DETAILS: Nile River Cruise

GETTING THERE: We bought our trip through Abercrombie & Kent Egypt ( http://www.akegypt.com/index.html), paying about $1,900 per person for an 11-day Egyptian tour, which included a five-night cruise on the dahabiyeh Lazuli for an additional $1,316 per person. The package included airfare from the United States to Cairo, all internal flights, transfers, and hotels in Cairo, Luxor and Aswan before and after the cruise. There are several companies operating dahabiyehs on the Nile, easy to find on the Web (search for "dahabiyeh" or "dahabiya"); we used Lazulinil ( http://www.lazulinil.com).

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GETTING AROUND: Dahabiyeh cruise operators offer five-, seven- or 10-night trips from Esna to Aswan. The Nile dictates the route, but if there is a place you want to stop that isn't on the itinerary, the crew is likely to be amenable, as long as you get to Aswan on time. Most of the sites along the way are within walking distance of the riverbank; for those that are not, the company will provide taxis.

WHERE TO STAY: You're there! The cabins on the Lazuli are compact, as befits a yacht, and each has a small bath. Four of the five cabins are doubles; one accommodates a family of three. You'll probably stay at least one night in Luxor before you start -- for a night of 19th-century elegance, try the Sofitel Winter Palace (Corniche el Nile Street, 011-20-952-380-422, http://www.sofitel.com; doubles from $250) -- and one night in Aswan at the end of the cruise. There, our choice was the Sofitel Old Cataract Aswan (Abtal El Tahrir Street, 011-20-97-231-6000, http://www.sofitel.com; doubles from $170) .

WHAT TO TAKE: Bring a range of clothing, from shorts and T-shirts to sweaters and fleeces. Temperatures can be warm enough to swim in the Nile -- a treat only one of us attempted (after checking with staff that pollution levels were safe) -- and cold enough to want to bundle up at night. There's a lot of wildlife ashore, so bring good binoculars.

RECOMMENDED READING: "The Yacoubian Building," by Alaa Al Aswany; anything by Nobel Prize winner Naguib Mahfouz; "The Blue Nile," by Alan Moorehead; "The Nile," by Robert O. Collins.

INFORMATION: Egyptian Tourist Authority, http://www.egypt.travel.

-- N.B.