Unless you take the nonstop Egyptair flight from New York to Cairo, you will likely arrive in Egypt in the late afternoon or early evening. Have your travel advisor or concierge arrange for “Meet & Assist” service to smooth your arrival. The airport hurdles aren’t difficult to clear on one’s own — buying a visa and passing through immigration and customs is straightforward — but the service is inexpensive and reassuring to have. As of this writing, travelers are required to be fully vaccinated or show a recent negative PCR test to enter Egypt.

Transfer to your hotel. I recommend staying first in the Four Seasons Cairo at Nile Plaza, which has panoramic Nile views, highly professional service and a number of fine restaurants.

The metropolitan area of Cairo encompasses some 20 million people, and the traffic can be both slow and chaotic. Hiring a driver and guide is a necessity. The Andrew Harper Travel Office can make the arrangements.

On this first day, learn more about Cairo’s early history, visiting the remains of the Roman-era Babylon Fortress, the atmospheric Hanging Church (built atop Roman bastions) and the Church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus, constructed over the little cavern where the Holy Family is said to have sheltered while hiding from Herod. The nearby Ben Ezra Synagogue is currently closed for restoration, but if it’s open, it also is worth a visit. (For centuries, Cairo had a thriving Jewish community, but President Nasser made its continued existence impossible.) This synagogue was home to the Cairo Geniza, in which a huge and priceless trove of medieval documents was discovered.

Continue on to the Citadel, a fortress crowning a hill with commanding views of Cairo. Its jewel is the Mosque of Muhammad Ali, enhanced by silver domes and graceful minarets. But Cairo’s oldest mosque is downhill: the exquisite ninth-century Mosque of Ibn Tulun.

Head north to finish in the atmospheric Khan el-Khalili bazaar. The first couple of blocks west of the Mosque of Al-Hussain are a real gantlet, with shopkeepers calling out for passersby to inspect their selections of tourist tat. Starting at the Naguib Mahfouz Café, a fine place to stop for refreshment, the bazaar becomes less aggressive. Exploring to its west and south is more of a pleasure. But if you’ve already bargained in the souks of Marrakech or Fes, Khan el-Khalili might seem disappointing; consider skipping it altogether.

Return to the Four Seasons Cairo at Nile Plaza to relax for a couple of hours before dinner.

Head west across the Nile to Giza, home to the iconic pyramids and the Sphinx. Spend several hours exploring the complex with your guide.

If the new Grand Egyptian Museum has not yet opened, return to Cairo to see the historic Egyptian Museum on Tahrir Square, where, as of this writing, many of the treasures of Tutankhamen are still on display.

Relax on the pool terrace of the Four Seasons or enjoy a well-earned spa treatment.

Take a late-morning or early afternoon flight from Cairo to Aswan. Transfer to the Sofitel Legend Old Cataract, one of the world’s great historic hotels. Its view of Elephantine Island, the neighboring archipelago and the west bank of the Nile, is stupendous. Ideally, reserve a Nile-view suite in the original palace wing.

Spend the rest of the afternoon enjoying the grounds, the splendid infinity pool and the sunset-view terrace.

Visit sites in Aswan that you won’t see as part of your incipient cruise. The Travel Office or the Sofitel’s concierge can arrange for a private motorboat and guide to take you across the river to the Tombs of the Nobles, some of which date as far back as the Old Kingdom (circa 2700 to 2200 B.C.). Their interiors retain sections of original decoration, and the path among their entrances offers panoramic views.

Continue upriver to the seventh-century Monastery of St. Simeon. Your guide can arrange for you to ride camels to reach the ruins, which are about a mile uphill from the Nile in the rocky sands of the Sahara (it’s also possible just to walk). Explore the mud-walled monastery, including the ruins of a frescoed church and cells where Muslim guests and monks en route to Mecca slept.

Enjoy the afternoon back at the Old Cataract, perhaps booking a traditional hammam treatment in the spa. Alternatively, walk into central Aswan to stroll its souk, stopping first in the atmospheric Hanafi Bazaar, a wonderfully dusty little shop just off the corniche that looks to be made of mud. Keep going along the river and bear right to reach the souk, a far lower-key affair than the Khan el-Khalili bazaar.

Make an excursion to Abu Simbel in the far south of Egypt. I’ve always taken the 40-minute flight from Aswan to reach it, but this time, since our flight was canceled, we arranged for a van and driver. Although it took three hours one way, I preferred traveling by road and avoiding the hassles of the airport. We were also able to take all the time we wanted at Abu Simbel without having to worry about missing our flight back.

