In the itinerary, we state which meals are included on which day. For meals not included, we suggest you allow approximately US$15 for lunch and US$20 for dinner. Food in Egypt involves such things as kebabs, chicken, stews, pitta bread, falafel, beans, vegetables, pickles and salads. Dishes tend to be simple and wholesome, and vegetarians can be catered for, though the options may be somewhat limited. On travel days, we can either visit a supermarket or a restaurant to pick up some food. On non-travel days, lunches can be enjoyed at a local restaurant.

Meals on the cruise are open buffets, which include Western and Egyptian dishes. Drinks and water are not included at hotels and on the cruise.

Return to Philae after dusk for a sound and light show that animates pylons and colonnades with narration and music. The temple silhouettes on the water gain a theatrical aura as myths of Isis and Osiris unfold beneath the stars.

This optional add-on is at additional cost and bookable on tour. It offers a different, atmospheric perspective on a site you see by day.

Extend your exploration to Saqqara’s Step Pyramid of Djoser, the prototype of later pyramids, set amid mastabas with vivid tomb art. Continue to Memphis to see the colossal limestone statue of Ramesses II and other sculptural remains in the open-air museum.

This optional add-on is at additional cost and bookable on tour. It enriches the Giza visit by tracing pyramid design back to its earliest monumental expression.

Pay respects at the El Alamein War Cemetery and explore the Military Museum at the site of the pivotal 1942 North African campaign. Neat rows of headstones and moving exhibits trace the multinational forces that fought across the coastal desert.

Interpretive displays, maps and period equipment set the scene for the battle that reversed Axis momentum—echoing Churchill’s remark that “Before Alamein we never had a victory”. This visit adds modern history to an ancient-focused journey.

Set sail aboard a traditional felucca, catching the afternoon breeze as the lateen sail billows and the river glides by granite outcrops and palms. Between gentle tacks, enjoy a freshly prepared Nubian lunch on the water, tasting home-style flavors tied to the river’s rhythms.

The creak of wood and wash of current create a timeless mood. This unhurried cruise connects scenery with culture, revealing how communities have navigated and nourished life on the Nile for millennia.

Explore the story of Egypt across millennia at the NMEC, culminating as you descend to the Royal Mummies Hall. Here, softly lit galleries present the preserved rulers of ancient Egypt, accompanied by subtle interpretation that underscores their achievements and burial traditions.

Upstairs, themed exhibits link daily life, crafts and belief to what you’ve seen among the dynastic masterpieces. The museum’s modern design and clear chronology provide essential context before encountering temples, tombs and monuments along the Nile.

Visit Al-Azhar Mosque, founded in 970 CE and long associated with one of the world’s oldest universities. Step through gateways into serene courtyards and admire elegant Fatimid arches and carved mihrabs that speak to a millennium of scholarship and devotion.

Your Tour Leader explains customs and respectful etiquette—modest dress is required—while you pause to appreciate the balance of light and geometry. Even when prayer times limit access, viewing this revered complex anchors Cairo’s spiritual identity.

Stand before the world’s most fabled monuments as you visit the Pyramids of Giza and gaze upon the Great Sphinx. Your Tour Leader helps decode building techniques, from precise stone courses to the remnants of polished limestone casing that once gleamed under desert sun.

Walk selected viewpoints for sweeping photos and learn how this royal necropolis expressed pharaonic power and cosmic order. Sand, sky and geometry combine to make Giza an enduring symbol of human ambition on the Nile.

Visit the Monastery of Saint Bishoy in the desert depression of Wadi El Natrun, a cradle of early Christian monasticism. Pass fortified walls, quiet chapels and age-worn icons that reflect centuries of prayer and resilience.

Your Tour Leader outlines how the desert’s isolation nurtured contemplation and why this complex remains central to Coptic identity. The scent of incense and the sound of wooden doors echo a living tradition that has endured since late antiquity.

