10 Days / 9 Nights

 

ITINERARY

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Day 01:  Arrival Cairo

 

Upon arrival at Cairo International Airport, Excel Travel representative welcomes you and assists you through the immigration process. Modern air-conditioned coaches take you to your hotel in Cairo. Your representative will ensure a smooth hotel check-in.

Overnight at the hotel in Cairo

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Day 02:  Pyramids, Sphinx, Memphis and Sakkara  (B, L) 

 

Buffet breakfast at the hotel in Cairo then start a guided tour to visit one of the Seven Wonders the great Pyramids of Giza; (Cheops, Chephren and Mycerinus) were reckoned by the Greeks to be one of the Seven Wonders of the World. A single pyramid is built with 2.300.000 blocks, each weighing an average of two and a half tones. In the face of such immensity, one cannot help but feel the wonder and awe that so many writers and artists have sought to convey over the centuries. The Cheops Pyramid is more interesting, because its interior burial chambers are open for inspection by the public. Not far from the Pyramids is the Great Sphinx of Giza, which dates from the time of Chephren (2620 BC). Hewn from natural yellowish limestone and standing 65 feet-high and 187 feet-long, this unforgettable statue combines the head of a Pharaoh with a lion's body. A quick visit to papyrus institute or a perfume shop can be arranged after the visit.

 

Lunch will be served at an oriental restaurant before you start afternoon visit to the ancient capital of Memphis & Sakkara where the Step Pyramid was built for the Pharaoh Zoser, is the oldest pyramid in the world, dating back from 2700 BC.

 

Drive to your hotel in Cairo for refreshment.

 

Evening at leisure whereby an optional tour to visit the spectacular sound & light show by the pyramids or enjoy dinner while cruise the Nile or enjoy dinner in Sequoia restaurant by the Nile

 

Overnight in Cairo

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Day 03:  Museum, Citadel, Khan El Khalili Bazaars  (B, L)

 

Breakfast in the hotel, then drive to the Egyptian Museum for unforgettable tour;

Egyptian Museum; was established by the Egyptian government in 1835.  The present museum building was built in 1900, in the new classical style by the French architect Marcel Dourgnon.  The museum exhibited collections now exceed 120,000 objects ranges from pre-historic era to the Greco Roman period. It has 107 halls, and the ground floor houses huge statues.  The upper floor houses small statues, jewels, Tutankhamen treasures and the mummies.  The museum also comprises of a photography section and large library. A hall for the Royal Mummies was opened at the museum, housing eleven kings and queens.

Lunch will be served at an oriental restaurant before you start afternoon visit to the Citadel with the towering mosque of Mohamed Ali;  

It is one of Cairo's most popular tourist attractions is the Citadel which houses a number of museums, ancient mosques and other sites, located on a spur of limestone that had been detached from its parent Moqattam Hills by quarrying. The Citadel is one of the world's greatest monuments to medieval warfare, as well as a highly visible landmark on Cairo's eastern skyline. Particularly when viewed from the back side (from the north), the Citadel reveals a very medieval character.

 

After the visit a short drive will take you to the most famous bazaars of Khan El Khalili whereby you have some free time to stroll around the bazaars; which is one of the most famous worldwide with its amazing narrow alleyways.  Drive to your hotel in Cairo

Evening at leisure whereby an optional tour to visit the spectacular sound & light show by the pyramids or enjoy dinner while cruise the Nile or enjoy dinner in Sequoia restaurant by the Nile

 

Day 04:  Alexandria full day tour  (B, L)

 

Early breakfast at hotel then drive to Alexandria via the desert road for a full day guided tour to visit the Bombay’s’ pillars, Alexandrina Bibliotheca, Qaite Bay citadel from outside & Al Montazah Gardens   

Alexandrina Bibliotheca; the New Library of Alexandria, the New Bibliotheca Alexandrina is dedicated to recapture the spirit of openness and scholarship of the original Bibliotheca Alexandrina. It is much more than a library as it contains 13 different departments. Besides, the New Library also hosts a number of institutions which is growing and it is becoming the nerve center of many international and regional networks.

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Qaite bay Fort has been guarding the bay for centuries; at the end of the Cornish rises the crenellated walls of the Mameluk fortress built in 1480 on the site of the Alexandria lighthouse

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Pompeii Column and Kom el-Shuqafa Catacombs Thirty meters high and built from Aswan pink granite, the Pompeii Column is thought to have been a present from the people of Alexandria to Emperor Diocletian. The majority of the remains found around the column can be been at the Greco-Roman Museum. At the top of the hill lies the entrance to the Kom al-Shuqafa Catacombs dating from the first and second centuries. They have been discovered by chance at the beginning of 20th, century.

 

Montazah Gardens; is about 150-hectare park surrounding the palace of Khedive Abbas with its amazing architecture worth of Walt Disney. Visitors enjoy strolling in the gardens or swimming of the nice sandy beaches.

 

Lunch will be served during the tour in an oriental restaurant

 

Drive back to Cairo at the end of the day and overnight at the hotel in Cairo.

