HIGHLIGHTS
- Easy paced travel; with internal flights in Egypt to reduce long road travel time
- A four night Nile River cruise on a deluxe river cruise boat
- Visit Luxor temple, one of Egypt’s most renowned
- Karnak Temple, Luxor
- The Valley of the Kings;
- Visit Edfou temple
- Kom Ombo temple
- The High Dam and visit the Temple of Isis at Philaea
- A relaxing felucca boat ride for sunset on The Nile
- The spectacular Abu Simbel Temple, including return air travel from Aswan
- Visit Memphis, the ancient capital of the Old Kingdom of Egypt
- The Great Pyramids of Giza, and The Sphinx
- The Egyptian Museum in Cairo
- Cairo discoveries include a visit to The Citadel of Cairo and Khan Khalili market
- A final farewell dinner will be the perfect celebration of your Egyptian discovery
PRE TOUR STAY
Consider arriving a day before the tour starts or staying on after the tour ends. You can relax and refresh after your flight. Also provides a buffer in case of unexpected flight delays. The cost of the additional night/s of stay applies. Ask our travel team about this option, and the additional costs.
NEED TO KNOW
It is a small group private tour for land touring inclusions, however the cruise is not a private charter. We have cabins on a deluxe Nile River cruise boat that is shared with other tourists. Cruising is at a slow pace and inclusions sight seeing with off shore excursions facilitated by the cruise boat and our group guide.
DAY 1
Arrive Cairo
Upon arrival at Cairo Airport, you will be met by our local representative who will assist you through the airport including customs formalities. From the airport, you are escorted to our group hotel. The day is at leisure. Afterwards you may like to join with others in your group for dinner (by your own arrangement) at the hotel or retire for an early night after your travels.
Meals: not included
FREE TIME EXTRAS:
For travellers with a pre tour stay there is the option to include a visit to this afternoon to the Civilization Museum with transfers, a guided tour and entry included.
Minimum numbers: 2 travellers for this to be offered.
DAY 2
Cairo to Luxor
Breakfast at our hotel, then check out and meet with your group tour guide at the hotel lobby. We then transfer to the airport for the flight from Cairo to Luxor.
This afternoon in Luxor, an impressive start to your Egyptian discoveries with a visit to Luxor Temple. One of Egypt’s most renowned, this temple complex is located on the east bank of the Nile River. Luxor temple is dedicated to the rejuvenation of kingship; it may have been where many of the pharaohs of Egypt were crowned in reality or conceptually (as in the case of Alexander the Great, who claimed he was crowned at Luxor but may never have traveled south of Memphis, near modern Cairo).
Tonight, join together for a group welcome dinner with your group tour guide.
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
DAY 3
Karnak Temple, Luxor
Karnak Temple, aptly called Ipet-Sut “The Most Select of Places” by the ancient Egyptians, it was the most important temple in Thebes (modern Luxor), in Upper Egypt. This temple complex consists not only of temples but chapels, and other buildings, part of the ancient village. After morning, we transfer to Nile cruise for our next four nights. We start with lunch on board and our cruise starts as we make our way south.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
FREE TIME EXTRAS:
Option to see the Sound and Light Show tonight at Karnak Temple
DAY 4
Visit the West Bank. Valley of the Kings
Breakfast on board, then we are picked up to visit the Valley of the Kings; the site of a royal burial ground.
Visit the celebrated temple of Hatshepsut (c.1473–1458 BC). The queen who became Pharaoh, is located here. Made up of three man-made terraces that gradually rise up toward the sheer cliff face, this structure is truly a sight to behold. The site of Deir al-Bahari was sacred to to Hathor, the goddess who nursed and reared every king, including their mythological ancestor, the god Horus, in Egypt’s primordial past. On your visit today, entry to the tomb of Tutankhamun is included.
In Luxor, the trade or carving from Alabaster is renowned and one of the reasons that alabaster is prized is due to its marked translucence. Todayn we make a stop at a local factory and store to see the process and the option to browse the shop.
Lunch is on board today while we cruise to Esna and pass the Lock, to continue to Edfou. Dinner and overnight on board
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
DAY 5
Visit Edfou temple and Kom Ombo temple
Breakfast on board, then disembark the Nile River cruise boat and transfer by horse and carriage to visit one of the best preserved shrines in Egypt. Edfou Temple was built in the Ptolemaic Kingdom between 237 and 57 BC. The inscriptions on its walls provide important information on language, myth and religion during the Hellenistic period in Egypt.
