Dahabiya cruise
Nile Dahabiya Cruise, Esna to Aswan
A dahabiya is a traditional twin-sailed boat — the most intimate way to see the Nile. No engines, no crowds: twenty guests at most, temples a day’s sail apart, and moorings the big cruise ships can’t reach.
Our fleet of four hand-built dahabiyas sails between Esna, Luxor and Aswan, from €670 per person. Pick your dates below and book your Nile cruise.
Schedule & rates
Dates and 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.
Featured departure
Sail the Royal Cleopatra this October
Esna is the last town in the Luxor governorate — 55 km from downtown Luxor — and the point where you step aboard.
Scheduled departures
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.
Booking a date
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.
Included
- Full board aboard — all meals, tea and coffee
- Air-conditioned cabin with private bathroom
- Egyptologist guide for all listed visits
- Transfers between airport, hotel and boat
- Wi-Fi aboard (fair-use)
- Filtered drinking water throughout
- All sailing and mooring fees
Not included
- International and domestic flights
- Egyptian entry visa
- Temple and monument entry tickets
- Soft drinks, beer, wine and spirits
- Gratuities for crew and guide
- Optional excursions (Abu Simbel, hot-air balloon)
Sailing seasons
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
Before you book
- Size and silence. A cruiser carries two to three hundred people and runs on engines to a fixed timetable. A dahabiya carries eight to twenty, moves under sail, and moors at islands and villages the big ships cannot reach. You will often be the only boat in sight.
- It sails. The two lateen sails do the work whenever there is wind, which on this stretch of river there usually is. A small tug assists through the locks and on windless afternoons — no dahabiya on the Nile operates entirely without one.
- It is the last stretch of the Nile with the wind, the water and the quiet that sailing needs, and the temples are spaced a day's sail apart. North of Esna the river is busier and the locks are slower.
- Between eight and twenty depending on the vessel, plus crew and your guide. Queen Cleopatra takes eight, Royal Cleopatra sixteen, Azhar seventeen, and Princess Cleopatra twenty.
- October to April for comfort — warm days and cool nights. May and September are hot but much quieter at the temples. June to August is genuinely hot; we start early, spend the afternoons aboard, and you will have the river almost to yourself.
- Yes, and it is more common than you might expect. A whole-boat charter lets you set your own departure date, adjust the route and pace, and shape the menu. Groups from eight upward should ask about it.
- Very. There is deck to run on, a crew that adopts children immediately, and guides who adjust the history to the age in front of them. Connecting rooms and earlier dinner sittings can be arranged.
- Loose cotton, a hat, high-factor sun cream and a light layer for the evenings, which get cool from December. Shoulders and knees covered for temple visits. Shoes you can walk sand and stone in.
- Egyptian home cooking rather than hotel buffet — bread baked aboard, vegetables bought that morning at the bank, grilled fish and slow-cooked stews. Vegetarian, vegan, halal and gluten-free are all straightforward with notice.
- Wi-Fi throughout the boat on a fair-use basis, and mobile coverage for most of the route. There are stretches between Edfu and Kom Ombo with neither, which most guests come to regard as a feature.
- Send us your dates, the number of guests and which boat interests you. We come back with a written quote and hold a provisional booking for seven days while you arrange flights. A deposit confirms it; the balance is due before you sail.