Spain & Egypt

Here's the best of Madrid & Egypt in 10 Days : a good look at Madrid, Cairo and a 5-day cruise along the Nile. Air fare included : Madrid Cairo Madrid
Compare with Egypt only including air fare from / to Madrid

Tour Starts in Madrid : Sat, Mon, Tue & Thu . Weekly , year round

DAY 1 - CAIRO Tour Starts DAILY in Madrid
Our representative greets you at the airport and whisks you to your hotel.

DAY 2 - Royal Palace & Prado Museum in in Madrid ( B)
ARTISTIC TOUR - Coach Tour:
DAILY All Year Around. Morning departure from tour coach terminals @ 08,45 a.m.

ROYAL PALACE:
A beautiful exponent of the 18th century and one of the best preserved in Europe,
constitutes one of the most beautiful distinction of the royal residence style, the permanence symbol making firm Madrid as the political capital of the Kingdom. In it, the most bright official receptions of the Crown are taking place. Audiences, Gala Dinner, signature of important agreements and the very traditional ceremony of credential letters from Foreign Ambassadors to His Majesty The King.
We'll visit: Principal staircase, rooms of alabarderos, columns, throne, Gasparini, Carlos III, porcelains, Gala dining room , museum of silver, musical instruments, principal courtyard, real chapel and the new four rooms.

PRADO MUSEUM, located in a neoclassic building designed by the architect Juan de Villanueva in 1785 and originally planned as a Museum of natural History. It has been an art museum since 1818 houses the best collection in the world of Spanish painting.

We'll visit: The masterpieces by : El Greco, Velázquez and Goya . The Gold Century great artists: Ribera, Zurbarán and Murillo and the Italian painting by Tiziano.
At the end of the visit, return to PULLMANTUR TERMINAL, at Oriente Square.
On Monday, Sunday and closing days of any museum, will be substituted by El Pardo Royal


DAY 3 -Toledo, Full Day ( BL )
DAILY All year round. Full Day 9.45 a.m. departure from tour coach terminal . (8 hours. Approx..)

NEW: * MUSEUM VICTORIO MACHO. TOLEDO, is a Museum-city of great artistic beauty, it was capital of the country and one of the oldest city of Europe. Toledo keeps magnificent examples of architecture from different epochs, Arab,Jewish and catholic leading artistic cities of Spain and declared by
UNESCO HERITAGE OF MANKIND TOWN.

We will visit the CATHEDRAL, ST. TOME CHURCH (The burial of Lord Orgaz, El Greco’s masterpiece), SANTA
MARIA LA BLANCA SYNAGOGUE and SAN JUAN DE LOS REYES CHURCH.
We’ll also admire its famous handicraft works: the “Damasquinado” (precious metals encrusted on steel).
Complete visit at the CATHEDRAL (Chapter House, Scristy, Choir and Treasury), VICTORIO MACHO MUSEUM, Sculpture Museum located on a spur of land, above a sweeping drop down to Tagus river offering a magnificent views (Documentary film with a searching profile of soul of Toledo, Museum, Crupt and gardens).
LUNCH is included at a typical restaurant and TAVERA MUSEUM.
Late afternoon we return to Madrid and the tour coach terminal TERMINAL at Oriente Square.

DAY 4 - Madrid / Cairo ( B)
Air fare is included and ticket issued & delivered in Madrid : Madrid / Cairo / Madrid.
Our local rep will meet you at your hotel to escort you to Madrid Airport, to board your flight for Cairo .
In Cairo : Visa fee is included and will be issued upon arrival at Cairo Airport for : Australian, NZ, American,Western European , Canadian & 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. We'll meet you at Cairo Airport & escort you to your hotel

DAY 2 - CAIRO (BL)
On your first full day in Egypt we show you the Egyptian Museum, including the "Mummies Room" , the Pyramids of Giza, the Sphinx, the Citadel of Saladin, and the Mohammed Ali Mosque, made of alabaster.

DAY 3 - LUXOR ! (BLD)
We fly to LUXOR and board our Nile cruiser in time for a delicious lunch. Complimentary welcome fruit basket awaits you in your cabin .The gigantic Great Temple of Amon at Karnak, and the mighty Temple of Luxor are our goals in the afternoon. We'll return in time for the afternoon tea served on deck. You'll have a chance to explore your ship before dinner.

DAY 4 - LUXOR , EDFU (BLD)
We tour today as well the magnificent tombs in the Valley of the Kings including Tut-Ank-Amon's tomb and the great temple of Queen Hatshepsut, we stop at the Colossi of Memnon on the way back to our cruise.

