From the incredible views of the Pyramids and the Sphinx, to a 4-night exclusive Nile River Cruise, and behind-the-scenes insights by local experts at Sinai with St. Catherine’s, at Petra or at Jerash, this journey is unlike any other through these historic lands.
Your Itinerary
Day 1: Arrive Cairo
Arrive at Cairo International Airport, where we meet our guide who will welcome and assist us with the transfer to our hotel. Overnight: Hotel Cataract Pyramids Resort, Cairo. (1 night) (Dinner)
Day 2: Cairo / Luxor (overnight train)
First, after breakfast, we drive to Memphis, the former Capital of the Ancient Kingdom. From here we visit Sakkara, the place with the step-pyramid of Zoser, and finally we go to visit the Pyramids of Gizah; one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, and not to far from here, visit the Sphinx.
Later in the afternoon we are transferred to the Railway Station to board the sleeper train to Luxor. Overnight: Onboard train (1 night) (Breakfast, Dinner)
Day 3: Luxor / Nile Cruise (4 nights / 5 days)
Early in the morning we arrive in Luxor and after our onboard breakfast, we leave for a visit to Karnak and Luxor temples. Karnak Temple is more of a "complex" than it is a single temple and is comprised of several different temples including the Temples of Amun, Mut, and Montha. The Luxor Temple and its Avenue of Sphinxes is a delightful site and many of the statues are still well put together.
It's neat to gaze down the avenue and imagine what it must have looked like when they were all intact. Archaeologists believe that the line of statues once continued much farther than what is presently there. Afterwards we go to the Port of Luxor and embark our Nile Cruise-ship, which will be our ‘home’ for the next four nights / five days. Overnight: Onboard Cruise Ship. (4 nights) (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner)
Day 4: Luxor / Esna / Edfu (cruise)
After our overnight and breakfast onboard the ship, we go in the morning to visit Luxor’s West Bank: the Valley of the Kings, the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut and the Colossi of Memonon. The valley was once the burial place of the ancient Kings. The tombs are richly adorned with beautiful, colored hieroglyphs, paintings, drawings, representations, and an incredible array of spells and puzzles.
And all hidden (at that time) from the public, to be enjoyed by the King in the afterlife… The Temple of Queen Hatshepsut is one of the most beautiful of the royal mortuary temples. The terraces were different then, with gardens of frankincense trees and other rare plantings brought from Punt. Queen Hatshepsut, the stepmother of pharaoh Thutmose III, who was an adolescent at the time, built the temple.
As the first known female monarch, she ruled for about two decades, thus delaying the kingship of Thutmose III. It is not known how she died or how she was superseded. Many of her portraits were destroyed after her death, no doubt on orders from Thutmose III. After also visiting the Colossi, we return to our ship have dinner and sail to Edfu. (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner)
Day 5: Edfu / Kom Ombo (cruise)
This morning we first visit the Temple of Horus in Edfu. Located on the west bank of the Nile, Edfu is at a midway point between Luxor and Aswan, and after Karnak this is the second largest temple in Egypt. It is also one of the best preserved. Construction began under Ptolemy III Euergetes in the 3rd century BC, but the temple was not completed until the 1st century BC. From here we sail to Kom Ombo and visit the Twin Temple of Sobek and Haroeris.
The temple is very unusual. It was dedicated to two triads of deities each with their own associated chambers and sanctuaries. On the eastern side of the temple, the crocodile god Sobek (Suchos/Seth) is honored with his wife who is named Hathor and their son Khonsu.
On the west side, Haroeris or 'Horus the Elder' (Harwer) it is accompanied by his wife Hathor-ta-sent-nefert and their son Panebtawy (Lord of the Two Lands). It is likely that there were also two separate priesthoods who tended the deities sailing towards Aswan. (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner)
Day 6: Kom Ombo / Aswan (cruise)
We continue sailing to Aswan and upon arrival (at noon); we’ll go for an afternoon visit to the High Dam and the Unfinished Obelisk, as well as the Temple of Isis on the island of Agilkia, formerly Philae. Isis in Egyptian mythology, it is the goddess of fertility and motherhood.
According to the Egyptian belief, she was the daughter of the god Keb ("Earth") and the goddess Nut ("Sky"), the sister-wife of Osiris, judge of the dead, and mother of Horus, god of day. Ancient stories described Isis as having great magical skill, and she was represented as human in form though she was frequently described as wearing the horns of a cow.
