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Festive journey · 21 December 2026 – 3 January 2027

Christmas & New Year on the Nile

Fourteen private days over the festive weeks — Christmas under sail on your own dahabiya, New Year above the First Cataract at Aswan, and the Pyramids kept for the very end.

Duration
14 days / 13 nights
Dates
21 Dec 2026 – 3 Jan 2027
Style
Private throughout
On the river
6 nights, chartered dahabiya
Christmas on the Nile Plan this journey
The journey

The busiest weeks of the year, at the quiet hour

Christmas and New Year are the fullest weeks of the Egyptian season, and most journeys over them simply join the crowd. This one is The Complete Egypt rearranged for the festive dates: every great site timed for the hour the groups are elsewhere, and the holidays themselves given to the places that suit them — Christmas Eve and Christmas Day aboard your own chartered dahabiya, New Year's Eve above the First Cataract at Aswan.

Two nights in Cairo to begin, one in Luxor, six under sail from Esna to Aswan, a night beside the temples of Abu Simbel, New Year's Eve in Aswan, and two last nights at the foot of the Pyramids. The dates are fixed around the boat; nearly everything else can be shaped to you.

An idea, not a package

This is one way the fortnight could run.
The rest is a conversation.

The dahabiya week sets the dates; around it, every day is a suggestion — lengthen it, swap it, leave it out. Four ready variations sit at the foot of the page.

Make it yours
Day by day

Fourteen days

One way the days might run — yours to change.

Cairo to begin · Luxor · Christmas under sail from Esna to Aswan · Abu Simbel
New Year in Aswan · and the Pyramids held for the end

Day 1 · Mon 21 DecCairo, arrival+
Met inside the terminal, walked through immigration and the bags, and driven to your hotel. The day is left empty on purpose — the peak weeks are busy, and the first evening should be quiet.Stay · Four Seasons Nile Plaza, Cairo
Day 2 · Tue 22 DecOld Cairo+
The Egyptian Museum on Tahrir at opening, before the coach groups arrive. Coptic Cairo in the late morning — the Hanging Church and Abu Serga, already dressed for Christmas. The Citadel of Saladin after lunch, and Khan el-Khalili as the heat goes out of the day.Stay · Four Seasons Nile Plaza, Cairo
Day 3 · Wed 23 DecLuxor, the temples of the living+
A morning flight south — 23 December is one of the busiest flying days of the season, so this is the first seat we secure. After lunch and a rest, Karnak from about 3 pm, as the groups thin out and the low sun lights the columns of the Hypostyle Hall from the side, staying until sunset, just after five. Luxor Temple after dark, lit and quiet.Stay · Mandarin Winter Palace, Luxor
Day 4 · Thu 24 DecThe west bank, and Christmas Eve aboard+
The Valley of the Kings at 6 am, when the gates open, with roughly two hours before the ships' groups arrive: three tombs on the standard ticket, and Seti I — included, and quiet because of its price. Then Hatshepsut's temple against its cliff and the Colossi of Memnon. After lunch, an hour's drive south to Esna and the temple of Khnum in its pit below the town, then aboard your chartered dahabiya. Christmas Eve dinner on board, at a quiet mooring. A balloon at first light is possible instead — but both begin at dawn, and the balloon first puts you in the valley at its busiest hour.Stay · aboard the dahabiya · night 1 of 6
Day 5 · Fri 25 DecChristmas Day on the river+
No site, no alarm. The boat casts off south under sail after breakfast, and the day is given to the river — Christmas lunch on deck, villages and palm groves sliding past, and a sandbank mooring for the evening. A festive day kept light, as it should be.Stay · aboard the dahabiya · night 2 of 6
Day 6 · Sat 26 DecEl-Kab & Edfu+
The rock-cut tombs of El-Kab in the morning, reached past a fishermen's village. Edfu in the late afternoon, after the cruise ships have come and gone — the best-preserved temple in Egypt, by caleche through the town. A quiet mooring for the night.Stay · aboard the dahabiya · night 3 of 6
Day 7 · Sun 27 DecThe river+
A day under sail. This is the day the monuments are at their most crowded, and you are nowhere near them.Stay · aboard the dahabiya · night 4 of 6
Day 8 · Mon 28 DecGebel el-Silsila+
Where the Nile narrows between sandstone cliffs, and where much of the stone for Egypt's temples was quarried. The cruise ships don't stop, so it is usually yours alone. The chapel of Horemheb, then on under sail.Stay · aboard the dahabiya · night 5 of 6
Day 9 · Tue 29 DecKom Ombo at dusk+
The temple of two gods on a bend of the river, arranged for the end of the day, once the ships have gone and the stone turns gold. Your last night aboard.Stay · aboard the dahabiya · night 6 of 6
Day 10 · Wed 30 DecPhilae, then the deep south+
Disembark in Aswan after breakfast and go straight to Philae, among the first boats of the day. In the late morning, south by road to Abu Simbel — about three and a half hours — arriving for the temples in the late-afternoon light, when the day-trippers have long gone.Stay · Azal Lagoon Resort, Abu Simbel
Day 11 · Thu 31 DecAbu Simbel at dawn, New Year's Eve in Aswan+
The temples again at the 6 am opening, as the sun rises over Lake Nasser onto the four colossi. North by road to Aswan by lunchtime, and an afternoon of nothing. New Year's Eve dinner, included, above the First Cataract.Stay · Mandarin Aswan
Day 12 · Fri 1 JanA slow new year+
No alarm. A late breakfast, afternoon tea on the terrace above Elephantine Island, and an afternoon flight to Cairo — timed so nobody has an early start after New Year's Eve.Stay · Mena House, at the foot of the Pyramids
Day 13 · Sat 2 JanThe Pyramids, kept for last+
The Giza plateau at opening, before most of Cairo is on the road — or The Empty Plateau at dawn, if permission is granted for the date. Then the Grand Egyptian Museum and the complete Tutankhamun collection. A last dinner with the Pyramids in view.Stay · Mena House, at the foot of the Pyramids
Day 14 · Sun 3 JanDeparture+
After breakfast you are driven to the airport and seen through to your gate.Depart · Cairo
Where you stay

