Boarding Aswan – A Grand 12-Day Tour

This exceptional package includes Egypt in all its variety from the wonders of the Great Pyramids to a Nile cruise and even the unspoiled beaches of the Red Sea.

Your 1001 Egyptian Nights Tour includes the mighty temples at Abu Simbel, Denderah Temples, the opportunity to dive or snorkel, and a CAMEL CARAVAN to a Nubian Village in Nubia.

DAY 1 – CAIRO- Monday Weekly – Year Round
On arrival, our local representative will greet you at the airport and whisk you to your hotel. Visa may be issued upon arrival at Cairo Airport.

VIP Meet & Greet Upon arrival at Cairo Airport
Visa issued locally in Cairo (for a limited number of nationalities) no photos required. Our representative greets you at the airport and whisks you to your hotel. Visa will be issued upon arrival at Cairo Airport for a limited number of citizens such as: American, Australian, NZ, EU, Canadian, EU Singaporean and Japanese citizens. You are responsible for having your passport in order valid at least for 6 month beyond the date of your arrival in Cairo. Our local rep. will meet you with a sign that carries your name, and will be waiting for you with the prepaid visa stamps to proceed to the passports control to stamp your passports and then you claim your luggage. After you clear the passport and customs formalities and exit the terminal, our local representative will escort you by private vehicle to the hotel. Welcome fruit basket & Egyptian pastry awaits you in your room with our compliments.

DAY 2 – CAIRO- Sailing on the Nile – Tuesday (BLD)
Today we see Cairo’s major sights: the Egyptian Museum, including the Mummies Room. We’ll continue to Royal Abdeen Palace of Egypt’s former Royal Family, on to the Church of Abu Sergha, and the Beni Ezra Synagogue. We’ll see where, according to the legend, Moses was found along the banks of the Nile. We’ll take our lunch at a local restaurant. Enjoy a 30 minute felucca sailing on the Nile to see Cairo from a different angle before we head back to your hotel. Evening dinner at Abu El Sid restaurant or similar. or La Bodega restaurant.

DAY 3 – DAHSOUR – Wednesday (BLD)
After breakfast, we’ll motor to the edge of Cairo, to the mysterious Sphinx and the Pyramids of Giza. The museum of the personal Royal Barge of the Mighty Pharaoh Cheops is built over the rectangular pit that housed the Royal Barge for thousands of years, the wooden boat readied for the king’s daily journey with the sun god, Ra. Discovered in 1954, in a completely dismantled state, the 43-metre (140-foot) cedar boat is a rare window on the Royal boats used by the kings of Ancient Egypt. Those who are fit and adventurous enough may wish to penetrate into the heart of the Great Pyramid, to the King’s Chamber. Your ticket is included with our compliments (or the interior of Kephren Pyramid). Taking a camel ride (included) is entirely your own choice!

Continue to Dahshour, the newly-opened pyramid field south of Cairo. We visit the great pyramid of Senfru, father of Cheops, and other structures.

The “Discovery” of Dahshour: For almost half a century, the great field of huge pyramids near the desert village of Dahshour, 25 miles south of Cairo, has been off limits to the public. Confined within the perimeter of a military base were many pyramids, including the great 4500-year-old pyramid built by Senfru, father of Cheops. Senfru’s pyramid, the largest in Egypt until his son built Giza’s Great Pyramid, is rhomboidal in shape: it tapers more distinctly on its upper half. All the pyramids were coated in thick plaster at one time. Most have lost these protective, decorative sheaths, but Senfru’s–miraculously–is still in place. Lunch is included at the Mena House. Evening dinner at Abu La Bodega restaurant or similar.

DAY 4 – Aswan – Abu Simbel – Thursday (BLD)
An early morning flight to Aswan (or Luxor) and continue on to Abu Simbel, where your private guide, private air-conditioned vehicle await you. We’ll marvel at the temples dedicated to Ramses the Great and Queen Neferatri, saved from rising waters of the Nile when the High Dam was built. In the larger temple, colossal figures of Ramses are seated with the gods and attended by his queen and daughters. The smaller temple is dedicated to Queen Nefertari, who appears as Hathor, the goddess of love, joy and fertility, symbolized by the benevolent cow. Lunch is included in Abu Simbel or Aswan. Fly back to Aswan and your hotel, overnight in Aswan. In the evening your guide will call on you for a horse-drawn carriage ride throughout Aswan souks and water front.

DAY 5 – ASWAN / NILE CRUISE – Friday – Board your cruise from Luxor or Aswan (BLD)
Breakfast at the hotel. Morning tour of the Nubian Museum and on to the Nile Cruise in time for lunch. Today we tour the mighty Aswan dams, old and new, then board a motor launch to visit the Temples of Philae, moved to an island and saved from the rising waters of the Nile after building the High Dam, this Island temple of Philae was dedicated to the Ancient Goddess ISIS.

The Mystery of Isis: Two millennia ago the Mediterranean world was enthralled by the mystery of Isis: “I, Isis, am all that has been, that is or shall be; no mortal man hath ever seen me unveiled.”

Called Aset by the ancient Egyptians, the goddess was a Madonna in the Mediterranean tradition that stretches far, far back to the primitive Mother Goddess from Anatolia, home to some of the oldest human communities on earth. Isis was the powerful and quick-witted protector of her son Horus, the Sun God. Ancient peoples throughout the Mediterranean regarded Isis and Horus as the perfect Madonna and Child. Another legend says she was also the mother of the fertility god Min who, judging from the depiction of him on temple walls, needed no help from Viagra!

Because of her wisdom and skill at protection, she was admired as a good magician capable of healing the sick and protecting the dead in their journey to the Underworld. Isis is portrayed regally, as a queen seated on a throne (which may be the meaning of her name), often holding her son Horus as a baby. Other images show her with broad, magnificent gilded wings able to protect the world.

Isis, the great Mother Goddess. Come explore her mystery in timeless Egypt when you Travel in Style!

In the evening we head out back to Philae for an evening Sound and Light show.

DAY 6 – KOM OMBO- On Board your Nile Cruise -Saturday (BLD)
Our Nile vessel cruises serenely down the Nile for a visit to the great twin-temple at Kom Ombo, dedicated to Sobek, the crocodile river god, and Haroeris, the solar disk.

DAY 7 – EDFU – Esna Temple Tour is Included – on Board Your Nile Cruise – LUXOR – Sunday (BLD)
We board horse-drawn carriages (or coaches) for the short ride through Edfu to the Temple of Horus, the best-preserved in Egypt. Our rate does include a private tour of Esna Temple, then on to Luxor where we dock for the night.

DAY 8 – On Board Your Nile Cruise LUXOR – Monday (BLD)
Today’s tour include a visit to the Valley of the Kings including Tut-Ank-Amon’s tomb. For guests who are interested: Please be our guests for a 10-15 minutes camel ride from the Valley of the Kings, you you’ll then change your mode of transportation and continue in your deluxe air-conditioned vehicle and on to the temple of Queen Hatshepsut at Deir el Bahari and Colossi of Memnon.

Afterward, we’ll continue on Luxor’s west bank to get a totally different perspective on ancient Egyptian life, at the ancient workers’ settlement of Deir el-Medinah. While most of the imposing stone monuments and sites of Egypt honor the lives and after-lives of royalty, Deir el-Medinah gives us unique and surprising insights into the ordinary citizens who constructed and decorated the tombs.

Here we’ll see the excavated homes shared by laborers with their domestic animals. These quarters were surprisingly large, with three good-sized rooms, courtyard, kitchen, and even storage cellars. While ancient Egypt might not have been a workers’ paradise, we’ll see that artisans and builders were highly regarded in their community. We are proud to be the only operator to offer regular visits to this singular ancient settlement in its tour and cruise programs. Followed by the Colossi of Memnon, before returning to Luxor, we tour the gigantic Great Temple of Amon at Karnak.

DAY 9 – Disembarkation – Denderah Temple – Luxor – Tuesday (BL)
After breakfast, check out, then proceed to Denderah in a day excursion or by car, to visit the best preserved temple in Egypt. This temple as a sight to hold. Indiana Jones would have felt at home, with the massive stones and underground passages. We tour as well Abydos before we head back to Luxor (lunch box included).

DENDERAH IN A DAY: We’ll travel to Denderah to visit the Temple of Hathor, one of the best-preserved in all of Egypt, and also one of the most important. In the ancient beliefs, Hathor was the consort of the god of daylight, ruler of the west, and protector or the underworld. In the manner of wise desert wayfarers, we’ll leave before dawn to take advantage of cool temperatures. Our air-conditioned vehicle will take us through timeless Nile side villages, where life revolves around the irrigation and harvest of crops. Finally, we’ll reach the temple precincts. We’ll take note of the unusually deep tombs, and pass under the celebrated Zodiac, in a chapel dedicated to Osiris. (Denderah is the traditional site of his rebirth.) Our full day will also include a visit to Abydos, traditional home of Osiris, god of the underworld, and a stopping point on the journey of wayfaring souls. We’ll enjoy a box lunch with bottled water included, then its back to Luxor and your hotel. By sunset get ready for the transfer to Karnak for a spectacular sound & light show at Karnak temple.

DAY 10- Luxor – Cairo – Wednesday (B)
Transfers are always on a private basis, private air-conditioned vehicle, private chauffeur. Fly back to Cairo, air fare is always included within Egypt, tax included. In Cairo, of course our local rep. will be waiting for your and escort you back to your hotel. The remainder of the day at leisure.

Complimentary Dinner is included at a local home:
Meet the locals: This evening we’ll venture where few ordinary visitors ever tread… right into the homes of some of the people of Cairo! You’ll be invited to a family dinner, and while you enjoy wholesome home-cooked specialties, you’ll learn about and appreciate the outlook, aspirations, and way of life of your hosts. Be assured, as curious as you may be about your new friends, they’re sure to have questions about your own background. Once the ice is broken, you’ll enjoy a lively evening, and find that you have more in common than you ever suspected. Of course, if you prefer, you may enjoy a quiet evening with your travel companions by letting us know your preferences. You may wish to bring token gifts to exchange with the host family (T shirt, small souvenirs of your home town).

DAY 11 – CAIRO – Thursday (cBLD)
The Culture of Cairo. Today we’ll explore deep into the heart of Cairo, and get to know its daily rhythms, its spirituality, its history, and its modern diversions. We’ll start early, with a visit to a local market, with an immense variety of seasonal fruits and vegetables on offer, both familiar and exotic.

You’ll see that shopping in Cairo goes far beyond a supermarket experience. Be prepared for whispers, gestures, shouting, and controlled chaos. It’s all part of the bargaining process, engaged in by women in traditional modest garb as well as others in Western dress.

Then it’s on to the Museum of Islamic Art, with its tapestries, textiles, swords and other objects exemplifying one of the world’s great decorative traditions. We’ll continue to the Gayer-Anderson House, a serene and classic domestic oasis, right down to its central fountain and exquisite furnishings. Our visit is also a journey into a vanished way of life—the residence is actually two traditional medieval Cairo houses restored by an English physician to a former king. We’ll stop for lunch at a restaurant where Cairenes go, then visit the Bab an-Nasr, the Gate of Victory in Cairo’s old walls. You’ll even see graffiti that survives from soldiers of Napoleon and of the British Empire, among the many who passed this way. Dinner at a local restaurant.

DAY 12 – Departure -Friday (cB)
Our staff escorts you to the airport for your flight home. Bon Voyage!

RATES per person in USD $
From New York	Deluxe Hotels Deluxe Nile Cruise	First Class Hotels and Nile Cruise	Tourist Class In Cairo Talisman Hotel or similar
Triple	US$ 4275.	US$ 3725.	US$ 3425.
Double	US$ 4316.	US$ 3905.	US$ 3505.
Single	US$ 5511.	US$ 5000.	US$ 4650.

DEPARTURE NOTES:

• For departures during Christmas, New Year’s or Easter weeks, please add 20 % to the rates above.
• Please note that the Nile vessels and cruise itineraries are subject to change.

YOUR TOUR INCLUDES:

• VIP Arrival Hall At Cairo Airport
  Our representative greets you at the airport and whisks you to your hotel. Visa will be issued upon arrival at Cairo Airport (photos are not required) Visa will be issued for a limited number of citizens such as: American, Australian, NZ, EU, Canadian, EU Singaporean and Japanese citizens,You are responsible for having your passport in order valid at least for 6 month beyond the date of your arrival in Cairo. Our local rep. meets with a sign that carries your name, and will be waiting for you with the prepaid visa stamps to proceed to the passports control to stamp your passports, then you claim your luggage, after you clear the passport and customs formalities and exiting the terminal, our local representative will escort you (private vehicle) to the hotel. Welcome fruit basket & Egyptian pastry awaits you in your room in Cairo upon arrival with our compliments
• Egyptian domestic airfares as described in the itinerary, economy class
• All airport transfers (private basis – private air-conditioned vehicle and private chauffeur).
• Hotel accommodations (including taxes).
• And set-menu (table d’hôte) meals as indicated in the itinerary above.
• Nile cruise with all shore excursions and meals.
• Complimentary welcome drink upon arrival on board the Nile Cruise.
• Complimentary welcome fruit basket on board the Nile Cruise.
• Large bottle of water (per person) delivered to you cabin daily while you are on board the Nile Cruise.
• Tea or coffee an bottled water with each / every meal while you are on board the Nile Cruise.
• Guided sightseeing by air-conditioned motor coach, including all admissions fees

Not included:

• Airport taxes
• Trip interruption and cancellation insurance
• Personal expenses, including excess baggage or shipping charges, beverages, and personal charges in hotels for laundry, telephone, or other services
• Tips
• International airfare from /to your home country

A Grand 12-Day tour with airfare from USA

This exceptional package includes Egypt in all its variety, from the wonders of the Great Pyramids to a Nile cruise, and even the unspoiled beaches of the Red Sea. Explore the mighty temples at Abu Simbel, Denderah Temples, a Camel Caravan to a Nubian Village, and Queen Nefertari’s Tomb.

DAY 1 – CAIRO – Saturday- VIP Meet & Greet – Weekly – Year Round
On arrival, our local representative greets you at the airport and whisks you to your comfortable hotel. Visa may be issued upon arrival at Cairo Airport.

