7 days Egypt: Nile cruise, Cairo, Luxor & Aswan

Day 1: Cairo

We will pick you up at Cairo International Airport and bring you to your hotel.

Day 2: Cairo

Visit the Great Pyramids of Giza, one of the seven wonders of the world. You will visit the Cheops pyramid, the Chephren pyramid, the pyramid of Mykerinos and the Sphinx. You can then visit a papyrus exhibition. You will learn how traditional papyrus is made and how ancient Egyptian artisans made papyrus.

At lunchtime, take a break in a local restaurant. Enjoy lunch here before visiting the Egyptian Museum. The neoclassical building, designed by the French architect Marcel Dourgnon, contains more than 120,000 masterpieces that date from the pre-dynastic period to the Pharaohs period and the Greco-Roman epochs. The highlights in the Egyptian Museum are certainly the artifacts of the youthful king Tutenchamun and the relics of the other god-kings and queens. In the mummy exhibition you can learn more about mummification in ancient Egypt. In the evening we accompany you to the train station. From there, take the night train to Aswan. You will have your dinner on the train.

 Day 3: Nile cruise - Aswan - Kom Ombo - Edfu

After breakfast on board, we will accompany you to your cruise ship in the port of Aswan. The boat takes you to the Aswan Dam and the Temple of Philae, located on a small island called Agilkia in the middle of the Nile. This temple is dedicated to the goddess Isis.

Lunch will be served back on the ship. You continue to Kom Ombo, a temple dedicated to the crocodile-headed god Sobek and the falcon-headed god Horus. This temple is located in a bend in the river where sacred crocodiles bathed in the sun in ancient Egypt. After this excursion, continue to Edfu. In the evening you will be served dinner on board.

Day 4: Nile cruise - Edfu - Luxor

Once in Edfu, visit the Ptolemaic Temple of Horus in the ancient settlement. The settlement was known as Apollinòpolis in Roman times. The ruins of some important pyramids lie north of the settlement.

Back on the ship, you will have tea in the afternoon and then dinner. Enjoy a traditional Galabeya celebration as you continue to Luxor at night.

 Day 5: Nile cruise - Luxor

In Luxor your guided tour takes you along the west bank of the Nile. You see the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens. There are at least 63 tombs in the Valley of the Kings, which are mainly buried between 1539 and 1075 BC Pharaohs. In the nearby valley of the queens there are around 70 tombs in which only the women of the pharaohs were buried.

Admire the temple of Queen Hatshepsut in Deir El Bahari and the massive Colossi of Memnon that make up Pharaoh Amenhotep III. represent.

 

It continues on the east bank of the Nile. Marvel at the Temple of Luxor, Amenhotep III. made from Nubian sandstone. You will see another great site, the Temple of Karnak. The temple of Karnak is one of the most visited sites in Egypt alongside the pyramids.

Then return to your ship.

Day 6: Luxor

After breakfast you can discover Luxor on your own.

Optionally, you can take a guided tour to Abydos and Dendara. You do this tour with an air-conditioned vehicle. Explore the main temple of Seti I, built around 1300 BC by Seti I and his son Ramses II. The probably most important temple of the new Egyptian empire is known above all for its wonderful reliefs.

Then you can go to the Dendara Temple. It is surrounded by an enormous mud brick wall and was once a complex with numerous temples and shrines from the early days of the Egyptian Empire.

After that day in Luxor, head to the train station. You take the night train back to Cairo. You will have your dinner on the train.

Day 7: departure

You have breakfast on the train. Arrived at the train station in Cairo, we will take you to the airport, where you will start your return or onward journey.