Total Egypt: Sites, Seas and Deserts
Programme Overview
Duration: 13 days
From archaeological marvels to relaxing beach resorts and awe-inspiring deserts - this programme explores the many different sides to Egypt.
Highlights: Sharm El Sheikh, Ras Mohamed National Park, Luxor, Abu Simbel, Aswan, Cairo.
Arrive Cairo
Upon arrival at Cairo International Airport, your tour coordinator will assist you with all customs and visa formalities. You will then transfer by air-conditioned vehicle to your hotel.
Overnight: TBC
Cairo
After breakfast, your tour coordinator will introduce you to your Egyptologist and you will transfer to Memphis and Sakkara. This morning you will visit Memphis, the ancient capital of Egypt dating from 3,100 BC. Proceed to its necropolis of Sakkara where you will see the world-famous Step Pyramid of King Zoser.
After exploring these sites, enjoy a luxurious lunch overlooking the Pyramids of Giza. After lunch, visit the 4,500-year-old Pyramids built for Pharaohs Cheops, Chephren and Mycerinus on the Giza Plateau, the Great Pyramid being the only survivor of the "Seven Wonders of the Ancient World". Just to the east of the second pyramid lies the legendary Sphinx. Continue to the Solar Boat Museum to view the 141-foot long re-assembled funerary boat of King Cheops.
From the pyramids, return to your hotel.
Overnight: TBC
Meal Plan: B,D
Cairo - Abu Simbel - Aswan
A tour coordinator will be on hand to assist you with all check-out procedures. A breakfast box will be provided due to the early start. Your tour coordinator will escort you to Cairo Domestic airport by air-conditioned vehicle, where you will board your flight to Abu Simbel via Aswan. At Abu Simbel airport, your tour coordinator will meet you to arrange for your private transfer to Abu Simbel. Enjoy a half-day tour to the Temple at Abu Simbel, just a short plane ride from Aswan.
From Abu Simbel, return back to Abu Simbel Airport to board your flight to Aswan. Your tour coordinator will meet you at the airport to transfer you to your 5-star deluxe Nile cruise boat, the “Sun Boat IV”, moored in Aswan, for check in. On board, you will be welcomed by the reception staff, who will offer you chilled fruit juice while assisting with your check-in.
Entertainment: Exact entertainment schedules during your cruise are adjusted according to the needs of each group and the exact sailing schedule of the boat, and, therefore, the day of each feature is subject to change. However, every cruise on the Sun Boat IV will include:
- A colourful “galabeyya party” which gives each guest the opportunity to dress up in traditional Egyptian dress and dance to Arabic music.
- A belly dancer, accompanied by a whirling dervish show in Luxor.
- A lecture accompanied by a slide show, by your Egyptologist guide.
Food & Beverage: Menus are changed on a seasonal basis to enable the Chef to use the freshest ingredients at all times. However, the following is applicable to every cruise:
- Most meals are served in the restaurant. However, at least one barbecue lunch (while sailing) will be served on deck (weather permitting).
- Afternoon tea includes a range of teas and herbal infusions, fresh coffee and a selection of freshly baked, homemade cake, cookies and finger food
- Mineral water, tea and coffee are included on a complimentary basis during meals.
Lunch will be served on board before today's afternoon tours.
This afternoon, your Egyptologist guide will escort you to visit the Aswan High Dam, Egypt’s contemporary example of building on a monumental scale. Next we proceed to the Granite Quarries, which supplied the ancient Egyptians with most of the hard stone used in pyramids and temples, and still hold a huge unfinished obelisk.
Enjoy your afternoon tea served in the lounge.
Tonight you will be greeted by your Boat Manager, who will introduce you to the boat staff and review on-board facilities and your cruise program for the next few days. Complimentary Egyptian wine and local beer will be served, together with a selection of canapés.
Gourmet menu on board.
Overnight: The Sun Boat IV
Meal Plan: B,L,D
Aswan - Kom Ombo - Edfu - Esna
After breakfast, take a short motorboat ride to visit the romantic and majestic Philae Temple on the Island of Agilka. Upon return, an Egyptian cooking lesson will be presented on board while you cruise to Kom Ombo. Lunch is on board, while you cruise to Kom Ombo.
Upon arrival, visit the Temple of Kom Ombo, dedicated to the crocodile-god Sobek. The temple stands at a bend in the Nile where in ancient times sacred crocodiles basked in the sun on the riverbank.
Afternoon tea will be served while you cruise to Edfu.
This evening, explore the largest and most completely preserved Pharaonic – albeit Greek-built – temple in Egypt, the extraordinary Temple of Horus at Edfu.
Tonight’s dinner on board will be an “Egyptian Night” costume party for all guests, with a chance to dress up in traditional Egyptian “galabeyya”. Dinner will be a lavish buffet of Egyptian specialities, followed by oriental music and dancing for everyone.
