King Tut – 9 Days (Cairo & Nile cruise)

Once breakfast is over, a friendly expert Egyptologist joins you to show you Cairo. Your first destination is the Giza plateau and the last remaining of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Three pyramids rise here, built for Cheops, Chephren and Mycerinus from giant stone blocks, and they are counted among the most awe-inspiring structures made by people. The Sphinx lies close to them, with the head of Chephren set on the body of a lion, keeping its long watch as protector of the pharaohs’ land.

The next visit is the Grand Egyptian Museum, which houses more than 250,000 works of art dating back 5,000 years. Its star exhibit is the treasure of Tutankhamen, and especially the solid gold mask. At the end of the day a transfer brings you to Cairo railway station, and you travel overnight to Luxor on the sleeper train. If you prefer a smoother and more comfortable trip, you can upgrade from the sleeper train to a domestic flight.

After breakfast, you are met on arrival at Luxor railway station. Your tour covers Luxor Temple and Karnak Temple, which were once joined by an avenue of ram-headed sphinxes. They help explain why Luxor is seen as the largest open-air museum in the world and one of its most significant archaeological sites.

After breakfast, you set out for the west bank of the Nile. In the Valley of the Kings you see the complex of burial chambers where pharaohs were buried beginning with Thutmose I. Your guide then takes you to Hatshepsut’s temple and on to the Colossi of Memnon, two giant statues. You go back to your Nile cruise and have tea on the way to Edfu, which takes the ship through the Esna Lock.

After breakfast, you ride in a horse carriage to Edfu Temple, which was built in honour of the god Horus and is the best-preserved temple that survives from antiquity. You have lunch on the cruise afterwards. The ship then sails to Kom Ombo, where you tour a double temple whose right side belongs to Sebek, the crocodile god, with the left side given to Horus the Great, solar god of war. Afternoon tea is served while the cruise sails on to Aswan.

After breakfast, you visit the High Dam, known worldwide as an engineering wonder. Built in 1960, it gives the entire country its power and irrigation water. A short boat ride then takes you to Agilika Island and the Temple of Philae, which belongs to the goddess Isis and has many shrines and sanctuaries.

After breakfast, you leave the cruise and are transferred to the railway station, where you take the sleeper train to Cairo. For a smoother, more comfortable trip, you may switch the sleeper train to a domestic flight.

After breakfast, you are met at Cairo railway station on arrival and taken to the hotel to check in. The tour then begins at the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization, the first museum built around ancient Egypt, history’s earliest civilization. It is also the only museum in Egypt where visitors get a general picture of all the historical periods the country has known, through some 50,000 artifacts reaching from prehistoric times to the modern day.

After that you visit the Citadel of Saladin, where you find the alabaster Mosque of Mohamed Ali. You then go to Old Cairo, known as the religious complex, as its sites stand in one area within easy walking distance. You see the Hanging Church, the Ben Ezra Synagogue and the first mosque ever founded in Africa, Egypt included. Once it is late afternoon, you visit Khan el Khalili, an especially impressive oriental market, where a large number of shops display gold and silver jewelry of every kind.

After breakfast, you are taken to the airport to depart.