Brimming with epic World Heritage Sites and rife with pharaonic treasures, the Nile River wends through virtually every page of Egypt's history. Modern Egypt is found in Cairo, a calamitous city that includes the antiquities-choked Egyptian Museum, the stalls of the sprawling Khan al-Khalili Market and, of course, the Pyramids of Giza.  

Rising on the outskirts of Cairo, the Pyramids of Giza represent the only member of the fabled Seven Wonders of the Ancient World still standing today. Having survived 4,600 years of human history, the three pyramids are actually colossal mausoleums for pharaohs, designed to remind the people of their divine relationship with the gods. Crouching just downhill from the pyramids is the enigmatic, crumbling Great Sphinx.  

Next to the Pyramids of Giza, touts with camels smile sweetly and offer to take your photo atop the humped beasts. But beware: Once you climb up, you've all but signed up for an extended tour of the area by camelback.  

Uniting many of Egypt's finest sights, the Nile River represents a time-honored passage through Egypt's veins, and a cruise is the best way to become immersed in the stories and antiquities of pharaohs. Alternately, embark on a sunset cruise aboard a felucca—the traditional single-sail boats of Egypt—for a quixotic way to close out the day.  

Couples represent a big portion of the clientele for the more than 250 cruise boats plying the Nile between the cities of Aswan and Luxor. The floating hotels lay on varying levels of creature comforts, but private bathrooms, a rooftop sun deck and pool, disco, air conditioning, and TVs are the norm. With its period veneer and decadent meals, Abercrombie & Kent's 18-cabin Sun Boat III is among the most luxurious.  

Although modern Egypt is more than twice the size of California, more than 94 percent of it is arid desert. The country's lifeblood is the Nile—the source of its water, its food, its commerce—and life along the river is a languid diversion on a Nile cruise.  

The statue of Ramses II greets visitors to the temples of Karnak, near Luxor on the Nile's east bank. Built by a succession of 30 pharaohs, Karnak is both Egypt's most important place of worship and one of the world's great open-air museums.  

The temple of King Ramses II at Abu Simbel is remarkable, and not just for its 65-foot-high statues of Ramses II and inner corridors adorned with some of Egypt's most spectacular paintings. When Aswan Dam construction was projected to cause the flooding of Abu Simbel in 1968, the temple was relocated 700 feet uphill from the Nile, a phenomenal, four-year engineering fete that involved precise positioning.  

Just behind the original Aswan dam, where Egypt segues gracefully into Nubia, Philae is renowned for the Temple of Isis. Long one of Egypt's most romantic attractions, the ruins were partially flooded when the original dam was completed. But in the 1960s the complex was painstakingly relocated by UNESCO, stone by stone, to higher ground on nearby Agilkia Island.  

High-end tour operators that cater to couples often schedule live musicians to welcome guests to hotels and cruises.  

The starting or ending point for many Nile River cruises, Aswan—Egypt's southernmost city—is the gateway to Nubia. Stop for a sunset cocktail or tea at the magical Old Cataract Hotel. With a guest-list history ranging from Sir Winston Churchill to Agatha Christie, the enviable location offers quixotic views of feluccas sailing past Elephantine Island.