Cairo And Nile Cruise Budget Tour 8 Days 7 Nights

Welcome to Cairo, Egypt. Upon your arrival at Cairo international airport, your representative will meet and assist through formalities to obtaining your visa and collect luggage, then transfer you to your hotel, the rest of the day is free. If you arrive early you may like to take an evening dinner cruise on the Nile, or enjoy a spectacular sound and light show at the pyramids (both available to book locally on arrival).

Meals: Welcome Drink

After breakfast and check out, your Egyptologist tour guide will accompany you to visit the pyramids area to visit one of the seven wonders of the ancient world: the pyramids of Cheops, Chephren and Mycerinus. Enjoy fantastic introduction to each of the three Pyramids and then explore these structures that have stood tall for over 4500 years. Whilst here, you will have the opportunity to visit inside the great pyramid (extra ticket on spot). Then, you will drive to the Pyramids panoramic view to shoot some great photos or opt for Camel ride at the pyramids area (additional charge). Then move on to visit the Valley temple of king Chephren and the great Sphinx.

Afterwards, head out to the Egyptian Museum of antiquities, home to one of the world’s largest collections of ancient Egyptian artefacts. Wander the masses of gleaming artefacts recovered from the tomb of the boy King Tutankhamun are an impressive sight – from jewellery to the famous golden death mask and his gilded sarcophagi, this pharaoh was certainly prepared for the afterlife. You will also have time to visit the Museum’s royal Mummies hall for a close encounter with some of the country’s most important queens and pharaohs (extra ticket on spot).

Continue to Coptic Cairo, a part of old Cairo which include the Babylon fortress, the Hanging church, Saints Sergius and Bacchus Church (Abu Serga) and Ben Ezra Synagogue. Then drive to Islamic Cairo and marvel at Cairo’s largest market of Khan el Khalili Bazaar. This evening we transfer to the train station for the overnight sleeper train to Aswan (approx. 12 hours). You’ll enjoy dinner on board in your private twin-berth compartments before the steward sets your beds up for the night.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast will be served at your train compartments. Upon arrival to Aswan train station, you will be picked up & transfer to your Nile Cruise, check in for 4 days 3 nights. Enjoy your Lunch on board and then start to visit the unfinished obelisk, the largest known ancient obelisk, never completed due to a flaw discovered in the stone. Proceed to Aswan high dam, rockfill dam across the Nile River in Aswan completed in 1970. A marvel of modern engineering that boasts some truly epic dimensions—it is almost 3,597 meters long;  980 meters wide at its base; and 93 meters high.

Continue to the beautiful Philae Temple Island, it was painstakingly transferred to the island of Agilika after the construction of the Aswan High Dam to save it from the rising waters of Lake Nasser. The three principal monuments on the island all date from the Ptolemaic and Roman periods are the Kiosk of Trajan, the Temple of Hathor and the Temple of Isis. After finished, back to the cruise ship with dinner on board and overnight in Aswan.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner.

Spend your morning at leisure exploring Aswan, or take an additional optional tour of the indescribable rock temples of Abu Simbel, one of the most recognizable ancient sites in Egypt.

After Lunch on board, start your leisurely cruise down the Nile, with today’s stop at Kom Ombo Temple, north of Aswan. Built on a high dune overlooking the Nile, the complex sits picturesquely ruined on the river’s edge and dates back to the second century BC. The complex is unique because it has a mirror-image design, divided down the middle, with either side dedicated to a different set of gods. One half is known as the Temple of Sobek (the crocodile-headed god). The other half is dedicated to Haroeris (the falcon-headed god), and the whole temple is full of fascinating reliefs. Afterwards, return to the boat and travel upriver, with free time relaxing on the sundeck and taking in the surrounding sights – desert hills forming a backdrop to lush riverbanks, fishermen casting their nets and farmers working their land. This is living.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Today finds you moored at Edfu, where you will visit the beautifully preserved temple also dedicated to Horus, the falcon-headed god. The 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. Back on board, continue towards Luxor passing through the Esna Locks. It is not uncommon to have to queue to proceed through the locks, however this is a great opportunity to check out the process from deck with a cool drink in hand, and listen to the shouts of the many captains as they navigate their way through the various small boats of merchants selling their wares to the customers on board.

Upon arrival to Luxor in the afternoon, start to visit the Karnak Temple one of the most impressive of the entire ancient Pharaohs’ monumental works. Karnak is a house of the gods was built over a period of some 2000 years. Your guided tour of this vast temple of impressive Avenue of Sphinxes, pylons, hall of columns, obelisks and chapels will reveal its finest sections.

Continue to Luxor Temple which was once joined to the Karnak Temple by a three kilometer long Avenue of Sphinx, a portion of which marks the entrance to the temple of Luxor. Dominated by statues of the great warrior pharaoh Ramses II, the inner walls and columns are decorated with intricate hieroglyphics which your guide will help you decipher. Find out how Alexander the Great wrote himself into Luxor Temple’s history, and see one of the original pair of obelisk, the second of which now stands on the Place de la Concorde in Paris

After finished, transfer to your Nile Cruise to relax or enjoy an optional Sound & Light Show at the Karnak Temple where ancient and poetic voices tell about the birth of Karnak temple and the heroic achievements of pharaohs and god Amun. A spectacular and unforgettable evening!

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Disembarkation after Breakfast, start to visit Luxor west bank. Your first stop will be at the Colossi of Memnon, which mark the site of the funerary temple of Amenhotep III. These two giant statues standing tall and proud on Luxor West Bank are all that remain of the ancient complex.

Then head out to visit one of the most famous archeological sites in the world the Valley of the Kings, the largest burial ground in ancient Egypt. Here are over 162 tombs of pharaohs, Nobles and Queens are richly decorated with reliefs and paintings. With your tour guide, explore this sprawling and spectacular place, where the pharaohs of the New Kingdom (16th to 11th century BC) were secretly interred for all eternity, and where discoveries are still being made. You will visit 3 of the best-preserved tombs. Your Egyptologist tour guide will explain the history and legends of these remarkable people, their funerary rites, and the significance of the many paintings and hieroglyphics, still well-preserved in the deepest tombs. Whilst here, you will have the chance to visit inside the tomb of Tutankhamun (Extra ticket on spot).

Continue to the Mortuary Temple of Queen Hatshepsut – a stunning colonnaded building set against high cliffs that create a spectacular natural amphitheater. The legendary Hatshepsut had this mortuary temple built to signify her importance and honor her ancestors.

Keep in mind that tonight you’ll board an overnight sleeper train from Luxor back to Cairo (approximately 9 hours), dinner will be served aboard the train.

Optional: A spectacular hot air balloon flight over the west bank of the Nile (expect an early start to catch sunrise as the balloon rises).

Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Breakfast aboard the sleeper train before arriving at the Giza train station, where you will be met and assisted by Nile Holiday Tours representative who will transfer you to your hotel for some leisure time (you will check into your room as early as possible). There are some optional excursions available in Cairo: you may wish to take Alexandria day trip or visit to Dahshur bent Pyramid, Memphis and Saqqara Step Pyramid, overnight stay at your hotel in Cairo.

Meals: Breakfast

Breakfast, your time is free today for some last minute sightseeing or shopping until we transfer you to Cairo airport for your departure flight. We recommend an afternoon or evening flight so that you can take a tour to visit the incredible Tour to Islamic and Coptic Cairo and more of the city this morning

Meals: Breakfast