Departing 29 July 2027
Join Astronomer Dr Carolin Crawford on an exceptional journey through ancient Egypt to witness the Eclipse of the Century from a brand new river cruise ship in Luxor, the point of greatest duration, offering over six minutes of totality. Combined with a backdrop of legendary ancient Egyptian temples, this once in a lifetime event offers an unparalleled historical and celestial experience.
The location couldn’t be more apt. In ancient Egypt, the night sky served as a celestial roadmap – long before modern science, the sun, stars, and planets governed sacred rituals, royal power, and the rhythm of the farming year. Astronomy infused every corner of ancient Egyptian life and death. They understood predictable stellar movements, and integrated sky observation into the very fabric of sacred decoration, using stars, decans, constellations, and solar cycles to guide timekeeping, ritual, and beliefs about death and rebirth. Using instruments such as the merkhet and star groupings known as decans, Egyptians divided the night into hours and created a 365-day solar calendar. Weaving this ancient knowledge into the fabric of the tour, visit temples including Karnak, which was oriented to capture the first rays of the solstice sun, transforming light itself into a divine event. Enjoy interpreting the astronomical charts painted on select royal tomb ceilings in the Valley of the Kings, tracking the rising of specific stars over the course of the year, and the illustrations showing the sun god Ra’s journey through the twelve hours of night, with the star-covered sky goddess Nut arching overhead, embodying the vault of the heavens.
The tour is based around a four night Nile cruise from Luxor to Aswan; a chance to see the wonderous eclipse from the ship’s open-air sundeck whilst moored in Luxor, then travel the ancient route of the pharaohs along the Nile to Aswan with congenial companions, watching the river glide by from the deck of one of the newest and most comfortable ships on the river. With time to relax and reflect after the excitement of the Eclipse, the cruise is a wonderful way to witness local life along the Nile’s banks, to enjoy enlightening talks from our trip scholar, and to visit two of the country’s most astonishingly well-preserved ancient temples, Edfu and Kom Ombo.
As well as reinterpreting the temples and royal tombs of Upper Egypt from Luxor to Aswan through an astronomical lens, the tour also includes a stay in Cairo to see the treasures housed in the magnificent new Grand Egyptian museum in Giza, and to gaze in wonder at the pyramids, which are oriented to the cardinal directions with extraordinary precision. There will be a visit to a remote modern-day observatory too, to learn about Egypt’s current astronomical research. Throughout, Dr Crawford will give our group a serious of exclusive lectures about astronomy, from solar eclipses to the wider field of astronomical research, and is on hand throughout the tour to answer the group’s queries about the night sky, the formation of the universe, how best to experience the eclipse on the day, and much more.
Tour highlights
- Witness the total solar eclipse of 2027 in Luxor, the longest eclipse of the century, with totality lasting 6 minutes and 20 seconds, from the sundeck of a luxury Nile Cruise ship.
- Visit sites showcasing the ancient Egyptians’ knowledge of astronomy, including Karnak Temple, aligned with solar cycles, and the tomb of Ramses IV in the Valley of the Kings, with its fascinating astronomical ceiling
- Enjoy a series of talks from Astronomer Dr Carolin Crawford who will be on hand throughout to aid understanding of the eclipse and discuss the formation of the universe itself
- Trace the Nile south to Aswan aboard a newly relaunched 5 star Nile Cruise ship, through Esna, Edfu and Kom Ombo, temples dedicated to solar and celestial deities.
Itinerary at a glance
Day 1: 29 Jul 2027 Tour begins in Cairo this evening
Day 2: 30 Jul 2027 Pyramids of Giza and Grand Egyptian Museum
Day 3: 31 Jul 2027 Saqqara and Helwan Observatory
Day 4: 01 Aug 2027 Drive Cairo to El Gouna on Red Sea
Day 5: 02 Aug 2027 Drive El Gouna to Luxor – View Eclipse – Karnak/Luxor Temples
Day 6: 03 Aug 2027 Luxor – Valley of the Kings – Cruise to Edfu
Day 7: 04 Aug 2027 Visit Edfu & Kom Ombo – Cruise to Aswan
Day 8: 05 Aug 2027 Aswan – Philae Temple, Unfinished Obelisk & High Dam
Day 9: 06 Aug 2027 Disembark and fly to Cairo where tour ends.