VIP Meet & Greet Upon arrival at Cairo Airport?
Visa issued locally in Cairo (for a limited number of nationalities) no photos required. Our representative greets you at the airport and whisks you to your hotel. Visa will be issued upon arrival at Cairo Airport for a limited number of citizens such as: American, Australian, NZ, EU, Canadian, EU Singaporean and Japanese citizens. You are responsible for having your passport in order valid at least for 6 month beyond the date of your arrival in Cairo. Our local rep. will meet you with a sign that carries your name, and will be waiting for you with the prepaid visa stamps to proceed to the passports control to stamp your passports and then you claim your luggage. After you clear the passport and customs formalities and exit the terminal, our local representative will escort you by private vehicle to the hotel. Welcome fruit basket & Egyptian pastry awaits you in your room with our compliments.

Sample Deluxe Hotels: Ramses Hilton, Cairo Sheraton, Sonesta, Cairo Marriott, Cairo Conrad, Semiramis InterContinental Hotel or similar.

DAY 2 – CAIRO- Sailing on the Nile – Sunday (BLD)
Today we see Cairo’s major sights: the Egyptian Museum, including the Mummies Room. We’ll continue to Royal Manial Palace of former Crown Prince Mohamed Ali (or Abdeen Palace Museum), on to the Coptic Museum, and the Church of Abu Sergha, and the Beni Ezra Synagogue. We’ll see where, according to the legend, Moses was found along the banks of the Nile by the Queen of the Nile and Pharaoh’s wife. We’ll take our lunch at a local restaurant. Enjoy a walking tour of the ancient Khan El Khalili Bazaar district, then a brief stop at El Rifai Mosque where the late Shah of Iran is buried, as well as King Farouk Egypt’s last king, before we head back to your hotel. Evening Whirling Dervishes performance at Wekalet El Ghouri. Dinner is included at La Bodega restaurant or similar.

DAY 3 – Giza Pyramids: DAHSOUR – HOME HOSTED MEAL – Monday (BL)
After breakfast, we’ll motor to the edge of Cairo, to the mysterious Sphinx and the Pyramids of Giza.

The museum of the Royal Barge of Cheops
The museum is built over the rectangular pit that housed the Royal Barge for thousands of years. The wooden boat was readied for the king’s daily journey with the sun god, Ra. Discovered in 1954, in a completely dismantled state, the 43-metre (140-foot) cedar boat is a rare window on the Royal boats used by the kings of Ancient Egypt.

Those who are fit and adventurous enough may wish to penetrate into the heart of the Great Pyramid, to the King’s Chamber. Your ticket is included with our compliments (or the interior of Kephren Pyramid). Taking a camel ride (included) is entirely your own choice!

Continue to Dahshour, the newly-opened pyramid field south of Cairo. We visit the great pyramid of Senfru, father of Cheops, and other structures.

The “Discovery” of Dahshour:
For almost half a century, the great field of huge pyramids near the desert village of Dahshour, 25 miles south of Cairo, has been off limits to the public. Confined within the perimeter of a military base were many pyramids, including the great 4500-year-old pyramid built by Senfru, father of Cheops. Senfru’s pyramid, the largest in Egypt until his son built Giza’s Great Pyramid, is rhomboidal in shape: it tapers more distinctly on its upper half. All the pyramids were coated in thick plaster at one time. Most have lost these protective, decorative sheaths, but Senfru’s–miraculously–is still in place.

Lunch is included at a the Mena House.

Complimentary Dinner is included at a local home:
Meet the locals: This evening we’ll venture where few ordinary visitors ever tread… right into the homes of some of the people of Cairo! You’ll be invited to a family dinner, and while you enjoy wholesome home-cooked specialties, you’ll learn about and appreciate the outlook, aspirations, and way of life of your hosts. Be assured, as curious as you may be about your new friends, they’re sure to have questions about your own background. Once the ice is broken, you’ll enjoy a lively evening, and find that you have more in common than you ever suspected. Of course, if you prefer, you may enjoy a quiet evening with your travel companions by letting us know your preferences. You may wish to bring token gifts to exchange with the host family (T shirt, small souvenirs of your home town).

DAY 4 – The Red Sea resort of Sharm, Tuesday (BD)
Head for the airport and a short flight to Sharm El Sheikh on the Red Sea. The rest of the day is yours to enjoy this unique desert beach resort. Relax by the cerulean waters, take a camel ride at your option, and observe in the distance the steady line of ships heading to and from the Suez Canal.

Sunset Camel Caravan or on Horse Back: we go into the Sinai desert in a camel caravan. If you prefer to enjoy 2 hours of horse back riding, please let us know. The camel caravan is fully escorted and guided as well by local Bedouins through the desert and through the mountain passes of El Aat mountain. We stop at the highest point in the valley for a cup of tea with the Bedouin and take in the evening charm of the desert and nature before we head back to your hotel. Dinner is included at a local restaurant.

DAY 5 – Sharm El Sheikh – The Red Sea – Wednesday (BLD)
The Red Sea just off “Sharm” is replete with fascinating coral and aquatic species unique to this area. You’ll enjoy the morning on your own today exploring these wonders as you snorkel or scuba dive (for which proof of certification is a must), then join us for a half day tour to the Pharaoh’s Island, with lunch. Return to your hotel late afternoon.

Saladin’s Castle and Pharaoh’s Island
Just off the Sinai along the northern reaches of the Gulf of Aqaba lies one of the more curious and scenic locales in this part of the world.

The rulers of the Nile might once have held sway over these rocks and sand and water of Pharaoh’s Island (or Coral Island, or Geziret Faroun). More certain is that Crusaders established an outpost here, on the site of a onetime Phoenician port, and erected a castle in 1115 A.D. to protect pilgrims on the way to St. Catherine’s Monastery in the Sinai wilderness. The island did double duty as a base from which to attack Arab traders, which led to its capture by Saladin (or Salah El-Din). The legendary Arab leader strengthened the fortifications, and his name remains attached to the castle. Later, it was a Mameluke and Ottoman outpost.

We’ll have a treasured half-day opportunity to board a boat to visit this rarely seen fortress island. We’ll motor northward from Sharm El Sheikh, following the rocky coast, passing Bedouin travelers on camels, and secluded beaches, with occasional sightings of desert foxes. At Dahab or Nuweiba, we’ll embark for our short crossing to the island.

Once ashore, we’ll wander through the precincts of the reconstructed castle, with its courtyard, storerooms, galleys, and dining rooms, and appreciate the natural harbor that made this such a coveted outpost. And we’ll take in the unusual offshore vista of the breathtaking azure waters of the Gulf, backdropped by the grandeur of the mountains of Sinai and a cloudless sky.

Then, at your option, you can don scuba or snorkeling gear for a close encounter with the world-famous underwater life of coastal Sinai: corals, reefs, and schools of fish in every gradation of the rainbow, before we return to our lodgings at Sharm El Sheikh.

Later in the day, you’ll have the option to accept our invitation to a complimentary oriental dance workshop, where you’ll discover that “belly dancing” is not just a spectacle, but an art form with a long tradition. Women will have an opportunity to practice the sinuous and graceful movements, while men will learn, perhaps unexpectedly, that they have a leading role.
Evening bedouin theme dinner.

DAY 6 – Sharm El Sheikh, Luxor – Queen Nefertari’s Restored Tomb. Our Guests Private Visit – Thursday (BL)
An early flight takes us to Luxor (or Aswan), along the Nile in fabled Upper Egypt, the flight is non-stop or via Cairo, land at Luxor Airport, where at the airport, our local rep. will be waiting for you with a sign in your name, from the airport we proceed to the West Bank:

Queen Nefertari’s Tomb (visit may be moved to another date based on the approved permit and time provided by the Egyptian Antiquity Authority). Long before Cleopatra humbled the ruler of Rome, an Egyptian queen held power over the heart and soul of Ramses, Egypt’s greatest pharaoh. In the 12th century BC, a broken-hearted Ramses built a grand funerary tomb for Queen Nefertari, “the Beautiful one,” in the Valley of the Queens. It’s been exquisitely restored with the aid of an American endowment, and is among the rarest sights in all Egypt: the only great tomb ever built by a pharaoh for his late queen. Artistically, it is the equivalent of Tutankhamon’s tomb. Because of its fragile nature, it is no longer open to the public, access is very limited to a few guests with permits, and ours is the only tour to visit it as part of a normal itinerary. Because of the limited access we must rise early for our flight and our visit, appropriate as Ramses named Nefertari “the one for whom the sun shines.”

The romantic story of Nefertari and Ramses is best told by the great temples at Abu Simbel (south of Aswan in Nubia). On one, Ramsis is seated with the gods and attended by his queen and daughters. The other is dedicated to Queen Nefertari, who appears as Hathor, the goddess of love, joy and fertility, symbolized by the benevolent cow. Nefertari thus precedes Cleopatra, Helen, Roxelana, and the Elizabeths of Russia and England as one of the world’s great queens. Your visit to Abu Simbel may be considered the highlight of your Egyptian adventure. As you fly over and along the shore of Lake Nasser, watching the sky lighten and the sacred sun rise above the horizon. We try to book early morning flights to reach the temple while the air is clean, clear and cool, and the sun’s light still golden—just right for photographs. We explore the huge temple, admire its ancient aura and artistry, then retire to a comfortable hotel for refreshments. In the larger temple, colossal figures of Ramsis are seated with the gods and attended by his queen and daughters. The smaller temple is dedicated to Queen Nefertari, who appears as Hathor, the goddess of love, joy and fertility, symbolized by the benevolent cow.

PLEASE NOTE: Abu Simbel Temples tour (when listed in any of our tour program) starts from Aswan not Luxor, we list the info as part of Queen Nefertari’s story here. At the end of the day, return to your hotel in Luxor, dinner is included at a charming local restaurant.

DAY 7 – LUXOR – Denderah the best preserved temple in Egypt – Friday (BLD)
After an early we drive inland to tour Denderah Temple, tour is in an air-conditioned vehicle, with a chauffeur of course as well as an English speaking guide / Egyptologist. Dendera Temple is among the best preserved in Egypt. This temple is a sight to behold. Indiana Jones would have felt at home among the massive stones and underground passages. We tour as well Abydos Temple complex before we head back to Luxor (lunch box is included, always with bottled water of course).

DENDERAH IN A DAY: We’ll travel to Denderah to visit the Temple of Hathor, one of the best-preserved in all of Egypt, and also one of the most important. In the ancient beliefs, Hathor was the consort of the god of daylight, ruler of the west, and protector or the underworld. In the manner of wise desert wayfarers, we’ll leave before dawn to take advantage of cool temperatures. Our air-conditioned vehicle will take us through timeless Nile side villages, where life revolves around the irrigation and harvest of crops. Finally, we’ll reach the temple precincts. We’ll take note of the unusually deep tombs, and pass under the celebrated Zodiac, in a chapel dedicated to Osiris. (Denderah is the traditional site of his rebirth.) Our full day will also include a visit to Abydos, traditional home of Osiris, god of the underworld, and a stopping point on the journey of wayfaring souls. We’ll enjoy a box lunch with bottled water included, then its back to Luxor and your hotel. By sunset get ready for the transfer to Karnak for a spectacular sound & light show at Karnak temple, after which return to your hotel for dinner (included at the hotel).

DAY 8 – VALLEY OF THE KINGS – Nile Cruise – Saturday (BLD)
After breakfast at the hotel, check-out. Proceed to explore the city that was the Pharaohs capital for 20 centuries. Start with Medinet Habu, the Ramesseum and the Ancient Workers Village at Deir El Medineh, the first known “Workers Village”. These were the true creative heroes who built the temples & tombs for the mighty Pharaohs of the Nile Kingdom.

Deir El Medinah is on Luxor’s west bank you get a totally different perspective on ancient Egyptian life, at the ancient workers’ settlement of Deir el-Medinah. While most of the imposing stone monuments and sites of Egypt honor the lives and after-lives of royalty, Deir el-Medinah gives us unique and surprising insights into the ordinary citizens who constructed and decorated the tombs.

Here we’ll see the excavated homes shared by laborers with their domestic animals. These quarters were surprisingly large, with three good-sized rooms, courtyard, kitchen, and even storage cellars. While ancient Egypt might not have been a workers’ paradise, we’ll see that artisans and builders were highly regarded in their community. We are proud to be the only operator to offer regular visits to this singular ancient settlement in its tour and cruise programs.

Today’s tour include as well a visit to the Valley of the Kings including Tut-Ank-Amon’s tomb, for guests who are interested: Please be our guests for a 10-15 minutes camel ride from the Valley of the Kings, you you’ll then change your mode of transportation and continue in your deluxe air-conditioned vehicle and on to the temple of Queen Hatshepsut at Deir el Bahari, and Colossi of Memnon, returning to our Nile cruiser for lunch. Following lunch, we visit the great Temple of Luxor, and the gigantic Great Temple of Amon at Karnak, returning to our vessel in time for tea. Complimentary welcome fruit basket in your cabin. In the evening your guide will call on you for a horse drawn carriage ride throughout Luxor souks, bazaars and water front.

DAY 9 – ESNA – EDFU On Board Your Nile Cruise – Sunday (BLD)
We sail to Esna to go through the locks, while the boat is going through the locks, our guests will get to drive to Esna village by a Private air conditioned car/driver/guide Egyptologist for your private tour today of Esna Temple. The temple was buried for centuries and discovered in the late 1930’s. It is dedicated to the ancient Egyptian god Khnum and was buried and covered with about ten meters of earth with the village of Esna built on top which protected the temple below the ground. It is partially excavated to avoid collapsing the neighboring, more contemporary building above ground (Esna town). The Temple is smack in the middle of the town square, you ‘ll go thru a very lively tourist-oriented market, which fills a couple of streets leading inland from the corniche. The Temple was one of the stops among several pilgrimage points for the devout. Ritual: The Temple of Esna conveys a sense of the importance which the Ancient Egyptians placed upon their places of worship. All Egyptians who entered the confines of an Egyptian temple were required “to comply with the strict rules regarding ritual purity.”[9] According to inscriptions carved on the walls of the Temple of Esna, those who entered this temple were expected to fastidiously cut their fingernails and toenails, remove other body hair, wash their hands with natron (a natural occurring salt), “be dressed in linen (they were forbidden from wearing wool), and not to have had sexual intercourse for several days.”

