Day 02: Cairo

Breakfast at hotel – Drive to through the countryside to the first capital of Egypt, Memphis.                                                         Then to Sakkara, the large necropolis of Memphis, to admire the step pyramid of Zoser, the first pyramid ever built. Lunch; continue to visit the famous three Pyramids of Giza (one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Below the pyramids is the mysterious great sphinx and the valley temple. Back to hotel for overnight

Optional – drive to Giza Pyramids for a spectacular Sound & Light show. Nothing compares to seeing the Pyramids and the Sphinx illuminated at night; the visual effects as well as dramatic commentary make for an unforgettable evening.

Return to your hotel for overnight.

Day 03: Cairo / Sleeping train

After breakfast drive to the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities for a detailed, guided tour. Among other fascinating exhibits, see the contents of the tomb of Tutankhamen.

Then visit Old Cairo and walk back in time, visiting the Old Coptic Church and the Ben Ezra Synagogue. Lunch en route,

Continue to the Mohamad Ali Mosque and the streets of Khan el Khalili Bazaar. Driving to the train station for your train to Aswan – dinner on board

Day 04 – Nile cruise (Aswan)

Upon arrival you will be met with our representative in Aswan and check-in to your Nile cruise for lunch. In the afternoon, sail around Elephantine Island on a felucca, the traditional Egyptian sail boat. Elephantine Island is the largest of the Aswan area islands, Take a tour of Aswan High Dam, Egypt’s contemporary example of building on a monumental scale. Next, proceed to the granite quarries which supplied the ancient Egyptians with most of the hard stone used in pyramids and temples. The quarries still hold the Unfinished Obelisk,

Continue by a short motor-boat ride to the Temple of Philae on the island of Agilka. The temple was dedicated to Isis, sister/wife of Osiris and patroness of the Ptolemaic rule.

Return to your cruise vessel for dinner and overnight and sail to Kom Ombo

DAY 05 – Nile cruise (Aswan)
After breakfast, visit the Temple of Sobek, the crocodile-headed god of fertility and creator of the world. The temple stands at a bend in the Nile where, in ancient times, sacred crocodiles basked in the sun on the riverbank.

Return to your cruise and sail to Edfu.

Dinner and overnight on-board the cruise

DAY 06 – Nile cruise (Edfu)
After breakfast on board, set out by horse-drawn carriage to visit the Temple of Horus, the most perfectly preserved of all the Nile temples. Horus, also known as Haroeris, was the falcon-headed solar war god. Sail to Esna. Then cross the lock and sail to Luxor for dinner and overnight.

DAY 07 –  Luxor / Hurghada
After breakfast on board disembark from the ship, cross to the West Bank of the Nile and visit the wondrous Valley of the Kings, a vast city of the dead where the magnificent tombs of 62 pharaohs have been discovered. The tombs were carved deep into the desert rock, richly decorated and filled with treasures for the afterlife of the pharaohs. Visit several of the tombs. Next, visit the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut. stop at the famed Colossi of Memnon, , 1 thousand ton statues of Amenhotep III.                                                                                      Then continue to visit Karnak Temple, called by some “the Temple of Temples.” It is the largest place of worship ever built. Its ancient name Ipet-isut means “the most sacred of places.” The temple, or, more correctly, the complex of temples, was built over more than two thousand years by generation after generation of pharaohs.                                                                                             Continue driving to Hurghada and overnight at hotel

DAY 08 – Hurghada

Free of leisure

DAY 09 – Hurghada

Free of leisure

Day 10

Final Departure from Hurghada