Splendors of egypt

Day 1 — Cairo (No meals) 

Arrival at Cairo airport. Meet and assist by our representative, and you will be transferred to your hotel overnight.

Day 2 — Cairo (B/L) 

Have your breakfast at the hotel. Your private Egyptologist tour guide and driver will pick you up to start your day tour. 

Drive to Sakkara to see the Step Pyramid, built by the exalted architect Imhotep for the 3rd Dynasty Pharaoh Djoser. You will visit one of the mastabas in Sakkara that dates back more than 4,500 years and see the amazing carvings and colors, which give an idea of life in ancient Egypt. You will end your time in Sakkara in a carpet school, where you will be involved in an experience with locals who are being trained in the amazing handcraft of weaving, following in the footsteps of their ancestors, who started it thousands of years ago. Have lunch at a restaurant. 

Continue to Giza to visit one of the Ancient Seven Wonders of the World, the Great Pyramids. See the Pyramids of Cheops, Chephren and Mycerinus, the Valley Temple, and the Sphinx. 

On your way, you will visit a papyrus institute where you will be taken on a journey through the craft using step-by-step demonstrations and extensive displays of papyrus artworks to view and have the chance to buy souvenirs. You can choose among hundreds of designs, including printing your name in hieroglyphics with scenes from ancient Egypt (the artworks are certified for using genuine papyrus). 

Return to your hotel overnight.

Day 3 — Cairo (B/L) 

Have your breakfast at the hotel. Your private Egyptologist tour guide and driver will pick you up to start your day tour. 

Drive to the Desert road to Alexandria, the bride of the Mediterranean. This second-largest city in Egypt was built by Alexander the Great on the site of an old fishing village that had a small harbor sheltered by the island of Pharos. Upon arrival in Alexandria, visit the Catacomb (Kom El Shoafa), a remarkable example of the Alexandrian blend of Graeco-Roman and Egyptian styles carved into 100ft of solid rock. Then visit the Citadel of Qait Bay from outside. 

Continue to visit the newly opened Library of Alexandria. Apart from the main library, the complex will include a library for the blind, a young people’s library, the Alexandria Conference Center, a science museum, a planetarium, a Restoration and Conservation Laboratory, and the Hall of Fame. Have lunch in a restaurant. 

Continue to Montazah gardens, where you will have the opportunity to see from outside only the Montazah palace. Originally built in 1892, the palace dates back from 1926 and was the summer home of the Egyptian Royal family. 

Drive back to Cairo and overnight at your hotel.

Day 4 — Cairo (B/L) 

Have your breakfast at the hotel. Your private Egyptologist tour guide and driver will pick you up to start your day tour. 

Visit the Grand Egyptian Museum, which is filled with artifacts from thousands of years of Egyptian history, including the mummies of powerful pharaohs and treasures from the Tomb of Tutankhamun. 

Have lunch at a restaurant. 

Return to your hotel. 

Tonight, you will enjoy our special experience. Your private transfer man and driver will pick you up. Drive to downtown Cairo and start walking through its streets, enjoying the amazing and beautiful buildings with special European architecture. Enjoy tasting Egyptian cuisine by sampling well-known dishes like Koshari (rice, pasta, lentil, fried onion), foul and falafel, and shawarma. Sip sugar cane juice while taking a stroll through the streets of Cairo. 

Later, you will be transferred to the pier. Get on the most traditional Egyptian boat known as Felucca and enjoy a relaxing experience of a Felucca ride along the Nile River, where you can discover the amazing nightlife of Cairo. After the ride is finished, you will transfer back to your hotel.

Day 5 — Aswan (B) 

Have your breakfast at the hotel. You will be transferred to Cairo Airport for your flight to Aswan. Upon arrival in Aswan, our representative will transfer you to your hotel.

 (Possibility for an optional trip to Abu Simbel) 

(Possibility of enjoying tea-time at Old Cataract hotel)

Day 6 — Nile Cruise (B) 

Have your breakfast at the hotel. You will be transferred to your Nile cruise. Take a short motorboat 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 and sail to Kom Ombo.

Day 7 — Nile Cruise (B/L/D) 

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.

 Sail to Edfu, 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. 

Return to your Nile Cruise and sail to Luxor.

Day 8 — Nile Cruise (B/L/D) 

Have your breakfast onboard, and 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.  This beautiful monument to the reign of the only female pharaoh rises out of the desert plain in a series of terraces and merges with the sheer limestone cliffs surrounding it.   

On the way back to your Nile cruise, stop at the famed Colossi of Memnon, two 66ft, 1 thousand tons statues of Amenhotep III.  Return to your Nile cruise. 

In the evening, take a Horse carriage ride around the Cornish of Luxor, then pass by the Sphinx Road, the local market, and have the opportunity for photos in front of the Lighten Luxor Temple from outside. 

Back to the cruise for dinner and overnight on board.

Day 9 — Cairo (B) 

Have your breakfast onboard and disembark from the Nile Cruise. Visit Karnak Temple, called by some “the Temple of Temples.”  It is the largest place of worship ever built. Within the complex, the great “Hypostyle Hall” is an incredible forest of giant pillars covering an area larger than the whole of Notre Dame Cathedral. Transfer to the airport for your flight back to Cairo. 

Upon arrival at Cairo Airport, you will meet our representative and be transferred to your hotel overnight. (Possibility for optional Hurghada Extension)

Day 10 — Departure (No meals) 

You will be transferred to the airport for your departure flight.