 

Day 05:  Cairo – Luxor  (B, L, D)

 

Breakfast in the hotel, check out

Escorted transfer to Cairo Domestic airport for your flight to Luxor

Meet & assist at Luxor airport and transfer to the Nile cruise in Luxor

Embarkation before

Afternoon guided tour to visit the Karnak & Luxor temples on the East bank

Karnak temple: to the east bank of Luxor the greatest example of worship in history and was dedicated to the God Amon, his wife Mut and their son Khonsu. It was constructed from the beginning of the Middle Kingdom to the Greco Roman Kingdom

 

Luxor temple: in the East bank during the sunset it is a great temple complex in modern Luxor dedicated to Amun, a creator god often fused with the sun-god Ra into Amun-Ra, construction work on the temple began during the reign of Ame nhotep III in the 14th century BC. Horemheb and Tutankhamun added columns, statues, and friezes, and Akhenaten had earlier obliterated his father's cartouches and installed a shrine to the Aten, However, the only major expansion effort took place under Ramses II some 100 years after the first stones were put in place. Luxor is thus unique among the main Egyptian temple complexes in having only two pharaohs leave their mark on its architectural structure

Dinner onboard

Dancing music

Overnight in Luxor

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Day 06:  Luxor – Esna - Edfu  (B, L, D)

 

Breakfast onboard

Guided tour to visit the Valley of the Kings, Hatshepsut temple at El Dier El Bahary and colossi of Memnon at the west bank

 

Valley of Kings: was a magnificent burial ground for the pharaohs - the Valley of the Kings.  This was the kingdom of Osiris, god of the underworld.  From their grand tombs filled with treasures and decorated with magnificent art, the Egyptian pharaohs believed they would embark on a journey in which they would meet the gods in the afterlife and achieve immortality.

 

After that visit the Hatshepsut Temple: is one of the most dramatically situated in the world. The queen's architect, Senenmut, designed it and set it at the head of a valley, throughout the temple, statues and sphinxes of the queen proliferated. Many of them have been reconstructed, with patience and ingenuity, from the thousands of smashed fragments found by the excavators; some are now in the Cairo Museum, and others the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

 

Colossi of Memnon: You will pass by the two massive stone statues of Pharaoh Amenhotep III. For 3,400 years, they have sat in the Theban necropolis, across the River Nile from the city of Luxor

Lunch onboard

 

Sail to Edfu via Esna

Afternoon tea

Captain’s welcome cocktail

Dinner onboard

Disco & Music

Overnight

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Day 07:  Edfu – Kom Embo - Aswan  (B, L, D)

 

Breakfast on board

Guided tour to visit the temple of Horus at Edfu the town is known for the major Ptolemaic temple, built between 237 BCE and 57 BCE, into the reign of Cleopatra VII. Of all the temple remains in Egypt, the Temple of Horus at Edfu is the most completely preserved. Built from sandstone blocks, the huge Ptolemaic temple was constructed over the site of a smaller New Kingdom temple, oriented east to west, facing towards the river. The later structure faces north to south and leaves the ruined remains of the older temple pylon to be seen on the east side of the first court.  

Lunch on board & sail to Kom Ombo

 

Visit Kom Ombo Temple actually it is two temples consisting of a Temple to Sobek and a Temple of Haroeris.  In ancient times, sacred crocodiles basked in the sun on the river bank near here, the Temple has scanted remains, due first to the changing Nile, then the Copts who once used it as a church, and finally by builders who used the stones for new buildings, everything is duplicated along the main axis.  There are two entrances, two courts, two colonnades, two hypostyle halls and two sanctuaries.  There were probably even two sets of priests. The left, or northern side is dedicated to Haroeris (sometimes called Harer, Horus the Elder) who was the falcon headed sky god and the right to Sobek (the crocodile headed god). 

Afternoon tea

Dinner on board

Egyptian Galabeya Party    

Sail to Aswan & overnight in Aswan

 

Day 08:  Aswan (B, L, D)

 

Breakfast on board

Guided tour to visit the High Dam, the unfinished obelisk and Philae temple.

The High dam an engineering miracle built in 1960 protecting Egypt from annual floods from the Nile

Proceed to visit the majestic Philae Temple because of the location of the Temple on an island, we have to take a boat to get to the site, since early century, the site of Philae was flooded for six months each year, an incredible restoration program was undertaken in the 1960s, and the Temple was moved stone by stone to a higher elevation.

 

The unfinished Obelisk: is the largest known ancient obelisk and is located in the northern region of the stone quarries of ancient Egypt in Aswan, Egypt. It was ordered by Hatshepsut (1508–1458 BC), possibly to complement the Lateran Obelisk (which was originally at Karnak and was later brought to the Lateran Palace in Rome). It is nearly one third larger than any ancient Egyptian obelisk ever erected. If finished it would have measured around 42 m (approximately 137 feet) and would have weighed nearly 1,200 tons

 

Lunch on board

Sail on the Nile by felucca around Kitchener’s Island and view the Agha Khan mausoleum

Dinner on board - Night entertainment (Nubian Show)

Overnight in Aswan

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Day 09: Aswan – Cairo (B, L, D)

 

Disembarkation after breakfast, and transfer to Aswan airport for a flight to Cairo.

Upon arrival at Cairo Airport, Excel Travel representative will welcome you at the airport and escort you to your hotel.  Rest of the day at leisure

 

Alternatively – for those who wish to opt for unforgettable tour to Abu Simble;

Early breakfast and disembarkation, and then transfer to Aswan airport for a flight to Abu simble upon arrival to Abu simble you will be transferred by Egypt air buses to the great temples of Ramses II & his beloved Nefertari whereby the guides will be waiting to show you around in groups. Transfer back to the airport by Egypt air buses to board the flight to Cairo via Aswan.

 

A Farwell dinner can be offered at a special restaurant or in the hotel

Overnight at the hotel in Cairo

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Day 10:  Final departure  (B)     

 

Final departure transfer after breakfast from the hotel; Excel Travel representative will escort you, check you in your flight