We will tour Esna Temple while your cruise is going thru Esna Locks: Two barrage bridges straddle the Nile at this point: one built by the British in 1906, and the “Electricity Bridge” built in the 1990s..

Head back to your cruise and on to Edfu where we dock for the night. In the evening, we’ll celebrate in Egyptian style, dressed in galabias, the flowing national costume. A galabya will be delivered to your cabin with our compliments.

DAY 10 – KOM OMBO – ASWAN, CAMEL CARAVAN – on Board Your Nile Cruise – Monday (BLD)
We explore Kom Ombo’s twin Temples of Haroeris, the sun god, and Sobek, the crocodile god, before cruising south to Aswan. After lunch aboard, we board a graceful felucca for a cruise among the Nile islands. Then to really immerse yourself, try your hand at a complimentary camel riding! We’ll take willing passengers on a traditional caravan to enjoy tea with Nubian villagers. Only Travel In Style affords this unique opportunity to meet and interact with local Nubians. We are proud to offer this insight into the Nubian way of life. Back in your cabin: Complimentary Egyptian pastry & sweets platter. In the evening your guide will call on you for a horse-drawn carriage ride thorough Aswan souks and waterfront.

DAY 11 – ASWAN – ABU SIMBEL – CAIRO – Tuesday (B. Lunch Box.)
Breakfast and check-out. Lunch Box will be prepared by your chef on board, bottled water included.

The mighty Aswan dams are our first goal this morning, followed by a trip by motor launch to the Island temple of Philae, dedicated to the Ancient Goddess ISIS.

The Mystery of Isis: Two millennia ago the Mediterranean world was enthralled by the mystery of Isis: “I, Isis, am all that has been, that is or shall be; no mortal man hath ever seen me unveiled.”

Called Aset by the ancient Egyptians, the goddess was a Madonna in the Mediterranean tradition that stretches far, far back to the primitive Mother Goddess from Anatolia, home to some of the oldest human communities on earth. Isis was the powerful and quick-witted protector of her son Horus, the Sun God. Ancient peoples throughout the Mediterranean regarded Isis and Horus as the perfect Madonna and Child. Another legend says she was also the mother of the fertility god Min who, judging from the depiction of him on temple walls, needed no help from Viagra!

Because of her wisdom and skill at protection, she was admired as a good magician capable of healing the sick and protecting the dead in their journey to the Underworld. Isis is portrayed regally, as a queen seated on a throne (which may be the meaning of her name), often holding her son Horus as a baby. Other images show her with broad, magnificent gilded wings able to protect the world.

Isis, the great Mother Goddess. Come explore her mystery in timeless Egypt when you Travel in Style!

Back on land, we visit an ancient Pharaonic red granite quarry, then Nubian Museum before we take a short flight to Abu Simbel. There your private guide, private chauffeur and private air-conditioned vehicle will be waiting for you: we’ll marvel at the temples dedicated to Ramses the Great and Queen Neferatri, saved from rising waters of the Nile when the High Dam was built,in the larger temple, colossal figures of Ramses are seated with the gods and attended by his queen and daughters. The smaller temple is dedicated to Queen Nefertari, who appears as Hathor, the goddess of love, joy and fertility, symbolized by the benevolent cow. Fly back to Aswan and connect with our returning flight to Cairo and your hotel.

DAY 12 – Departure – Wednesday (B)
Our local rep. escorts you to the airport for your flight home. Bon Voyage!

Rates per person in USD $
	Deluxe Hotels Deluxe Nile Cruise	First Class Hotels and Nile Cruise	Tourist Class In Cairo El Borg Novotel Hotel or similar
Triple	US$ 7098.	US$ 6575.	US$ 6025.
Double	US$ 7116.	US$ 6655.	US$ 6105.
Single	US$ 8811.	US$ 8300.	US$ 7850.

If you prefer a boutique style hotel in Cairo, please click here for more details on “Le Riad” 17 suites hotel in the heart of old “Fatimid” Medieval Cairo, please let’s know your preference at the time of booking, as the hotel offers only 17 suites, it is always in high demand and space is subject to availability.

DEPARTURE NOTES:

• For departures during Christmas, New Year’s or Easter weeks, please add 20 % to the rates above.
• Please note that the Nile vessels and cruise itineraries are subject to change.

Upgrade to these ultra deluxe Nile cruise:

• Supplement: 20 % to be added to the Deluxe rate
• Mövenpick M/S Royal Lilly, M/S Royal Lotus, M/S Radamis II. The Sonesta M/S Star Goddess, Sonesta M/S Moon Goddess all cabins with private balconies

Hotel Choices

• Cairo Deluxe Hotels: Inter.continental.Cairo Marriott, Cairo Conrad. Sheraton. Ramses Hilton, or similar
• First Class Hotels: Cairo: Shepherds’ Hotel. Oases, Novotel El Borg or similar

Your Tour Includes:

• Egyptian domestic airfares as described in the itinerary, economy class, with tax included.
• All airport transfers and taxes in Egypt.
• Hotel accommodations (including taxes).
• And set-menu (table d’hôte) meals as indicated in the itinerary above.
• Nile cruise with all shore excursions and meals.
• Complimentary welcome drink upon arrival on board the Nile Cruise.
• Complimentary welcome fruit basket on board the Nile Cruise.
• Large bottle of water (per person) delivered to you cabin daily while you are on board the Nile Cruise.
• Tea or coffee and bottled water with each / every meal while you are on board the Nile Cruise.
• Guided sightseeing (including admissions fees) as described in the itinerary.
• Private guided touring in Egypt, except while on board the cruise, you are part of a 10-15 English speaking group.
• Meals as shown: (cB = continental breakfast; L = set-menu lunch; D = set-menu dinner)
• Hotel and Nile Cruise accommodations, including hotel tax and service charges
• Nile Cruise in Egypt including all meals and group tour for the shore executions you are part of a 10-15 English speaking group.
• Queen Nefertari’s Restored Tomb. Our Guests Private Visit
  Queen Nefertari’s Tomb – Long before Cleopatra humbled the ruler of Rome, an Egyptian queen held power over the heart and soul of Ramses, Egypt’s greatest pharaoh. In the 12th century BC, a broken-hearted Ramses built a grand funerary tomb for Queen Nefertari, “the Beautiful one,” in the Valley of the Queens.
• VIP Meet & Greet At Cairo Airport
  Our representative greets you at the airport and whisks you to your hotel. Visa will be issued upon arrival at Cairo Airport (photos are not required).
  Egyptian Visa will be issued for a limited number of citizens such as: American, Australian, NZ, EU, Canadian, EU Singaporean and Japanese citizens,You are responsible for having your passport in order valid at least for 6 month beyond the date of your arrival in Cairo. Our local rep. meets with a sign that carries your name, and will be waiting for you with the prepaid visa stamps to proceed to the passports control to stamp your passports, then you claim your luggage, after you clear the passport and customs formalities and exiting the terminal, our local representative will escort you (private vehicle) to the hotel. Welcome fruit basket & Egyptian pastry awaits you in your room in Cairo upon arrival with our compliments

Not included:

• Tips.
• Trip interruption and cancellation insurance.
• Air fare from / to your home country
• Personal expenses, including excess baggage or shipping charges, beverages, and personal charges in hotels for laundry, telephone, or other services

Tour Cairo and cruise the Nile like
a Pharaoh on a Deluxe Dahabiya
This is a Private Tour – All in 12 days

Here’s the best of Egypt: a good look at Cairo and a one week Yacht Dahabiya cruise along the Nile including the Abu Simbel Ramses temples in Nubia, locally escorted. The Deluxe Dahabiyas are air conditioned. 

DAY 1: CAIRO – Thursday – Weekly in Cairo, year round
Our local representative will greet you at the airport and whisk you to your hotel. Visa may be issued upon arrival at Cairo Airport.

VIP Meet & Greet Upon arrival at Cairo Airport
Visa issued locally in Cairo (for a limited number of nationalities) no photos required. Our representative greets you at the airport and whisks you to your hotel. Visa will be issued upon arrival at Cairo Airport for a limited number of citizens such as: American, Australian, NZ, EU, Canadian, EU Singaporean and Japanese citizens. You are responsible for having your passport in order valid at least for 6 month beyond the date of your arrival in Cairo. The Airport VIP Service local representative will meet you with a sign that carries your name, and will be waiting for you with the prepaid visa stamps to proceed to the passports control to stamp your passports,  while you are enjoying your coffee at the VIP Lounge at the airport, the representative will be collecting your luggage, then walk you pass  the passport and customs formalities and exit the terminal, another local representative will escort you by private vehicle to the hotel. Welcome fruit basket & Egyptian pastry awaits you in your room with our compliments.

DAY 2: CAIRO – Friday (BL)
On your first full day in Egypt we show you the Egyptian Museum including the “Mummies Room”. Lunch is included at a charming local restaurant: Naguib Mahfouz or one of the restaurant at Hadaik El-Azhar, on to the Citadel of Saladin, and Mohammed Ali Mosque, made of alabaster. Conclude your tour with a walking tour of Khan El – Khalili Bazaar district.

Complimentary Dinner is included at a local home:
Meet the locals: This evening we’ll venture where few ordinary visitors ever tread… right into the homes of some of the people of Cairo! You’ll be invited to a family dinner, and while you enjoy wholesome home-cooked specialties, you’ll learn about and appreciate the outlook, aspirations, and way of life of your hosts. Be assured, as curious as you may be about your new friends, they’re sure to have questions about your own background. Once the ice is broken, you’ll enjoy a lively evening, and find that you have more in common than you ever suspected. Of course, if you prefer, you may enjoy a quiet evening with your travel companions by letting us know your preferences. You may wish to bring token gifts to exchange with the host family (T shirt, small souvenirs of your home town).

Day 3: Saturday – Cairo to Luxor – Board Your Deluxe Air-Conditioned Dahabiya (BLD)
Very early morning breakfast and transfer to Cairo Airport. Flight is included in our rate, in business class, tax included. Morning arrival at Luxor Airport where our local rep. will be meeting you with a sign, and escort you to your deluxe air conditioned Nile cruise dahabiya or yacht. Boarding Luxor (or Aswan) always on Saturdays.

Embarkation in Luxor for a relaxing week sailing the Nile on a luxuriously appointed Dahabiya. After lunch, excursion to the West Bank for visits to the burial places of the Pharaohs – the Valley of the Kings – where Howard Carter discovered the tomb of Tutankhamen in 1922. Continue to the adjacent Valley of the Queens to tour Queen Hatshepsut’s unique terraced temple and the Colossi of Memnon.

Overnight moored on the Nile banks of Luxor. Sample Deluxe Dahabiya: Luxury Sonesta Dahabiya, Luxury Armonia Dahabiya or similar.

Day 4: Sunday – Luxor – On board your Dahabiya Yacht Nile Cruise (BLD)
You will visit the magnificent temple complex of Amon-Ra at Karnak, with its vast hypostyle hall of 137 columns, followed by the imposing 28th Dynasty Luxor Temple.

Our Tour includes as well: Medinet Habu, the Ramesseum and Deir El Medinah, the first known “Workers Village” these were the true creative heroes who built the temples and tombs for the mighty Pharaohs of the Nile Kingdom.

Deir El Medinah is on Luxor’s west bank you get a totally different perspective on ancient Egyptian life, at the ancient workers’ settlement of Deir el-Medinah. While most of the imposing stone monuments and sites of Egypt honor the lives and after-lives of royalty, Deir el-Medinah gives us unique and surprising insights into the ordinary citizens who constructed and decorated the tombs.

Here we’ll see the excavated homes shared by laborers with their domestic animals. These quarters were surprisingly large, with three good-sized rooms, courtyard, kitchen, and even storage cellars. While ancient Egypt might not have been a workers’ paradise, we’ll see that artisans and builders were highly regarded in their community. We are proud to be the only operator to offer regular visits to this singular ancient settlement in its tour and cruise programs.

Overnight moored in Luxor. In the evening your guide will call on you for a horse-drawn carriage ride throughout Luxor and the water front.

Day 5: Monday – Luxor to Esna – Sailing The Nile On board your Yacht Nile Cruise (BLD)
Today will be a leisurely day. After breakfast, commence sailing to Esna where your Dahabiya will moor. This evening you may wish to enjoy dinner in Egyptian style, dressed in galabias (A Galabia will be delivered to your cabin with our compliments). The galabia is the flowing national costume. While you are on board the cruise, afternoon tea will be served daily on deck.

Day 6: Tuesday – Edfu – On board your Yacht Nile Cruise (BLD)
This morning you will sail to Edfu to visit the wonderfully preserved Temple of Edfu. Overnight on board as we will look for an island in the middle of the Nile where we moor.

Day 7: Wednesday – Kom Ombo – On board your Yacht Nile Cruise (BLD)
Today you will sail to Kom Ombo visit see the Ptolemaic temple dedicated to the crocodile god Sobek and the falcon-headed Horus, god of the morning sun. Overnight moored beside a Nile island.

Day 8: Thursday – Aswan – On board your Yacht Nile Cruise (BLD)
A leisurely day sailing to Aswan where the dahabiya moors overnight. In the evening you ‘ll enjoy Sound and Light show at Philae Temple.

Day 9: Friday – Aswan – Philae Temple – Isis All that Has Been: On board your Yacht Nile Cruise (BLD)
Today you will visit the Aswan High Dam (completed in 1971); the Old Dam (completed in 1902) and the ‘ unfinished obelisk’, lying in situ since the days of the Pharaohs. You will also visit the Philae Temple, dedicated to the goddess Isis, a structure rescued from the rising waters of Lake Nasser at the time of the High Dam’s construction.

The Island temple of Philae, dedicated to the Ancient Goddess ISIS: The Mystery of Isis

Two millennia ago the Mediterranean world was enthralled by the mystery of Isis: “I, Isis, am all that has been, that is or shall be; no mortal man hath ever seen me unveiled.”

Called Aset by the ancient Egyptians, the goddess was a Madonna in the Mediterranean tradition that stretches far, far back to the primitive Mother Goddess from Anatolia, home to some of the oldest human communities on earth.

