Welcome to Cairo, Egypt. Upon your arrival at Cairo international airport, your representative will meet, assist to obtaining your visa, collect luggage, and 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 of Giza (both available to book locally on arrival).

Meals: Welcome Drink

After breakfast and check out, your local Egyptologist tour guide will accompany you to Giza Plateau 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 go inside the great pyramid (extra ticket on spot). Then, you will drive to the Pyramids panoramic view to take some great photos or enjoy Camel ride at the pyramids area (additional charge). Then move on to visit the Valley temple of king Chephren and the great Sphinx.

Proceed to visit Memphis, the capital of ancient Egypt, founded by King Menes almost 3100 BC. Today there are little left in the oldest city but still can see an open air museum of antiquities. You can see the statue of Ramses II, the Alabaster sphinx and more

Continue to discover Saqqara, the Necropolis of ancient Memphis and home to the Step Pyramid of King Djoser. Where the architect Imhotep were designed a new form of burial structure in the form of a step pyramid in six stages.

This evening, transfer to the train station for the overnight sleeper train to Luxor (approx. 9 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 Luxor train station, you will be picked up & transfer 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 tour guide will accompany you through this vast temple, walk along the Avenue of Sphinxes, pylons, hall of columns, obelisks and chapels will reveal its finest sections.

Continue to Luxor Temple, once joined to the Temple of Karnak by a three kilometer long Avenue of Sphinx, a portion of which still 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, you will be transferred to embark your Nile Cruise for 4 Nights to Aswan. Lunch will be served on board and enjoy free time to relax in Luxor

Optional: Luxor – Sound and Light Show at Karnak temple

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast on board and then your tour guide will escort you to visit Luxor west bank. Your first stop will be at the two Colossi of Memnon, which mark the site of the funerary temple of Amenhotep III. These two giant statues standing tall and proud are all that remain of the ancient complex.

Then head out to 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.

After finished, return to your Nile Cruise ship for lunch on board and free time to relax and enjoy the Nile Valley spectacular view while sailing to Edfu via Esna lock.

Optional: A spectacular hot air balloon flight over the west bank of the Nile is available this morning (expect an early start 04:30 to 05:00 to catch sunrise as the balloon rises).

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

After breakfast on board, you will enjoy a return way Horse and Carriage ride to visit Edfu temple, consider one of the best preserved of all the Egyptian Temples. The temple is dedicated to the falcon god Horus, son of Isis and Osiris. The stunning Temples of Horus in Edfu was built during the Ptolemaic times and was completed over a 180-year period.

Afterwards, return to the ship and leisurely cruise 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.

Afternoon, 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 of fertility), and it includes details on the Ancient Egyptian’s relationship with crocodiles, whom they revered and feared in equal measure. The other half is dedicated to Haroeris (also known as Horus the falcon god), and the whole temple is full of fascinating reliefs. After finished, return to your Nile Cruise and continue sailing to Aswan

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Today, Spend the morning at leisure, or join the optional Abu Simbel Temple tour. A bus ride from Aswan transports you back in time to the mighty Temple of Abu Simbel (almost 9 hour tour).

In the afternoon, you will enjoy Felucca Ride (almost 1 hour). Enjoy a relaxing sailing aboard a Nile felucca, the traditional sailboat of Egypt used along the Nile, “Weather permits!”

Return to the Nile cruise boat & free time to relax or join the optional Nubian Village trip by a motorboat and get an insight into the culture, history, and lifestyle of one of Africa’s oldest civilizations. Enjoy a drink at one of the colorful rural houses, nestled amongst the natural scenery. Walk through the local market to get a taste of the unique culture and traditions (almost 3 hour tour).

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Check out after Breakfast on Board, start to visit the unfinished obelisk lies in the ancient stone quarry, where most of the famous obelisks were cut. Then drive to see the Aswan High Dam, an engineering miracle when originally constructed in the 1960s. The dam brought an end to the Nile’s devastating floods.

Continue with a motorboat ride to visit Philae Temple Island, located in the Nile River between the old Aswan Dam and Aswan High Dam, the Island was sacred to the goddess Isis mother of Horus and wife of Osiris. Your tour guide will take you on a walking tour through the temple and then enjoy free time to explore at leisure

Keep in mind that tonight you’ll board an overnight sleeper train from Aswan back to Cairo (approximately 12 hours), dinner will be served aboard the train in your private twin-berth compartments before the steward sets your beds up for the night

Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Breakfast aboard the sleeper train before arriving at the Giza train station, where your tour guide will pick you up to start your today tour to visit 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 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).

Proceed to visit the Citadel of Saladin, a medieval Islamic-era fortification in Cairo, built by Saladin in 1176. You will explore Mohamed Ali Mosque, due to its prominent features. The mosque was built on the summit of the Citadel of Saladin between 1830 and 1848.

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. You’ll enjoy free time to stroll through the maze of streets. After finished, transfer to your hotel in Cairo and Free time to relax

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

After breakfast, drive (almost 3 hours) to the Mediterranean coastal city of Alexandria, Egypt’s second largest city and main port. Alexandria was founded in 331 BC under the orders of Alexander the Great. Alexandria was the setting for the stormy love story between Julius Caesar, Cleopatra, and Marc Antony as well as a cosmopolitan gathering spot for intellectuals in the early twentieth century.

On arrival, head to the mysteries Catacombs of Kom El Shoqafa. This Roman burial site is the largest of its kind in Egypt. The crypts are 20 metres below street level, and what probably began as a small family tomb grew into a labyrinth of chambers that could accommodate more than 300 bodies.

Proceed to Pompey’s pillar (Column of Diocletian), the largest Roman triumphal column constructed outside Rome or Constantinople. The column stands over 26 meters high (85 feet), made of a single piece of Aswan granite. Around the memorial column, you’ll also explore a number of statues, artifacts, and the remains of a Serapium, a temple of the Graeco-Egyptian deity Serapis.

Move on to visit the Roman Amphitheater, dating from the 2nd century A.D. It is a small amphitheater that was used by the Romans for poetry and music. On the site, other ruins have also been excavated including a bath house and a villa with some well-preserved mosaics.

Continue to the Citadel of Qaitbay, located on the Mediterranean sea coast. It was established in 1477 AD by Sultan Al-Ashraf Qa’it Bay. The Citadel was erected on the exact site of the famous Lighthouse of Alexandria, which was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Take some time to stroll along the Corniche and around Fort Qaitbey to enjoy the fresh Mediterranean air. Enjoy Lunch at a good quality Fish Market local restaurant.

Afterwards, stop by the strikingly modern Bibliotheca Alexandrina, inspired by the original great library of Alexandria and built to hold over eight million books (Extra entrance fees on spot). After finished, enjoy a relaxing drive back to your hotel in Cairo and free time at your hotel in Cairo

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Breakfast, your time is free today for some last minute sightseeing or shopping until we transfer you to the 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 Cairo and Coptic Cairo and more of the city this morning

Meals: Breakfast