Two sails, twenty guests at most, and a river that has not changed its mind in five thousand years.
What is a dahabiya
A dahabiya is a shallow, twin-sailed sailing boat — the vessel that carried nineteenth-century travellers up the Nile before steam, and before schedules.
Our boats are replicas of those originals, built by hand in Esna by craftsmen whose families have worked the same riverbank for generations. They carry the romance of the period and none of its discomfort: air conditioning in every room, a private bathroom behind every door, and hot water that does not depend on the sun.
Because a dahabiya draws so little water, it moors where the large cruisers cannot — against a sandbank, beside a village, under a temple wall. You wake to birds rather than engines, and to a stretch of river with nobody else on it.
The boats
Each boat is built to the same nineteenth-century lines and finished to a different scale — from eight guests to twenty.
The intimate oneThree cabins and a single terrace suite — small enough that a family or a group of friends can take the whole boat without it feeling empty. Every room looks out on the water through full-width windows.
Sails: Esna to Aswan · Aswan to Esna · Exclusive booking
The classicThirty-eight metres, eight cabins, ten crew, and seventy per cent of her power drawn from the roof. Launched in 2016 and still the boat most guests picture when they imagine a dahabiya.
Sails: Esna to Aswan · Aswan to Esna · Luxor & Aswan · Exclusive booking
The largestEight twin cabins and two king suites with private terraces — twenty guests at full occupancy, and the most generous cabins in the fleet at five metres by three.
Sails: Esna to Aswan · Aswan to Esna · Luxor & Aswan · Exclusive booking
The new oneLaunched in 2025 and built around the flower of life. Fifty-five metres, eight terrace suites of twenty-eight square metres each, a jacuzzi, a library over the water, and seventy-five per cent solar power.
Sails: Esna to Aswan · Aswan to Esna · Luxor & Aswan · Exclusive booking
Itineraries
All routes sail the stretch between Esna and Aswan — the only part of the Nile where a sailing boat still has the water to itself.
The core sailing stretch, without the road days. Four nights aboard.
Esna → El Kab → Edfu → Gebel el-Silsila → Kom Ombo → Aswan
From€890per person sharing a double
Operated by
Queen Cleopatra · Royal Cleopatra · Princess Cleopatra · Azhar
Day-by-day programmes are representative. Exact moorings shift with wind, water level and the season, and your reis will read the river on the day.
Day 1
Board in the afternoon, sail out past the lock and moor on an island for the first night.
Day 2
The painted rock tombs at El Kab in the morning; the Temple of Horus at Edfu before dusk.
Day 3
The sandstone quarries that built half of ancient Egypt, then a long afternoon under sail.
Day 4
The double temple to Sobek and Haroeris at first light, and the camel market at Daraw.
Day 5
Disembark after breakfast. Philae and the granite quarries can be added before you leave.
Experiences
Nothing is compulsory. The following is what tends to happen when the boat is moving slowly enough to allow it.
Edfu, Kom Ombo and Gebel el-Silsila at hours the day-trip buses cannot reach.
Mooring at settlements with no road in, where the arrival of a boat is still worth watching.
A table set on an island sandbank, lit by lanterns, with the crew cooking over fire.
The best two hours of the day, spent doing nothing at all while the bank slides past.
Where the current allows, straight off the deck into the Nile.
Bread baked aboard, vegetables bought that morning, and a cook who will show you how if you ask.
A small sail through the cataract islands at Aswan, and camels at the Daraw market.
No light pollution for forty kilometres. Bring nothing; just go up after dinner.
Customisation
Every departure can be reshaped, and a whole-boat charter can be built from nothing. Tell us what matters and we will route around it.
Tell us what you have in mindTake a whole vessel — from eight berths to twenty — and set your own departure date.
Longer at Edfu, an extra night at a mooring you liked, or the whole thing slowed by a day.
A terrace suite, a private dinner on the sandbank, and the crew briefed to disappear.
Connecting rooms, earlier dinners, and guides who pitch the history at the age in front of them.
Moorings chosen for light and for wildlife, with dawn starts written into the plan.
Birthdays, anniversaries and small weddings aboard, with a galabeya night if you want one.
Cairo, Abu Simbel, the Red Sea or the Western Desert oases added at either end.
Vegetarian, vegan, halal, gluten-free and step-count limits — all handled before you board.
Reviews
Both vessels hold a straight five out of five on Tripadvisor. Here is what recent guests wrote, in their own words.
“Highlight of our stay in Egypt. We ended up being the only tourists on the boat, so it felt magical — so much better than a normal cruise. The chef cooked great food and the whole crew was friendly and attentive.”
“We were lucky to be on the maiden cruise of the Azhar. The suites were large and well equipped, each with its own water-level balcony. Luxury cruising with a totally flexible, helpful staff — a trip to remember at a standard to dream of.”
“Sailing down the Nile was one of my favourite experiences. A smaller ship with only a few cabins, so a more intimate setting — you get to know the crew and have input on the itinerary. The food tasted like home cooking, different every day.”
“Nine adults and three children — we chartered the boat for four unforgettable nights, filled with peace and togetherness. Practising yoga on the deck, surrounded by nature and the gentle movement of the water, brought a deep sense of calm.”
“Truly something special. The crew were incredibly kind and attentive, the food superb and fresh, the sightseeing fascinating. The musicians brought an evening to life with traditional music. We never wanted it to end.”
“An excellent way to tour the Nile. Accommodation, food, staff, guide and itinerary were all first class, with plenty of space on board and time to relax. I'd recommend it to anyone seeking a special experience in Egypt.”
Schedule & rates
Departures run in both directions between Esna and Aswan — four nights sailing south, three nights sailing north. Rates are per person sharing a double cabin.
Prices are per person sharing a double cabin. The single supplement is added for sole occupancy of a cabin. Dates outside the list below — and the six- and seven-night routes — are quoted on request.
Departures alternate between southbound and northbound sailings. Because the fleet is small, dates go early — we will hold a provisional booking for seven days while you arrange flights.
Peak
October – April
Warm days, cool evenings. The classic Nile season and the busiest.
Shoulder
May & September
Hot but manageable, with noticeably fewer people at the temples.
Low
June – August
Very hot. Early starts, long afternoons aboard, and the river almost empty.
Questions
About us
Four boats, built in Esna, sailing one stretch of one river. We have never wanted to be bigger than that.
Cleopatra Dahabiyat began with a single boat and an argument: that the Nile is better at three knots than at fifteen, and that a hundred and eighty guests on a steel hull is not a river journey. Every vessel since has been built to the same nineteenth-century lines by shipwrights in Esna — the same town our guests board in.
The fleet runs on the sun where it can. Royal Cleopatra draws seventy per cent of her power from the roof; Azhar, launched in 2025, draws seventy-five. Water is filtered aboard, waste is treated aboard, and the boats leave the sandbanks they moor on exactly as they found them.
Our crews are from the villages you sail past. The reis reading the wind has read it since he was a boy, and the cook buying vegetables at the bank is buying them from someone he knows. That is not a marketing line — it is simply how a boat this size gets run.