Overnight: The Sun Boat IV
Meal Plan: B,L,D
Esna - Luxor
Enjoy breakfast while sailing to Luxor. Upon arrival, start your day with a visit to the West Bank of Luxor to explore the Valley of the Kings, a vast City of the Dead where magnificent tombs were carved into the desert rocks, decorated richly, and filled with treasures for the afterlife by generations of Pharaohs. You will also have the chance to visit at least one tomb in the Valley of the Queens. Rising out of the desert plain in a series of terraces, the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut (Ancient Egypt’s only female Pharaoh) merges with the sheer limestone cliffs that surround it, as if nature herself had built this extraordinary monument. On the way back to the river Nile, your road passes by the famed Colossi of Memnon, known in Ancient Greek times for their haunting voices at dawn.
Enjoy lunch on board. This afternoon your Egyptologist will guide you on a tour of the East Bank of Luxor, starting with the strikingly graceful Temple of Luxor dedicated to the god Amun. Proceed to the Temple of Karnak, built over more than a thousand years by generations of Pharaohs. The great “Hypostyle Hall” is an incredible forest of giant pillars, covering an area larger than the whole of Notre Dame Cathedral.
Return to your cruise for afternoon tea on board.
Tonight’s farewell dinner will be a formal gala dinner, with white-gloved waiters serving gourmet cuisine followed by a belly dancer, accompanied by a whirling dervish show.
Overnight: TBC
Meal Plan: B,L,D
Luxor
After breakfast on board, check out of the Sun Boat IV and transfer to your hotel for check-in.
This morning visit to the Luxor Museum to view the beautiful display of ancient Egyptian artifacts from Thebes, including the newly discovered cache of 22 statues, found beneath Luxor Temple. Proceed to visit the Mummification Museum, the only one of its kind in the world.
Return to your hotel.
This evening enjoy a calache ride to explore Luxor by night.
Overnight: TBC
Meal Plan: B,L
Luxor - Cairo
Enjoy breakfast and check out from your hotel to transfer to the Luxor Airport for your flight to Cairo. Your Tour Coordinator will meet you at the Cairo Airport to bring you to Old and Coptic Cairo. Today you will visit the oldest area of Cairo where you may explore the remains of the Fortress of Babylon.
After, transfer to you hotel for check-in.
Rest of the day is at leisure.
Overnight: TBC
Meal Plan: B
Cairo
After breakfast at hotel, visit the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities, exhibiting over 120,000 objects in its 107 halls. Continue to the fascinating Mummies Room, housing eleven royal Kings and Queens of Ancient Egypt, including the Great Ramses II, Egypt’s longest ruling pharaoh.
Enjoy lunch at one of Cairo's most popular restaurants.
After lunch, you will have the chance to stroll through the bustling Khan El-Khalili bazaar. Founded in the 14th century as a watering stop for caravanserai, nowadays it is reputedly the largest bazaar in the Middle East.
Return to your hotel.
Overnight: TBC
Meal Plan: B,L
Cairo - Sharm El Sheikh
After breakfast, check out of the hotel and transfer to the Cairo Airport for your flight to Sharm El Sheikh. Upon arrival, your Tour Coordinator will meet you and transfer you by air-conditioned vehicle to your hotel for check in.
The rest of the day is at leisure.
Overnight: TBC
Meal Plan: B
Sharm El Sheikh - Ras Mohamed National Park - Sharm El Sheikh
After breakfast at the hotel transfer to the main jetty in Sharm El Sheikh to board your (private) snorkelling boat. Today you will set off for a full day in Ras Mohamed National Park, one of the world’s most renowned underwater paradises. Lunch will be served on board.
Return to your hotel.
Overnight: TBC
Meal Plan: B,L
Sharm El Sheikh - St. Catherine's Monastery - Sharm El Sheikh
Receive your breakfast box and meet your guide for early travelling to St. Catherine’s Monastery. Constructed by order of the Emperor Justinian between 527 and 565, the monastery is reputedly built on the original site of the famous Burning Bush of the Old Testament. After your visit to the monastery, you are driven to Wadi El Raha for a basic lunch.
After lunch, arrive at the base of Mount St. Catherine and begin your ascent. Please note that you will have the option of riding a camel until you reach the stairs, where you must then continue on foot to the top of the mountain. After reaching the top of the mountain, enjoy the sunset and gaze at the beautiful views.
Upon descent to the base of the mountain, you will drive back to your hotel in Sharm El Sheikh.
Overnight: TBC
Meal Plan: B,L
Depart Sharm El Sheikh
Enjoy breakfast at your hotel.
Your tour coordinator will be on hand to assist you with all check-out procedures. Transfer to Cairo International Airport, where your tour coordinator will assist you through Customs to board your flight.
Take-off on your international flight.
Overnight: TBC
Meal Plan: B