Abu Simbel, home to two magnificent temples hewn from mountains, merits the effort required to reach it. The Great Temple of Ramses II is iconic, and seeing it is all the more astonishing knowing that it was cut to pieces and moved uphill to save it from the rising waters of Lake Nasser.

Return to Aswan after exploring the temples.

I’ve sailed with the Oberoi Zahra and, most recently, the Sanctuary Sun Boat IV, both of which I enjoyed immensely. But there are other appealing options, such as Uniworld’s SS Sphinx, which offers 12-day itineraries, including time in Cairo, and the intimate dahabiyas (a smaller vessel with sails) of Nour El Nil. Of these, the 12-cabin Adelaïde is the newest and plushest. The Travel Office can help select the vessel that best suits you.

They all follow similar itineraries between Aswan and Luxor, with some variations. This itinerary follows that of the Sanctuary Sun Boat IV, but for those seeking a more intimate and luxurious experience, the Arax offers a pioneering charter on the Nile, embodying Kazazian Cruise’s core values of privacy, peace, and unparalleled service.

After lunch aboard the Sun Boat IV, sail with a felucca around Elephantine Island. Your guide may also suggest visiting a touristy essential oil factory showroom and/or a spice shop. I found both experiences to last far too long. If you end up feeling the same, don’t hesitate to take a taxi back to the ship, moored a little ways outside of town. Taxi fare won’t be much more than 200 or 250 Egyptian pounds ($10-$14). Before departing, verify the rate and that it’s for your entire party.

Visit the romantic island Temple of Philae, located just south of Aswan, and return to the ship for lunch. Cruise north to Kom Ombo, to see its unusual double temple dedicated to Sobek, the crocodile god, and to Haroeris, Horus the Elder. (The set of mummified crocodiles in the museum here is quite the sight.)

Visit the unusually well-preserved Temple of Horus at Edfu, which has a roofed hypostyle hall and intact chapels surrounding its sacred inner sanctuary.

Continue north to Esna to see the Temple of Khnum. Only its hypostyle hall has been excavated, but its state preservation is also striking. The interior retains much of its original coloration, allowing one to see what temples looked like in ancient times.

Today is quite full, with visits to brilliantly painted tombs in the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens, the surprisingly contemporary-looking Memorial Temple of Hatshepsut and the temples of Luxor and Karnak. The latter is one of the largest ancient temple complexes in the world, with a stunningly monumental forest of columns in its hypostyle hall.

The previous day’s itinerary is by necessity rushed; if you have more time, arrange for a private guide after you disembark the ship. See the Valley of the Kings, the Valley of the Queens and the Memorial Temple of Hatshepsut on Day 10, and save the temples of Luxor and Karnak for today. You can either take a later flight out of Luxor, or overnight at the Sofitel Winter Palace. This historic hotel is atmospheric and has wonderful Nile views, but it needs renovation and is not up to Harper standards. Nevertheless, for one night, it’s sufficiently comfortable and the best available option.

If you don’t spend the night in Luxor, take an early evening flight to Cairo and transfer to The St. Regis Cairo. Most of the accommodations in this hotel have more-restricted Nile views than those at the Four Seasons, but The St. Regis has a much more stylish décor and more of a sense of place. The service here is highly attentive.

Make a full-day excursion south of town to see Dahshur, home to the Bent Pyramid, which still retains much of its original limestone facing, and the Red Pyramid, the first true pyramid constructed by the Egyptians. They stand rather lonely in the desert, with far fewer visitors than their more famous counterparts in Giza.

A short drive away are the monuments of Saqqara, notably the Step Pyramid of Zoser, the oldest freestanding stone building in the world. Explore the tombs and temples surrounding it. And don’t miss the Serapeum, another UNESCO World Heritage site. This complex of hand-hewn caverns was used to entomb representations of the Apis, the incarnation of Ptah in bull form. Inside are 24 mind-bogglingly massive granite sarcophagi, some of which are estimated to weigh 70 to 80 tons. Standing beside one of them, the top of my head didn’t even reach the underside of the lid. The smoothness of the sarcophagi’s surfaces, the sharpness of their corners and their sheer size stand as yet another testament to the stone carving (and stone moving) prowess of the ancient Egyptians.

Return to The St. Regis and perhaps have an aperitif in its muraled bar.