• 8 Breakfast (B)
• 5 Lunch (L)
• 6 Dinner (D)

• Top-rated dining, from farm-to-table to local restaurants
• 4 & 5-star hotel and overnight cruise stays
• Business class coach with extended leg room, cruise travel and select flights

• Al Ramady: Enjoy dinner on Al Ramady Island, a small sand island in the Nile. You’ll arrive by boat in the early evening and sit down to an al fresco meal of Egyptian dishes such as grilled meats, seasonal salads, mezze and freshly baked bread.
• Kom Ombo: Learn about traditional Egyptian attire and immerse yourself in local culture at an Egyptian dinner and galabeya party.

• Aswan: Satisfy your curiosity and your taste buds over an Egyptian cooking demonstration with your talented onboard chef.
• Aswan: Ever wondered what it is like to be in the driver’s seat? Enjoy a tour of the Captain’s quarters and learn about how he sails through the Nile and how knowledge has been passed down through generations.

• Aswan: On a traditional Nile felucca, meet a sailor and learn the art of sailing this ancient Nile craft. 

Stand face to face with Egypt’s icons on the desert edge of Cairo. Gaze up at the Great Pyramids of Giza and meet the enigmatic Sphinx before your Egyptologist leads you to step inside a pyramid to see narrow passages and the stark, resonant burial chamber.

Hear how these royal tombs rose from bedrock during the Old Kingdom, and learn about quarrying, sledges and star-aligned precision. Wind-carved sands, monumental masonry and the timeless gaze of the Sphinx frame powerful moments for photos and reflection.

Discover Egypt’s national collection with your Egyptologist at the vast Grand Egyptian Museum. Encounter Tutankhamun’s complete tomb collection arranged for context, from ceremonial beds to gilded shrines, then admire the reconstructed solar barque once buried beside the Great Pyramid.

Pause before the towering statue of Ramses II and wander galleries spanning Predynastic to Greco-Roman eras. Curated displays, colossal sculpture and finely worked jewelry reveal craftsmanship and belief systems that shaped Nile civilization across millennia.

Venture to Luxor’s West Bank to descend into royal tombs carved deep into desert hills. With your Egyptologist, read vivid afterlife scenes, stars on midnight-blue ceilings and protective deities that guard the pharaohs’ journey beyond.

Continue to the Colossi of Memnon, two monumental statues that once flanked Amenhotep III’s mortuary temple. Learn how the necropolis’ geology preserved pigments and inscriptions, and why these colossal guardians became a landmark for ancient travelers and modern archaeologists alike.

Enter the vast sacred precinct of Karnak to walk the Avenue of ram-headed sphinxes toward pylons, obelisks and sanctuaries layered over 2,000 years. Your Egyptologist reveals royal propaganda and priestly power in every court and colonnade.

Stand amid the Hypostyle Hall’s 134 papyrus-bundle columns soaring like a stone forest, then study reliefs of Rameses II and inscriptions recording festivals and Nile inundations. The scale and artistry illuminate Thebes’ role at the heart of ancient Egypt.

Cruise the River Nile at an unhurried pace aboard a classic two-sailed dahabiyya, a small vessel that can moor at quiet banks and islands. Lounge on deck as palm groves, mud-brick villages and irrigated fields drift past to the rhythm of the river.

Your crew shares river lore and daily life while the soft rustle of lateen sails and rippling water set a tranquil mood. Intimate size, attentive hospitality and star-filled nights create serene moments on Egypt’s timeless waterway.

Come ashore to visit the Temple of Horus at Edfu, one of Egypt’s best-preserved Ptolemaic sanctuaries. Pass imposing pylons into relief-lined courtyards where scenes of ritual, myth and kingship unfold with remarkable clarity.

Hear how the falcon god triumphed over Seth, then examine the sanctuary of the sacred barque, elegant column capitals and intact ceilings. Crisp hieroglyphs and shadowed side chapels offer a rare, immersive sense of how a working temple functioned in antiquity.

Step onto one of the Nile’s narrowest reaches to explore Gabal El Silsila, a small riverside sanctuary nestled beneath honey-colored cliffs. Rock-cut chapels, royal cartouches and river-smoothed steps create a contemplative, off-the-beaten-path atmosphere.

Your Egyptologist connects the site to the region’s ancient sandstone quarries that supplied blocks for Karnak, Luxor and Edfu. Chisel marks and transport ramps reveal engineering at the source, linking this quiet outpost to Egypt’s grandest monuments.

