Those who have booked our recommended flights with EgyptAir will fly from London to Cairo this morning, landing in the afternoon.  A group transfer from the airport to the hotel in Giza is included to coordiniate with this flight.

For those making their own way to Cairo to join the tour,  check in time at our group tour hotel is from 3:00PM. Guests arriving earlier than this may leave baggage securely at reception and use the hotel facilities until their room is ready.

There are no set activities today until the group meets for the first time this evening for a pre-dinner drink and introductory chat with your guide and our trip scholar, followed by dinner around 8pm.

*Please note, if you book your own flights, Temple World can organise a transfer to meet any flight (private transfer charge applies).

Overnight: Steigenberger Pyramids Hotel, Giza  | Meals: D

Morning visit to the new Grand Egyptian Museum. Located in Giza opposite our hotel, it houses the world’s largest antiquities collection belonging to a single culture’s heritage, with huge exhibition halls surrounded by gardens.  For the first time ever, every single treasure found in  King Tutankhamun’s tomb is now on display in one gallery at the museum.  There is also a  wonderful Solar Boat gallery where the huge ancient boat found buried in pieces beside the pyramids has been reconstructed in its full glory.

Return to the hotel for an afternoon at leisure so guests can choose what to see and do for themselves.   Those who wish to can stay on at the museum for the afternoon instead of returning to the hotel; there are numerous restaurants and cafes at the museum to take a break over a coffee or tea in order to pace oneself.  If anyone would like to spend the afternoon at the Great Pyramids, heading downtown, or visiting other sites such as Saqqara, we can arrange this with a private guide and driver at extra cost.

Meet up as a group this evening for dinner at the hotel as a group (included).

Overnight: Steigenberger Pyramids Hotel, Giza  | Meals: B, L, D

Then board the Nawara Dahabiya, an opulent 12-cabin two-masted riverboat chartered for our exclusive use for the next 3 nights.  Enjoy lunch on board, then head onshore for further sightseeing.

This morning, check out of the hotel and transfer to Cairo Airport for a 90 minute flight south to Luxor in Upper Egypt,  known in antiquity as Thebes, and by the ancient Egyptians as Waset.

On arrival, we shall check in to our privately chartered Nile Dahabiya, which is docked on Luxor’s East Bank.

After enjoying lunch on board, this afternoon, cross the Nile to the  West Bank to visit the Tombs of the Nobles, located in the foothills opposite the Ramesseum, which contain some of Luxor’s most rewarding, but least-visited, tombs. The burial place of Ancient Luxor’s elite (viziers, mayors and other city officials),  instead of repetitive, formal scenes of gods and underworlds, the decoration of the Nobles’ tombs are a living journal of ancient Egypt.  The beautifully detailed frescoes and painted reliefs show scribes sitting at desks, pottery making, winemaking, banquets, hunting, fishing, dancing, and children playing.  There are also depictions of foreign tributes being brought to Egypt from Africa, Syria, and Nubia, giving a glimpse at the geopolitics of the day.  The smaller, shallower designs of these tombs ironically kept them safer from massive collapses and catastrophic looting. Because of this, the vibrant reds, deep blues, and brilliant golds remain exceptionally well-preserved. The Valley of the Kings can welcome thousands of visitors a day, often making it feel rushed and packed. By contrast, the Tombs of Nobles remain a hidden gem where one can explore the chambers quietly, absorb the atmosphere, and experience a genuinely peaceful moment in the desert. 

Afterwards, return to the Dahabiya.   For those who wish, there is an optional visit in the early evening to Luxor Temple, surrounded by the modern town of Luxor. After the sun has set, the temple monuments are spectacularly illuminated, including the two huge, seated statues of Ramesses II flanking the entrance, and the 25m pink granite obelisk (one of a pair, the other taken to France in 1836 where it still stands in the Place de la Concorde, Paris).

Dinner on board our Dahabiya as a group, before overnight on board moored in Luxor.

Overnight: Sonesta Amirat II Luxury Dahabiya  | Meals: B, L, D

While the group sleeps, the crew of the Dahabiya will sail early this morning to cruise upriver, passing through Esna Lock.  Enjoy breakfast on board as the banks of the river become a continuous ribbon of bright green farmland, sugar cane fields, and tall date palms. Pass small farming villages, mud-brick houses, and local fishermen working right from the shore, or using traditional wooden skiffs.

The free time between breakfast and lunch are the perfect time for a talk given by Professor Smith.

After lunch on board, disembark at the town of Edfu and visit the Temple of Horus, one of the most complete Ptolemaic temples in Egypt.  Completely covered by desert sand and Nile silt for nearly 2,000 years, the accidental burial protected the stone walls, roof sections, and intricate carvings from weather and reuse.

