See the Best of Egypt Over a 10-Day Vacation from Cairo
Highlights
Cairo, Giza, Luxor, Saqqara, Memphis, Alexandria, Aswan, Edfu, Kom Ombo
Locations Covered
Cairo, Giza, Luxor, Saqqara, Memphis, Alexandria, Aswan, Edfu, Kom Ombo
horseriding, historical, Sailing
Private Tour
10 Days
Medium
English
Description
Sign up for the tour and explore the historical highlights of the city of Luxor, Aswan, Cairo, and Alexandria to go back in time. Admire the grandeur of the various temples of Luxor, Kom Ombo, Edfu, Philae and Karnak, the largest religious site ever constructed. Witness the pharaonic history at the Civilization Museum and the Egyptian Museum, and enjoy a picturesque landscape at the Aswan High Dam.
Itinerary
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Day 1: Arrive in Cairo
- Meet the tour representative and the professional guide, who will meet you at the Cairo Airport, who will give you full attention from the first moment and accompany you with a private air-conditioned car to begin your tour in Cairo.
- Start your tour by discovering Fustat city to visit one of the newest museums in Egypt, the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization. The National Museum of Egyptian Civilization narrates in the main hall the achievements of the Egyptian civilization from prehistoric times to the present day.
- Continue to the crown jewel of the museum, the Royal Mummies Hall, displaying 22 royal mummies unearthed from various tombs preserved. Walk around leisurely in this room and look at the kings and the queen- Queen Hatshepsut, Tuthmosis III, and Ramses II resting in peace in their final home beside some of their funeral furniture to provide you with the feeling of strolling down the Valley of Kings where most of the mummies were originally resting.
- See the temporary exhibition about the history of four Egyptian Crafts through the Different Eras (pottery, textile, wood, and jewellery).
- Drive back to your hotel in Cairo.
Overnight in Cairo.
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Day 2: Tour to the Three Pharaonic Cities
- Have your breakfast meal, your tour guide will pick you up from your hotel in Cairo by a private air-conditioned car to start your tour.
- Start your day by visiting one of the most attractive pharaonic sights in Egypt, Giza Necropolis to witness the pyramids of Cheops, Chephren, and Mykerinus. There, you will find a large number of pyramids and tombs dating back to the 4th dynasty, the old kingdom. Additionally, the only wonder of the seven wonders of the ancient world that is still standing today, is the pyramid of king Cheops. Also, the tour will include passing by Princesses and Queens Pyramids.
- Move to the Valley Temple of king Chefren. This temple was used during the purification of the mummy of the king and its mummification.
- Continue to the Great Sphinx with a lion body and human head. According to the Pharaonic beliefs; he is guarding this great necropolis.
- Take some time at Giza Plateau to visit the Papyrus Museum for shopping and enjoy taking fabulous photos with Giza Plateau views.
- Go for a camel ride or inside the great pyramid. It is an optional activity. You will pay extra fees of 20$ per person.
- Head to Saqqara, a major part of Memphis’s massive necropolis. In Saqqara, you will see one of the major archaeological sites in Egypt, the Complex of King Djoser, dating back to the third dynasty (around 2630 BC). This complex is considered the first complete stone construction in ancient Egyptian history, and it contains the oldest stone structure in the Pharaonic civilization, the step pyramid, built by the engineer Imhotep.
- Proceed to discover another kind of pharaonic pyramid like the King Teti pyramid of the sixth dynasty. Unlike the Giza pyramids, these pyramids contain texts called the pyramids texts as a guide for the king in his pass to the afterlife.
- Witness the burial site of the most ancient Noble Egyptians dating back to the old and new kingdoms and visit Kagemni tomb to see the inscriptions showing daily life habits in ancient Egypt. Be a witness to the first capital of untied Egypt founded by King Narmer in 3100 BC, Memphis.
- Pay a visit to the Memphis Museum to see the colossal statue of Ramses II and the second biggest sphinx of Queen Hatshepsut.
- Drive back to your hotel in Cairo.
Overnight in Cairo.
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Day 3: See the Highlights of Cairo
- Have breakfast, your tour guide will pick you up from your hotel in Cairo by a private air-conditioned car to start your tour.