Visit Kom Ombo’s unique double temple, symmetrically dedicated to Sobek the crocodile god and Haroeris (Horus the Elder). Twin sanctuaries, mirrored courts and Nile-facing reliefs illustrate medical tools, offerings and protective rituals.

Continue to the Crocodile Museum to see mummified crocodiles and votive objects that once honored Sobek. Your Egyptologist explains how river deities shaped farming cycles and why this Nile-edge complex is unlike any other temple in Egypt.

Glide by motorboat across the blue waters of Aswan’s reservoir to Philae, where colonnades, kiosks and pylons rise from a lush island setting. The approach by water heightens the sense of sanctuary embraced by the river.

With your Egyptologist, visit the Temple of Isis, reassembled stone by stone after the High Dam’s construction. Ptolemaic reliefs, delicate Hathor capitals and lakeside vistas evoke the goddess’s enduring cult and the rescue of a beloved monument.

Board a traditional felucca and catch the Nile breeze under lateen sails as you glide past Elephantine and Kitchener’s Island. Your local sailor shares time-honored techniques for reading currents and trimming canvas on Egypt’s classic river craft.

Granite outcrops, palm-fringed banks and the quiet flap of canvas create a contemplative rhythm. This intimate sail offers authentic river life insight and serene angles for photography far from the hum of engines.

Meet the artisans at a local, women-owned cooperative whose mission is to empower village women through income-generating crafts. Hear personal stories of resilience while watching demonstrations of weaving and handwork using natural and upcycled materials like palm fronds and bamboo.

Your visit directly supports UN Sustainable Development Goal 5: Gender Equality. Choose to purchase pieces knowing proceeds help fund training, dignity and financial independence for more than 300 women in the surrounding communities.

Arrive by boat at a quiet Nile sandbar to dine al fresco in lantern-lit simplicity. Savor Egyptian flavors—grilled meats, seasonal salads, mezze and warm bread—served family-style as the river slips by in the dusk.

The hush of water and open sky create a relaxed, celebratory mood. Conversations linger and the scents of charcoal and spice frame a memorable Nile-side dinner with your small group.

Join a light-hearted gallabiyah celebration on board, donning a traditional robe while the crew shares music and cultural anecdotes. Laughter, rhythms and friendly photos set an easy, convivial tone.

Enjoy a spread of regional dishes as you connect with Egyptian hospitality and learn how attire, song and food intertwine on the Nile. It’s a relaxed evening that blends folklore, costume and on-board camaraderie.

Choose one included activity. Either join an Egyptian cooking demonstration with the onboard chef—learning spice blends, family recipes and plating—or visit the Captain’s quarters to discuss navigation, river lore and how seamanship is passed down.

Both options provide rich, behind-the-scenes insight: the kitchen offers aromas and tasting, while the wheelhouse reveals charts and river craft. Select the experience that most enriches your personal connection to Nile life.

Travel to Abu Simbel to see the colossal lakeside temples of Ramesses II and Nefertari, hewn from sandstone cliffs and fronted by four towering seated statues. Inside, pillared halls glow with reliefs of deities, battle scenes and royal devotion.

Learn how UNESCO engineers relocated the complex to save it from rising waters after the Aswan High Dam. This is an optional experience at additional cost, bookable on tour, by air or road depending on schedules.

Experience the Sound & Light Show at the Pyramids, where narration and color projections animate the Sphinx and the Great Pyramid against the night sky. Music and storytelling trace the pharaohs, builders and beliefs that shaped the plateau.

Desert air, illuminated stone and dramatic shadows create a theatrical mood distinct from daytime visits. This is an optional experience at additional cost, bookable on tour for an evocative evening in Giza.

Cruise the Nile in Cairo on an evening boat with dinner and live entertainment as the river reflects bridges and city lights. Savor a multi-course meal while the skyline drifts past in gentle currents.

Expect music and dance performances that showcase modern and folkloric traditions. This is an optional experience at additional cost, bookable on tour, offering a relaxed urban contrast to your daytime explorations.

Explore historic Cairo with your Egyptologist, beginning at the hilltop Saladin Citadel and its gleaming Alabaster Mosque of Muhammad Ali, an Ottoman-style landmark of domes, courtyards and sweeping city views. Trace layers of faith and architecture as you move from Islamic Cairo to ancient Christian roots in Coptic Cairo.

Step inside the Hanging Church, gracefully suspended above a Roman gatehouse, and hear how Cairo’s sacred sites chart a journey from early Christianity to Islamic dynasties. Intricate icons, marble inlay and incense-laced chapels set an intimate, devotional mood.

Insight Vacations