Lunch on board today as we cruise to Kom Ombo. Kom Ombo Temple is unique because its 'double' design meant that there were courts, halls, sanctuaries and rooms duplicated for two sets of gods. The temple is atypical because everything is perfectly symmetrical along the main axis.
At the end of our day we return to our cruise boat and sail onto Aswan with onboard.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
DAY 6
Aswan
Breakfast on board, then we disembark for a visit of the High Dam and visit the Temple of Isis at Philae. The temple of Isis was one of the last ancient Egyptian temples to remain active, as it continued to function until the reign of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I (527–565 AD), who ordered the closure of all pagan temples and te temple was converted into a Christian church. After we transfer back to our cruise boat for lunch on board.
This afternoon, a relaxing felucca trip overlooking Aswan and enjoy sunset on The Nile before returning for our final night and dinner on board our river cruise boat.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
DAY 7
Visit Abu Simbel (by air)
Today the spectacular Abu Simbel Temple. We avoid the long road travel between Aswan and Abu Simbel with a return flight. Today the spectacular Abu Simbel Temple. The Great Temple of Abu Simbel, in Nubia near Egypt’s southern border, is among the most awe-inspiring monuments of Egypt. It was cut into the living rock by King Ramesses II (the Great) of the Nineteenth Dynasty, around 1264 BC. The temple is best known for the four imposing seated colossal statues that dominate its façade. One of these collapsed because of an ancient earthquake, and its fragments can still be seen on the ground. After our visit we return to Aswan for an overnight stay.
Meals: Breakfast
SPECIAL NOTES:
The flight time is confirmed with travel documents but in anycase, the flight from Aswan to Abu Simbel airport is in the morning.
DAY 8
Aswan – Cairo
Today we take a flight from Aswan back to Cairo.
In Cairo we visit Khan Khalili market where you may like to pick up some souvenirs for your memories of Egypt, followed by lunch together at a local restaurant. In the afternoon we transfer to our hotel.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
SPECIAL NOTES:
The flight time is confirmed with travel documents but in any case, the flight from Aswan to Cairo is expected to be in the morning. Should morning flight times not be available the group lunch may be in Aswan before the flight to Cairo.
DAY 9
Visit Memphis – Sakkara – The Pyramids
After breakfast at the hotel set off on an amazing day ahead. Visit Memphis, the ancient capital of the Old Kingdom of Egypt. It is the home of a colossal Statue of Ramesses II and the Alabaster Sphinx. Continue to the “Cemetery City” of Sakkara and view the Step Pyramid of King Zoser, the oldest of all Pyramids.
We will have a lunch at a local restaurant and then visit the Great Pyramids of Giza; the only present-day survivor of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Nearby, take in the sight of the mystical Sphinx; the 20 metre high man-animal Sphinx, created as a “living image of the sun-god”, built to guard the entrance to the Pyramids. After a full day exploring, we’ve set aside the evening at leisure.
Today on tour we make a stop at a Papyrus store. Learn how to identify the real papyrus from a fake and of course the option to make a purchase of a keepsake from your visit to Egypt.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
DAY 10
Cairo
Our Cairo discovery includes a visit The Citadel of Cairo (or Citadel of Saladin). When in Cairo, it is basically impossible to miss the Citadal of Salahin; one of the world's greatest monuments to medieval warfare. Resembling a typical early medieval fortress, with large imposing gateways, towers and high defending walls, the Citadel is one of Cairo's main attractions and probably the most popular non-pharaonic monument in the Egyptian capital. The prominent fortress houses three mosques - of which the impressive Mohamed Ali Mosque - a carriage museum, a military museum. We will have a local lunch in Cairo and also time visiting Khan Khalili market where you may like to pick up some souvenirs for your memories of Egypt.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
DAY 11
Cairo Discoveries
This morning visit The Egyptian Museum in Cairo including a guided tour with an Egyptologist. The museum houses the largest collection of Pharaonic antiquities in the world. The museum displays an extensive collection spanning from the Predynastic Period to the Greco-Roman Era.. Lunch today at a local restaurant. Some time this afternoon at your leisure. Tonight, join together for a farewell dinner.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
SPECIAL NOTES:
We have 2.5 to 3 hours allocated for the museum visit. If you have a keen interest in this visit and wish to spend more time viewing artefacts liaise with your guide about options to stay on and make your own way back to the hotel.
DAY 12
Departure
Check out and transfer to Cairo international Airport for final departure taking home ancient stories of Egypt.
Meals: Breakfast
Itineraries may be subject to change, due to circumstances outside of our control. If there is any itinerary change prior to departure of significance we aim to inform you prior to travel. Itinerary changes while on tour will be informed by your tour leader/guide while on tour.
