Nile Adventure (9 days)

The best of Egypt in only 9 days
Private touring in Cairo
Weekly Year Round

Felucca on the Nile in Aswan, Egypt.
Photo by Przemyslaw “Blueshade” Idzkiewicz. Wikimedia Commons

A good look at Cairo and a 5-day cruise along the Nile, with air fare from the USA. Arrive any day of the week. All transfers are on a private basis.

DAY 1 – DEPART – NEW YORK – Daily (Subject to availability)
Air fare add-on available from major cities. Board your Lufthansa, Swiss, Air France or British Airways wide-body jet at New York’s John F Kennedy International Airport for your transatlantic flight. Egyptair is the only non-stop flight JFK Cairo with an afternoon arrival into Cairo.

For West Coast guests:
You need NOT to fly via New York. When you fly onboard Lufthansa, British Airways, Air France, etc, then you fly non stop from the West Coast to Europe then connect to Cairo.

For business class upgrades from JFK (round trip):
Egyptair, Air France Lufthansa or British Airways. Please add $ 3050, tax included.

For business class upgrades from LAX, SFO, SEA or SAN (round trip):
Lufthansa, Air France, or British Airways. Please add $ 4300, tax included.

Day 2 – CAIRO
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. No photos required.

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. If you wish to add an extra night in Cairo? Please click here.

DAY 3- CAIRO (BL)
On your first full day in Egypt we show you the Egyptian Museum, including the Mummy Room and the fabulous treasures of Tutankhamon, and the Pyramids of Giza. 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! the Sphinx, the Citadel of Saladin,and the Mohammed Ali Mosque, made of alabaster. In the evening, we return to the pyramids for a memorable sound-and light show.

DAY 4 – ASWAN – CAMEL CARAVAN (BLD)
We fly to Aswan and board our Nile cruiser in time for a morning tour of the Nubian Museum followed by a delicious lunch on board. Welcome fruit basket & Egyptian pastries in your cabin.

In the afternoon we transfer to a graceful felucca, the traditional Nile sailboat, for a cruise amidst the rocky islands beneath the Aswan High Dam. If you wish, join us on a mini-camel caravan ride to a nearby Nubian village for tea with the locals. 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. Interested in adding and touring Abu Simbel?

Video by wywoo225

DAY 5 – ASWAN & KOM OMBO (BLD)
Today we inspect the Aswan High Dam and the older Victorian-era dam below it, then visit an ancient red granite quarry. An unfinished obelisk here, in excellent condition, testifies to the workmanship of ancient Egypt’s artisans. Boarding a motor launch, we return to the Philae temples to inspect in daylight the impressive structures 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! 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.

Back on our Nile cruiser, we cast off and cruise downstream to Kom Ombo to visit its twin temples dedicated to Sobek, the Nile crocodile god, and Haroeris, the solar disc.

DAY 6 – EDFU – Our Tour Includes ESNA Temple (BLD)
Your riverboat passes through Esna Locks, at which time your guide will take you on a tour of Esna Temple, onward the cruise sails further north and ties up at Edfu, and we climb aboard horse-drawn carriages for a short clip-clop ride through the town to the Temple of Horus, Egypt’s best-preserved. After our visit, we re-embark and cruise to Esna, where we pass through the Nile locks. By evening we reach Luxor.

DAY 7 – LUXOR (BLD)
Today we tour some of Egypt’s greatest wonders: the tombs of the pharaohs in the Valley of the Kings at Thebes, and, in the nearby Valley of the Queens, the great funerary temple of Queen Hatshepsut. We also stop at the Colossi of Memnon, mammoth seated statues now standing alone in a farmer’s field.

Deir El Medinah, 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.

In the evening, we attend the sound-and-light show at the gigantic Great Temple of Amon at Karnak.

DAY 8 – LUXOR – CAIRO (BL)
We return to the Great Temple of Amon at Karnak to inspect it in the daylight, then move on to the smaller but still huge Temple of Luxor. Followed by Luxor Museum. Our touring done, we return by air to Cairo. 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 – DEPARTURE (B)
Our representative escorts you to the airport for your homeward flight. Bon Voyage! Add an extra day in Cairo?

• For Easter, Christmas and New Year’s Weeks, a 10 % holiday surcharge will apply
• Children 2-up to 12 years of age: Discount 30%
• Air Fare Notes:
  For departures from:
  • Boston, Detroit and Philadelphia: Pleas add $ 250. Per Person.
  • Atlanta, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Miami. Orlando: Please add $ 350 per person to the listed rates.
  • For Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego or Seattle, Denver, please add US$ 450 per person to the rates.
  • For Washington DC, Chicago: $ 300
  • Air fare supplement: Doesn’t apply when you handle your own air fare: For May – Sep 30: departures.
• Package Rates are subject to change without notice.

 Your tour includes:

• All airfares in Egypt, with taxes in economy class.
• Round-trip transatlantic airfare, in economy class, including air taxes, from New York to Cairo and return on Egyptair (the only non-stop NYC – Cairo). British Airways, Air France, Swiss, Lufthansa or another IATAN airline, subject to seat availability at the time of reservation. (air fare is always subject to change).
• All transfers in Egypt on a private basis.
• 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.
• 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
• Tips
• Any item of personal nature, i.e. laundry, phone calls. etc.
• Any item that’s not specifically listed in the “inclusions”

DRESS CODE: What to Pack. Clothing on Board the Nile Cruise

For PRIVATE GUIDE/CAR/DRIVER:
For the full duration of the Nile Cruise & shore excursions: please add $250 per person. This supplement doesn’t apply when you have at least 6 guests in your party.

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

First Class:
Cairo Hotels: Oases or similar
Nile Cruise: M/S Nile Dream. M/S Ruby, or similar