Beach Extension
Egypt Tour Packages
Nile Cruise and Sharm El Sheikh Beach Extension
Eight days of history first, then Red Sea coral and resort beach time, including the reef at Ras Mohammed.
Cruise route
Nile Cruise and Red Sea
Nile cruise and Red Sea packages combine ancient Egypt sightseeing with beach time in Hurghada, Marsa Alam, or Sharm El Sheikh after the cruise.
Nile cruise and Red Sea: temples first, then stop moving
Two packages here, 8 to 12 days, from about $890 to $1,090 per person. The logic is straightforward: a Nile cruise is an early-start, high-mileage week, and the Red Sea is four hours from Luxor by road. Ending on a beach is a genuinely good idea, and the order matters — almost nobody enjoys doing it the other way round.
Beach Extension
Cruise + Beach
Egypt Tour Packages
Nile Cruise and Red Sea Holiday
A balanced Egypt holiday combining the cultural Nile cruise route with Red Sea beach time in Hurghada, Marsa Alam, or Sharm El…
Choosing the resort
- Hurghada — closest to Luxor at roughly 4 hours by road, the easiest join, widest hotel choice.
- Marsa Alam — further south, quieter, the best reef access and the most likely place to snorkel with turtles and dugongs.
- Sharm El Sheikh — requires an internal flight from Luxor or Cairo, but Ras Mohammed and the Straits of Tiran are the finest diving in Egypt.
Practical points
Build in a full day between disembarking and any flight home — diving in particular requires a no-fly interval, usually 18 to 24 hours after your last dive. Check whether the resort transfer is a private car or a shared shuttle, since the shuttle can add three hours. And confirm the hotel board basis: Red Sea resorts are commonly all-inclusive, which changes the real cost comparison considerably.
Already booked a Red Sea hotel?
If your beach stay is fixed and you want to add the Nile afterwards rather than before, that is a different planning problem. Our Nile cruise from Hurghada guide covers the transfer options and how to slot Luxor and Aswan around an existing resort booking.