Itinerary:
Day

Programme

Meals & Lodge

01

ARRIVE CAIRO

Arrive Cairo International Airport; met by our representative who will assist in your transfer to the hotel for check in. Stay overnight in Cairo.

Note:
B= Breakfast  L= Lunch  D= Dinner  O/N= Overnight stay

O/N: Cairo

02

CAIRO - GIZA - CAIRO - LUXOR (ON SLEEPER TRAIN)

Full day visit to the Great Pyramids* of Giza and their guardian, the famous half-human, half-lion Sphinx. And afterwards, back to Cairo for the Egyptian Museum* where artifacts like the golden mask of Tutankhamun can be found. End with shopping at the busy and boisterous Khan El Khalili Bazaar.

(*) Exclude entrance fees into inside of the Pyramids, visit the Solar Boat in the Pyramids area and into the Mummies Room at the Egyptian Museum.

Transfer to Cairo station, and board the sleeper train to Luxor
Dinner and overnight stay is onboard.
(The train departs Cairo at 8.00pm and arrives Luxor next day at 5.15am)

B: Hotel

D: Onboard

O/N: Onboard

LUXOR NILE CRUISE - KARNAK TEMPLE

Upon arrival, you will be transferred to the Nile cruise ship for check in.

Later, visit;
The Temple of Luxor
In front of the great pylon entrance originally stood two obelisks and six colossal statues, all erected by Ramesses II. One obelisk is now in Paris. The statues all represent Ramses himself. But perhaps the most beautiful parts of the temple are the Colonnade and Court of Amenophis, its columns are crowned with lotus buds.

The Temple of Karnak
The great Temple of Amun at Karnak was once the religious centre of Thebes and Upper Egypt. The Temple covers an immense 100 acres, and was once linked to Luxor by a sphinx-lined avenue.The whole complex of temples was in turn linked to the Nile via a canal through which moved the sacred boats of the god Amun. Its impressive hypostyle hall has 134 soaring columns; each column is carved with scenes of gods and pharaohs.

Stay overnight on your cruise ship.

LUXOR - NILE CRUISE VALLEY OF THE KINGS - ESNA

Visit
The Valley of the Kings (site of Tuthankhamun's tomb)
Situated in a secluded area of the west bank, this valley contains 62 excavated tombs, and a visit usually takes in two or three of the tombs, dependent on the number of visitors in the valley and which tombs are open. The main tombs include those of Amenophis II (one of the best preserved), Ramses IX (never completed), and Seti I (largest and most elaborate).

The Temple of Hatshepsut
Unlike any other temple in Egypt, it is composed of three widely-spaced terraces with ramps leading from one to the next. The first terrace is virtually destroyed; approaching the second visitors climb the ramp to see some excellent bas-reliefs of the Queen with her nephew and co-regent Tuthmosis III. Particularly interesting are friezes depicting the Queen's expedition to the land of Punt.

The Colossi of Memnon
These two massive statues, both portraying King Amenhotep III once flanked the entrance to his massive funerary temple. The temple has all but disappeared but the statues, although weather-beaten, have survived. Carved from a single block of sandstone they stand over 50 ft high on a base of 8 ft and look imperiously over the barren landscape. The two colossi enjoyed fame even in the ancient world and it was the Greeks who identified them with Memnon of the Trojan War.

Stay overnight on your cruise ship.

B: Onboard

L: Onboard

D: Onboard

O/N: Onboard

05

ESNA - NILE CRUISE - TEMPLE OF EDFU

B: Onboard

L: Onboard

D: Onboard

O/N: Onboard

KOM OMBO NILE CRUISE - ASWAN

Visit Kom Ombo (90km downstream from Aswan), site of a Ptolemaic temple that dates from the 2nd century. Exceptionally, it is dedicated to two gods: Haroeris, a form of Horus, and the crocodile-headed god Sobek, each with its own chapel. There are some excellent wall paintings especially on the outermost of the two corridors that run around the temple

Later, visit Philae Temple (once dedicated to the goddess Isis) that is in a beautiful setting and had been landscaped to match its original site when it was dismantled and reassembled (on Agilika lsland from its original home on Philae Island) when the Aswan High Dam was built in the 1960s. An engineering miracle, the High Dam provides irrigation and electricity for the whole of Egypt and, wonderful view for visitors. Next, to the Unfinished Obelisk which still lies where a crack was discovered as it was being hewn from the rock. If completed it would have been 120 ft tall and over 1150 tons

Stay overnight on your cruise ship.

ASWAN - BOTANICAL GARDEN - CAIRO (ON SLEEPER TRAIN)

Check out after breakfast, and sail on a felucca to the Botanical Garden on Kitchener Island. This island was given to General-Consul Horatio Kitchener, the leader of the Egyptian army in the 1890s. The botanically-interested Consul brought vegetation from India, Malaysia and other eastern countries to plant, and has made the island a lovely place to visit.

Afterwards, free time in Aswan until transferred to the train station for Cairo. (The train departs Aswan at 6.30pm and arrives Cairo next day at 6.45am)

Stay overnight on the sleeper train.

CAIRO

Upon arrival, you will be transferred to your hotel for check in.
Free at leisure. Stay overnight in Cairo.

09

DEPART CAIRO

B: Hotel