3-night Nile cruises: Aswan to Luxor

Yes for the headline temples: Philae and the High Dam, Kom Ombo, Edfu, Karnak and the Valley of the Kings are all on the 3-night Aswan to Luxor programme. It is the tightest schedule on the river, with Edfu and Kom Ombo often visited within twelve hours of each other and Luxor squeezed into the last morning, so it suits a short add-on to Cairo or the Red Sea rather than a first, unhurried visit.

Four days (3 nights) covers the temples between Aswan and Luxor; five days (4 nights) is the comfortable standard; eight days (7 nights) is the slow round trip. Add two or three days for Cairo and the pyramids, which are a one-hour flight north and not on any standard cruise.

No. The pyramids are at Giza, next to Cairo, about 660 km north of Luxor; standard cruises sail only between Luxor and Aswan. Only the rare long cruises (11 to 14 nights) sail from Cairo. Most travellers fly Cairo to Luxor or Aswan for the cruise.

Most often Mon ex Luxor (55 of the ships we list with undisputed schedules), then Fri ex Aswan (51) and Mon ex Aswan (21). Ships work a fixed weekly rotation, so pick the ship and the departure day follows.

On a mid-range ship a median of US$726 (£543) per person in summer and US$840 (£629) in winter, sharing a double cabin, boat only. Budget ships run about 25 per cent less, five-star deluxe ships roughly double, luxury ships three to four times.