This morning, begin sailing towards the fascinating but little-visited quarries of Gebel Silsileh, where only small Nile boats like ours are allowed to stop. After breakfast, disembark and visit the small temple of Horemheb and walk through the sandstone quarries, where ancient Egyptians cut stone for many of their most famous temples.

Professor Smith’s research at the University of Oxford included translating and analysing the Demotic scripts chiseled directly into the quarry rock faces, at Gebel el Silsila,  extracting valuable data detailing the logistical networks, labour organisation, and personal beliefs of ordinary workers rather than just elite pharaonic history.

Return to the dahabiya and continue sailing to Kom Ombo, located in a scenic bend in the Nile river, where we shall moor for lunch.

Visit the Kom Ombo’s Ptolemaic temples after lunch, Egypt’s only symmetrical double temple, built with duplicated halls, courts, and sanctuaries for two different gods.

The southern half honors the crocodile god Sobek (goddess of fertility and creator of the world), while the northern half honors the falcon god Haroeris, or Horus the Elder (god of light and cosmic order).  The temple’s architects mirrored every doorway, hall, and sanctuary down a central axis so neither deity took precedence, allowing two separate cults and priesthoods to operate side by side in the same complex.  Another interesting quirk of the temple are a series of medical reliefs carved on the inner walls, depicting ancient Egyptian surgical and medical instruments, and showing the advanced healthcare practices of the time.

Return to the ship and continue the cruise upriver towards Aswan, enjoying afternoon tea and a talk given by Professor Smith enroute. Aswan was for many centuries the empire’s southernmost outpost and a primary point of interaction with ancient Egypt’s neighbour, Nubia. 135 miles from Luxor/Thebes, Aswan was a garrison town positioned at the First Cataract of the Nile, a natural river barrier which made the town an important trading outpost and militarily stronghold. The town was also known for its superior quarries in ancient times, with the granite used for burial chambers, sarcophagi, and columns throughout Egypt.

Mooring in Aswan in the early evening, enjoy dinner and overnight on board.

Overnight: Sonesta Amirat II Luxury Dahabiya  | Meals: B, L, D

There is an optional fly-in excursion to Abu Simbel this morning for those who would like to visit the temples there. Guests taking the optional excursion will depart early this morning to Aswan Airport and take a short flight to Abu Simbel to enjoy around 90 minutes at the temple there (see extensions tab for further details).

Those not taking the optional excursion to Abu Simbel will enjoy breakfast on the sundeck moored in Aswan, then make a visit to the Aswan High Dam, one of the world’s largest embankment dams, built 111m high across the Nile to control flooding of the Nile between 1960 and 1970. The creation of the dam’s reservoir (Lake Nasser) necessitated the relocation of the temple complex of Abu Simbel, as well as 90,000 Egyptian and Sudanese (Nubian) inhabitants.

Returning to the dahaboya for lunch, the Abu Simbel contingent will meet back up with the main group.

This afternoon, explore Philae Temple, originally located on a sacred island south of Aswan. A largely Ptolemaic temple, it was moved and reconstructed on higher ground when the High Dam was built.

Also visit Aswan’s Northern granite quarry, to see the Unfinished Obelisk. This monument is believed to have been commissioned by Hatshepsut for the Temple of Amun at Karnak. If it had not been abandoned due to flaws, it would have stood 42 meters in height – taller than any other ancient Egyptian obelisk.

Return to the ship for a final dinner on board and overnight moored in Aswan.

Overnight: Sonesta Amirat II Luxury Dahabiya  | Meals: B, L, D

After breakfast, we shall check out and disembark the dahabiya for the final time.  A transfer to the airport and flight to Cairo is included in the tour cost, where the tour ends.  We aim to take an Air Cairo flight at 11am arriving Cairo at 12:00 but this is not guaranteed yet and timings could be earlier or later.

Those with more time who wish to stay on in Aswan, join a Lake Nasser Cruise, or travel to Luxor overland for extra time there, can swap the included  Aswan to Cairo flight to an alternative date/route to match their itinerary.

If departing today on an international flight from Cairo this afternoon, please check timings with us before booking onward connections so we can confirm the exact timings of the included domestic flight – we don’t recommend any flights departing before 4pm and we strongly recommend leaving 4 hours layover in Cairo as a minimum.  Should you require an earlier flight to Cairo we can book one departing first thing in the morning, but this will necessitate a very early pick-up from the dahabiya. A supplement may apply depending on availability/rates of this flight, and a private airport transfer will be required at extra cost, but we are happy to arrange this should any client require the earlier timings.

We can arrange tailor-made extensions such as pre or post tour hotels, in Cairo/Aswan, a road transfer to Luxor to spend time there visiting additional sites,  Red Sea beach stays, Alexandria or Siwa Oasis extensions and additional sightseeing and hotels anywhere in the region (including Jordan, Oman etc).  Simply contact Temple World’s group operations team (Alice or Lia) on info@templeworld.com  for a tailormade quote.

Overnight: –  | Meals: B