- Pay a visit to the Egyptian Museum, overlooking Tahrir Square. The Khedive Abbas Hilmi II built this museum on 15 Nov. 1902 to display over 250,000 genuine objects considered rare and precious collections of ancient Egyptian art in the world.
- Stroll among the halls to see the ancient Egyptian treasures as Tanis treasures and the treasures of Yuya and Tuya, which are indistinguishable from the royal collections.
- Move ahead to the most famous fortress in Islamic Cairo, the Citadel of Saladin, built by Salah-El-Din Al-Ayoubi in the 12th Century to fortify Cairo against the Crusaders' attacks. This citadel was the seat of the rule for 700 years.
- Go to the highest point inside the courtyard of the Citadel of Saladin, where there is one of the most famous landmarks in Egypt, the Mosque of Muhammad Ali or Alabaster Mosque, designed in Turkish style by the Turkish architect Yousif Boushnaq, who came especially from Istanbul to build this great mosque. This mosque distinguishes its beautiful decorations on its walls, its remarkable domes, and minarets.
- Drive back to your hotel in Cairo.
Overnight at Cairo.
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Day 4: Embark on the Nile Cruise
- Have your breakfast in the Cairo hotel, our guide will accompany you with a private air-conditioned car to International Cairo Airport to catch your flight to Aswan. When you arrive at Aswan Airport, you will find our team waiting for you and accompany you in an air-conditioned car to the Nile Cruise.
- Check in on the Nile Cruise and meet your tour guide, who will accompany you on a new adventure in Aswan.
- Start your tour in Aswan by visiting the High Dam, the engineering miracle of the 1960s. It was built to protect Egypt from the annual floods of the Nile River by President Gamal Abdel Nasser.
- Sail with a motorboat to Agilkia Island, one of the Aswan Islands, to visit the temple of the goddess Isis, Philae Temple, and know- how UNESCO saved it, as this temple was flooded for six months each year after the building of the Aswan Dam.
- Enjoy the Nile River views of this site and take fabulous shots.
- Move to the granite quarry to recognize the techniques used by the ancient Egyptians to cut and form their obelisks via the Unfinished Obelisk of Queen Hatshepsut of the 18th dynasty, still resting on its side in the site.
- Drive back to the Nile Cruise.
Overnight in Aswan.
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Day 5: Visit the Kom Ombo and Edfu Temples
- Have your breakfast on board the Nile Cruise. Your tour guide will pick you up by a private air-conditioned car to Kom Ombo.
- Touch down on the shores of Kom Ombo and walk through the town until arriving at Kom Ombo temple, the double temple. It is considered two identical temples dedicated to two gods, the god Horus (the falcon god) and Sobek (the crocodile god).
- Take the horse carriage to Edfu to visit the most complete and well-preserved temple in Egypt, Edfu temple. Edfu temple is dedicated to the falcon god Horus. The depictions of this temple reflect some of the ancient Egyptian political events and religious beliefs as the legend of the conflict between Horus and Seth.
- Move back to the Nile Cruise to sail to Esna.
Overnight in Esna.
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Day 6: Explore the East and West Banks of Luxor
- Have breakfast on the board the Nile Cruise. Your tour guide will pick you up in a private air-conditioned car to start your adventure in Luxor city.
- Start with the west bank of Luxor city, where you will discover the Valley of the Kings, and visit three royal tombs ranging from the 18th dynasty to the 20th dynasty. These tombs belong to great ancient Egyptian Kings and were carved deep into the desert rock and richly decorated for guiding the king in his journey in the afterlife.
- Move to the Mortuary Temple of Queen Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari. Queen Hatshepsut is considered the most powerful woman who ruled Egypt. The temple consists of three levels connected with a ramp. These three levels depict important events during the reign of Hatshepsut as the divine birth and the commercial expedition to Punt Land.
- Pass on the mortuary temple of King Amenhotep III on your way to the west bank of Luxor city, and witness its colossus statues, the colossi of Memnon. Your tour guide will tell you about the legend of linking these statues and the Greek mythical hero, Memnon.
- Have your lunch meal and cross the Nile to explore the east bank of Luxor city.
- Begin your tour on the east bank of Luxor. Explore the route of the Opet feast of ancient Egypt. Start your tour with Karnak Complex, the largest temple religious complex dedicated to the triad of Thebes (Amun-Ra – Mut – Khonsu). In the ancient Egyptian language, this temple is called Ipet-isut means “the most sacred of places".
