Above: View of feluccas sailing from our Palace Cataract Suite balcony, Sofitel Legend Old Cataract, Aswan - ANDREW HARPER EDITOR

In addition to pioneering riverboat tourism on the Nile, Thomas Cook built two remarkable hotels on its banks around the turn of the 20th century: the Winter Palace in Luxor and the Cataract (now called the Old Cataract) in Aswan. Wealthy Europeans would escape the cold and spend weeks at a time there. As a 1911 travelogue about Egypt put it, “The soft air and golden light of the Egyptian winter make everything seem like a dream.”

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Above: View of feluccas sailing from our Palace Cataract Suite balcony, Sofitel Legend Old Cataract, Aswan - ANDREW HARPER EDITOR

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Cairo and Its Luxury Hotels Cruising the Nile From Luxor to Aswan Cairo’s Leading Grand Hotels: A Comparison Sightseeing in Cairo A Nile Cruise Aboard Sanctuary Sun Boat IV  Three Major New Attractions in Egypt Cairo Airport Strategies