Notice about operational control of this tour
Temple World has a long-standing collaboration with the University of Cambridge to plan and operate tours for its Alumni as part of the Alumni Travel Programme. Where minimum numbers are achieved and a tour departs, 10% of the tour cost will be given by Temple World to the University of Cambridge as a donation for each traveller who has a connection to the university (alumni/staff etc). This includes any friends/family travelling with them. However, please note that the University of Cambridge has no control over the operation of the tours in the Programme, which are the sole responsibility of the Operator/s concerned (in this case, Templeworld Limited).
Day 1: 29 Jul 2027 Tour begins in Cairo this evening
Day 2: 30 Jul 2027 Pyramids of Giza and Grand Egyptian Museum
Day 3: 31 Jul 2027 Saqqara and Helwan Observatory
Day 4: 01 Aug 2027 Drive Cairo to El Gouna
Day 5: 02 Aug 2027 Eclipse Day - Karnak/Luxor Temples
Day 06: 03 Aug 2027 Luxor - Valley of the Kings - Edfu
Day 7: 04 Aug 2027 Edfu & Kom Ombo
Day 08: 05 Aug 2027 Aswan - Philae Temple, Unfinished Obelisk & High Dam
Day 9: 06 Aug 2027 - Tour ends in Cairo
Dates and Prices
Prices are in UK£, per person, based on double occupancy
| Room Type | Price | Occupancy | Optional Flight from London | Availability |
| Double/Twin | £6195 per person | sharing twin/double room | £800-£1100 return approx | Good |
| Single Occupancy | £7995 per person | in own room for single occupancy | £800 - £1100 return approx | Very limited availability |
Inclusions
Domestic flight Aswan to Cairo, hotel/Nile cruise ship accommodation in a twin or double bedded room/cabin with ensuite bathroom throughout, all excursions with local guides including entrance fees, full board (except Day 1 which includes a dinner only), and the last day (the tour ends after breakfast), lectures given by expert leader.
Exclusions
International flights, breakfast/lunch on Day 1 (day of arrival), lunch/dinner on day of departure, travel insurance, drinks, tips to drivers, ship crew & local guides, (estimated amount around US$130 pp) personal expenses such as telephone calls, spa treatments, hotel incidentals if used, photographic equipment, e tickets to visit special tombs at Valley of the Kings (eg Tutankhamun, Seti I).
Optional flights
Temple World can arrange international flights from London to coordinate with this tour. These won’t be bookable until September 2026 so at present we don’t know the schedules or the prices. We are hoping to be using EgyptAir or BA which both operate two direct flights daily between London and Cairo. The cost of flights outside of peak season would normally be from £500-£800 return from London per person if booked well in advance, including taxes, however we anticipate exceptional demand over the dates of our tour and it is likely prices will be much higher than normal and could top £1000pp. Both Egypt Air and BA have a direct Heathrow to Cairo daily between 9am and 10 am, arriving in the afternoon, which is the one we are hoping to use. Returning from Cairo there are also two services daily; we will be looking to book the latest available option in order to coordinate with the domestic flight Aswan to Cairo beforehand. There is a chance we may be forced to use indirect flights via a hub such as Paris of Frankfurt or similar, if we aren’t able to get enough seats on BA or Egytptair direct. We will arrange a group transfer to coincide with the flight arrival/departure of the main flights. We will advise all those booked on the tour as soon as flights for the journey become bookable.
Booking your own travel
You are most welcome to book your own flights to coordinate with this tour. The start and point is Cairo, but please be very careful when booking your flight home as you will need to allow enough time to connect from the flight we’re including from Aswan to Cairo at the end of the tour. We don’t yet know the timings for this flight. We can arrange private transfers to meet any flight (supplement applies).
