Nile Cruise 2025: My Honest 3-Night Review with Abu Simbel & a Balloon Ride

Let’s be real, you know, figuring out an Egyptian holiday can feel like a really big project. All those amazing temples and stories from history, well, it’s honestly a lot to take in at once. So, we were looking for a way to see the main highlights without it taking up weeks, and this 3-night cruise, you know, sort of jumped out at us. It’s basically a short, sharp shot of ancient history, floating down a river that has, like, seen it all. I mean, this trip promised not just a bed on a boat, but also a pre-dawn flight over Luxor and a trip to the seriously impressive Abu Simbel. Honestly, we went in with high hopes and, just maybe, a little bit of worry about it all feeling rushed. I can tell you now, it was an incredibly full, totally unforgettable three days.

Aswan: Kicking Things Off on the Peaceful Nile

Our little adventure started in Aswan, which is, frankly, a much calmer place than Cairo. You can literally feel the pace of life slow down a bit here. After getting checked in on our cruise ship, which would pretty much be our floating hotel for the next few days, we dropped our bags and went straight up to the top deck. And wow, the view was, like, something else. The sun was beating down, you know, but the breeze coming off the water was just perfect. You could see those classic felucca sailboats with their big white sails zigzagging across the deep blue water, with, like, a background of sand-colored hills. It’s a view that, seriously, hasn’t changed all that much in thousands of years. Our first stop was the High Dam, a huge bit of modern engineering that is, to be honest, mind-bogglingly big. But the real charmer of the day was the Philae Temple, which, by the way, you have to get to by a small motorboat. It just sort of appears out of the water, a really stunning place dedicated to the goddess Isis, and it feels pretty magical to walk around its stone halls.

Sailing to Kom Ombo and Edfu: Two Temples, Two Different Feelings

That afternoon, we actually started the “cruise” part of the cruise, and it was just as relaxing as you might think. Honestly, just sitting on a sun lounger, watching the green banks of the Nile drift by, is a kind of relaxation that’s hard to find anywhere else. You see kids waving from the shore, farmers working with their animals, and so many palm trees. As evening came around, we pulled up to Kom Ombo, which is, you know, pretty special. It’s literally right on the riverbank and lights up beautifully after dark. The cool thing about this temple is that, basically, it’s a double-header; one side is for Sobek, the crocodile god, and the other is for Horus, the falcon-headed god. Our guide showed us a very old carving that, apparently, is a kind of medical calendar showing surgical tools, which was pretty wild. After setting sail again, we woke up the next morning in Edfu. To get to this temple, you often take a horse-drawn carriage, which, at the end of the day, is a whole experience in itself. Edfu Temple is, just, unbelievably well-kept. It’s one of the most complete ancient buildings in all of Egypt, and walking into its main hall, with those massive columns, really makes you feel very, very small.

Luxor’s Hot Air Balloon: Honestly, Just Wow

Okay, so this part of the trip required a ridiculously early wake-up call, like, it was still pitch black outside. But, seriously, it was worth every single second of lost sleep. We crossed the Nile on a little boat and were driven to the West Bank where all the balloons were being prepared. There’s this huge roar as they fire up the burners, you know, filling the giant balloons with hot air. Then, you scramble into the basket, and with a surprisingly gentle lift, you are suddenly floating. It’s actually a very quiet and peaceful feeling up there. As the sun started to peek over the horizon, it cast this incredible golden light over everything. From our basket, we could see the entire layout of the West Bank below us. There was the famous Valley of the Kings, where all the pharaohs were buried, and right nearby was the striking, multi-layered Temple of Hatshepsut, which is kind of built right into the cliffs. It’s one thing to see these places from the ground, but from above, you know, you get a completely different sense of how it all connects. It’s a mental picture that will, frankly, stick with me forever.

The Big One: Making the Trip to Abu Simbel

The excursion to Abu Simbel is another one of those very early mornings, often leaving from Aswan before the cruise even sets sail for Luxor. We traveled south for a few hours through the completely empty-looking desert, which in itself is, sort of, a really cool part of the experience. You start to wonder what could possibly be out there, and then, you know, you arrive. To be honest, nothing really prepares you for seeing Abu Simbel for the first time. The four massive statues of Ramesses II just sitting there, staring out over Lake Nasser, are on a scale that is genuinely hard to process. You literally feel like a tiny ant standing next to them. This whole temple was a show of power by the pharaoh, and it absolutely does the trick. Then you go inside and see all the detailed carvings on the walls, telling stories of his famous battles. What’s even crazier is that this whole place, like, the entire mountain, was cut into giant blocks and moved to higher ground in the 1960s to save it from the rising waters of the lake. It’s an incredible story of ancient ambition meeting modern-day cleverness.

Life on the Boat: What’s it Really Like?

So, what about life on the actual cruise ship? Our boat was, basically, comfortable and clean, not super fancy but absolutely fine for a three-night stay. The rooms are more or less like a standard hotel room, just with a window you can look out of and see the Nile drifting past, which is pretty amazing. The food onboard was served buffet-style and, frankly, was quite good. There was always a mix of Egyptian dishes and some more familiar international options, so, you know, there was something for everyone. The best spot on any of these boats is, at the end of the day, the sun deck. It usually has a small pool, which is great for a quick cool-down in the afternoon, and lots of chairs for relaxing. In the evenings, there was some light entertainment, for instance, a belly dancer one night and a ‘Galabeya Party’ another, where you can dress up in traditional Egyptian robes. It’s all a bit of fun and a nice way to chat with the other people on the cruise. You will meet folks from all over the world, which is, obviously, a pretty great part of traveling.

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