In the early evening we sail across the Nile in a traditional Felucca around Elephantine Island, the Botanical Gardens and the Aga Khan Mausoleum. We return for our overnight stay to the Ship. (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner)
Day 7: Aswan / Cairo (overnight train)
This morning, after our leisurely breakfast, we disembark the cruise ship and have free time to visit (optional) the Rock Temples of Ramesses II. At Abu Simbel, settled 60 m higher to save them from the rising water of Lake Nasser, or just for you to wander around city and bazaars. In the evening we are transferred to Aswan Railway Station to board the 1st class sleeper train back to Cairo. Overnight: Onboard train (1 night) (Breakfast, Dinner)
Day 8: Cairo
We arrive in Cairo in the morning and before checking in to our hotel we visit first the impressive treasures of the Egyptian Museum, especially the artifacts from the tomb of Tutankhamen. Later we’ll proceed to the Mohamed Ali Mosque and the ancient Citadel for a breathtaking view of the city. After check-in, we can freely stroll through the lively Khan el Khalili Bazaars. Overnight: Hotel Cataract Pyramids Resort, Cairo (1 night) (Breakfast, Dinner)
Day 9: Cairo / St. Catherine (drive)
We are leaving Cairo early in the morning and we drive via Suez to the Sinai Peninsula. The road along the West-Peninsula coastline is rich in Cultural Heritage and worth visiting the Spring of Moses and Hammam Pharaon on the way. We arrive late in St. Catherine. Overnight: Camp at St. Catherine (1 night) (Breakfast, Dinner)
Day 10: St Catherine / Nueibaa / Aqaba - Jordan (drive + ferry)
Early in the morning we will ascent to Mt. Sinai summit to witness a unique sunrise from there. Then we’ll visit the medieval Orthodox Monastery of St. Catherine and the nunnery belonging to it. After we descend, we continue with our drive to Nueibaa Port, the last Egyptian frontier.
We will take a ferry ride from Nueibaa, crossing into Aqaba (Jordan). After immigration & custom formalities, we meet our Jordan guide and we are transferred to our hotel at Aqaba. Overnight: Hotel Alcazar, Aqaba (1 night) (Breakfast, Dinner)
Day 11: Aqaba / Wadi Rum (sunset) / Petra (drive)
After a leisurely breakfast at our hotel and some time in Aqaba in the morning, we will drive to Wadi Rum, another site of ‘nature’s wonderland’ that has attracted human beings for thousand of years. Wadi Rum is an unusual desert terrain that resembles a pastel pink lunar landscape, with towering limestone and granite cliffs shooting out of the sandy desert floor.
In Wadi Rum, which was known as “Lawrence of Arabia Land”, we’ll have the ultimate experience to ride a four-wheel vehicle safari for two hours into the desert. From here we continue our ride to Petra. Overnight: Petra Panorama Hotel (1 night) (Breakfast, Dinner)
Day 12: Petra / King’s Way / Kerak (drive)
We start our day touring the most spectacular site in the south of Jordan, the rose-red city of Petra, the name being derived from the Greek word for “Rock” Entrance to Petra is after 1200 m walk through a winding snake-like Siq (canyon) for 20 minutes. The Siq is from 80 m to 100 m in height, and on either side of the canyon are rock-cut channels of water.
In 560 B.C. the Nabateans were the first to move to Petra, and in 332 B.C. when the Greeks arrived, the Nabateans were assimilated, along with their culture, curving their temples and tombs with a Greek design. The Nabatean Kingdom, once great and powerful, used to control the caravan trade of frankincense from southern Arabia to Petra, Damascus, Gaza and Egypt.
While walking through the “siq”, one is dazzled by the spectacular view of the “Treasury”, the most famous monument of Petra. Several hours will be spent walking / horseback riding through the canyon viewing the temples, tombs, and other extraordinary places to be found here. Later, we’ll drive over the King’s Way to Kerak. Overnight: Kerak Rest House, Kerak (1 night) (Breakfast, Dinner)
Day 13: Kerak / Madaba / Mount Nebo / Dead Sea / Amman (drive)
After we visit the fortress of Kerak, we drive to the city of Madaba. This is an ancient Moabite town and it was the centre of the mosaics during the Byzantine period. A huge selection of the world famous Byzantine Mosaics are to be seen here, as well as the well-known Saint George's Church with the 6th century mosaic map of the Holy Land.
