Why a Nile cruise is one of the best things you’ll ever do

Looking at the news right now — the ongoing tragedy in Gaza, turmoil in Syria — you could be forgiven for thinking the Middle East is somewhere to avoid.

Yet while there are parts of the region that you definitely shouldn’t venture to, Egypt is not one of them. Particularly if you’re heading to the corridor of the River Nile. I’ve been twice in the past year and eagerly await my next visit to this marvel-inducing part of the world.

After being enthralled by Cairo (and the pyramids of Giza) in 2023, I headed back to Egypt for a week-long round-trip Nile cruise from Luxor.

It’s a trip I’d dreamed about for years and while I relax on the pool deck of our ship as we float along the legendary river beneath a radiant blue sky, it’s a life-affirming thrill to be here. It’s not just the incredible waterfront temples and lavish hieroglyph-festooned tombs that take the breath away, it’s the scenery in general - the sun-splashed banks and islands of the Nile looking as fecund and green as riverscapes I’ve seen in tropical countries like Laos and Thailand.

You’ll regularly spot oxen, donkeys and farmers at work and birdlife such as herons and egrets. What makes the lushness even more remarkable is the fact that it barely ever rains here and that the yellow-brown hues of the parched, rugged desert loom within eyeshot on either side of the river. It’s no wonder Egyptians have worshipped the Nile — source of water and life — for millennia.

Foreign visitors have long been enchanted too. Tourism here is a relatively old phenomenon, starting in ancient Greek and Roman times although it properly began to flourish in the mid 19th century, thanks in part to tour companies like Thomas Cook, which launched steamers along the Nile. Passengers included a certain Agatha Christie.

It hasn’t been plain sailing for the industry in the intervening decades. Wars, pandemics, terrorism and other tragedies have all taken their toll on visitor numbers, but Egypt is experiencing a veritable golden era of tourism right now.

In 2023, the country welcomed 14.9 million inbound visitors — an annual record, beating the 14.7 million from 2010, the year before the Arab Spring and Egyptian Revolution sparked a sharp decline in tourists.

It’s hoped that the figure will top 15 million for 2024 (in the initial seven months of this year, 8 million came), while 2025 could be even better due to interest in the Grand Egyptian Museum, which, after a trial opening, is expected to fully open next to the pyramids of Giza in early 2025. It will showcase more than 100,000 treasures of ancient Egypt — including more than 5000 pieces from the Tutankhamun collection, and an enormous statue of the pharaoh Ramesses II.

That’s another excuse to add an extra day to your Cairo stay, but sooner or later you’ll be lured south to Luxor, where Nile cruises typically launch, heading upriver to Aswan and back. In peak season — November to April — more than 300 ships are sailing the river at any one time, including several new ones from Viking, an upscale operator that has such confidence in the region that its fleet here will be 10-strong by 2026.

Whoever you cruise with — and you could also journey on a deluxe dahabiya (a traditional two-masted wooden vessel) — soaking up the Nile scenery is bliss, especially after a morning or afternoon roaming the historic gems ashore. We feel safe off the ship.

There are military checkpoints on roads leading to key attractions in Luxor, Edfu, Kom Ombo, Aswan and Abu Simbel. The sites themselves are well-policed with airport-like security machines at the entrances. While touts and hawkers are keen to sell you gifts and keepsakes in the lanes and bazaars outside the sites, they’re by and large respectful and will leave you be if you’re not interested in their wares.

Millions of Egyptians are reliant on tourism — the industry generates around 15 per cent of the national GDP — but there’s a widespread awareness to the fragility of it. Particularly now, with the Egyptian pound so weak (it was 30 EGP to a US dollar a year ago, now it’s 50 EGP).

I speak to Mohamed, from Cairo. He’s one of the on-board Egyptologists on our cruise, a real storyteller, brimming with knowledge, fluent in Arabic, French and English. He has guided across Egypt for the past 30 years and he’s seen how fortunes can change. After being hit hard by the effects of the revolution and COVID, Mohamed feared the worst when the latest Israel-Gaza war began in 2023.

But tourists have continued to visit Egypt. “What is happening there is terrible. But it’s another country and it is almost 1000km away from here,” he says, as I glance through the windows and spy feluccas (masted sailboats) leisurely floating past us on the river at Aswan. I’m glad I didn’t stay away. Egypt is one of the most fascinating countries I’ve ever been to — and a Nile cruise is one of the best things I’ve ever done.

fact file

+ The best time to cruise the River Nile is from November to April, when daytime temperatures average between 25-30C. For more information on visiting Egypt, and Nile cruises, see experienceegypt.eg

+ Steve did a seven night Luxor-Luxor cruise with CroisiEurope, a French operator that caters for French and English-speaking passengers. Fares are available from around $2500 per person. Itineraries are also offered with a pre-cruise stay in Cairo. croisicruises.com

+ Emirates flies from Perth to Cairo via Dubai while Air Egypt connects Cairo and Luxor.