<< For most of 2004 Queen Nefertari's tomb will be closed for urgent repairs , that's why we are visiting instead the Ancient Worker's village at Deir el Medinah

The Queen for whom the sun shines : (closed for 2004)
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 brokenhearted 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 closest thing you could ever come to see the original Ancient Egyptian art in all of its glory and finesse.
Because of its fragile nature, only a limited number of visitors are allowed entry each day. We are the only company to include a visit to Nefertari's tomb in our daily program. Because of the limited access we must rise early for our visit, appropriate as Ramses named Nefertari "the one for whom the sun shines." >>

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.

We sail in the afternoon we cruise to Esna to go through the locks , 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 5 - EDFU, KOM OMBO (BLD)
We moor in Edfu, climb aboard horse-drawn carriages, and clip-clop through the town to the Temple of Horus, Egypt's best-preserved temple. Re-embarking on our Nile cruiser, we enjoy lunch as we sail further south upriver .
We disembark downstream at Kom Ombo to visit its twin temples of Haroeris, the sun god, and Sobek, the crocodile god, the continue our voyage to Aswan, while we party after dinner with music& dance.

DAY 6 - CAMEL CARAVAN, NUBIAN VILLAGE , ASWAN (BLD)
First we tour Aswan dams, then on to the new Nubian Museum then the awesome Aswan dams, and next an ancient granite quarry complete with an unfinished obelisk. Then we go by motor launch to the island temples of Philae.
In the afternoon we enjoy a leisurely sail by graceful felucca on the Nile.
For those who are interested : a short camel caravan & ride is included( almost a half hour ride) to visit a local Nubian Village.

Our farewell dinner this evening is a buffet of Egyptian specialties, followed by a show featuring oriental performers, including of course a belly dancer.

DAY 7 - ASWAN , CAIRO (B)
Board our return flight to Cairo. In the afternoon, wander through the city on your own, or do your last-minute shopping.

DAY 8 - CAIRO/MADRID - Departure (B)
Our representative escorts you to the airport for your flight back to Madrid. End of our service. Bon Voyage. If you need assistance with flight between USA & Madrid please do let's know.

RATES per person in USD

Tour Starts in Madrid : Sat, Mon, Tue & Thu . Weekly , year round

For Ultra Deluxe Cruise All Suites : Moon Goddess , M/S Amarco :
please add 10 %

Suite on board the Ultra Deluxe M/S Amarco

• Private touring on board the cruise: Please add $150 per person for the full cruise/shore excursions.
  
  
• For Christmas/New Year's week, add 20% to any of the above the rate.
• For Easter , please add %10 supplement to any of the listed rates.

Save $200 PER PERSON ( round-trip), or $100 for one way, when you use the sleeper overnight train rather than flying, thus saving 2 nights hotel accommodation & air fare. Always in a private compartment on board the train with dinner included. ( We rate the train : Modest 3 stars )

Inclusions

Rates includes

• All airfares MADRID CAIRO MADRID ( economy class ) and all domestic flights within Egypt ( economy class) .
• All transfers in Madrid & Egypt.
• Hotel accommodation with tax & service charges.
• Egyptian Visa fee ( with our compliments) , visa will be issued upon arrival at Cairo Airport for : American, Australian, NZ , EU , Canadian, Singaporean & 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.
• Nile Cruise with all meals & shore excursions.
• Complimentary welcome fruit basket awaits you in your cabin.
• Complimentary galabya on board the cruise for the costume party.
• Afternoon tea daily onboard the Nile cruise.
• Bottled water delivered daily to your Nile Cruise cabin ( one large bottle for each guest)
• King Tut's tomb
• Complimentary welcome drink upon arrival on board the Nile Cruise.
• Tea or coffee and bottled water with each / every meal while you are on board the Nile Cruise.
• Preset menu meals including B = Breakfast, (or cB, Continental Breakfast) L = Lunch, D = Dinner .
• All guided sightseeing as per itinerary including all entrance fees. In Madrid the tour coach will accommodate between 20-40 passengers depending on the season. On board the cruise you'll be part of an average 10-15 English speaking group.

Not included:
International airfares to or from your home country .

Tips.

Travel Insurance (we'll be glad to send you the flyer upon request, or visit : www.travelexinsurance.com).

Dining Room Reservations: Meet other passengers :
YOU will not require any, our dining rooms do accommodate all our guests in one seating, one less thing to worry about while you are on the Nile. Enjoy the cosmopolitan atmosphere with several different languages being heard at dinner.

Do we get sea sickness while sailing the Nile ?
This is river sailing, so do not expect any waves , no rough seas ! Your Nile cruises is actually a floating hotel that moves from place to place along the Nile. Actual cruising times are short and pleasant.