ISIS Dive – 8 Days (Cairo – Luxor & Hurghada)

With breakfast finished, meet the friendly Egyptologist who will be your expert guide to Cairo today. The first visit is the Giza Plateau, the single survivor among the seven wonders of antiquity. Built of massive stone blocks, the three royal pyramids raised for Cheops, Chephren and Mycerinus are an extraordinary piece of engineering. Below them the Sphinx, a lion carrying the head of Chephren, has kept watch for centuries as protector of the pharaohs’ homeland.

Afterwards, the Grand Egyptian Museum presents a collection of more than 250,000 pieces from 5,000 years of history. Its centrepiece is the treasure of Tutankhamun, with the solid gold mask as the best-known item. The day finishes at Cairo railway station, where you join the sleeper train heading to Luxor.

Following breakfast, you are met when your train reaches Luxor railway station. You then visit two great temples, Luxor and Karnak, which were once connected by a long row of ram-headed sphinxes. Between them they show why Luxor is famed as the world’s largest outdoor museum and one of its most significant archaeological sites.

Breakfast is followed by a tour of the Nile’s West Bank. Start in the Valley of the Kings, whose burial chambers were made for the pharaohs beginning with Thutmose I. Then continue to Queen Hatshepsut’s temple, followed by the Colossi of Memnon, two statues of gigantic size.

Afterwards you travel to Hurghada on a modern bus with air conditioning, a road trip of about four hours. The town is one of the Red Sea coast’s most famous holiday resorts and an international base for aquatic sports. A representative escorts you to your all-inclusive hotel, and your dinner is served there.

Breakfast is followed by a day of free time. Water sports are on hand, including deep-sea fishing, sailing and windsurfing, and the beach is there if you would rather relax with your family in the sunshine by the warm water.

After breakfast, you check out, then have a day at leisure to see Hurghada. A transfer then takes you to the city’s bus station for the ride back to Cairo, where you are transferred to your hotel in an air-conditioned vehicle.

After breakfast, you are taken to your hotel and check in. Your sightseeing opens at Egypt’s National Museum of Egyptian Civilization. This was the first museum to focus on ancient Egypt as the earliest civilization in history, and it remains the only one in Egypt that presents a general picture of all the country’s historical eras. A collection of 50,000 artefacts traces the story from prehistory to modern times.

Next on the route is the Citadel of Saladin, home to Mohamed Ali’s alabaster mosque. Old Cairo comes after that. This district is known for its religious community, as a church, a synagogue and a mosque stand close together within easy walking distance. Inside it are the Hanging Church, the synagogue of Ben Ezra and the oldest mosque in all of Africa, not merely in Egypt.

Late in the afternoon, head to Khan el Khalili, an outstanding oriental market whose many shops are filled with fine gold and silver jewellery.

After a final breakfast, you are transferred to the airport and depart.