MV Agatha 5S

a truly hypnotic and magical experience

Nour el Nil is a local family-run company, based in Luxor, which operates a fleet of several traditional boats, which are amongst the best on the river. Critically, they attract guests who are in search of authenticity, which makes them a superb match for our safari guests.

MV Agatha is one of the higher specification boats in the fleet, with ten slightly larger and more comfortable cabins, including a pair of gorgeous Panoramic Suites at the rear.

The open upper deck serves as the main public space, with a flexible layout of lounging and dining areas. Below decks, there is a lovely salon to retreat to during the best of the day.

The boat is crewed by a team of around a dozen, all of whom are lovely, with very much a family vibe.

It is hard to overstate how relaxing this cruise is in reality. After just a couple of hours on board, the worries of the world have drifted away. Soon enough, most guests have got to know each other and are drifting in and out of easy conversation. This really is travel on another level, really very special.

However, the last night mooring in Aswan is not very pleasant, being alongside a busy main road. This is due to an unfortunate government regulation, which the operators cannot get around. We therefore often recommend cutting the trip to four nights and getting off at Kom Ombo, to drive the remaining 50 km (30 miles) into Aswan, even if it does mean paying for the unused night.

There are two types of boats that operate multiple day trips on the River Nile, between Luxor and Aswan.

The larger cruise ships typically have 3 or 4 decks and 50-100 cabins. These are generally very touristy and, we feel, are to be avoided, unless low price is your prime consideration.

The smaller boats, known as dahabiyas, generally have two decks and 6-12 cabins. Critically, these boats are allowed to moor at more remote locations, which assists greatly in traffic avoidance and makes an enormous difference to the tonality of the trip.

There’s around 200 of these dahabiyas on the river, the best of which are more traditional in design and actually sail unassisted for considerable distances. All of them are attended to by tug boats, which tow them when the wind is not suitable for sailing.

Seasonality

Luxor experiences a conventional northern hemisphere climate, with a pleasantly warm dry winter Nov-Mar and an uncomfortably hot dry summer centred on May-Sep.

During the Nov-Mar winter season the daytime temperatures typically reach a balmy 25C, with night-time temperatures plunging to a chilly 8C. These warm (rather than hot) conditions have led to winter being the most popular time to visit, meaning that visitor numbers reach their peak, especially around Dec-Jan. We therefore recommend November to mid-December and mid-January to March (excluding a week either side of Easter), although even then you probably need to deploy traffic avoidance measures when visiting the key sites.

The month of April represents a transition between winter and summer conditions and, in many ways, offers the best of both worlds, with visitor traffic also being relatively low (except for a week either side of Easter).

During the May-Sep summer season the daytime temperatures typically reach 41C, with nighttime temperatures holding up around 23C. These conditions are generally considered to be too hot and visitor numbers are much reduced.

The month of October represents a transition between summer and winter conditions and, in many ways, offers the best of both worlds, with visitor traffic also being relatively low.

Most trips spend 12-16 nights exploring the Nile Valley in a north to south direction. Luxor usually comes second, after the pyramids in Cairo and before a boat trip down to Aswan.

Getting there

Luxor is usually the second stop on an Egypt trip, after Cairo.

Most guests stay 3-4 nights at a hotel in the Luxor area, before driving south to Edfu to join a boat for the four to five night cruise south to Aswan.

a world away from the mass-market boat cruises