PHARAOH'S RED CARPET

Welcome! Ahlan wa sahlan! Our agent will be meeting as soon as you disembark. No worries. He will take you through all the red tape and once you have your luggage, you will get into a luxurious limousine and make your way too your 5* hotel.

Once you have settled in, comes the point-non-plus of your evening. You are invited for dinner on board a 5* deluxe cruise ship. You will sail for 2 hours on the Nile, enjoy a delicious meal and take-in a fantastic folkloric show. We will then accompany you back to your hotel and bid you good night. (Dinner)

Today is your first day to be amazed at the sights Egypt holds in store for you. Our first stop will be the 3 Pyramids of Giza. Behold Khufu, the biggest of them all and then take in the indomitable Sphinx, way too regal in his stance guarding the Pyramids. Afterwards, we take a car ride to the sites of Memphis and Saqqara, where some older pyramids await our inspection.

This evening, you shall be attending the mesmerizing Sound and Light Show at the foot of the Pyramids. Enjoy! The performance is in English.

Overnight in your Cairo hotel. (Breakfast and lunch)

Good morning. This morning we will be taking a short flight to Luxor. Your concierge will accompany transfer to the airport and upon arrival in Luxor, our agent will take you on to board the luxury cruise ship, Oberoi Zahra Nile Cruise. 12 pm is embarkation, 12:30 Lunch and at 2:30 we shall visit the Karnak temple complex, rich in temples, chapels, pylons and other buildings. It is truly vast. Then we visit the Luxor museum.

Back on board your cruise ship, we hope you enjoy your dinner, programmed for 7:30. Overnight on board. (All meals included)

Sabah el kheir. This morning we shall have an early 6 o’clock breakfast as we need an early start to beat the midday heat. At 7 we shall head out to the West Bank. taking in the ghostly Valley of the Kings, filled with the spirits of the Pharaohs of days gone by. It is a truly weird experience. Just absorb the atmosphere as you walk along and go into some of the tombs. Then it’s on to Madinet Habu and the Colossi of Memnon, those 2 gigantic statues. By 11 o’clock we should be back on board to set sail toward Qena where we shall visit the Temple of Denderah, dedicated to Hathor, the cow-goddess, a very holy place and one of the most-well preserved.

Overnight in Qena aboard ship. Enjoy your evening. (All meals included)

Good morning! During the night, we sailed back to Luxor. Back again on the West Bank, we shall visit the Valley of the Nobles this morning after breakfast. Not as well known and visited as the Valley of the Kings, it hold a special place with its sprawling collection of tombs, scenes of the Nobles daily lives and depictions of the afterlife. We shall then go on to  Deir el Madina and the Temple of Hatshepsut with its colonnaded avenue. After lunch we shall pay a visit to the Luxor temple.

This evening, the witching cocktail hour awaits you at 6:30 with live music in the Club lounge followed by dinner. Overnight on board the Oberoi Zahra. (All meals included)

This morning we will be sailing to Edfu. Around 3:30 this afternoon we shall head over to visit the temple. In Greco-Roman times the town was called Apollonopolis Magna, after the head god Horus/Apollo. It is the most completely preserved temple in Egypt.

Evening on board cruise ship with dinner. Overnight on board. (All meals included)

We go on sailing to Aswan as we enjoy our breakfast on board. Come noon, we will visit the Aswan High Dam and Lake Nasser, then we hop onto the island of Agilkia to visit the Temple of Philae, dedicated to the goddess Isis, drawing pilgrims in great numbers. Take a look at the rock formations around you on the lake. They are so beautifully carved.

Good morning! Sabah el kheir! Ah today is a day for being pampered. Enjoy breakfast and just lie back and relax. We will be sailing toward Kom Ombo, where we will visit the temple there, one that is shared by two deities, Shobek, the crocodile god and Haroeris, the oldest form of the god Horus, the falcon god.

Lunch will be on board as we sail to Aswan and once there, we will take a felucca, a traditional Nile boat, and visit the Botanical Gardens. Once back on board, we shall  wish you great enjoyment in the Spa, to just relax and enjoy being pampered.

After sunset, we will visit the temple of Philae again and take in their Sound and Light Show. Dinner will be on board. Overnight on board. (All meals included)

Breakfast on board and if you wish, we offer you an optional early morning tour to the temple of Abu Simbel. This magnificent and otherworldly temple is 3 hours away by road. It was built in commemoration of Ramses II and his victory at the battle of Kadesh. The temple is a miracle of engineering as twice a year, the inner sanctuary receives the sunbeams that light up three of the 4 sculptures. This incredible, hard to believe feat will keep the God of Darkness Ptah in obscurity.

You may decide to stay on board or to disembark and take in the town. Enjoy your time. At 7 pm we have a cocktail reception planned for you with entertainment followed by dinner. Overnight on board. (All meals included)

Sorry to leave upper Egypt? The discovery trip goes on.This morning after breakfast we shall take you to the airport so you may catch the flight back to Cairo. Once there, a full-day city tour is awaiting you.

Let us start with the Sultan Hassan Mosque, a Mamluk era mosque in the old city. Then we go on to explore a house that has its own story to tell the visitor, the Gayer-Anderson House which was built by an early 20th century British doctor and houses his collection of museum quality paintings and artifacts that he collected over the years. The James Bond film “The spy who loved me” was set there. Then we move on to the Citadel of Saladin and its famous alabaster Mosque of Mohammad Ali. It is perched up on the Muqattam Hills overlooking the city. We will have lunch at a local restaurant. Later on, we will set our sights on the Bazaar of Khan el Khalili, giving you ample to time to wander the alleys there and choose some souvenirs to take home. Overnight at hotel in Cairo. (All meals included)

This is goodbye. Make sure you have all your souvenirs put away and your memories intact in your pocket. After breakfast, our representative will come by to pick you up and drop you off at the airport in time for your flight back home. Ma al salama. We wish you well and hope to welcome you back in Egypt for some more of our adventures.