Nile cruise itineraries

Board around midday and take lunch on board. The afternoon is the two great East Bank temples, Karnak and Luxor, before the ship stays moored at Luxor for the first night.

An early West Bank morning — the Valley of the Kings, Hatshepsut's terraced temple at Deir el-Bahari, and the Colossi of Memnon. The ship casts off around midday and passes through the Esna lock in the afternoon. Most ships spend the night at Esna or Edfu; the exact mooring depends on how long the lock queue runs.

The best-preserved temple in Egypt, the Temple of Horus at Edfu, reached from the mooring by horse-drawn carriage. Later the ship reaches Kom Ombo, the twin temple shared by Sobek and Haroeris, usually visited in the late afternoon with its crocodile museum.

A morning of the High Dam, the granite quarries with the Unfinished Obelisk, and the Temple of Philae on its island. The afternoon is usually free, often a felucca sail around the Aswan islands, before the last night on board.

Breakfast and an early disembarkation around 08:00, with a transfer to Aswan airport or the station.

Board around midday. Some ships tour the High Dam and Philae this afternoon; others keep the day light with a felucca ride and move the Aswan sights to the next morning. The evening is usually a Nubian folkloric show.

Sailing downstream to Kom Ombo and then Edfu, its Temple of Horus reached by horse-drawn carriage. Ships that held the Aswan sights back cover them first thing before casting off.

The ship reaches Luxor and docks for the final night. The West Bank fills the day — the Valley of the Kings, Hatshepsut and the Colossi. Some ships fit the East Bank temples in too; others hold them for the morning.

Karnak and Luxor Temple on the final morning where they were not already covered, then disembarkation around 08:00.

Board at Luxor and, on most programmes, visit Karnak and Luxor Temple in the afternoon. A few operators keep day 1 to arrival and free time and hold the East Bank for the return.

The West Bank in the morning, then south through the Esna lock. A dawn hot-air-balloon flight over the West Bank is a common optional extra. The night is usually at Edfu.

Edfu by horse-drawn carriage, then Kom Ombo — though some ships sail past Kom Ombo here and visit it on the way back instead. The night is docked at Aswan.

The High Dam, the Unfinished Obelisk and Philae, reached by motorboat, with a felucca sail around the islands in the afternoon.

A deliberately light day at Aswan. This is when the optional Abu Simbel excursion is taken, leaving before dawn and back by the middle of the day; a Nubian village visit is the common alternative.

Sailing back downstream. Ships that held Kom Ombo back visit it now; those that saw it outbound make this a slow leisure leg past Kom Ombo and Edfu.

North through the Esna lock to Luxor. Whichever half of the Luxor sightseeing was held back is covered now; where it was all done outbound, this is a free day with time in the souq. The night is docked at Luxor.

Breakfast, check-out and transfer to Luxor airport or onward transport.

Board at Esna around midday and visit the Temple of Khnum, sunk nine metres below the modern street, and the market lanes around it. The boat then sails a few hours upstream to its first island or riverbank mooring.

El Kab, on the east bank where no cruise ship can dock: the temple of the vulture goddess Nekhbet, decorated New Kingdom rock tombs, and predynastic mudbrick walls up to eleven metres thick. On to Edfu and its Temple of Horus by horse and carriage.

The day that most sets a dahabiya apart, with no major temple: a morning walk, an afternoon swim from a quiet bank, a village stop where sun bread is baked, and an evening mooring below the floodlit rock temples of Gebel el-Silsila.

The great rock-cut Speos of Horemheb and the ancient sandstone quarries at the point where the Nile narrows, then on to the Ptolemaic double temple of Kom Ombo with its mummified crocodiles. Five-night programmes give Gebel el-Silsila a full day of its own; four-night ones fold it in with Kom Ombo.

An optional early start for the Daraw livestock and camel market — busiest on a Tuesday morning — then a Nubian village on the approach to Aswan. By regulation the last night is docked beside the Aswan bridge.