9-Day Journey Through Egypt

Your facilitator will meet you at Cairo International Airport and assist with airport procedures and hotel transfer. Enjoy a private driver and air-conditioned ride to your hotel. You will check in to your five-star hotel and enjoy the evening at your leisure.

After breakfast, your driver and your guide will pick you up at your Cairo hotel and travel with you throughout your day.

Visit the Great Pyramids of Giza

Drive to Giza Necropolis to see the last remaining wonder of the seven wonders of the ancient world: the Great Pyramid. You will hear stories about the people and Pharaohs who built the pyramids over 4,500 years ago, and have the chance to explore these ancient structures with your expert Egyptologist guide. Optional additions at Giza include a camel ride or entry to the burial chamber inside the Great Pyramid.

See the Great Sphinx of Giza

The Great Sphinx of Giza has stood watch over the Great Pyramids for thousands of years. It is made from the limestone of Giza Plateau itself, and is one of the largest carved statues in the world.

Return to your hotel for dinner on your own. As an optional add-on, enjoy a Nile dinner cruise, or a sound and light show at the Pyramids.

After breakfast, your driver and your guide will pick you up at your Cairo hotel and travel with you throughout your day.

Visit the Saqqara Necropolis and the Step Pyramid of Djoser

Saqqara is home to the oldest stone building in history: the Step Pyramid of Djoser. Here you will learn about the architect-engineer Imhotep, later deified by ancient worshippers. You will have the chance to visit some of the most beautifully decorated Old Kingdom tombs and view the pyramid texts inscribed inside. This visit will give you insight into the tremendous skill of ancient craftsmen, and glimpses of daily and religious life thousands of years ago. 

Tour the Grand Egyptian Museum

Enjoy a guided visit of Egypt’s history with an expert eye at the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM), the largest museum ever made to focus on a single civilization - from pre-dynastic antiquity to the present. During your visit, you’ll see the grand treasure of King Tutankhamun, on display for the first time in its entirety since 1922, and come face to face with the gilded mask of a king.

Return to your hotel for overnight stay.

Your driver and guide will pick you up at your Cairo hotel and take you to the Cairo Airport. Your guide will assist with the airport transfers and travel to Aswan.

Visit Philae Temple Complex and sail on a traditional felucca Nile boat

Philae Temple was dedicated to goddess Isis, and was a site of worship for visitors from the 26th dynasty through the Ptolemaic periods. This beautifully-constructed temple was admired by many ancient writers including Seneca and Pliny the Elder.

Check in to your 5-star Nile Cruise and enjoy dinner onboard

Sail to Kom Ombo temple

The temple of Kom Ombo is dedicated to both Sobek, the crocodile god, and Horus the Elder. Next to Kom Ombo is the Crocodile Museum, which holds numerous mummified crocodiles brought as offerings to the temple.

Visit Edfu Temple

Edfu Temple is exquisitely preserved, thanks to having been buried for many years under the silt and mud from the Nile. It is dedicated to the god Horus and has beautiful friezes of the god’s journeys and relationship with his wife, Hathor.

Return to the ship for dinner and overnight stay

After breakfast, your driver and your guide will pick you up at your hotel and travel with you to the West Bank of Luxor

Visit Valley of the Kings

The Valley of the Kings, located on the west bank of Luxor, is the home to many royal tombs from the new kingdom. The discovery of the nearly-intact tomb of King Tutankhamun in 1922 completely transformed Egyptian archeology and led to the Valley of the Kings becoming one of the most famous archeological sites in the world. More than 65 known tombs are located in the Valley and have been cut directly into the rock. Many of these tombs are still adorned with beautiful carvings and paintings as befit their royal occupants. 

See the Colossi of Memnon

These two massive statues of Amenhotep III once stood before the king’s mortuary temple. In later years, Greek and Roman tourists visited the site and left numerous graffiti detailing their own story of the colossi.

Tour Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut

Hatshepsut is one of Egypt’s most well-known pharaohs, and one of the few female pharaohs that we know of. She ruled for more than twenty years in a period of notable prosperity and peace. Among her many significant architectural projects is the Temple of Hatshepsut, facing Luxor and the Temple of Karnak. 

Visit Karnak Temple

Karnak Temple is the largest religious complex ever constructed, with numerous temples, pylons, statues and obelisks added by generations of pharaohs. Beginning in the reign of Senusret I, the most powerful rulers of Egypt - including Ramses the Great, Hatshepsut, and Thutmose III - built additions to the temple complex, with construction continuing for nearly two thousand years through the Ptolemaic period. 

Luxor Temple and Avenue of the Sphinxes

Luxor Temple is the second significant temple of the East Bank of Luxor. It is faced by two massive seated statues of Ramses II (Ramses the Great), and four standing statues. Like Karnak Temple, additions to Luxor Temple were undertaken by many pharaohs, including Amenhotep III and his grandson Tutankhamun. 

In front of Luxor Temple, and stretching all the way to Karnak Temple, is the Avenue of the Sphinxes. This ancient road is lined with over a thousand sphinx and ram statues. 

Return to the ship for dinner and overnight stay

After breakfast, you will head to Luxor Airport to fly back to Cairo with your guide

Tour the Hanging Church

The Hanging Church (named due to its unique architectural feature of ‘hanging’ above a Roman tower that makes up the foundations of the church) is one of Cairo’s oldest churches. 

Visit the Citadel of Salah ad-Din

Spend time getting acquainted with the vibrant city of Cairo, and learn more about the history of Africa’s largest city. You will explore the medieval Citadel of Salah ad-Din, built in the 12th century to overlook the city and defend the city from incoming Crusaders. This striking complex is now a UNESCO world heritage site.

See the Mosque of Muhammad Ali 

Visit the Mosque of Muhammad Ali, or the ‘Alabaster Mosque’, built in the Ottoman style by the influential Egyptian ruler Muhammad Ali Pasha in 1832 with sweeping views over Cairo.

Return to your hotel in Cairo for overnight stay

Hotel pick up in private car

Your car and guide will pick you up at your Cairo hotel for the 3-hour drive to Alexandria.

Visit the Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa

Underneath the city streets of Alexandria are the Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa, a burial site for Egyptian, Greek and Roman citizens during the age of the Roman Antonine dynasty. These catacombs feature stunning carvings and sculptures cut directly into the bedrock, and give unique insight into the merging of cultures that defined Alexandrian life.

See the Qaitbay Citadel

The imposing Citadel of Qaitbay was built by the Mamluk Sultan Qaitbay after earthquakes destroyed the Lighthouse of Alexandria in the 11th and 13th centuries. Enjoy the Citadel's panoramic views while standing on the site of one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.

Lunch along the Mediterranean coastline

Enjoy your luncheon and relax with a beautiful view of the Mediterranean. You will be able to watch local fishermen bringing in the catch of the day, and feel the bustling energy of this modern city with ancient roots.

Tour the New Library of Alexandria, the Bibliotheca Alexandrina

The Bibliotheca Alexandrina was established in 2002 to pay homage to and recapture the intellectual spirit of the ancient Library of Alexandria. The Bibliotheca features a main library that seats over 2,000 people, and is one of the most important cultural research centers in the Arab world. The library also contains six speciality libraries, five museums, as well as academic research centers, art galleries, a children’s center and even a planetarium.

Drive back to Cairo for overnight stay

After checking out of your hotel, a private driver will transport you to the airport for your departure flight.