CRUISE ADVENTURE

Ahlan wa Sahlan! Welcome! Upon your arrival  at Cairo airport, our representative will meet you and assist you through all formalities. Then it’s on to your hotel where once checked-in you have a free evening.

Overnight: Cairo hotel (no meals).

Today is travelling back in time to spend some hours contemplating ancient Egypt’s awe-inspiring Pyramids and Sphinx at Giza (including entrance to either the 2nd or 3rd Pyramid) and then onwards to Saqqara to gaze at the first pyramid ever built in Egypt, Djoser’s Step Pyramid. Later on, we will drop you off at your hotel for the night.

Overnight: Cairo hotel. (Breakfast)

After breakfast, you will board an early flight for Luxor and then onto to the waters aboard your Nile cruise boat!

Once on board, lunch will be served after checking in. Amble on deck and take in the desert surrounding you on both banks of the Nile, interspersed with some shrubbery and palm trees. In the evening, we will visit the Temple of Karnak complex where many temples are located, going back to the era of Pharaoh Ramses II from the 13th century BC. Then it’s on to the Luxor Temple, one of the most beautiful in Egypt. It was known in the New Kingdom period as Ipt-Rsyt, meaning “Southern Shrine”, in order to differentiate between the Luxor and Karnak temple which was called the “Northern House of Amon-Ra”.

Overnight on-board cruise boat. Sleep like a baby rocking on the soft waves of the Nile. (All meals included)

Good morning. Sabah el kheir. Today we shall be visiting the West Bank and dropping in on the Valley of the Kings, where the tombs of the Pharaohs and powerful nobles of the New Kingdom (18th to the 20th Dynasty) are located. The valley is on the West Bank of the Nile, opposite Thebes, modern Luxor, within the heart of the Theban Necropolis.

We will also visit the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut, the most distinguished temple in Egypt with its lay-out and decorations. It was built of limestone unlike most of the other funerary temples of the New Kingdom, which were make of sandstone. En route, you will have a chance to see the Colossi of Memnon, humongous statues of Ramses made from carved blocks of quartzite.

Then on board again to set sail toward Edfu via Esna. Overnight on board in Edfu. (All meals included)

Breakfast on board and then on to visit the Temple of Horus, the best-preserved cult temple in Egypt. This is partly due to the fact that is was built later than most of the other ancient temples, in the Ptolemaic era between 237 to 57 BC. Then we sail on to Kom Ombo and visit the Temple of Sobek. Sobek (aka Sebek, Sebek-Ra, Sobeq, Suchos, Sobki, and Soknopais) (he had a lot of names didn’t he?)  was the ancient god of crocodiles and was sometimes considered a manisfestation or another form of Horus, because Horus sometimes took on the form of a crocodile to retrieve the body parts of Osiris which were lost in the Nile. Sobek was also thought to have assisted the goddess Isis in birthing Horus.

Overnight on board at Kom Ombo. (All meals included)

Breakfast on board and set sail to Aswan. We will visit the High Dam, which was built across the Nile between 1960 and 1970.

Afterwards, we will visit the Unfinished Obelisk, the largest known Obelisk, located in the northern region of the stone quarries of Aswan. Then onto the Temple of Philae, one of Nubia’s most important monuments. The Temple, 12 kms south of Aswan, was a pilgrimage center for the cult of the goddess Isis. The sacred site was venerated by pilgrims all through the ages, from the Pharaonic era into the Greek then Roman and Byzantine periods.

Overnight on board in Aswan. (All meals included)

Breakfast. If you wish, an optional tour to Abu Simbel and its 3 Temples dedicated to Ramses II is available. It is so worth it!

Overnight in Aswan hotel. (Breakfast)

After breakfast in Aswan, you will catch an early flight back to Cairo. Upon arrival, we will take you to the Egyptian Museum where you will see the legendary treasures it holds. You will see some of the most exquisite and ancient artifacts and statues in history. Then we will tour Islamic Cairo including the Citadel of Saladin, with its most beautiful Alabaster Mosque of Mohammad Ali. Then it’s on to Coptic Cairo to visit the Hanging Church, built on the side of the Roman fortress of Babylon and then on to the Saint Sergius Church said to have been one of the hiding places of the Holy Family.

Overnight at your Cairo hotel. (Breakfast)

Enjoy breakfast and then head out to start a full day tour of Alexandria. Get ready to gaze at the most stunning turquoise colored sea possible. It literally sparkles. This Mediterranean city was founded by Alexander the Great. It has many lovely sights. We will visit Pompey’s Pillar, the Amphitheatre, the Roman Catacombs, and more before driving back to Cairo at the end of the day.

Overnight in Cairo hotel. (All meals included)

We bid you bon voyage today. Ma al Salama. Our agent will drop you off at Cairo airport in time for your flight back home.