pull over in parallel, successively.

This means that the passage to land, and vice versa, is made between the various ships that are berthed.

Main types of cruises on the Nile

With an ancient history, Egypt is one of the most remarkable and important civilizations in human history. Hence it is an absolute sanctuary for archeology.

They are layers of land that hide traces of the technical prodigies of a people, the way they lived and socially related, how they were politically organized. Mythical pharaohs such as Tutankhamun or Ramses. The biblical story of Moses and the deliverance of the Jews towards the Promised Land. Egypt is history around every corner.

Therefore, in addition to the obligatory visit to that engineering prodigy that are the pyramids of Giza or the enigmatic sphinx, there is nothing like taking advantage of a cruise on the sacred river of the Egyptians. And there is no shortage of options.

It is one of the most popular travel packages on Nile cruises. Typically, the trip lasts between 3 to 5 nights; the route includes the cities/areas of Luxor, Esna, Edfu, Kom Ombo and Aswan; some go as far as Adbu Simbel.

in these packs there may be reference to Cairo, but this is not about cruise activities. It’s tourism on land. The advantage is that the agency will take care of the trip between Cairo and Luxor (600 kilometers away).

Among the main attractions can be included the mountains of the desert where the Valley of the Kingswith the tombs of the pharaohs, the Temple of Medinet Habupanoramic view of the temple of the morgue of Hatshepsut or the Colossi of Memnon.

You Temples of Luxorin Karnak it’s from Horus and the Esna lock are other interesting landmarks.

Later on in the trip there may still be time for visits to the Kom Ombo Temple, Aswan Dam it’s the Abdu Simbel archaeological complex.

In addition to the traditional trip presented above, there is still space on the longest river in the world for luxury cruises. One of the most iconic ships operating in this segment is the Steam Ship Sudanbaptized with the name Sudan because this country is also crossed by the Nile.

Steam Ship Sudan makes two routes: the The Dynastic and the eternal riverreverse routes between Aswan and Luxor/Kena.

The history of Steam Ship Sudan dates back to the 1920s, a golden period for Nile travel. Users were mainly diplomats, businessmen and archaeologists exploring Ancient Egypt.

In 1933, and this is the ship’s hallmark, Agatha Christie embarked on an archaeological mission, where he was inspired to write the famous work Death on the Nile.

After the Second World War, the vessel was abandoned for 50 years, until it was reactivated in 1991 by an Egyptian businessman. The current owners are the Voyageurs du Monde he found it again abandoned in 2000, recovered it and placed it again in the Nile, within the space of 11 years.

The 5 nights duration of the cruise can be spent in cabins whose decoration reflects the union of history between river, boat and ancient Egypt.

Aswan, or, in Portuguese, Assuão, is a city built on the banks of the Nile River, once an important commercial point. 800 kilometers south of Cairothis is an increasingly popular and popular destination, as an alternative to the famous capital.

Among the best known points, the unfinished obeliskThe Museum of NubiaThe mausoleum of Aga Khan and the Aswan Mosque.

THE Botanical Garden, on Lord Kitchener Island, with a unique array of plants, is also another point of interest. Nearby is Elephantine Island, full of ruins and temples.

For those who don’t have enough time to spend 4 or 5 days on the Nile, it could be just a few hours. This is a modality offered by several companies, including the one that operates the 5 star ship Nile Maxim.

It is a two-hour journey along the Nile from Old Cairo to New Cairo. You can appreciate the lights on the banks as well as the mythical atmosphere of this part of the globe.

THE dinner is buffet style and includes, of course, gastronomy specialties Arabic and Egyptian. After dinner, there’s still time for a show. traditional dance from Tanourasuch as the popular belly dance.

In addition to multi-day cruises, there is also the possibility of being on the Nile in a typical fishing boat, called Felucca (falucho). This is an interesting option for those who have a few days to travel and still want to have a traditional experience on the river.