Nile River Cruise: Sonesta Star Goddess from Aswan

Today you board your Nile Cruise Ship, your floating hotel for the next 5 days. Sail on the Nile by Felucca around Kitchener's Island and Agha Khan. Enjoy a Nubian Folkloric Show and Dinner on board to end the night.

Aswan is the best winter resort in Egypt. On its eastern bank are mosques, bazaars, Ferial Gardens, Nubian Museum, Fatimid Cemetery, the Unfinished Obelisk of Queen Hatshepsut, Kitchener's Island and Elephantine Island, which is the largest in Aswan. As for its western bank there are tombs of local Pharaonic nobles and dignitaries, the tomb of Aga Khan, the Coptic Monastery of St. Simeon and the Old Aswan Dam.

This morning you will visit the High Dam, the Granite Quarries and the Temple of Philae then sail to Kom Ombo where you will visit the temple shared by two gods Sobek and Haeroris in Kom Ombo.

Kom Ombo is located on a bend in the river Nile about 50 km north of Aswan. Located on the east bank, Kom Ombo is home to an unusual double temple built during the Ptolemaic and Roman periods. The temple is dedicated to the crocodile god Sobek and the falcon god Haroeris (Horus the Elder). Despite being badly damaged, the temple is a beautiful sight as one approaches from either direction on the river, particularly as sunset nears and the colours change. Return to the vessel to sail to Edfu.

This morning you will visit the Horus Temple in Edfu then sail to Luxor. Tonight enjoy a special Egyptian Galabeya Party. Overnight in Luxor

After breakfast on board, you will visit the Valley of the Kings, the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut at El-Deir, El-Bahari and the Colossi Memnon. Luxor is a major attraction for tourists in Egypt. It is considered the world's largest open-air museum with its various temples since the Pharaonic era until the Greco-Roman era, most famous of which is Karnak and Luxor Temples dedicated to the triad of Thebes. The West Bank of Luxor is known for the famous tombs of Seti I, Tut Ankh Amon, Tuthmosis III in the Valley of the Kings and Queen Hatchepsut's Temple.

The Valley of the Kings in Upper Egypt is home to many pharaonic tombs of the New Kingdom, including those of King Tutankhamen and Ramses the Great. Each king's formal name and titles inscribed in his tomb, which is also adorned with his images and statues. Most of the tombs were cut into limestone following a similar pattern: three corridors, an antechamber, and a sunken sarcophagus chamber.

The mortuary temple of Queen Hatshepsut of the 18th Dynasty was built just north of the Middle Kingdom temple of Mentuhotep Nebhepetre, amid the bay of cliffs known as Deir El-Bahri. In ancient times, the temple was called Djeser-djeseru, meaning the sacred of sacreds. The female pharaoh chose to build her temple in a valley sacred to the Theban Goddess of the west, on a direct axis with the Karnak Temple of Amun on the East Bank.

After lunch visit the Luxor Temple and Karnak Temples, a holy city of pylons (monumental gateways), hypostyle halls, colossal statues, shrines and obelisks built over centuries and dedicated to the God Amon-Ra, his consort Mut and their son Khonsu.

This morning you will enjoy breakfast on board and disembark at 8:00am.