- Walk through the avenue of Sphinx, where the parade of the triad of Thebes passed from Karnak Complex to Luxor temple. This road is either headed by a human head or a rams head. It is thought that the construction of the avenue started during the New Kingdom and was completed in the 30th Dynasty during the rule of King Nectanebo I.
- End your tour on the east bank of Luxor by visiting the Luxor temple originally built during the reign of Amenhotep III and completed by Ramses II. After entering the temple, you will find Abu Al-Haggag mosque was built on the ruins of a church, which was built inside the temple.
- Drive back to the Nile Cruise.
Overnight in Luxor.
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Day 7: Admire the Beautiful Sites of Alexandria
- Have your breakfast on the Nile Cruise and you will find a private air-conditioned vehicle waiting for you to transfer you to Luxor Airport to take your flight to Cairo. When you arrive at Cairo International Airport, you will find our team waiting for you to accompany you to Alexandria.
- Start your tour in Alexandria by visiting the Catacomb dating back to the early Roman period. The Catacomb is the largest Roman Cemetery consisting of three levels cut in the rock depicting the mixture of the Pharaonic and Greco-Roman art in the decoration of the tombs. In the Catacomb, you will see corpses are buried in the sarcophagus, on shelves, and in urns of ashes after cremation.
- After that, you will move to Pompey’s Pillar. These Pillars were constructed in honour of Emperor Diocletian at the end of the 4th century. Originally, this temple was dedicated to the god Serapis. On the site, your tour guide will tell you why they called it this name.
- Continue your tour and pay a visit to Qaitbay Citadel, the Ottoman fortress built where the Lighthouse of Alexandria, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, had existed on Pharos Island. It is considered one of the most important defensive strongholds, not only in Egypt but also along the Mediterranean Sea coast. There you will enjoy the Mediterranean Sea view.
- End your tour in Alexandria by exploring the modern Library of Alexandria, considered a cultural complex. It is the biggest library in the world as it contains 8 million books. There, you will enjoy taking amazing photos.
- Drive you back to your hotel in Cairo.
Overnight in Cairo.
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Day 8: Discover Wadi El-Rayan
- Have your breakfast in your hotel in Cairo, and the tour guide will pick you up by a private air-conditioned car to go ahead to Fayoum Oasis.
- Discover Wadi El-Rayan and enjoy the largest waterfalls in Egypt, dunes, and several kinds of rare birds and animals, as it is considered a nature reserve.
- Move ahead to Tunis Village to know the daily lifestyle of the Fayoum community and practice making the Fayoum pottery by visiting the pottery school.
- Have your lunch meal, go ahead to Gabal El-Medawara or Mudawara Mountain and enjoy its beautiful layered appearance, with symmetry to the features drawing your gaze to it, and discover its magic lake.
- Drive back to your hotel in Cairo.
Overnight in Cairo.
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Day 9: Go to the Egyptian Museum
- Have your breakfast meal, and your tour guide will pick you up from your hotel in Cairo by a private air-conditioned car to start your tour.
- See the Egyptian history, ranging from the prehistory to the Greek-Roman period, throughout 50,000 artifacts some of them never exhibited before; some of these collections from the new excavations of Saqqara, the whole collection of King Tut, and the boat of King Khufu (Solar Boat).
- Enter the Atrium to see the Colossal Statue of King Ramses II. Then you will move to the Grand Staircase surrounding impressive statues of the ancient Egyptian great kings. At the end of the Grand Staircase, you will find the exhibition halls, where the complete Tutankhamun collection will be displayed. Besides, there are the other four exhibition halls containing collections reflecting ancient Egyptian history.
- Do not miss the journey to ancient Egyptian’s real world. Let’s explore the amazing stories and secrets of ancient Egypt through a new experience in hololens hall in the GEM. Wear the hololens and interact with such a real world.
- Drive back to your hotel in Cairo.
Overnight in Cairo.
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Day 10: Departure
- Have your breakfast in the Cairo hotel, our team will transfer you to Cairo International Airport to take your plane for departure.
What's Included
What's Excluded
What To Bring
Meeting Point
Cancellation Policy
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For cancellations upto 2 days before the tour -
Refund of 80% of the tour price.
Price
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1 to 3 | /person |
Child | |
1 to 3 | /person |
This is a private tour |