A first-time guide to cruising the Nile

There are few accessible and affordable places in the world where you can observe landscapes and lifestyles that have remained virtually unchanged for 4000 years. The Nile Valley in Egypt is one of these and the best way to experience it is by cruising along the river itself with occasional pauses to see what the pharaohs left behind them.

What type of cruise should I choose?

The choice is dizzying: from six-deck, 100+ cabin behemoths with belly dance shows and bingo nights to tiny feluccas where you doze on deck in your own sleeping bag, via luxury steamers once used by royalty. For me, a happy compromise is a dahabiyya, the motor-less, twin-masted sailing boat that pharaohs themselves would have been familiar with. These double-deck boats have between four to 10 cabins on the bottom deck, allowing passengers an eye-level view of the many fishers on the river, and a top deck where passengers lounge, eat together at one long table and may even find a hot tub to relax in.

How did you travel and what did you like about it?

I tested the Egyptian-owned and run 10-cabin Karnak, one of a fleet of nine eco-friendly dahabiyyas, for a week-long cruise from Luxor to Aswan and back. Wally Aziz, founder and owner of Lazuli Voyages, told me his smaller boats are often booked as a whole by a family or group of friends and then the cruise can be arranged exactly as they want. He’s hosted famous movie stars and politicians who enjoyed complete privacy on their voyage.

These flat-bottomed boats with a 20-cm (8-inch) draught have a massive advantage over the huge cruise ships as they can dock anywhere, far from the ports the big ships need to use. If the planned anchorage is occupied, the dahabiyya will sail on until it finds a quiet place to stop overnight and perhaps set up a riverside barbecue for passengers. The next morning, breakfast might be set up on the riverbank, complete with rugs, deck chairs and parasols. As we enjoyed our fabulous meal, we were watched over by a dozy-looking buffalo!

Dahabiyyas use the prevailing wind to sail upstream (ie south) but need to be towed if traveling north with the current. The small diesel-powered tug chugs about 40m (130ft) ahead of the dahabiyya so passengers are not often disturbed by the engine noise.

The comfortable cabins (each with en suite shower-room, toilet and life-vests) are on the bottom deck. Passengers eat together under a shady canopy at a long table on the lounge deck, enjoying the Egyptian/Mediterranean cuisine cooked in the tiny on-board kitchen. Lunchtime on the Karnak is always vegetarian whereas at dinner meat or fish, including prawns caught by local fishers, is served.

One of the highlights of many dahabiyya cruises is a day-long visit to the village of Bisaw, 135km/84 miles up-river from Luxor. Here we fished with the local fishers (I caught nothing!), ate lunch with a family, visited the village bread oven and tasted some freshly made unleavened bread, wandered around the village and surrounding fields, and smiled with the children who were happy with the school supplies we’d brought. We were the first to test the village’s new kayaks, a fabulous way to sneak up on some of the beautiful Nile birds.

​When should I go?

The high season is from October to April when it’s less hot. But that also means both the river and sights can be uncomfortably busy. So, I would recommend going in May or June if you can stand the dry heat (48°C/118.4°F when I visited the first week of June). As most sights open at 6am passengers will often be woken very early to take advantage of the cool morning air.

You can choose to air-condition your cabin during the day while electric fans cool the lounge deck. At night the electricity generator that powers the air-conditioning is switched off to ensure silence. But because all the cabin windows are just above water-level, I found that with windows open and mosquito screens shut, the cool air rising from the river kept the cabin so comfortably cool at night that I even welcomed a light blanket. The sockets, lights, pumps and kitchen equipment remain functional 24/7 thanks to the electricity produced by the on-board solar panels.

Temples and tombs were crowd-free in June and we even had Kom Ombo temple entirely to ourselves for our early evening visit, enlivened by music from a riverbank wedding party.

​How much time should I spend on a Nile cruise?

Cruises are generally four nights/five days or five nights/six days, so you don’t really have much choice when it comes to time spent on the Nile. They either go south from Luxor to Aswan or vice versa, and some do a return trip. You can extend the cruise on Lake Nasser. Lazuli has two brand-new boats with just four cabins for the Lake Nasser safari. A few other companies run Lake Nasser cruises on much bigger boats.

​Is it easy to get to?

Fly direct to Luxor or Aswan international airports, stay overnight at a hotel in one of those cities and then board your ship in the morning. Alternatively, fly to Cairo, spend a few days visiting the city, and then fly or take the train to Luxor. The company you’ve booked your cruise with will generally organize this for you.

​Top things to do

See the Valley of the Kings on the west bank and Luxor and Karnak Temples on the east bank. There’s the Temple of Khnum in Esna on the west bank where the finishing touches of restoration work have revealed extraordinary colors and signs of the zodiac. You’ll probably also see Edfu Temple of Horus on the west bank in the eponymous town and as you get closer to Aswan there’s the magnificent Kom Ombo temple on the east bank. In Aswan you’ll take a small boat to reach Agilkia Island where the temple of Philae was relocated, about 500m (1640ft) from its original island, by UNESCO between 1977–80, to save it from flooding.

​My favorite thing to do

I loved to relax and digest all the information provided by our amazing guide during the temple and tomb visits. Disconnect (wi-fi is spotty so that’s easy), sit on the deck with a cool glass of freshly made fruit juice and watch the 1000-year-old landscape glide by, only the satellite dishes on the mud-brick houses a hint that we’re now in the 21st century. I couldn’t do without my excellent binoculars, happy to spend hours observing the birds (I finally saw a hoopoe – I’ve been waiting since I was a child to see one!) and the humans fishing, collecting reeds, fixing nets, working in the fields, washing clothes, cooking, milking cows, and playing along the river bank. I found the spectacle endlessly fascinating.

​How much will it cost, per person, per night?

When you pay for a cruise everything (except your flights to and from Egypt, your personal spending and tipping) is included: accommodation, three meals a day, entry fees to the sights and a guide. If you choose a luxury tour aboard a steamer, you’re looking at paying about US$800 per person, per night. At the other end of the spectrum, if you choose a felucca you’re looking at about US$100. A cruise on a dahabiya will be around US$445.

​What should I wear?

Imitate the locals: the hotter it gets, the more you need to cover up to protect yourself. Banish polyester and nylon, which will make you hot and sweaty. Opt instead for cotton, linen or silk (socks included!). Wear loose, flowing clothes that catch the slightest breath of air rather than tight-fitting ones. And remember that in respect for local customs, short shorts and skirts with high-rise hemlines, bare midriffs and plunging necklines are a no-no when visiting the tombs, temples and local villages. For these visits don’t forget your hat, fan, sunglasses, sun cream and sturdy shoes. On the boat sundresses and shorts are fine.

​What else do I need to know?

1. Bring a pair of binoculars, a bird book and some detailed guides to the temples and tombs because you’ll never remember everything the Egyptologist guide tells you during the visits!

2. For a day or two, your digestive system may react to unfamiliar bacteria. If you’ve forgotten your antidiarrheal, there’ll be some on the boat, which, and I speak from experience, is very efficient!

3. Do not flush anything (including toilet paper) down the toilet. Use the waste bin provided instead.

4. And, however tempting it might be, don’t swim in the Nile. There are no crocodiles north of Aswan but you run the risk of catching schistosomiasis, the second-most prevalent tropical disease in the world.

Christina was a guest of Lazuli Voyages. Lonely Planet contributors do not accept freebies in return for positive coverage.