Isis was the powerful and quick-witted protector of her son Horus, the Sun God. Ancient peoples throughout the Mediterranean regarded Isis and Horus as the perfect Madonna and Child. Another legend says she was also the mother of the fertility god Min who, judging from the depiction of him on temple walls, needed no help from Viagra!

In the afternoon we’ll have the opportunity to experience Egypt at its most authentic, as we sail the Nile in a graceful Felucca, the age-old sailing vessel of the river to visit Elephantine Island and the Botanical Garden. In the evening our local guide will call on you once again for a horse-drawn carriage ride throughout Aswan and the local souks.

Day 10: Saturday – Aswan – Abu Simbel – Fly back to Cairo (Breakfast and lunch box)
Breakfast aboard the dahabiya and check-out. We bid farewell to the crew, we switch transportation modes and head for Aswan Airport and your flight back to Abu Simbel.

Breakfast aboard the dahabiya and check-out. Fly over Lake Nasser, watching the sky lighten and the sacred sun rise above the horizon. We reach the great temples where your “Private guide”, Private driver and Private air-conditioned vehicle await you.

In the larger temple, colossal figures of Ramses are seated with the gods and attended by his queen and daughters. The smaller temple is dedicated to Queen Nefertari, who appears as Hathor, the goddess of love, joy and fertility, symbolized by the benevolent cow. We explore these fine temple, admiring their ancient aura and artistry, after which retire to a comfortable hotel for our lunch, and refreshments. Just as planeloads of visitors arrive to throng the temples we head for Abu Simbel Airport and fly back to Cairo, air fare is always included in economy class with all taxes. In Cairo, we’ll assist of course with your transfer to your hotel.

Day 11: Sunday – Cairo (BL)
Today we drive to the edge of the Sahara and Giza: Tour includes the Sphinx, the Pyramids of Giza, complimentary short Camel ride is included, to allow you a photo opp with the Pyramids in the background. Time is limited, so please do not go for what the camel driver tries to convince you, i.e. go for a long ride around the Pyramids. Lunch is included at the Mena House, in the afternoon we press on to Memphis, Sakkara, touring the Serapeum, the Nobles Tombs, the small yet charming Imhotep Museum and the Step Pyramid. We return to your hotel late afternoon.

Later, you’ll have the option to accept our invitation to a complimentary oriental dance workshop, where you’ll discover that “belly dancing” is not just a spectacle, but an art form with a long tradition. Women will have an opportunity to practice the sinuous and graceful movements, while men will learn, perhaps unexpectedly, that they have a leading role.

DAY 12: CAIRO/ Departure – Monday (B)
After breakfast, our representative escorts you to the airport for your homeward flight. Bon Voyage!

Rate Includes:

• Dahabiya Sailing in one of the categories listed as per your choice:
  • Ultra Deluxe: Sonesta Dahabiya Yacht Nile Cruise with all meals on board as listed, (or similar ultra deluxe dahabiyas based on availability at the time of booking).
  • Deluxe: Rihana Dahabiya, Yasmina or Haya Dahabiya.
• Dahabiya Nile cruise shore excursions with all the guided sightseeing including all entrance fees, all as per itinerary.
• Private Egyptologist and private car/driver for Cairo and Abu Simbel tours as listed including all entrance fees.
• All meals on board the DELUXE Felucca / Yacht / Dahabiya Nile cruise: Pre set meals as listed including B = Breakfast, (or cB, Continental Breakfast), L = Lunch, D = Dinner.
• Tea/ coffee and afternoon tea while on board the Deluxe Nile Cruise.
• All airfares within Egypt in Business class including tax as listed.
• Private air conditioned vehicle and private chauffeur for all transfers within Egypt.
• Hotel accommodation with tax & service charges.
• Accommodation in a private cabin: Double or single on board The Dahabiya /Yacht Nile Cruise.
• VIP Meet & Greet At Cairo Airport
  Visa issued locally in Cairo (for a limited number of nationalities) no photos required. Our representative greets you at the airport and whisks you to your hotel. Visa will be issued upon arrival at Cairo Airport for a limited number of citizens such as: American, Australian, NZ, EU, Canadian, EU Singaporean and Japanese citizens. You are responsible for having your passport in order valid at least for 6 month beyond the date of your arrival in Cairo. The Airport VIP Service representative meets you with a sign that carries your name, and will be waiting for you with the prepaid visa stamps to proceed to the passports control to stamp your passports, the local representative will  claim your luggage while you enjoy coffee at the VIP Lounge, then walk with  you pass the passport and customs formalities and exiting the terminal, another local representative will escort you (private vehicle) to the hotel. Welcome fruit basket & Egyptian pastry awaits you in your room in Cairo upon arrival with our compliments.

Rate Does Not Include:

• Tips.
• Travel Insurance
• International air fare from / to your home country.

• Suite Accommodation On Board Your Luxury Dahabiya: Sonesta Dahabiya or similar
• Private Guide – Private Air-Conditioned Vehicle – Private Chauffeur for all the Cruise Shore Excursions.
• The Four Seasons Hotel – Nile View room.
• Flying Business Class within Egypt: (Aswan -Abu Simbel flights (plane configuration) are only in economy class).

Rates are per person in USD $
Rate per person in double:	$ 17,160.00
Rate per person in single:	$ 26,250.00
No Triple Occupancy

Peak Season: Easter (2 weeks), Christmas and New Year (2 weeks): Please add 20% to any of the listed rates

Ultra Deluxe Dahabiya:

• The Four Seasons Hotel – Nile View room. Flying Business Class within Egypt.
• Sonesta Dahabiya, Armonia Dahabiya or similar

Rates are per person in USD $
Rate per person in double:	$ 7,010.00
Rate per person in single:	$ 9,130.00
No Triple Occupancy

Peak Season: Easter (2 weeks), Christmas and New Year (2 weeks): Please add 20% to any of the listed rates

Ultra Deluxe Dahabiya:

• Cairo Hotels: Cairo Marriott, JW Marriott, Cairo Conrad, Intercontinental Hotels in Cairo or similar
• Sonesta Dahabiya, Armonia Dahabiya or similar

Rates are per person in USD $
Rate per person in double:	$ 5245.00
Rate per person in single:	$ 7450.00
No Triple Occupancy

Peak Season: Easter season (2 weeks), Christmas and New Year season (2 weeks): Please add: 20% to the listed rates.

 

Click here for the Sonesta Dahabiya details, combines comfort and beauty in a most inspiring way, promising a remarkable, rewarding cruise experience of legendary hospitality.

A Grand 12 Days Vacation
in Egypt with the Pyramids, Abu Simbel Temples
And an 8 day Nile Cruise – Boarding Aswan

See the Pyramids,the Sphinx, the timeless temples along the Nile in Luxury fit for a Pharaoh. Meet the locals: Enjoy a home hosted meal. Tour starts weekly in Cairo, year round. How would you like to cruise the Nile the way the Pharaoh and Cleopatra did? These graceful boats will allow you to cruise the great river in a stately Pharaonic style. You will visit Cairo, all of Upper Egypt’s top sights, and gives you the chance to see the timeless Nile as adventurers have seen it throughout the ages.

DAY 1 – CAIRO: Arrive weekly (year round) on a Wednesday or Thursday:
Upon arrival, our local rep. will escort you to your comfortable hotel. Hilton, Hyatt or Sheraton. All transfers in Egypt are on a private basis. Private air conditioned vehicle, private chauffeur. Visa may be issued upon arrival at Cairo Airport.

Visa may be issued upon arrival at Cairo Airport.
VIP Meet & Greet Upon arrival at Cairo Airport?Visa issued locally in Cairo (for a limited number of nationalities) no photos required. Our representative greets you at the airport and whisks you to your hotel. Visa will be issued upon arrival at Cairo Airport for a limited number of citizens such as: American, Australian, NZ, EU, Canadian, EU Singaporean and Japanese citizens. You are responsible for having your passport in order valid at least for 6 month beyond the date of your arrival in Cairo. Our local rep. will meet you with a sign that carries your name, and will be waiting for you with the prepaid visa stamps to proceed to the passports control to stamp your passports and then you claim your luggage. After you clear the passport and customs formalities and exit the terminal, our local representative will escort you by private vehicle to the hotel. Welcome fruit basket & Egyptian pastry awaits you in your room with our compliments.

Sample Deluxe Hotels: Ramses Hilton, Cairo Sheraton, Sonesta, Cairo Marriott, Cairo Conrad, Semiramis InterContinental Hotel or similar.

DAY 2 – CAIRO and GIZA – Home Hosted Dinner – Thursday (BLD)
Today we see Cairo’s major sights: the Egyptian Museum, including the Mummies Room. Lunch at the Mena House. In the afternoon we see Giza’s major sights: Giza Pyramids, and the mighty Sphinx. All tours in Cairo are on a private basis. Private air conditioned vehicle, private chauffeur.

Complimentary Dinner is included at a local home:
Meet the locals: This evening we’ll venture where few ordinary visitors ever tread… right into the homes of some of the people of Cairo! You’ll be invited to a family dinner, and while you enjoy wholesome home-cooked specialties, you’ll learn about and appreciate the outlook, aspirations, and way of life of your hosts. Be assured, as curious as you may be about your new friends, they’re sure to have questions about your own background. Once the ice is broken, you’ll enjoy a lively evening, and find that you have more in common than you ever suspected. Of course, if you prefer, you may enjoy a quiet evening with your travel companions by letting us know your preferences. You may wish to bring token gifts to exchange with the host family (T shirt, small souvenirs of your home town).

DAY 3 -Aswan – Board Your Cruise (or Boarding in LUXOR) – Friday (BLD)
Morning flight to Aswan, we’ll escort you to your Nile cruises. Check- in is at noon, if/when the domestic flight confirmation dictates an early morning arrival, your cabin may not be ready before noon, yet all the public facilities on board are at your disposal. Complimentary welcome fruit basket awaits you in your cabin.

Get ready for the tour of Aswan Dam, the Unfinished Obelisk, and Philae Temple, dedicated to the Ancient Goddess ISIS.

The Mystery of Isis. Two millennia ago the Mediterranean world was enthralled by the mystery of Isis: “I, Isis, am all that has been, that is or shall be; no mortal man hath ever seen me unveiled.”

Called Aset by the ancient Egyptians, the goddess was a Madonna in the Mediterranean tradition that stretches far, far back to the primitive Mother Goddess from Anatolia, home to some of the oldest human communities on earth.

Isis was the powerful and quick-witted protector of her son Horus, the Sun God. Ancient peoples throughout the Mediterranean regarded Isis and Horus as the perfect Madonna and Child. Another legend says she was also the mother of the fertility god Min who, judging from the depiction of him on temple walls, needed no help from Viagra!

Because of her wisdom and skill at protection, she was admired as a good magician capable of healing the sick and protecting the dead in their journey to the Underworld.

Isis is portrayed regally, as a queen seated on a throne (which may be the meaning of her name), often holding her son Horus as a baby. Other images show her with broad, magnificent gilded wings able to protect the world. Isis, the great Mother Goddess. Come explore her mystery in timeless Egypt when you Travel in Style!

We head back for our lunch aboard. Enjoy an afternoon on board as we sail north.

DAY 4 – EDFU -On Board Your Nile Cruise – Saturday (BLD)
In Edfu, we board horse-drawn carriages for the ride to the Temple of Horus. The best preserved temple in Egypt. Returning to our ship, we set sail for Aswan. A complimentary Galabya will be provided that you may wish to try on for the evening when there’s a jolly galabia party aboard.

DAY 5 – Full day on board your cruise – Sunday (cBLD)
Enjoy a relaxing full day on board your ship as we set sail for Luxor. Afternoon tea is always served on the sundeck.

DAY 6 – Luxor – On Board Your Nile Cruise -Monday (BLD)
Today we tour the Valley of the Kings, including King Tut’s tomb, Valley of the Queens, Queen Hatshepsut’s Temple and the Colossi of Memnon. After lunch on to the Gigantic Temple of Karnak & the great temple of Luxor, then we see the most recent discoveries housed in the relatively new & charming Luxor Museum. Return to our Nile cruiser in time for afternoon tea. Evening Sound & Light show at Karnak Temple.

DAY 7 – Full Day Cruising – On Board Your Nile Cruise -Tuesday (BLD)
Enjoy scenery that changed little since Biblical time as we cruise and pass through Esna Locks, in our way to Kom Ombo where we dock for the night.

DAY 8- KOM OMBO -On Board Your Nile Cruise – Wednesday (BLD)
We explore the twin Temples of Haroeris, the Sun God, and Sobek, the Crocodile God, at Kom Ombo,. Returning to our ship in time for tea. We set sail for Aswan.

DAY 9 -Abu Simbel- ASWAN & CAMEL CARAVAN – Nile Cruise Thursday (BLD)
Morning flight to Abu Simbel. Air fare is included in economy class, tax included. All transfers are on a private basis. In Abu Simbel: your private air-conditioned vehicle, private chauffeur and private guide will be waiting for you at the airport.
The larger temple is dedicated to Ramses the Great, colossal figures of Ramses are seated with the gods and attended by his queen and daughters. The smaller temple is dedicated to Queen Nefertari, who appears as Hathor, the goddess of love, joy and fertility, symbolized by the benevolent cow. We explore these fine temple, admiring their ancient aura and artistry, after which we fly back to Aswan Airport and on to tour of Aswan Dam, the Unfinished Obelisk,, and Philae Temple,dedicated to the Ancient Goddess ISIS. We head back for our lunch aboard.

In the afternoon we board a graceful felucca and cruise among the islands of the Nile. Be our guest if you wish on a complimentary short camel caravan to a near by Nubian Village for tea with the locals. Return to the ship in time for your afternoon tea. In the evening, your guide will call on you for a horse-drawn carriage ride throughout Aswan souks and waterfront.

DAY 10 – Cairo – Friday (BD)
After breakfast, check-out. If you, fly back to Cairo and your hotel. Dinner is included at La Bodega restaurant, or Abu El-Sid.

DAY 11 – CAIRO – The Newly restored Al-Muizz Street – Saturday (BL)
Today we enjoy a walking tour of the newly restored Al-Muezz street, feel free to discuss with your guide your preference as you explore this true Medieval Cairo gem: All entrance fees are included for all the monuments that would fit in before sunset. Lunch is included and served at a charming local restaurant.

