Ms Movenpick Royal Lily

After breakfast you cross to Luxor’s West Bank with your Egyptologist guide for the richest morning of the cruise.

You’ll descend into the Valley of the Kings, where more than 60 royal tombs were cut deep into the limestone hillside, Tutankhamun’s among them. The painted ceilings and hieroglyphic reliefs inside have held their color for over 3,000 years, protected by the darkness and the dry desert air.

Next is the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari, the terraced mortuary temple of Egypt’s most successful female pharaoh, built directly into the cliff face. Its clean horizontal lines look almost modern against the raw rock behind it.

Your last stop is the Colossi of Memnon — two seated statues of Amenhotep III standing 60 feet tall, all that remains of the vast mortuary complex that once stood here, lost to Nile flooding.
You return to MS Movenpick Royal Lily for lunch as the vessel casts off and begins sailing south toward Esna and Edfu. The afternoon belongs to the sun deck and afternoon tea, with shaded seating for the hottest hours, as villages, farmland and desert edge pass along a landscape that has barely changed in millennia. Dinner is served on board.

Overnight: Aboard MS Movenpick Royal Lily in the Edfu area
Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
On foot: Approximately 2 to 2.5 hours of walking, including steps and inclines inside the tombs, and the longest time on your feet of the five days.

Good to know: The Valley of the Kings is fully exposed with no shade. Standard entry covers three regular tombs of your choice. Separately ticketed special-entry tombs, including Tutankhamun’s, are not included — currently about US$ 15 per person for Tutankhamun’s tomb, which your guide can arrange on the day.

Breakfast is served on board at Edfu, where you step ashore and leave the mooring by traditional horse-drawn carriage for the short ride to the Temple of Horus — one of the best-preserved temples in Egypt, buried under sand for centuries and emerging almost fully intact, roof included, with its monumental pylons, roofed halls and granite falcon statues still standing guard at the entrance. If you have ever wanted to know what these temples actually looked like in use, Edfu is your answer.

Lunch is served on board as MS Movenpick Royal Lily sails on to Kom Ombo, where your guide takes the group to the Temple of Kom Ombo, one of the strangest temples in Egypt. It is a double temple, split down the center and dedicated to two gods at once: Sobek, the crocodile god, and Haroeris, the falcon-headed healer. Two entrances, two sanctuaries, two of everything. It also carries a wall relief showing surgical instruments — scalpels, forceps, bone saws — carved nearly 2,000 years ago. The temple stands directly on the riverbank, a few minutes’ walk from where the ship moors.

The vessel then continues south to Aswan. Afternoon tea on the top deck covers the best stretch of river scenery on this route, with dinner served on board once you are moored.

Overnight: Docked in Aswan
Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
On foot: Approximately 1 to 1.5 hours of walking in total, over level ground, plus the carriage ride at Edfu.

Good to know: Edfu Temple is inland and reached by traditional horse-drawn carriage, while Kom Ombo Temple is directly riverside and easily accessed from the vessel. The carriage ride is included, and a small tip to the driver is appreciated. The sailing between visits also offers excellent opportunities for photography from the deck.

Breakfast is served on board in Aswan before you set out with your Egyptologist guide, beginning at the Unfinished Obelisk, still lying in the granite quarry where it was abandoned mid-carving after a crack ran through the stone. Had it been raised, it would have stood nearly 140 feet — the largest obelisk in Egypt. Seeing it half-cut into the bedrock, with the tool marks still visible, explains ancient Egyptian engineering better than any finished monument.
From there you’ll take a short motorboat ride to the Temple of Philae, dedicated to the goddess Isis. The entire temple was dismantled block by block and rebuilt on higher ground at Agilkia Island in a UNESCO rescue operation after the High Dam raised the water level. Surrounded by water and granite outcrops, it is the most photographed stop on this route.
You return to MS Movenpick Royal Lily for lunch, and the rest of the day is yours. The vessel stays docked in Aswan and remains your base — a pool deck to come back to and full-board dining waiting whenever you return, with afternoon tea and dinner served on board on your last full day on the river.
Aswan rewards a free afternoon. The Nubian Museum is well-curated and blessedly air-conditioned, the souk is the best in Upper Egypt for spices and hibiscus, and a felucca out among the granite islands as the light drops is the quietest hour of the trip.

Overnight: Docked in Aswan
Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
On foot: Approximately 1 hour of walking on level ground, with some standing at both sites.

Good to know: Aswan is the hottest and driest stop on the itinerary, regularly above 100°F from May to September. The Philae boat crossing is open-air and takes 10 to 15 minutes each way, so bring a hat, sunglasses and sunscreen.

Breakfast is served on board before you disembark. Your luggage stays with the vessel or moves ahead to your onward transport, so any final touring is done without it.
A Memphis Tours representative assists with disembarkation and your transfer to Aswan Airport or the railway station. Friday is one of the three coach departure days for Abu Simbel, so if your onward flight is late in the day or you add a night in Aswan, the rock-cut temples of Ramesses II fit neatly onto this date rather than being squeezed into the cruise.

Meals: Breakfast
Disembarkation: Cabins are vacated by around 8:00 AM, with your luggage held on board or moved to your onward transport. Any touring and your departure transfer follow afterward.