Ptolemy – 10 Days (Cairo – Nile Cruise & Alexandria)

After breakfast, your private Egyptologist takes you out for a first close look at ancient Cairo. You begin on the Giza Plateau, where the pyramids raised for Cheops, Chephren and Mykerinos stand as proof of remarkable ancient engineering and as the only Wonder of antiquity that survives. Nearby you meet the Great Sphinx, a lion-bodied figure with a royal face that has guarded this burial ground for thousands of years.

The day continues at Saqqara, the oldest royal cemetery in Egypt, a wide archaeological area scattered with pyramids and tombs. Its centrepiece is the Step Pyramid of Djoser, generally seen as the first large-scale stone building ever raised and a turning point in architectural history.

After breakfast, a day devoted to Cairo’s many historical layers begins at the Grand Egyptian Museum, a major cultural institution holding the richest group of ancient Egyptian artworks ever brought together. Its huge galleries lead up to the treasures of Tutankhamun, with his funerary mask of solid gold, among the best-known works of art anywhere.

From the museum you drive to the Citadel of Saladin, topped by the graceful Alabaster Mosque of Mohamed Ali, where wide views stretch across the city. Next is Old Cairo, a distinctive district where the landmarks of Egypt’s religious heritage lie a short walk apart. Here you visit the Hanging Church, the Ben Ezra Synagogue and one of Africa’s oldest mosques, together reflecting centuries of different faiths living side by side.

Late in the afternoon you stroll through Khan El Khalili, Cairo’s famous bazaar, known for gold and silver jewelry and traditional craftwork. You then return to your hotel at the end of a full and rewarding day.

After breakfast, you check out and are driven to Cairo Airport for the flight to Aswan. A representative meets you on landing and accompanies you to your Nile cruise, where you board. Sightseeing in Aswan opens with the High Dam, a symbol of modern Egyptian engineering. You then take a boat across to Agilkia Island for the Temple of Philae, built for the goddess Isis and admired for its well-preserved sanctuaries and carved reliefs. Back on the cruise, lunch is served on board, and in the evening you sit down to an international buffet dinner.

After breakfast, you visit the Temple of Kom Ombo, unusual for being a double sanctuary shared by the crocodile-headed god Sobek and by Horus the Elder. Lunch is served on the ship when you go back. Later in the day you see the Temple of Edfu, built for Horus and in remarkably good condition, ranking among the finest temples to survive from ancient Egypt. Dinner in the evening is a continental buffet served on the ship.

After breakfast, you cross to the West Bank of Luxor. At the Valley of the Kings you explore the burial ground of the New Kingdom pharaohs, and next you visit Queen Hatshepsut’s striking terraced temple. You stop at the Colossi of Memnon, the two giant statues that have looked out over the Theban plain for thousands of years. Lunch is served back on your Nile cruise. The evening brings a relaxed Galabia night with an oriental dinner.

Once breakfast and check-out are done, you spend time on Luxor’s East Bank, where some of the ancient world’s most remarkable monuments stand. Begin at Karnak Temple, a huge religious complex that successive rulers enlarged over many centuries, and continue to Luxor Temple, which was once joined to Karnak by a long processional way of ram-headed sphinxes. These two sites sum up why Luxor is known as the greatest open-air museum in the world and one of the most important archaeological areas on earth. Afterwards a transfer to Luxor Airport connects you with the flight back to Cairo.

After breakfast, you set off for Alexandria in a private, air-conditioned car. Once there, a guide shows you the city’s historic sights, starting with the Catacombs of Kom El Shoqafa and moving on to the modern Bibliotheca Alexandrina, then the Greco-Roman Museum, and finally the Citadel of Qaitbay on the seafront, which stands where the famous ancient Lighthouse of Alexandria once rose. In the afternoon you drive back to Cairo.

After breakfast, the day in Cairo is yours to spend as you wish, whether that means resting or exploring the city independently.

If you would like to see more of Cairo, optional tours with a private guide can be set up around your interests.

Have a last breakfast at your hotel. When it is time to leave, your private driver and a Delta Tours Egypt representative take you to Cairo International Airport for your flight out. This marks the end of your 10-day luxury tour covering Cairo, the Nile Valley and then Alexandria, and you head home with memories of ancient monuments, grand temples and royal tombs, of the Nile, and of Egypt’s Mediterranean heritage.