Easyjet has recently introduced a new direct service from Luton to Sphinx airport (near Giza, avoids the traffic from downtown) 3 times per week, and from Luxor to Gatwick on Mondays and Thursdays in case you prefer the prices, timings or airports of these flights. We can’t book Easyjet flights unfortunately, so this would be something you would need to book yourself, but we can advise which ones work best. If flying with Easyjet, private transfers on arrival and departure will be necessary (we can arrange those for you for a small extra cost).
*Very important! Those who plan to book their own flights should not make any binding or non-refundable arrangements until their place has been confirmed in writing on the tour and Temple World has confirmed that it is a guaranteed departure.
How to Book
Please contact us at info@templeworld.com or fill in an enquiry form below to check availability in the first instance. We are able to hold places on request, on a non-obligation basis, for up to a week. If you then wish to confirm your places, we’ll send you a link to our online booking form along with the terms and conditions for this tour, and instructions for paying a deposit to secure your spaces.
As we have already had to pay over 50% in deposits to the hotels in Egypt in order to secure all the accommodation over these ultra-peak dates, the deposit for this tour is higher than for our standard tours. We request a 20% initial deposit (£1239 per person,) which can be paid by bank transfer or by credit/debit card (we will send you a secure payment link). Sorry, no AMEX. A further 30% deposit (£1,858.50) will be due by 1 October 2026, and a further 30% due by 05 January 2026, and the remaining 20% by 01 March 2027. Instalments and final balance cannot be paid by UK credit card. Debit cards/bank transfers only (exception made for non-UK credit/debit cards and business credit/debit cards which can be used for any payments, subject to paying the representative transaction fees).
Deposits are non-refundable in the event that you are unable to participate in the tour, but it might be possible to transfer your initial 20% deposit to another Temple World tour departing within 12 months of the Eclipse tour, ONLY if we are able to fill your place/s. Further payments are not refundable and not transferrable. We strongly recommend that you have travel insurance in place at the time you book.
Special Cancellation conditions for this tour (these supersede our standard terms):
| Period before departure date by which written cancellation notice is received by Temple World | Cancellation charge payable as % of total |
| Until 31 August 2026 | Deposit only |
| Until 4 January 2027 | 50% |
| Until 27 February 2027 | 80% |
| After 1 March 2027 | 100% |
Note about the price and standard of accommodation
The price of this tour is far higher than a standard tour of Egypt of this length would usually be, so we wanted to set expectations that the reason for the price is not due to ultra luxury hotels or services, it is purely because the hotels and cruise companies in Egypt are charging between two and four times the usual prices for rooms in the week before and after the Solar Eclipse dates. It will be a privilege to attend this once-in-a-lifetime event, but the local hoteliers are certainly making the most of the surge in demand, and this means there’s a significant cost attached to being in Egypt at this time! We are paying ultra-peak rates for rooms in Cairo and El Gouna, as well as for the Nile Cruise. We have chosen the best accommodation available in each location in the circumstances – the hotels in Cairo and El Gouna are recently renovated and have excellent facilities, and the Nile Cruise is aboard a river cruise ship which has been comprehensively overhauled with brand new decor in cabins and all public areas and which will only have been operating for 9 months when we use it. However, to set expectations we suggest thinking of them as being akin to a decent European 4 star rather than the 5 stars they claim. They are all wildly overpriced for what they are, so we think it’s important that our clients know this in advance. All the other services we’re providing as part of the tour price (transport, guiding, meals and so on) are the same high standard that we apply to all our alumni tours to Egypt. We also wanted to assure our clients that on our side, we have aimed to keep our own overheads to a minimum. Even with care taken, we recognise the tour price is high, but we believe it will be worth it in order to be able to witness this spectacular event in the company of a world-renowned Astronomer and other like-minded alums.
Immunisations
Check the latest country-specific information and advice from the National Travel Health Network and Centre (NaTHNaC) on the TravelHealthPro website. Vaccines commonly recommended for Egypt: Tetanus. A Yellow Fever vaccination certificate is mandatory if arriving from a country with a risk of Yellow Fever such as Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan, Uganda, Tanzania or Zambia.
