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AOur ship is slow to pass through the locks at Esna, 35 miles south luxorPirates attack. An organized squad of bearded men wearing long Egyptian turbans Galabias, They Line up their wooden canoes alongside the ship and tie them down with ropes. But these are the so-called “pirates” Indigo“They’re not armed with cutlasses or blindfolded, they’re salesmen laden with towels and tablecloths. “Hello! Egyptian cotton!” They scream, as we watch from the top deck.
They flaunt their stuff with the aim of rivaling any Test cricketer, and we catch them and examine them, throw the stuff back or keep some and drop the money in return. It’s a chaotic and spectacular window into local life – much of the story. egypt Like the tombs and temples I have come to see.
I am exploring Indigo Viking’s 12-day Pharaohs and Pyramids tour, starting at cairo before traveling 170 miles south from Luxor to Aswan and back again. Along the way I’ll check out iconic sites like Karnak, the Valley of the Kings and Philae. It’s been a classic route since the time of the Pharaohs, but in 2025 it’s evolving, and I’m one of the first people to experience how new infrastructure – and Viking’s expertise – are elevating this age-old journey.
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Our guide on the adventure is Suzy Atalla, a no-nonsense Egyptologist with a mind full of facts and the demeanor of a schoolgirl: affectionate but firm. He is adept at shepherding groups of temperamental tourists who won’t listen, constantly rolling their eyes and jokingly threatening to ban those who misbehave. “Yalla Bina! Let’s go!” She cries while smiling, and I often hear “Where has Bella gone now?” As I turn around I put in my wireless earpiece to take another picture.
Suzy expertly takes us around the pyramids at Saqqara and Giza (“If you say they were built by aliens, you can get off the bus”) – but since my last visit in 2023, Giza has undergone $51 million of improvements. A new visitor center opened in May with shops, cafes and a hop-on-hop-off shuttle bus. Private vehicles and buses are now mostly banned – unless you’re with Viking, who have privileged access, meaning we got to skip the queues. The hawkers and camel brokers are now confined to one area, allowing us to explore the monuments in peace – a relief after my last visit when I couldn’t walk 10 meters without someone trying to put me on a camel.
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During my visit in the summer, changes were also underway at the Egyptian Museum. Faded and crumbling, yellow glass boxes filled with more than 170,000 artifacts are still described on typed library cards, this historic building remains virtually unchanged since Howard Carter brought Tutankhamun’s treasures here in the early 1930s. We marvel at the Boy King’s famous gold death masks and gilded coffins – but we’re among the last to do so here. They will be transported with great fanfare to take pride of place in the brand new Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM).
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This £1 billion temple decorated with pyramids and hieroglyphs egyptIts ancient past partially opened in late 2024 after two decades of construction. As I walk past the 3,200-year-old, 11-metre-high statue of Ramesses II in its vast, cathedral-like atrium, it’s clear it was worth the wait. The major attractions – two galleries of Tutankhamun’s treasures, many of which are on public display for the first time – were not ready on my visit, but they were to be unveiled as part of the GEM’s official launch, which took place on 1 November 2025. However there is still much to admire: statues of kings and priests, exquisite carvings, and cases full of jewelery and household items, 3000-year-old souvenirs of daily life that you can’t see when you visit the temples.
Of course, these have their own magic, as we discover when we fly to Luxor to board the Viking Aten – a Scandi-chic floating hotel with 41 beautiful staterooms, most of which have private verandas. The next eight days are a conveyor belt of Egypt’s greatest hits: getting lost in the forest of 134 columns at Karnak, flying over the Valley of the Kings in a hot air balloon at sunrise, tasting Egyptian dishes like braised perch with okra or flour fritters with orange blossom – or simply relaxing on the deck overlooking the river. “I had no idea Egypt would be so lush,” marvels Beverly, from the United States, as we pass palm trees, grazing water buffalo, and lush reed beds where herons stand as motionless as their bird ancestors, carving temple walls.
most blue Cruising Travel only south from Luxor, but Viking takes us on a special detour to the temple of Hathor, goddess of love and music, 40 miles north of Dendera. Its beautifully restored blue ceiling, decorated with figures of gods and the signs of the zodiac, is one of the most astonishing artefacts in all of Egyptology.
There are more artistic surprises in the Valley of the Kings, where our tour included the big-ticket tombs of Seti I and, of course, Tutankhamun. Widely considered the most beautiful of all, the Sette is an underground Sistine Chapel, every surface painted with intricate colors that still shine after 3,300 years. In Tut’s tomb we are among the last people to see his mummy lying in a glass case before it too begins its journey towards the GEM.
But it’s not all about ancient Egypt: we also explore modern life. In Aswan, we visit the High Dam, an engineering masterpiece built to control the annual flooding of the Nile River; We admire the colorful artworks on the walls of a Nubian village, and visit a school supported by the Vikings. Under Suzy’s expert guidance we learn to bargain for beaded jewelery and carved alabaster bowls in the markets: “If I say it’s a good price, don’t buy it,” she warns. “But if I say Very If the price is good, you can buy.” And on the way back to Luxor we again passed through the Esna Lock, where pirates were waiting for us. This time, we are ready.
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how to do it
Viking’s 12-day/11-night Pharaohs and Pyramids cruise-tour includes return flights from selected UK airports, return internal flights from Cairo to Luxor, ground transfers in Egypt, four nights in a first-class Cairo hotel, eight days on board in a standard stateroom, all-board meals including wine, beer and soft drinks with lunch and dinner, excursions and visits to UNESCO sites, complimentary WiFi, onboard gratuity and included. Evening entertainment and enrichment talks. Guests are accompanied throughout by Viking’s expert Egyptologists. Based on current availability, prices start from £5,495 for a summer 2027 sailing.
Bella Falk was hosted by Viking Cruises.