Nile Adventure
Cairo to Abu Simbel

A Grand Private 10-day Tour of Egypt

Abu Simbel Little temple.
By Karelj (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

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 5: ABU SIMBEL (Private car/driver/Guide) (BLD)
After breakfast we fly over Lake Nasser, watching the sky lighten and the sacred sun rise above the horizon. We reach the great temples while the air is clean, clear and cool, and the sun’s light still golden; just right for photographs. At the airport in Abu Simbel, your private air-conditioned vehicle, private chauffeur and private guide will be waiting for 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 in the quiet of the morning, admiring their ancient aura and artistry, after which we fly back to Aswan in time for lunch on board your Nile cruiser. Welcome fruit basket and Egyptian pastries in your cabin. Evening Sound and Light show at Philae Temple.

Visiting Abu Simbel. Photo by Diana and Maha.

Jacquie Kennedy and Abu Simbel:
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

DAY 6: 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 which served as the backdrop to last night’s sound-and-light drama. 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 7: EDFU – ESNA (BLD)
Our riverboat 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 8: 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.

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 where 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.

We also stop at the Colossi of Memnon, mammoth seated statues now standing alone in a farmer’s field. In the evening, we attend the sound-and-light show at the gigantic Great Temple of Amon at Karnak.

DAY 9: LUXOR – CAIRO (B)
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 & the Ancient Workers Village: Deir El Medinah, the best kept secret in Luxor. Our touring done, we return by air to Cairo and your hotel, of course as always, all your domestic air fare and transfers are included in our rate.

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 10: DEPARTURE (B)
Our representative escorts you to the airport for your homeward flight. Bon Voyage!

General Notes:

• For Easter, Christmas and New Year’s Weeks, a 20 % holiday surcharge will apply.
• Upgrade to the Ultra Deluxe Category:
  Supplement 25 % to be added to the deluxe “A” rate (subject to availability).
• M/S Tuya, M/S TiYi, Movenpick deluxe: Royal Lotus or the Royal Lilly, or the M/ S Radamis II . The all suites M/S Amarco. Sonesta M/S Moon Goddess, all cabins with private balconies
• Air Fare Notes:
  • For departures from Atlanta, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego or Seattle, please add US$ 450 per person to the rates. DC, Denver Chicago, Miami, Orlando: $ 400
  • Air fare supplement: Doesn’t apply when you handle your own air fare: For May – Sep 15: departures, please add a summer airline surcharge of $450 per person to the rate
• Package Rates are subject to change without notice.

All Suites Amarco Ultra Deluxe Nile cruise

Your tour includes:

• All airfares within Egypt, with taxes in economy class
• All transfers in Egypt always on a private basis: private air-conditioned vehicle, private chauffeur.
• Hotel accommodations, including tax and service charges.
• Nile cruise; including all guided shore excursions with your own private guide, entrance fees 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.
• Tea or coffee as well as bottled water with every meal 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
  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.
• Tips.
• 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

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