Partial list of the historical monuments that may be visited:

• Bab al-Futuh (AD 1087). Bab Zuwayla (AD 1092).
• Al-Hakim Mosque (AD 990 and later).
• Zawyat Abul-Kheir al-Kelibati.
• Al-Silihdar Complex (mosque, caravansary and school) (AD 1837).
• The Mustafa Jaafar Mansion.
• Al-Aqmar Mosque.
• The Katkhuda Sabeel/Kuttab (caravansary and school).
• Amir Bashtak Palace.
• Al-Kamileya School.
• Sultan al-Zahir Barquq Funerary Complex.
• The Sabeel/Kuttab of Khassru Pasha.
• The Madrasa of Baybars al Bunduqdari.
• Al-Ashrafiya School.
• The Sabeel/Wekala of Naffissa al-Baydha.
• Sultan al-Mu’aid Mosque.
• The Hammam (bath) of Sultan al-Ashraf Inal.
• Complex of Salih Najm al Din Ayyub.
• The Sabeel of Mohammad Ali – Aqqadeen.
• The Sabeel of Mohammad Ali – Nahasseen.
• Al-Fakahani Mosque.
• Madrassa of al-Nassir ibn Qalawun.
• Al-Ghuri Complex.
• The Sultan al-Mansur Qalawun Complex
• Photo Gallery.

DAY 12 – Departure – Sunday (B)
Our local rep. escorts you to the airport for your flight home. Bon Voyage!

Deluxe rate per person in USD $:
	Category I	Category II	Category III
Triple	$ 3060	$ 4400	$ 7200
Double	$ 3100	$ 4715	$ 7340
Single	$ 4610	$ 5880	$ 9450

Dec 20 – Jan 5 and Easter Week: Please add 15% holiday supplement. (This supplement includes the New Year’s Gala, no credit/refund if you do not attend.)

Children discount: 25 % discount on the double rate. Child must be 10 years or younger at the time of travel. Children discount applies when sharing with 2 adults. No children discount applies for Category III.

Deluxe Nile Cruise:

• M/S Nile Vision
• M/S Adonis
• M/S Mojito
• M/S Monaco
• M/S Monte Carlo

Deluxe Hotels:

• Hilton
• Sheraton
• Sonesta, or similar

Sample Deluxe Hotels:

• Grand Hyatt
• Cairo Marriott
• J. W. Marriott Cairo
• Cairo Conrad, or Similar

Sample of the The Ultra Deluxe Nile Cruise:

• The Ultra deluxe M/S Tuya, M/S TiYi
• The all suites M/S Amarco
• The Movenpick Royal Lotus or the Movenpick MS Radamis II
• All the rooms with private balconieson the Sonesta Moon Goddess

Sample Deluxe Hotels:

• Four Seasons Nile Plaza
• Four Seasons First Residence
• or the Mena House (mix & match if you wish)

Sample of the The Ultra Deluxe Nile Cruise:

• Oberoi Zahra Deluxe Nile Cruiser
• Sonesta Star Goddess (Beethoven Suite)
• Private guide / egyptologist in Cairo and on board the Nile cruise.

---

YOUR TOUR INCLUDES:

• Egyptian domestic airfares as described in the itinerary in ” Y ” class. Complimentary upgrade to business class when available, with the purchase of the category II and III.
• All airport transfers are on a private basis in Egypt.
• Hotel accommodations in the category you select, including taxes.
• Pre set-menu (table d’hôte) meals as indicated in the itinerary above.
• Nile cruise based on your category selection, with all shore excursions and meals.
• Complimentary welcome drink upon arrival on board the Nile Cruise.
• Complimentary welcome fruit basket on board the Nile Cruise.
• Large bottle of water (per person) delivered to you cabin daily while you are on board the Nile Cruise.
• Tea or coffee and bottled water with each / every meal while you are on board the Nile Cruise.
• Guided sightseeing by air-conditioned motorcoach, including all admissions fees. All tours in Cairo are on a private basis. Private air conditioned vehicle, private chauffeur.
• VIP Arrival Hall At Cairo Airport
  Our representative greets you at the airport and whisks you to your hotel. Visa will be issued upon arrival at Cairo Airport (photos are not required) Visa will be issued for a limited number of citizens such as: American, Australian, NZ, EU, Canadian, EU Singaporean and Japanese citizens,You are responsible for having your passport in order valid at least for 6 month beyond the date of your arrival in Cairo. Our local rep. meets with a sign that carries your name, and will be waiting for you with the prepaid visa stamps to proceed to the passports control to stamp your passports, then you claim your luggage, after you clear the passport and customs formalities and exiting the terminal, our local representative will escort you (private vehicle) to the hotel. Welcome fruit basket & Egyptian pastry awaits you in your room in Cairo upon arrival with our compliments

Not included:

• Insurance
• Any charges of personal nature such as phone calls, dry clean etc.
• International air fare from / to your home country.
• Tips

Lightweight comfortable & casual clothing. Swimsuits, sun hat. Dining room dress code is casual for breakfast & lunch, but smart casual for dinner. All ships are fully air conditioned.

The Oberoi Zahra is the only luxury cruiser on the Nile with four therapy rooms. Each therapy room features a private shower and steam room. Uninterrupted views of the Nile, rejuvenating treatments and the finest natural products create the perfect experience. Rates do not include spa treatments.

He was the fourth Fatimid Caliph in Tunisia, the first in Egypt and the 14th Imam of the Ismaili branch of Shi’ism. He ruled from AD 953 to AD 975 during which he sent his Commander Jawhar al-Siqqily to conquer Egypt.

After having wrenched the country out of Abbasid hands, Al-Siqqily built a new capital, al-Qahira (Cairo), in which he established the Eastern Palace and asked al-Muizz to preside at the opening ceremony.

Al-Muizz was well-read in numerous languages, and well-informed in science and literature. He knew how to administer the affairs of the state and was able to build a strong army, which united Morocco and extended Fatimid influence as far as southern Italy.

An 11-Day Private Tour including Cairo and a
Deluxe one week Dahabiya Nile cruise

Here’s the best of Egypt: a good look at Cairo and a one week Yacht Dahabiya cruise along the Nile including the Abu Simbel Ramses temples in Nubia, locally escorted. The Deluxe Dahabiyas are air conditioned. 

DAY 1: CAIRO Thursday – Weekly in Cairo, year round
Our local representative greets you at the airport and whisks you to your hotel.

VIP Meet & Greet Service at Cairo Airport.
Visa issued locally in Cairo (for a limited number of nationalities) no photos required. Our representative greets you at the airport and whisks you to your hotel. Visa will be issued upon arrival at Cairo Airport for a limited number of citizens such as: American, Australian, NZ, EU, Canadian, EU Singaporean and Japanese citizens. You are responsible for having your passport in order valid at least for 6 month beyond the date of your arrival in Cairo. Our local rep. will meet you with a sign that carries your name, and will be waiting for you with the prepaid visa stamps to proceed to the passports control to stamp your passports and then you claim your luggage. After you clear the passport and customs formalities and exit the terminal, our local representative will escort you by private vehicle to the hotel. Welcome fruit basket & Egyptian pastry awaits you in your room with our compliments.

DAY 2: CAIRO – Friday (BLD)
On your first full day in Egypt we show you the Egyptian Museum including the ” Mummies Room”, then off to Giza to tour the Sphinx and the Pyramids of Giza (complimentary short camel ride is included) to allow you a photo with the Pyramids in the background. Time is limited, so please do not go for what the camel driver tries to convince you, i.e. go for a long ride around the Pyramids. Lunch is included at a local restaurant: Naguib Mahfouz restaurant or similar. On to the Citadel of Saladin, and Mohammed Ali Mosque, made of alabaster.

Complimentary Dinner is included at a local home:
Meet the locals: This evening we’ll venture where few ordinary visitors ever tread… right into the homes of some of the people of Cairo! You’ll be invited to a family dinner, and while you enjoy wholesome home-cooked specialties, you’ll learn about and appreciate the outlook, aspirations, and way of life of your hosts. Be assured, as curious as you may be about your new friends, they’re sure to have questions about your own background. Once the ice is broken, you’ll enjoy a lively evening, and find that you have more in common than you ever suspected. Of course, if you prefer, you may enjoy a quiet evening with your travel companions by letting us know your preferences. You may wish to bring token gifts to exchange with the host family (T shirt, small souvenirs of your home town). For a more balanced and relaxed stay in Cairo, add one more day: Please click here

Day 3: Saturday – Cairo to Luxor and board your deluxe air conditioned Dahabiya:
Very early morning breakfast and transfer to Cairo Airport. Flight is included in our rate, in economy class, tax included. Morning arrival at Luxor. We’ll meet you at the airport, and escort you to your deluxe air conditioned Nile cruise yacht or dahabiya. Board Luxor (or Aswan).

Embarkation in Luxor for a relaxing week sailing the Nile on a luxuriously appointed Dahabiya.

After lunch, excursion to the West Bank for visits to the burial places of the Pharaohs – the Valley of the Kings – where Howard Carter discovered the tomb of Tutankhamen in 1922. Continue to the adjacent Valley of the Queens, and the Colossi of Memnon. We conclude our day with a tour of the small yet charming Luxor Museum. Evening Sound and Light show at Karnak Temples. Overnight moored on the Nile banks of Luxor. Sample Deluxe Felucca / Dahabiya: Sonesta Dahabiya or similar.

Day 4: Sunday – Luxor – On board your Yacht Nile Cruise
You will visit the magnificent temple complex of Amon-Ra at Karnak, with its vast hypostyle hall of 137 columns, followed by the imposing 28th Dynasty Luxor Temple.

Karnak Temple time-lapse. Video by TravelingSUZUKI.

Our Tour includes as well: Medinet Habu, the Ramesseum and Deir El Medinah, the first known “Workers Village” these were the true creative heroes who built the temples and tombs for the mighty Pharaohs of the Nile Kingdom.

Deir El Medinah is on Luxor’s west bank you get a totally different perspective on ancient Egyptian life, at the ancient workers’ settlement of Deir el-Medinah. While most of the imposing stone monuments and sites of Egypt honor the lives and after-lives of royalty, Deir el-Medinah gives us unique and surprising insights into the ordinary citizens who constructed and decorated the tombs.

Here we’ll see the excavated homes shared by laborers with their domestic animals. These quarters were surprisingly large, with three good-sized rooms, courtyard, kitchen, and even storage cellars. While ancient Egypt might not have been a workers’ paradise, we’ll see that artisans and builders were highly regarded in their community. We are proud to be the only operator to offer regular visits to this singular ancient settlement in its tour and cruise programs.

Overnight moored in Luxor. In the evening your guide will call on you for a horse-drawn carriage ride throughout Luxor and the water front.

Day 5: Monday – Luxor to Esna – Tour Esna Temple – On board your Yacht Nile Cruise
Today will be a leisurely day. After breakfast, commence sailing to Esna where your Dahabiya will moor, we have included a private guide for our guests to tour Esna Temple.

Day 6: Tuesday – Edfu – On board your Yacht Nile Cruise
This morning you will sail to Edfu to visit the wonderfully preserved Temple of Edfu. Overnight on board as we will look for an island in the middle of the Nile where we moor. On board the Dahabiya cruise, you will be part of an English speaking small group.

Day 7: Wednesday – Kom Ombo – On board your Yacht Nile Cruise
Today you will sail to Kom Ombo visit see the Ptolemaic temple dedicated to the crocodile god Sobek and the falcon-headed Horus, god of the morning sun. Overnight moored beside a Nile island. On board the Dahabiya cruise, you will be part of an English speaking small group.

Day 8: Thursday – Aswan – On board your Yacht Nile Cruise
A leisurely day sailing to Aswan where the dahabiya moors overnight. Evening horse-drawn carriage ride to tour Aswan souks and water front.

Day 9: Friday – Aswan – On board your Yacht Nile Cruise
Today you will visit the Aswan High Dam (completed in 1971); the Old Dam (completed in 1902) and the’ unfinished obelisk’, lying in situ since the days of the pharaohs. You will also visit the Philae Temple, dedicated to the goddess Isis, a structure rescued from the rising waters of Lake Nasser at the time of the High Dam’s construction. Evening Sound and Light show at Philae Temple.

Day 10: Saturday – Aswan – Abu Simbel – Fly back to Cairo
Breakfast aboard the dahabiya and check-out. We bid farewell to the crew, we switch transportation modes and head for Aswan Airport and your flight to Abu Simbel then back to Cairo and your hotel. Air fare is always included within Egypt, economy class, tax included. Hotels in Cairo: City Stars Inter.continental, Cairo Conrad or Grand Hyatt. Sonesta Hotel, J. W. Marriott or similar.

Abu Simbel (Breakfast and lunch box): Private guide in Abu Simbel. Private driver. Private air-conditioned vehicle. Breakfast aboard the dahabiya and check-out. Fly over Lake Nasser, watching the sky lighten and the sacred sun rise above the horizon. We reach the great temples where your “Private guide”, Private driver and Private air-conditioned vehicle await you. In the larger temple, colossal figures of Ramses are seated with the gods and attended by his queen and daughters. The smaller temple is dedicated to Queen Nefertari, who appears as Hathor, the goddess of love, joy and fertility, symbolized by the benevolent cow. We explore these fine temple, admiring their ancient aura and artistry, after which retire to a comfortable hotel for our lunch, and refreshments. Just as planeloads of visitors arrive to throng the temples we head for Abu Simbel Airport and fly back to Cairo, air fare is always included with all taxes. In Cairo, we’ll assist with your transfer to your hotel

DAY 11: CAIRO/ Departure – Sunday (B)
Our representative escorts you to the airport for your homeward flight. Bon Voyage.