Six houses, and a boat of your own

Thirteen nights in all — two in Cairo · one in Luxor · six aboard the dahabiya · one at Abu Simbel · one in Aswan · two at the Pyramids to close.

Cairo · 21–23 Dec

Four Seasons Nile Plaza

On the river in Garden City, within reach of the Egyptian Museum and the old city — a calm landing before the festive fortnight begins.

2 nights
Luxor · 23–24 Dec

Mandarin Winter Palace

The grande dame of the east bank, open since 1907 — gardens, high ceilings, and the Nile across the road from the temples of Thebes.

1 night
The Nile · 24–30 Dec

Your chartered dahabiya

The whole boat, for your party alone — a few cabins, a full crew, and the river at the window. Christmas Eve dinner and Christmas lunch are served aboard.

6 nights, Esna to Aswan
Abu Simbel · 30–31 Dec

Azal Lagoon Resort

One of very few places to stay beside the temples — so you see them in the late light and again at dawn, when the day-trippers are nowhere near.

1 night
Aswan · 31 Dec – 1 Jan

Mandarin Aswan

A terrace above the Nile, looking onto Elephantine Island — New Year's Eve dinner above the First Cataract, and the best afternoon tea on the river the morning after.

1 night
Giza · 1–3 Jan

Mena House

At the foot of the Pyramids — we ask for a room that faces them, so the new year begins with the view.

2 nights

What's included

  • A private welcome at Cairo airport — met inside the terminal and walked through arrivals
  • Your Egyptian entry visa, arranged in advance
  • A certified Egyptologist throughout, from first day to last
  • Private, late-model cars for the whole journey, with Wi-Fi
  • Thirteen nights at the houses above, with the whole dahabiya chartered for your party
  • Christmas Eve dinner aboard, and all meals on the dahabiya
  • New Year's Eve dinner, whichever hotel you are in on the night
  • Every other meal shown in the itinerary
  • All site entrances named in the day-by-day, including the tomb of Seti I
  • The road journey to Abu Simbel and back

Not included

  • International flights to and from Cairo
  • The two domestic flights, Cairo to Luxor and Aswan to Cairo (we arrange them; shown as a line in your proposal)
  • Gratuities for crew, guide and drivers, at your discretion
  • Travel insurance — a condition of booking, and we'll point you to it
Before you book

Over the festive weeks, the order of booking decides the journey

These are the fullest two weeks of the year, and some pieces run out long before others. We secure them in this order:

  1. The dahabiya charter, 24–30 December. The scarcest piece; everything else is built around its dates.
  2. The domestic flights, 23 December and 1 January. Two of the fullest flying days of the season, so we hold them at booking.
  3. Mandarin Winter Palace on 23 December, and Mandarin Aswan on 31 December. River-view rooms go first.
  4. Azal Lagoon Resort, 30 December. There are very few rooms in Abu Simbel.
  5. Mena House, 1–3 January, with a Pyramid-view room requested.
  6. The Empty Plateau, 2 January — requested on booking and confirmed before the balance is due. It depends on a permit we never promise.

For the whole picture of the festive weeks — weather, crowds, where to spend 25 and 31 December, and Coptic Christmas — read our guide, A luxury Christmas and New Year in Egypt.

Four ways to change it

The same fortnight, shaped differently

New Year in Cairo instead of Aswan. After Abu Simbel at dawn on 31 December, fly from Aswan to Cairo in the afternoon and see in the year at Mena House or on the river in Cairo, where the fireworks are. The Aswan night becomes a third night at Mena House; 1 January stays empty, and the Pyramids stay on the 2nd.

Stay for Coptic Christmas, 7 January. Add four nights in Cairo and leave on 8 January, when hotel rates have eased after the peak. Saqqara and Dahshur on the 4th; Lunch Under Sail on a private felucca on the 5th; a quiet 6th, then the Christmas Eve liturgy at a parish church in the evening, if your guide can arrange it in advance — never guaranteed. Coptic Cairo on Christmas morning, the 7th.

Twelve days, starting in Luxor. Fly straight to Luxor on 23 December, connecting through Cairo, and drop the two opening Cairo nights. We add a third night at Mena House on 3 January so Old Cairo and the Egyptian Museum aren't lost, and you leave on the 4th.

For families who want the sea. Replace the Abu Simbel night and the final Cairo days with four nights on the Red Sea, around the same dahabiya week — that is The Nile & the Red Sea, rearranged for the holidays.

Begin the conversation

Christmas on the river, properly.

The dahabiya week is the first thing to go. Tell us your party and what matters most to you, and we will hold the dates while we shape the rest around you.

Plan this journey

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