Classic Lake Cruise
MS Eugenie Lake Nasser Cruise
A Belle Epoque styled vessel on Lake Nasser, calling at Kalabsha, Wadi El Seboua and Amada before arriving at Abu Simbel by…
Cruise category
Lake Nasser Cruises
Lake Nasser cruises sail the vast reservoir south of the Aswan High Dam, between Aswan and Abu Simbel. The route is quieter than the Nile, with fewer boats, desert shoreline, and access to Nubian temples that most Nile itineraries never reach, including Kalabsha, Wadi El Seboua, Amada, and Abu Simbel itself.
Lake Nasser is not the Nile, and that is the reason to go
These five ships — Eugenie, Kasr Ibrim, Nubian Sea, Prince Abbas and Tania — sail the reservoir south of the Aswan High Dam, between Aswan and Abu Simbel. Prices start between roughly $1,150 and $1,350 per person for 3 or 4 nights. There are five vessels on the entire lake, against more than a hundred on the Nile proper, and the difference in atmosphere follows directly from that number.
Classic Lake Cruise
Deluxe Lake Cruise
MS Kasr Ibrim Lake Nasser Cruise
Sister ship to the MS Eugenie, with panoramic-view cabins, a library, and the full Nubian temple circuit at small guest numbers.
Lake Cruise
MS Nubian Sea Lake Nasser Cruise
The value option on Lake Nasser: the complete temple circuit including Abu Simbel, on a considerably quieter route than the Nile itself.
Luxury Lake Cruise
MS Prince Abbas Lake Nasser Cruise
One of the larger and better-appointed lake vessels, with panoramic-window cabins and suites and the complete Nubian temple itinerary.
Lake Cruise
MS Tania Lake Nasser Cruise
The northbound option on Lake Nasser, starting at Abu Simbel and sailing to Aswan via Amada and Wadi El Seboua.
The temples you cannot see any other way
When the High Dam flooded Nubia in the 1960s, a UNESCO campaign cut several temples free and moved them to higher ground along the new shoreline. A Lake Nasser cruise is the only practical way to visit them:
- Kalabsha — the largest free-standing Nubian temple, relocated near the dam.
- Wadi El Seboua — the avenue of sphinxes, moved four kilometres from its original site.
- Amada — the oldest surviving temple on the lake, shifted intact on rails.
- Abu Simbel — approached from the water at dawn, rather than after a 3am coach convoy from Aswan.
How it compares to a Nile cruise
The shoreline is desert rather than farmland, so you see almost no villages, no farming and very few other boats. Guests who want the living Egypt of riverbank life should sail the Nile. Guests who want emptiness, archaeology and silence should come here.
Most travellers do both: a 4-night Nile cruise then a 3-night lake sailing, joined at Aswan. Ask us to price the pair together — it is usually cheaper than booking them separately.