Rate Includes:

• Dahabiya Nile cruise shore excursions with all the guided sightseeing including all entrance fees, all as per itinerary
• Private Egyptologist and private car/driver for Cairo and Abu Simbel tours as listed including all entrance fees and lunch.
• All meals on board the DELUXE Felucca / Yacht / Dahabiya Nile cruise: Pre set meals as listed including B = Breakfast, (or cB, Continental Breakfast), L = Lunch, D = Dinner
• Tea/ coffle and afternoon tea while on board the Deluxe Nile Cruise
• All airfares within Egypt in Business  class including tax as listed.
• Private air conditioned car /driver for all transfers within Egypt.
• Deluxe hotel accommodation with tax & service charges.
• Accommodation in a private cabin: Double or single on board The Dahabiya / Felucca / Yacht Nile Cruise with all meals and shore excursions.
• A complimentary home hosted family dinner in Cairo.
• VIP Meet & Greet At Cairo Airport
  Our representative greets you at the airport and whisks you to your hotel. Visa will be issued upon arrival at Cairo Airport (photos are not required).
• Egyptian Visa will be issued for a limited number of citizens such as: American, Australian, NZ, EU, Canadian, EU Singaporean and Japanese citizens. You are responsible for having your passport in order valid at least for 6 month beyond the date of your arrival in Cairo. The Airport VIP Service representative meets with a sign that carries your name, and will be waiting for you with the prepaid visa stamps to proceed to the passports control to stamp your passports, then our local representative will  claim your luggage while you enjoy coffee at the VIP Lounge, then walk with  you pass the passport and customs formalities and exiting the terminal, another local representative will escort you (private vehicle) to the hotel. Welcome fruit basket & Egyptian pastry awaits you in your room in Cairo upon arrival with our compliments.

Rate Does Not Includes:

• Tips.
• Travel Insurance
• International air fare from / to your home country.

• Suite Accommodation On Board Your Luxury Dahabiya: Sonesta Dahabiya (Suite) or similar
• Private Guide – Private Air-Conditioned Vehicle – Private Chauffeur for all the Cruise Shore Excursions.
• The Four Seasons Hotel – Nile View room.
• Flying Business Class within Egypt (Aswan – Abu Simbel flights (plane configuration) are only in economy class).

Rates are per person in USD $
Rate per person in double:	$16,920.00
Rate per person in single:	$25,800.00
No triple occupancy

Peak Season: Easter (2 weeks), Christmas and New Year (2 weeks): Please add 20% to any of the listed rates.

Ultra Deluxe Dahabiya:

• The Four Seasons Hotel – Nile View room. Flying Business Class within Egypt.
• Sonesta Dahabiya, Armonia Dahabiya or similar.
• Flying Business Class within Egypt (Aswan – Abu Simbel flights (plane configuration) are only in economy class).

Rates are per person in USD $
Rate per person in double:	$6,910.00
Rate per person in single:	$8,940.00
No Triple Occupancy

Peak Season: Easter (2 weeks), Christmas and New Year (2 weeks): Please add 20% to any of the listed rates.

Ultra Deluxe Dahabiya:

• Cairo Hotels: Cairo Marriott, JW Marriott, Cairo Conrad, Intercontinental Hotels in Cairo or similar
• Sonesta Dahabiya, Armonia Dahabiya or similar.
• Flying Business Class within Egypt (Aswan – Abu Simbel flights (plane configuration) are only in economy class).

Rates are per person in USD $
Rate per person in double:	$ 5105.00
Rate per person in single:	$ 7240.00
No Triple Occupancy

Peak Season: Easter season (2 weeks), Christmas and New Year season (2 weeks): Please add: 20% to the listed rates.

Photo by Argenberg

An 11-Day Adventure
Weekly departures, locally escorted

Join us for a spiritual encounter in Egypt, where tradition, history, powerful sites, and mystic energy unite as nowhere else.

On this eleven-day experience, we will follow the Nile, from Cairo to Aswan. We will transcend the ordinary, to become active participants in sacraments at the ancient places. We will draw upon the energy of the pyramids in the balancing ritual at Sakkara; experience the Opening of the Third Eye before the Sphinx itself at Giza; and journey in pilgrimage to Isis at the Temple of the Root Chakra. We will gaze in awe at the site of the celebrated Zodiac, at Denderah, and undergo a healing ritual at the temple of Horus. And we will be among the privileged to enter the village of the ancient workers who built the Pharaohs palaces, temples & tombs.

Throughout, we will rediscover the journeys of the soul and the transcendence of received limits of the ancients, and in so doing, enhance and enrich our personal journeys.

Uniquely, we will be guided not by visitors from afar, but by an Egyptian spiritual practitioner. Since his /her childhood in the very shadow of the pyramids at Giza, our pool of guides that specialize in Spiritual Tours, each and every one of them has been fascinated by their mysteries. Their formal training in Egyptology was only the start of their discovery of ancient wisdom and secrets.

DAY 1 – USA – Friday – Monthly Departure
Tour leaves from the USA on the first Friday of each month
We take off from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, bound for our encounter with ancient Egypt. For West Coast passengers (San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, San Diego) please add: $ 300, British Airways, Lufthansa, Swiss or KLM. Please deduct $500 per person if/when you handle your own air travel arrangements.

DAY 2 – CAIRO- Saturday
On arrival, our local rep. will escort you to your comfortable hotel. Our local representative greets you at the airport and whisks you to your hotel. Visa may be issued upon arrival at Cairo Airport.

VIP Meet & Greet
Upon arrival at Cairo Airport, visa issued locally in Cairo (for a limited number of nationalities) no photos required. Our representative greets you at the airport and whisks you to your hotel. Visa will be issued upon arrival at Cairo Airport for a limited number of citizens such as: American, Australian, NZ, EU, Canadian, EU Singaporean and Japanese citizens. You are responsible for having your passport in order valid at least for 6 month beyond the date of your arrival in Cairo. Our local rep. will meet you with a sign that carries your name, and will be waiting for you with the prepaid visa stamps to proceed to the passports control to stamp your passports and then you claim your luggage. After you clear the passport and customs formalities and exit the terminal, our local representative will escort you by private vehicle to the hotel. Welcome fruit basket & Egyptian pastry awaits you in your room with our compliments.

DAY 3 – CAIRO – Sunday (BL) SAKKARA–THE BALANCING RITUAL
We leave Cairo in the morning, and journey into the desert to Sakkara, known for the unique Step Pyramid of Zoser. We will learn how the ancients sited their structures to project power. We will then actually experience for ourselves the rite of the balancing of energy, followed by the Reunion with the Sun. Lunch will be taken at a delightful rest house. Afterwards, a fortune teller will delve into our destinies by reading our palms and our coffee grounds. Later, we’ll return to bustling Cairo to view the wonders of the Egyptian Museum, with its mummies of illustrious pharaohs–including Rameses the Great–along with statuary, and a treasury of gems and precious metals.

Later, you’ll have the option to accept our invitation to a complimentary oriental dance workshop, where you’ll discover that “belly dancing” is not just a spectacle, but an art form with a long tradition. Women will have an opportunity to practice the sinuous and graceful movements, while men will learn, perhaps unexpectedly, that they have a leading role. The evening will be yours to explore Cairo on your own, perhaps to take a light dinner by the Nile, or to delve into the labyrinthine bazaar of Khan el-Kahlili.

DAY 4 – CAIRO, THIRD EYE OF THE SPHINX, FAMILY HOSPITALITY (BLD) Monday
This morning, we’ll motor to the edge of the desert, to the Pyramids and the Sphinx at Giza. We will delve into altered perceptions and realities, as we come to understand how the ancients aligned these great structures to maximize not only visual impressions, but projection of energy. While most visitors only imagine the ceremonies of the ancients at Giza, we will become active participants. In Rebirthing, we focus our energies on renewal. In the Opening of the Third Eye – before the Sphinx itself – we will discover the path to purer sight. Our lunch will be taken at a charming local restaurant, after which we’ll return to Cairo.

For our evening meal, we have arranged an extraordinary opportunity to enter where ordinary tourists never tread… into the home of Egyptians! You’ll be invited to dinner by a Cairo family, and while you enjoy wholesome home-cooked specialties, you’ll learn about and appreciate the outlook, aspirations, and way of life of your hosts. Be assured, as curious as you may be about your new friends, they’re sure to have questions about your own background. Once the ice is broken, you’ll enjoy a lively evening, and find that you have more in common than you ever suspected. The encounter is sure to be among your most treasured memories of Egypt.

DAY 5 – CAIRO, ASWAN, ABU SIMBEL (B) Tuesday
We’ll get an early start after breakfast for an ambitious day. We’ll fly south to Aswan, in Upper Egypt, to be met by our motor coach. Immediately, we’ll proceed to one of the wonders of the Ancient World: Abu Simbel. Our visit is planned to provide maximum enrichment of your experience. We will motor along the shore of Lake Nasser as the sky lightens, and reach the great temples just when the sun casts a golden cast perfect for photographs. The world watched in awe as the temples were saved from the rising waters of the Nile when the High Dam at Aswan was inaugurated; we will gaze in awe as well at their majesty, and experience their lasting power. (Click here to read more about Abu Simbel)

A marvel of both civil and sacred engineering, the imposing temple of Rameses the Great marked the south most reaches of the dominion of the Pharaohs. We will learn how in ancient times – and still today – the sun penetrated to the Holy of Holies on precisely two occasions each year, to illuminate the stone figures of Rameses and Queen Nefertari. We’ll explore the temples both within and without, to fully appreciate their aura, artistry, and power. After a break for refreshments, we’ll resume our journey, to reach Aswan in the afternoon. There, we’ll experience of the Nile and its rocky isles in a timeless manner, aboard a felucca, the graceful sailing craft that appears today much as it does on the walls of ancient tombs.

DAY 6 – ASWAN (B) Wednesday
This morning, we set out upon the waters of Lake Nasser to the Temple of Philae, known to many as the Temple of the Root Chakra, the balance of male and female energy. This island shrine, built in the 30th Dynasty, honors the goddess Isis, the embodiment of fertility and motherhood. Wed to her brother Osiris, she bore the god of daylight, falcon-headed Horus. Here we will celebrate a Pilgrimage to Isis, guided by our Egyptian spiritual leader. Later, we’ll continue to the High Dam, a modern wonder in this ancient land, and at an ancient granite quarry, we’ll view the Unfinished Obelisk.

DAY 7 – KOM OMBO: ANCIENT PRIESTS AND PHYSICIANS, EDFU, LUXOR (BL) Thursday
We’ll depart Aswan after breakfast, heading overland to the north, following the course of the Nile. Our first goal is Kom Ombo, the twin temple famed as the Shrine of Ancient Priests and Physicians. Kom Ombo honors Sobek, the ancient deity with the head of a crocodile, as well as Horus, god of daylight. Here, we will sustain a healing ritual. Later, we’ll break for our box lunch, and then continue our route. At Edfu, we’ll enter the Temple of Horus, with its massive and finely decorated bastion. Known as the Temple of the Sexual Chakra, it was the site of an annual encounter between Horus and his consort, Hathor, always on the new moon. By evening, we’ll be welcomed at our hotel in Luxor.

DAY 8 – LUXOR, TEMPLE OF MAN (B)
We set out early today to the massive Temple of Karnak, arriving in time to see the first rays of sunlight shine on Sekhmet, the lion-headed goddess of war. We then proceed to the Temple of Ptah, known also as the Temple of Dreams. Husband of Sekhmet, Ptah is the ruler of the underworld, often represented as a mummy. We’ll follow with a visit to the Temple of Luxor, also denominated the Temple of Man, where we will experience the opening of all seven chakras.

DAY 9 – LUXOR, DENDERAH (BL)
We travel overland this morning to Denderah, to visit the Temple of Hathor, the consort of the god of daylight, ruler of the west, and protector of the underworld. Denderah is one of the best-preserved sites in Egypt, with unusually deep tombs. We will pass under the celebrated Zodiac, in a chapel dedicated to Osiris. Denderah is the traditional site of the rebirth of Osiris, and here, with the Nile valley spread before us, we will experience a ceremony of healing. Afterward, we’ll enjoy our box lunch, and return later in the day to Luxor. The rest of the day is yours to explore Luxor on your own, to look in on artisans at work, and to acquire mementos of your journey.

DAY 10 – LUXOR, CEREMONY OF PURIFICATION (B)
Once again, we’ll get an early start, as we set out to visit the tomb of Queen Nefertari (closed for repairs, we’ll visit Deir El Medinah instead), who held sway over the heart and soul of Rameses the Great, and through him, over Egypt itself. At her death, the grieving pharaoh erected this grandest of tombs, a rare shrine to a female goddess-ruler.

Now restored with great care to its original appearance, its fragility, delicacy and detail require strict control of visitation. We are the only company that can include this monument in its regular program. We are required to arrive early, strictly in keeping with the very name given by Rameses to his queen: She For Whom the Sun Shines.

Deir El Medinah is on Luxor’s west bank you get a totally different perspective on ancient Egyptian life, at the ancient workers’ settlement of Deir el-Medinah. While most of the imposing stone monuments and sites of Egypt honor the lives and after-lives of royalty, Deir el-Medinah gives us unique and surprising insights into the ordinary citizens who constructed and decorated the tombs.

Here we’ll see the excavated homes shared by laborers with their domestic animals. These quarters were surprisingly large, with three good-sized rooms, courtyard, kitchen, and even storage cellars. While ancient Egypt might not have been a workers’ paradise, we’ll see that artisans and builders were highly regarded in their community. We are proud to be the only operator to offer regular visits to this singular ancient settlement in its tour and cruise programs.

As soon as Nefertari is opened again, we will reinstate it in our programs.

We’ll follow with a visit to the tomb chambers of the Valley of the Kings and the imposing tomb-temple in the Valley of the Queens. Our day culminates at the walled precincts of Habu, with their temple dedicated to Rameses III, last of the great pharaohs. Here, in preparation for our departure, we will take part in the Ceremony of Purification. In the evening, we’ll fly back to Cairo, for our final night in Egypt.

DAY 11 – DEPARTURE FOR HOME (B)
Our Cairo staff will call for you after breakfast, and escort you to the airport for your flight home.

Rates per person in USD
	Deluxe-A	Deluxe-B	First Class-A
Triple	US$ 4570.00	US$ 4270.00	US$ 4010.00
Double	US$ 4695.00	US$ 4395.00	US$ 4145.00
Single	US$ 5850.00	US$ 5450.00	US$ 5140.00

Hotels	Deluxe-A	Deluxe-B	First Class-A
Cairo	The Fairmont Hotel Cairo Inter.Continental	Sheraton Hilton	Cataract Pyramids
Aswan	The Movenpick or the Cataract	Movenpick Aswan	Isis Cornich
Luxor	Steinberger Nile Palace Hotel Al-Moudira Hotel Old Winter	Sonesta St. George New Winter	Hilton, Luxor

 For Easter, Christmas/New Year’s week, add 15 % to the rates.

