Tour: Nile Pearl - 5 Star Nile Cruise by Timeless Tours with 8 Tour Reviews (Code: 935183) - TourRadar
When: January 2026
Why I chose this tour:
It hit all the main highlights I wanted to see in Egypt beyond Cairo - Abu Simbel (added extra), Luxor (Karnak and Valley of the Kings), Aswan plus it had a sleeper train which I wanted to experience! I also know Timeless Tours to be a reliable operator, and they have great prices!
Highlights:
- Pyramids + Sphinx (obviously!) - not sure I need to say much here. We were given plenty of free time by our guide to explore the two main pyramids (Khufu and Khafre) for about an hour, plus time at the Giza plateau viewpoint, and around 30 minutes at the Sphinx (which was a small walkway next to it and was very overcrowded, but this impressed me even more that the pyramids!).
- Abu Simbel - Yes, it was an early 4am start, and the drive took even longer than expected at 4 hours each way (due to some road closure - usually takes less than 3.5), but it was still 100% worth it. This temple is stunning, like nothing else I experienced. Its location on the shore of Lake Nasser (which is home to over 2 million crocodiles!) alone is impressive, and the strategic artwork depicting Ramses II’s battle victories was designed to send a powerful message to travellers arriving from the south. - epic! Also his tribute temple to his queen Nefertati was beautiful. The small centre at the sites shows how UNESCO moved the temples in the 60’s when the high dam was created, with so much care - very interesting!
- Hot Air Balloon Ride + Valley of the Kings (Luxor) - Sunset Hot air balloon flight over the Valley and Hatshepsut Temple - stunning, highly recommend the add on a you won’t see sites like this anywhere else in the world. On the ground in the Valley, you got to visit inside 3 tombs, with certain ones recommended. The art inside the tombs was unreal - definitely the best we had seen anywhere with so much colour, really interesting, and shows the years of work and effort that went into these and the importance of this riutal so many thousands of years ago. Unmissable.
Honestly, every day had so many highlights, and there were plenty of other temples that are worth seeing as well as the new GEM (the Tutankhamun exhibition was excellent but extremely crowded!).
TIP: There is a free afternoon in Aswan and we found the public ferry to Elephantine Island right next to where our ship was docked. A one way ticket was 15 LE (20p), to get you over to this pedestrian only Nubian Island where you can walk through the streets for 15 - 20 mins to the museum and archaeological site at the end, with a super funny guide at the museum and amazing view of the river - I recommend doing this, it was very easy!
Transport + Accommodation
I got a sleeper train and took a cruise so these 2 topics are one and the same for most of the trip!
- Mini buses between sights and in Cairo - A driver was with us from Aswan to Luxor and all the sites in between. It was a great set up, we walk out of train/shop/temple and the driver was there waiting. There was only 4 in our group so 8 seater mini bus gave plenty of space. Very comfortable, good set up, with curtains but also tinted windows in the center so you could always have a good view. Driver was excellent, very safe!
- Sleeper Train: I opted for this in the end out of choice as I wanted to experience it! Yes, it was pretty dirty, it was small, the food was…..not great
. There were ‘drop style’ seated toilets at the end of each carriage, the flushes did not work (we were pre-warned), so limited use. Despite all of this (and considering my only other experience of sleeper trains was in India!), I loved it 
. It was just what I was after, much better than taking yet another flight. Beds were not too bad, I actually slept very well. Loved looking out the window in the morning for a few hours seeing life along the Nile - felt authentic and I would do it again!
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Cruise Ship - Ramadis II: I think this was one of the older ships. As per all accommodations in Egypt the ‘star rating’ is not be the same level you would expect in ‘western’ norms. I would list it is a good 3 star/older 4 star rather than 5 - but it was still really good. The beds were very comfortable, it was clean, the deck was a nice place to hang out and really not too busy. Dining room had great panoramic windows for views over the Nile. If you wanted wi-fi you had to pay. They had a laundry service which we used. Staff were super friendly.
I thought it was a great way to travel down the Nile - relaxing on the deck while cruising was really a highlight for me! We always docked closest to shore so very easy to get on/off. As all cruise ships follow the same route and stops, some sites along the river, Kom Ombo for example, can be busy as passengers from all ships visit at the same time. If you were to go to these sites by road, you could probably visit and have them all to yourself, but you would miss the best way to travel! So despite this, a cruise is the way to go im my opinion!
Guide:
- Our guide Mina M really made the tip for us, honestly. While the itinerary was spectacular, it was really learning about them through Mina that made them come to life.Egyptian guides study hard, and Mina’s depth of knowledge was extremely impressive Mina, and also such a great kind generous guy. You can tell his passion is Ancient Egypt, and he loves what he does. Not only this, but he made everything run like clockwork, made every aspect easy for us. If you tried to do the same itinerary independently, you’d easily need twice the time. Mina had tickets, pickups, and all the different transport modes organised seamlessly, which completely removed what would otherwise have been stressful.
Overall Recommendation:
- This is a great tour to visit the must see sites. It’s quite fast paced and a little tiring (especially if you have the early starts for Abu Simbel and the hot air balloon), so make the most of the hours you have to relax, and plan a couple of day of down time at the end somewhere (I went to Dahab). Timeless Tours is an excellent operator, I definitely recommend them and hope you are lucky enough to get Mina M as your guide!