After a 10 minute drive from Madaba is Mount Nebo, Moses’ last camp after the Exodus. From the top of the Mountain he surveyed the Holy Land before he died. Here we’ll also visit the 4th century Memorial Church for Moses, one of the reputed sites of Moses' burial. Also, we can visit the simple Franciscan Chapel and a 6th century Basilica.
Later we proceed to the Dead Sea coast for a short bathing & swimming, followed by a short drive to Amman, the Capital city of Jordan. Overnight: Hotel Imperial Palace, Amman (3 nights) (Breakfast, Dinner)
Day 14: Amman / Jerash / Ajloun / Umm Qais / Pella / Amman (drive)
Some 2,000 years ago, a handful of handsome cities flourished on the southeastern flank of the Roman Empire. Known collectively as the Decapolis, or "ten cities," in Greek, they are now emerging from both the earth and the haze of history. The best preserved Decapolis dry is Jerash, 35 kilometers (22 miles) north of the Jordanian capital Amman - itself a Decapolis city known to the Greeks and Romans as Philadelphia.
Umm Qais - the Roman Gadara - overlooking the Jordan Rift Valley, the Golan Heights and Lake Tiberias, and Tabaqat Fahl - ancient Pella - in the foothills of the north Jordan Valley, are two other Decapolis cities that are being systematically investigated today in their beautiful natural settings.
Hidden for centuries in sand before being excavated and restored over the past 70 years, Jerash reveals a fine example of the grand, formal provincial Roman urbanism that is found throughout the Middle East, comprising paved and colonnaded streets, soaring hilltop temples, handsome theatres, spacious public squares and plazas, baths, fountains and city walls pierced by towers and gates. We later return to Amman. (Breakfast, Dinner)
Day 15: Amman
After breakfast we will start the city-tour of Amman. Originally spread over seven hills, or jabals, the capital of the Hashemite kingdom now sprawls over 19 hills and is home to well over a million people, almost half of Jordan's population. Known as the White City, the hills are covered in a jumble of light-colored stone houses, consistently box-like in shape with flat roofs characteristic of a typical desert city.
The blend of the old and the new combines in the noisy and chaotic downtown area where the city's extraordinarily friendly residents go about their business. We will visit the most important ruins of the Greco-Roman Empire, the Citadel and the Roman Amphitheater. We will also visit the Jordan Archaeological Museum at the Citadel. In the afternoon we’ll have free time for shopping and later a farewell dinner at one of the renowned local restaurants. (Breakfast, Dinner)
Day 16: Amman / Departure
After this unparalleled voyage through rich ancient times, relics, evoking bygone eras and history, we bid farewell to the capital of Jordan, as we are transferred to the airport for our departure. (Breakfast, Dinner)
- End of our tour and services -
Price includes:
- Entry visa support to Egypt and Jordan
- Meals as mentioned (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner)
- All transfers and sightseeing according to itinerary
- Local English-speaking guides on each site
- Horse ride in Petra
- Permanent English speaking escort
- Entrance fees to the sites mentioned
- All hotels as mentioned, including hotel taxes
- Ferry ride for Nueibaa- Aqaba sector
- Portage
Price does not include:
- International flights and all airport taxes
- Photo and video tickets on sites (Video USD: 10, Photography USD: 4, per site)
- Lunches and meals not specified
- Drinks / beverages with meals
- Any kind of insurance and visa fees
- Departure taxes in Egypt or Jordan (if any)
- Tips and other such costs for guides and drivers
- Any other expenses not mentioned above.
Tour highlights & World Heritage Sites (WHS):
- The pyramids and the Sphinx at Gizah (WHS)
- The Egyptian Museum, Islamic Cairo (WHS)
- Karnak and Luxor Temples
- The Valley of the Kings, the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut and the Colossi of Memonon, Luxor
- Temple of Isis, Aswan
- St. Catherine Monastery (WHS)
- Rose-red city of Petra (WHS
- The Dead Sea
- ‘Decapolis’ city of Jerash and Amman
Notes:
Airfare is not included in the tour price.
Tour price for 2008
USD: 2,315.00 / CAD: 2,430.00 per person in double occupancy. Single supplement: USD: 450.00 / CAD: 475.00
Also see tour packages in:
Africa
Egypt
Jordan
Cultural Journey
Boating and Sailing
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