The rates include:

• All airfares from JFK, within Egypt in economy class
• All transfers within Egypt.
• Preset menu meals including B = Breakfast, (or cB, Continental Breakfast) L = Lunch, D = Dinner.
• Guided sightseeing as per itinerary including all entrance fees.
• Hotel accommodation as listed, including all tax & service charges.
• VIP Meet & Greet At Cairo Airport
  Our representative greets you at the airport and whisks you to your hotel. Visa will be issued upon arrival at Cairo Airport (photos are not required).
• Egyptian Visa will be issued for a limited number of citizens such as: American, Australian, NZ, EU, Canadian, EU Singaporean and Japanese citizens. You are responsible for having your passport in order valid at least for 6 months beyond the date of your arrival in Cairo. Our local rep. meets with a sign that carries your name, and will be waiting for you with the prepaid visa stamps to proceed to the passports control to stamp your passports, then you claim your luggage, after you clear the passport and customs formalities and exiting the terminal, our local representative will escort you (private vehicle) to the hotel. Welcome fruit basket & Egyptian pastry awaits you in your room in Cairo upon arrival with our compliments.

Air fare notes:

• For departures during: May through end of Sep as well as Dec 20 – Jan 2, please note that a $400 supplement is added to the above rate (not applicable if you make your own air arrangements).
• For departure from Boston, Chicago or Washington, DC (Dulles), please add $300. For departures from the West Coast, Dallas/Fort Worth or Houston, please add $400
• Please deduct $500 per person if/when you handle your own air travel arrangements.

Rates do not include:

• Tips
• Insurance
• Drinks with meals
• Meals not specifically mentioned
• Tips for guides and hotel personnel
• Expenses of a personal nature

All Americans alive during the 1960s remember President John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy. Most Americans from that time also remember Abu Simbel, the dramatic, ancient Pharaonic temple threatened by the rising waters blocked by the new Aswan High Dam.

It’s worth remembering that it was Jacquie Kennedy who provided crucial support for the mammoth rescue project. Without her help, Abu Simbel might have been lost. Read more here…

A Grand 11 Days in Egypt with an 8 day Nile Cruise
Including Abu Simbel Mighty Temples

How would you like to cruise the Nile the way the Pharaoh and Cleopatra did? These graceful boats will allow you to cruise the great river in a stately Pharaonic style. Our 11-day vacation in Egypt visits Cairo, all of Upper Egypt’s top sights, and gives you the chance to see the timeless Nile as adventurers have seen it throughout the ages. See the Pyramids, the Sphinx, and the timeless temples along the Nile in Luxury fit for a Pharaoh.

DAY 1 – CAIRO: Arrive weekly (year round) on a Thursday or Saturday
For the Ultra Deluxe Oberoi Zahra Nile Cruiser, please arrive on a Sunday.
Upon arrival, our local rep. will escort you to your comfortable hotel. Visa may be issued upon arrival at Cairo Airport.

VIP Arrival Hall At Cairo Airport, no photos required.
Visa issued locally in Cairo (for a limited number of nationalities) no photos required. Our representative greets you at the airport and whisks you to your hotel. Visa will be issued upon arrival at Cairo Airport for a limited number of citizens such as: American, Australian, NZ, EU, Canadian, EU Singaporean and Japanese citizens. You are responsible for having your passport in order valid at least for 6 month beyond the date of your arrival in Cairo. Our local rep. will meet you with a sign that carries your name, and will be waiting for you with the prepaid visa stamps to proceed to the passports control to stamp your passports and then you claim your luggage. After you clear the passport and customs formalities and exit the terminal, our local representative will escort you by private vehicle to the hotel. Welcome fruit basket & Egyptian pastry awaits you in your room with our compliments.

Sample Deluxe Hotels: Ramses Hilton, Cairo Sheraton, Sonesta, Cairo Marriott, Cairo Conrad, Semiramis InterContinental Hotel or similar.

DAY 2 – CAIRO – GIZA – Friday or Sunday (BL)
Today we see Cairo’s major sights: the Egyptian Museum, including the Mummies Room. Lunch at Naguib Mahfouz local restaurant. In the afternoon we see Giza’s major sights: Giza Pyramids, and the mighty Sphinx.

DAY 3 – LUXOR (or Aswan) – Saturday or Monday (BLD)
Please note that the cruise program will vary based on the cruise. Will confirm based on the cruise category you choose. Morning flight to Luxor, we’ll escort you to your Nile cruises. Check- in is at noon, if/when the domestic flight confirmation dictates an early morning arrival, your cabin may not be ready before noon, yet all the public facilities on board are at your disposal. Complimentary welcome fruit basket awaits you in your cabin.

Today tours include: Ancient Workers Village at Deir El Medineh, the first known “Workers Village” these were the true creative heroes who built the temples & tombs for the mighty Pharaohs of the Nile Kingdom.

Deir El Medinah is on Luxor’s west bank you get a totally different perspective on ancient Egyptian life, at the ancient workers’ settlement of Deir el-Medinah. While most of the imposing stone monuments and sites of Egypt honor the lives and after-lives of royalty, Deir el-Medinah gives us unique and surprising insights into the ordinary citizens who constructed and decorated the tombs.

Here we’ll see the excavated homes shared by laborers with their domestic animals. These quarters were surprisingly large, with three good-sized rooms, courtyard, kitchen, and even storage cellars. While ancient Egypt might not have been a workers’ paradise, we’ll see that artisans and builders were highly regarded in their community. We are proud to be the only operator to offer regular visits to this singular ancient settlement in its tour and cruise programs. Evening Sound & Light show at Karnak Temple.

DAY 4 – VALLEY OF THE KINGS- Esna Temple is Included – Sunday or Tuesday (BLD)
Today we tour the Valley of the Kings, including King Tut’s tomb, Valley of the Queens, Queen Hatshepsut’s Temple and the Colossi of Memnon. After a shipboard lunch, we cruise to Esna and its great temple dedicated to Khnum, the creator-god, private guide. Onward to Edfu where we dock for the night.

DAY 5 – EDFU – ASWAN – On Board Your Nile Cruise – Monday or Wednesday (BLD)
In Edfu, we board horse-drawn carriages for the ride to the Temple of Horus. The best preserved temple in Egypt. Returning to our ship, we set sail for Aswan. A complimentary Galabya will be provided that you may wish to try on for the evening when there’s a jolly galabia party aboard.

Video by denniscallan

DAY 6 -ASWAN – Abu Simbel Temples – CAMEL CARAVAN – Nile Cruise – Tuesday or Thursday (BLD)
Morning flight to Abu Simbel. Air fare is included in economy class, tax included. All transfers are on a private basis. In Abu Simbel: your private air-conditioned vehicle, private chauffeur and private guide will be waiting for you at the airport.

The larger temple is dedicated to Ramses the Great, colossal figures of Ramses are seated with the gods and attended by his queen and daughters. The smaller temple is dedicated to Queen Nefertari, who appears as Hathor, the goddess of love, joy and fertility, symbolized by the benevolent cow. We explore these fine temple, admiring their ancient aura and artistry, after which we fly back to Aswan Airport and on to tour of Aswan Dam, the Unfinished Obelisk, and Philae Temple, dedicated to the Ancient Goddess ISIS. We head back for our lunch aboard. In the afternoon we board a graceful felucca and cruise among the islands of the Nile, be our guest if you wish on a complimentary short camel caravan to a near by Nubian Village for tea with the locals. Return to the ship in time for your afternoon tea.

DAY 7 – KOM OMBO – On Board Your Nile Cruise – Wednesday or Friday (BLD)
Morning at leisure or join us for an optional tour to Abu Simbel by plane. In the afternoon we sail for Kom Ombo where we dock for the night.

DAY 8- KOM OMBO – On Board Your Nile Cruise -Thursday or Saturday (BLD)
We explore the twin Temples of Haroeris, the Sun God, and Sobek, the Crocodile God, at Kom Ombo and then returning to our ship in time for tea. We set sail for Luxor.

DAY 9- LUXOR- On Board Your Nile Cruise – Friday or Sunday (BLD)
After breakfast, we see the most recent discoveries housed in the small, yet charming Luxor Museum. Return to our Nile cruiser in time for a delicious lunch.

DAY 10- LUXOR / CAIRO – Saturday or Monday (BD)
After breakfast, we check out, board our flight back to Cairo and transfer to your hotel. As usual, all domestic air fare within Egypt is always included – all airport transfers are always on a private basis. Dinner is included at La Bodega or Abu El Sid Restaurant or similar.

DAY 11 – Departure – Sunday or Tuesday (B)
Our local representative escorts you to the airport for your flight home. Bon Voyage!

Deluxe rate per person in USD $:
	Category I	Category II	Category III
Triple	US$ 2870.	US$ 3910.	US$ 7700.
Double	US$ 2910	US$ 4045.	US$ 7950.
Single	US$ 4420.	US$ 5100.	US$ 9950.

• Dec 20 – Jan 5 and Easter Week: Please add 15% holiday supplement. (This supplement includes the New Year’s Gala, no credit/refund if you do not attend)
• Children discount: 25 % discount on the double rate. Child must be 10 years or younger at the time of travel. Children discount applies when sharing with 2 adults. No children discount applies for Category III.

Deluxe Nile Cruise:

• M/S Queen of Hansa
• M/S Nile Vision
• M/S Adonis
• M/S Mojito
• M/S Monaco
• M/S Monte Carlo

Deluxe Hotels:

• Meridien Pyramids Hotel
• Ramses Hilton
• Cairo Sheraton
• Cairo Sonesta Hotel, or similar

Sample Deluxe Hotels:

• Grand Hyatt
• Cairo Marriott Palace Hotel
• Cairo Conrad, or similar

Sample of the Ultra Deluxe Nile Cruise:

• The Ultra deluxe M/S Tuya, M/S TiYi.
• The all suites M/S Amarco.
• The Movenpick: M/S Royal Lily, Movenpick M/S Royal Lotus.
• All state rooms with private balconies: the Sonesta Moon Goddess.

Sample Ultra Deluxe Hotels:

• Four Seasons Nile Plaza (Nile view Room)
• or Four Seasons First Residence (Superior Room)
• or the Mena House (mix and match if you wish)

Sample of the The Ultra Deluxe Nile Cruise:

• Oberoi Zahra Deluxe Nile Cruiser.
• Sonesta Star Goddess (Beethoven Suite)
• Private guide / egyptologist in Cairo

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YOUR TOUR INCLUDES:

• Egyptian domestic airfares as described in the itinerary in ” Y ” class.
  Yet free upgrade to business class for Category II & Category III.
• All airport transfers and taxes in Egypt.
• Hotel accommodations in the category you select, including taxes.
• Pre set-menu (table d’hôte) meals as indicated in the itinerary above.
• Nile cruise based on your category selection, with all shore excursions and meals.
• Complimentary welcome drink upon arrival on board the Nile Cruise.
• Complimentary welcome fruit basket on board the Nile Cruise.
• Large bottle of water (per person) delivered to you cabin daily while you are on board the Nile Cruise.
• Tea or coffee and bottled water with each / every meal while you are on board the Nile Cruise.
• Guided sightseeing by air-conditioned motorcoach, including all admissions fees.
• VIP Arrival Hall At Cairo Airport
  Our representative greets you at the airport and whisks you to your hotel. Visa will be issued upon arrival at Cairo Airport for a limited number of citizens such as: American, Australian, NZ, EU, Canadian, EU Singaporean and Japanese citizens. You are responsible for having your passport in order valid at least for 6 month beyond the date of your arrival in Cairo. Our local rep. will meet you with a sign that carries your name, and will be waiting for you with the prepaid visa stamps to proceed to the passports control to stamp your passports and then you claim your luggage. After you clear the passport and customs formalities and exit the terminal, our local representative will escort you by private vehicle to the hotel. Welcome fruit basket & Egyptian pastry awaits you in your room with our compliments.

Not included:

• Insurance
• International air fare from / to your home country
• Tips
• For a private guide, private air-conditioned vehicle for the cruise shore excursions and a private chauffeur, please add $ 250 per person.

The Oberoi Zahra is the only luxury cruiser on the Nile with four therapy rooms. Each therapy room features a private shower and steam room. Uninterrupted views of the Nile, rejuvenating treatments and the finest natural products create the perfect experience. Rates do not include spa treatments.

A Grand Private Tour of Egypt
Including a Nile Cruise – Boarding Luxor

All transfers are on a private basis. Private touring in Cairo, Tanis, Suez, Bubastis and Alexandria.

A good look at Cairo, with a foray into Fayoum Oases and of course a cruise along the Nile. Visit the Lair of Rameses: Tanis, modern San El Hagar – famed in the film Raiders of the Lost Ark as the resting place of the Ark of the Covenant. Come and tour Bubastis, capital of the 22nd and 23rd dynasties. In Bubastis, the cat was more than a king, it was honored as a goddess.

Day 1: CAIRO – Daily Arrival – Choose your own date – Subject to cruise and air space availability
This is a private tour:
Cairo Airport: upon arrival, our local representative will greet you at the airport and whisk you to your hotel. Visa may be issued upon arrival at Cairo Airport.

VIP Meet & Greet Upon arrival at Cairo Airport
Visa issued locally in Cairo (for a limited number of nationalities) no photos required. Our representative greets you at the airport and whisks you to your hotel. Visa will be issued upon arrival at Cairo Airport for a limited number of citizens such as: American, Australian, NZ, EU, Canadian, EU Singaporean and Japanese citizens. You are responsible for having your passport in order valid at least for 6 month beyond the date of your arrival in Cairo. Our local rep. will meet you with a sign that carries your name, and will be waiting for you with the prepaid visa stamps to proceed to the passports control to stamp your passports and then you claim your luggage. After you clear the passport and customs formalities and exit the terminal, our local representative will escort you by private vehicle to the hotel. Welcome fruit basket & Egyptian pastry awaits you in your room with our compliments.