Entry Regulations
You will need a visa to enter Egypt. E-visas can be purchased in advance online from the official Egypt e-Visa Portal. If you prefer, Temple World’s partners in Egypt can pre-arrange a ‘visa on arrival’ for British, US, Australian and Canadian passport holders for a cost of $30 + $5 admin fee, if asked in advance. These are paid for in US$ cash on arrival. Other nationalities should check visa eligibility with their nearest Egyptian Consulate. Passports should be valid for a minimum of 6 months from the date of entry into Egypt. Evidence of a previous visit to Israel (such as an Israeli entry/exit stamp in your passport) does not normally cause difficulties when travelling to Egypt.
Fitness Guideline
We have graded the fitness level required for participation in this tour as Moderate. This is a full itinerary, with one or two longer days of coach travel and two domestic flights. The weather in August is exceedingly hot in Egypt, so whilst we will aim to do sightseeing at the coolest times of day and in short bursts with regular breaks for water and rests, the heat can be debilitating. We will aim to spend the hottest parts of the day indoors or in air-conditioned museums where possible. There are no strenuous hikes, but we will be sightseeing on foot at busy open-air sites, sometimes for up to an hour at a time, and there are likely to be a lot of extra tourists around.
There is not much free time during the tour, so for those who feel they would like some, we recommend a few pre-tour nights in Cairo to acclimatise and possibly some post-tour nights too if you would like time to relax afterwards (subject to availability). We can quote and book these for you.
Many of the sites during the tour are not wheelchair accessible. If you routinely use sticks or a cane to walk short distances we regret that this tour is unlikely to be suitable.
Trip Scholar
Professor Carolin Crawford, Emeritus member of the Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge and Emeritus fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge.
Professor Carolin Crawford (1982) read Mathematics at Newnham College, followed by a PhD at the Institute of Astronomy in Cambridge. She used observations from a wide variety of large telescopes and satellites to investigate the most massive galaxies in the Universe, and this research was carried out alongside — and later eclipsed by — a growing role in the public communication of science. She was the Public Astronomer at the Institute of Astronomy for many years, and her success was recognised with her appointment as the Professor of Astronomy for Gresham College (2011 – 2015). Carolin is now an Emeritus Fellow of Emmanuel College, where she was a College Lecturer, Tutor and Admissions Tutor. She has been the guest lecturer on alumni cruises up the Norwegian coast to see the Northern Lights, and has made regular appearances on national radio, most notably as an expert on twenty episodes of BBC4’s In Our Time – including a programme about Eclipses in Dec 2020. A self-confessed eclipse junkie, the 2027 Egyptian tour will be Carolin’s sixth trip to see a total solar eclipse.
Lectures during our tours
All our tours are accompanied by an academic ‘trip scholar’ as well as local guides. The local guide or guides provide the day-to-day guiding on our tours, whilst the trip lecturer will give regular lectures on his/her specialist subject throughout to provide an academic overview. Lectures/talks usually last 30-40 minutes including questions and answers (if applicable). These are generally held in the evenings before dinner and attendance is optional. On some tours lectures may be given in other locations such as during longer bus journeys or at a site, depending on the lecturer and the schedule. We don’t usually specify before travel which days the lectures will be given (for operational reasons) but guests can expect them roughly every other day as a minimum, with some lecturers giving some kind of talk or presentation more frequently.
Pre/Post-Tour Extensions
Unfortunately, most hotels anywhere in Egypt are only offering block bookings for groups (if any at all) over the Eclipse dates, and to date we have been unable to secure any individual extensions within Egypt. We anticipate a few rooms might open up nearer to the time. Our time in Cairo is relatively short during the tour, so for those who are able to arrive a few days early into Egypt we will try to arrange extra nights in Giza or in downtown Cairo in order to see more of the city, such as the Antiquities Museum on Tahrir Square, Coptic Cairo or Old Cairo, but want to advise that the chances are fairly low of this being possible.
We are also likely to be unable to arrange stays in Alexandria or at a beach resort on the Mediterranean coast before or after the main tour, apologies.
Please enquire with Lia should you like more information, at lia@templeworld.com.