DAY 2: CAIRO  (BL)
On your first full day in Egypt we show you the Egyptian Museum including the “Mummies Room” and King Tut’s Gold Treasure Pavillion. Lunch is included at Naguib Mahfouz or Hadaik El Azhar restaurant, on to Al-Azhar Park and El Darb El-Ahmar, then the Citadel of Saladin, and Mohammed Ali Mosque, made of alabaster, then wander through the alleys of the charming Khan El-Khalili Bazaar district. The Agha Khan Development Network The Azhar Park Project in old Islamic Cairo and the Conservation and Revitalization of Darb al-Ahmar historical treasures.

DAY 3: CAIRO – (BL)
After breakfast, drive to the edge of Cairo. We are now in Giza – stand in awe in front of the Sphinx, and the mighty Pyramids of Giza. Complimentary short camel ride is included to allow you a photo with the Pyramids in the background Time is limited, so please do not go for what the camel driver tries to convince you, i.e. go for a long ride around the Pyramids. Lunch is included at the Mena House. After lunch we head for Memphis & Sakkara, visiting some of the Mastabas and Zoser Step-Pyramid as well as the Serapeum Stop at Haraniya before we head back to your hotel.

DAY 4: Luxor – Board your Nile Cruise (BLD)
We fly to Luxor (or Aswan), domestic air ticket is always included, transfers are on a private basis.

From the airport, we proceed to cross the Nile to the West Bank:
We tour today the magnificent tombs in the Valley of the Kings, including Tut-Ankh-Amon’s tomb, and the great temple of Queen Hatshepsut, we stop at the Colossi of Memnon as well.

Afterward, we’ll continue on to Deir El Medinah: to get a totally different perspective on ancient Egyptian life, at the ancient workers’ settlement of Deir el-Medinah. While most of the imposing stone monuments and sites of Egypt honor the lives and after-lives of royalty, Deir el-Medinah gives us unique and surprising insights into the ordinary citizens who constructed and decorated the tombs.

Here we’ll see the excavated homes shared by laborers with their domestic animals. These quarters were surprisingly large, with three good-sized rooms, courtyard, kitchen, and even storage cellars. While ancient Egypt might not have been a workers’ paradise, we’ll see that artisans and builders were highly regarded in their community. We are proud to be the only operator to offer regular visits to this singular ancient settlement in its tour and cruise programs.

Back to the cruise to check-in: Welcome drink is served upon arrival on board, get ready for a delicious lunch. Welcome fruit basket & Egyptian pastries await you in your cabin.

We visit the great temples of Luxor and Karnak, then return to our Nile cruiser in time for afternoon tea. In the evening we attend a sound & light show at Karnak (Bring your jacket).

DAY 5: Grand Day Cruising  (BLD)
Full day sailing the Nile, we pass through Esna locks, an on to Edfu where we dock for the night.

DAY 6: EDFU – KOM OMBO – ASWAN – Nile Cruising (BLD)
In Edfu, we board horse-drawn carriages for the ride to the Temple of Horus. Returning to our ship, we set sail for Kom Ombo. We explore the twin Temples of Haroeris and Sobek at Kom Ombo, then sail south to Aswan. In the evening, there’s a jolly galabia party aboard.

DAY 7: ASWAN – Nile Cruising (BLD)
After breakfast we start our visit to the awesome Aswan dams, and next an ancient granite quarry complete with an unfinished obelisk, the Nubian Museum, then board a motor launch to visit the Island Temple of Philae, dedicated to the Ancient Goddess ISIS. Isis is portrayed regally, as a queen seated on a throne (which may be the meaning of her name), often holding her son Horus as a baby. Other images show her with broad, magnificent gilded wings able to protect the world. Isis, the great Mother Goddess. Come explore her mystery in timeless Egypt when you Travel in Style!

Be our guest, if you wish, on a complimentary short camel caravan to a near by Nubian Village for tea with the locals.

After lunch we board a graceful felucca and cruise among the islands, returning to our ship in time for tea. In the evening, we take a short ride by motor launch to the Temples of Philae, on an island in the Nile, for a sound-and-light show which explains the Nile’s endless history.

DAY 8: CAIRO – Home Hosted Family dinner (BLD)
After breakfast we check out. Our touring done, we return by air to Cairo (all domestic flights are always included in our rate). In Cairo on to your hotel remainder of the day at leisure. Transfers are ALWAYS on a private basis, private air-conditioned vehicle, private chauffeur. Lunch is included at your hotel.

Complimentary Dinner is included at a local home:
Meet the locals: This evening we’ll venture where few ordinary visitors ever tread… right into the homes of some of the people of Cairo! You’ll be invited to a family dinner, and while you enjoy wholesome home-cooked specialties, you’ll learn about and appreciate the outlook, aspirations, and way of life of your hosts. Be assured, as curious as you may be about your new friends, they’re sure to have questions about your own background. Once the ice is broken, you’ll enjoy a lively evening, and find that you have more in common than you ever suspected. Of course, if you prefer, you may enjoy a quiet evening with your travel companions by letting us know your preferences. You may wish to bring token gifts to exchange with the host family (T shirt, small souvenirs of your home town).

DAY 9: CAIRO – El Fayoum (BLD)
On Desert Safari for the Day – Fayoum Oases – And you thought the Pyramids were old. We leave Cairo by sunrise (private air conditioned car/driver/guide): Full day Fayoum Oases including: Hawara Pyramid, El Lahoun Pyramid, Ruins of Karanis, drive by Lake Qarun, lunch is included at a local restaurant.

The wilds of the desert begin right on the outskirts of Cairo, and continue for hundreds of miles to the east and west, through sands, rock, mountains, oases, and a surprising variety of scenery and inhabitants.

Join us for a day ranging across the desert like modern nomads. In place of camels, we’ll travel in comfortable, reliable four-by-four Toyota Land Cruisers. Your guide and drivers will meet you at your hotel, and soon you’ll leave bustling Cairo behind as you undertake the drive toward the Oasis of El Fayoum, 150 kilometers to the southwest. Hard as it is to believe, a great inland sea once covered these sands. It was a holy reserve of sacred crocodiles, symbolized by the god Sobek.

We’ll visit the temple of Kom Oshim, drive over ancient lake beds, and alongside the waters of today’s Fayoum Lake to reach the fishermen’s village of Chak Chouk. There we’ll stop for a lunch of fish caught fresh that morning. There will be time to wander the village lanes and discreetly watch the everyday activities of baking flatbread, irrigating crops from the lake’s waters, and bringing in the catch. We’ll also include the craft and pottery museum where the best works of local artisans are on display.

Then it’s into our four-by-fours again, for an off-road adventure! We’ll head alongside and across desert washes, between dunes, and over ancient lake beds for 35 kilometers to the Valley of the Whales (In Arabic: Wadi-El-Hitan). Incredibly, these great mammals once thrived – almost forty million years ago- in waters surrounded by sands. We’ll stop and gaze in amazement at their fossilized remains alongside smaller sea creatures that remain in stone. This valley was discovered in 1936, by the German geologist George Schweinfurth in the northwestern corner of Wadi El-Rayan.

The valley provides evidence of one of the major changes in this mammal evolution has been declared by the UNESCO to be a World Heritage Site. It is believed that these land based whales once had feet that may have helped them somewhat while ashore. A team from the University of Michigan discovered in the late 80’s that these Zeuglodon whales did have rudimentary feet, this was a startling discovery, suggesting that whales of Wadi -El-Hitan had recently started living in water as well, these whales were not related to any of the whales we have today, rather a more slender body and may grow up to 75 feet long. Several skeletons of whales are exposed in the sand. George Schweinfurth named this extinct specie the Zeuglodon Isis Whales.

In the evening, you’ll return to your hotel in Cairo. Land transportation in air-conditioned four-wheel-drive Toyota Land Cruiser with the services of driver and English-speaking driver. Lunch is included enroute. Dinner is included at your hotel back in Cairo.

DAY 10: Tanis – Suez Canal (B. Lunch Box)
Breakfast is included at the hotel, lunch box will be prepared by your chef with bottled water.

To the Lair of Rameses and the Suez Canal
Venture where few visitors have gone before, away from trafficked pathways and neatly packaged tours, to the legendary capital of Rameses II, the Great. So unusual is this full-day adventure, and so select are the people who take it, that special permits are required from the Egyptian Department of Antiquities. And if this opportunity is not enough to whet your appetite, we’ll round out a spectacular day with a journey forward through the centuries, to the modern wonder of the Suez Canal.

Arrange your wake-up call… we’ll be heading out from Cairo at 6 a.m. on our day of discovery. We’ll make our way through busy streets, and beyond, to the fertile farmlands of the Nile Delta, seemingly unchanged since the time of the pharaohs, watered by a web of canals running from the life-giving Nile, worked by villagers with hand tools and the aid of camels and donkeys. We’ll pass through Zagazig, a bustling cotton and grain farming center, and stop at nearby Bubastis, capital of the 22nd and 23rd dynasties. Here, the cat was more than a king, it was honored as a goddess, and sacred cats were buried in chambers that lie behind an Old Kingdom Chapel. Parts of temples erected by Osorkon II and Nectanebo II also remain.

But this is only prologue…. We’ll continue to Tanis – modern San El Hagar – famed in the film Raiders of the Lost Ark as the resting place of the Ark of the Covenant. Tanis was the capital of Smendes, founder of the 21st Dynasty, a grand center whose rich remains include the main temple of Amun, and a royal Necropolis with the only Pharaonic burials never touched by ancient tomb raiders. There are even artificial lakes contained by limestone blocks.

So grand was Tanis that many believe that it was the capital of Rameses the Great. Among the layers of cities and palaces might lie the site of the Pharaoh’s court that was built by the labor of the ancient Hebrews. before Moses led them out of Egypt.

Tanis is a restricted site because of its ongoing excavations and its intact burial chambers that are still yielding treasures and understanding of the ancients. It will be your privilege to make your own discoveries as one of the few to tread these stones. Because our path is away from the usual routes of visitors, we will travel with provisions, including a box lunch, and of course, bottled water.

After our discovery of Tanis, we’ll journey northeastward through the delta and across the centuries to a wonder of the modern world. The Suez Canal opened in 1869 to international celebration that included the commissioning of the opera Aida, after ten years of excavation that employed more than a million laborers. The canal was the technological feat of its day, connecting the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea, cutting trade routes to the East in half, and changing the course of history. Even today it is the mainstay of Egypt’s economy, its neutrality guaranteed by treaty.

We’ll visit Ismailia, where the historic Canal headquarters are located. We’ll soak up the atmosphere of worldwide commerce passing through this sash of the sea, and conjure up the international intrigues of bygone days, as we take a break for tea and sandwiches at a local establishment. If time permits, we’ll see the fortifications of the Bar Lev line, held by Israel after the Six Day War of 1967, and demolished by water cannon in 1973 in a surprise Egyptian attack.

After a day of encounters with ancient and modern history, we’ll continue on our way back to Cairo.

DAY 11: DEPARTURE (B)
Our representative escorts you to the airport for your homeward flight. Bon Voyage! Add an extra day in Cairo.

Dress Code: What to Pack. Clothing on Board the Nile Cruise.

Rates are per person in USD$ from JFK, add on is available from most major cities.
	Deluxe – A Marriott/Hyatt or similar	Deluxe – B Hilton Sheraton or similar
Triple Occupancy	$ 4485.00	$ 4091.00
Double Occupancy	$ 4795.00	$ 3350.00
Single Occupancy	$ 5995.00	$ 5505.00

• Please add a 15% supplement for: Christmas / New Year’s and Easter weeks
• Children 2-up to 12 years of age: Discount 30%

Your tour includes:

• All airfares in Egypt, with taxes in economy class.
• All touring on a private basis, private air-conditioned vehicle, private chauffeur, private Egyptologist guide including on the Nile cruise.
• All transfers in Egypt always on a private basis: private air-conditioned vehicle, private chauffeur.
• Hotel accommodations, including tax and service charges.
• Nile cruise; the sequence of sights visited between Aswan and Luxor is subject to change according to vessel requirements, and the cruise may begin in either Aswan or Luxor.
• Meals as indicated in the tour itinerary: B = continental breakfast; L = set-menu lunch; D = set-menu dinner.
• Bottled water (one per person) delivered to your cabin daily while on board the cruise.
• Guided sightseeing by private air-conditioned motor coach or car as per itinerary, including all entrance fees.
• Complimentary Lonely Planet travel guidebook to Egypt
• Sample Deluxe boats: M/S Adonis, M/S Mojito, M/S Monaco, M/S Monte Carlo, M/S Beau Soleil, Queen of Hansa, M/S Solitaire.
• All meals and shore Excursions while on board the cruises.
• Complimentary welcome drink upon arrival on board the cruises. Complimentary welcome fruit basket awaits you in your cabin, on board your Nile cruise.
• Tea or coffee with every meal while on board the cruise.
• Meals as indicated in the tour itinerary: B = continental breakfast; L = set-menu lunch; D = set-menu dinner.
• Bottled water (one per person) delivered to your cabin daily while on board the cruise.
• Cairo Guided sightseeing by private air-conditioned motor coach or car as per itinerary, including all entrance fees.
• VIP Arrival Hall At Cairo Airport
  Visa issued locally in Cairo (for a limited number of nationalities) no photos required. Our representative greets you at the airport and whisks you to your hotel. Visa will be issued upon arrival at Cairo Airport for a limited number of citizens such as: American, Australian, NZ, EU, Canadian, EU Singaporean and Japanese citizens. You are responsible for having your passport in order valid at least for 6 month beyond the date of your arrival in Cairo. Our local rep. will meet you with a sign that carries your name, and will be waiting for you with the prepaid visa stamps to proceed to the passports control to stamp your passports and then you claim your luggage. After you clear the passport and customs formalities and exit the terminal, our local representative will escort you by private vehicle to the hotel. Welcome fruit basket & Egyptian pastry awaits you in your room with our compliments.

Not included:

• Travel Insurance
• Any item of personal nature, i.e. laundry, phone calls. etc.
• Any item that’s not specifically listed in the “inclusions”

Deluxe – A:
Cairo Hotels: Conrad / Hyatt / Cairo Marriott or similar
Nile Cruise: M/S Monaco. M/S Mojito, or similar

Deluxe – B:
Cairo Hotels: Hilton, Sheraton or similar
Nile Cruise: M/S Lady Diana. M/S Florence, or similar