Descend into the Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa, a multi-level necropolis where Hellenistic, Roman and Egyptian motifs entwine. Spiral down the helical staircase to reliefs of gods mingling with classical garlands and banquet scenes.

Your visit illuminates Alexandria’s cosmopolitan past, when cultures blended at the edge of the Mediterranean. Carved chambers, loculi and a central rotunda reveal both the solemnity and artistry of private burials in the city’s imperial age.

Explore the Qaitbay Citadel, a 15th-century fortress guarding Alexandria’s Eastern Harbour, built on the legendary site of the Lighthouse of Pharos. Stout walls, sea-sprayed ramparts and narrow stairways frame panoramic Mediterranean views.

Inside, modest exhibits recall Mamluk-era defenses and maritime trade. Outside, the wind, salt air and gulls evoke the city’s seafaring spirit, connecting past signal fires with today’s bustling corniche.

Visit the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, a striking revival of the ancient Great Library. Enter a sun-drenched reading hall that slopes toward the sea, its granite facade etched with scripts from around the world, celebrating the universal language of knowledge.

Guided exhibits and specialist museums inside the complex highlight manuscripts, science and the city’s intellectual legacy. The building’s bold geometry and cultural programming position Alexandria once again as a beacon of learning.

Explore Aswan’s acclaimed Nubian Museum, showcasing the art, language and lifeways of the indigenous communities of the Nile’s southern reaches. Sculptures, jewelry and household objects are set among evocative dioramas and UNESCO-documented heritage.

Learn how Nubia’s kingdoms bridged Africa and Egypt, and how 20th-century dams reshaped landscapes and lives. This museum deepens appreciation for the cultures you’ll encounter along this stretch of the river.

Choose to ride a camel across sandy paths or walk the 2.5mi (4km) route to the atmospheric ruins of the Monastery of St Simeon, perched above the west bank. Mud-brick and stone walls outline chapels and cells from a once-thriving desert community.

Your approach across rippling dunes sets the contemplative tone. At the complex, your Tour Leader brings to life the hermits and pilgrims who sought solitude here, framed by open desert and river views.

Cross to Elephantine Island to meet a local family and learn about Nubian traditions, language and architecture. Painted facades, woven mats and everyday objects reveal customs rooted in the river and desert.

As evening draws in, gather for a relaxed barbecue on the Nile’s edge. Grilled flavors mingle with the scent of acacia as you trade stories under a violet sky—an encounter that places hospitality at the heart of your journey.

Cruise the Nile aboard a comfortable riverboat featuring a sundeck and dipping pool. Watch fertile banks give way to desert plateaus, sail past feluccas and fishing skiffs, and experience the Esna lock transit as river life unfolds at eye level.

Between temple visits, unwind in the lounge or on deck as the light changes from ochre noon to sunset over the river. This classic passage ties Upper Egypt’s monuments together in effortless style.

Boat to the relocated island sanctuary of Philae’s Temple of Isis, its colonnades mirrored in still water. Reliefs, pylons and sacred inscriptions testify to a cult that thrived into Roman times, now preserved thanks to a UNESCO rescue project.

Continue to the Aswan High Dam, whose 20th-century engineering created Lake Nasser and transformed agriculture and power generation. Together, these sites frame ancient devotion and modern ambition on the Nile’s southern frontier.

Visit riverside Kom Ombo Temple, uniquely dedicated to Sobek and Horus the Elder. Twin sanctuaries and mirrored halls reveal a rare double design, while medical reliefs hint at ancient practice.

Nearby, the Crocodile Museum displays mummified reptiles once venerated along this bend of the Nile. Standing on the bluff at golden hour, it’s easy to imagine priests watching for the river’s seasonal rise.

Explore the remarkably preserved Temple of Horus at Edfu, a Ptolemaic masterpiece with towering pylons and shadowed hypostyle halls. Carved scenes narrate the triumph of Horus over Seth and the renewal of kingship.

From crisp hieroglyphs to intact sanctuaries, Edfu offers a vivid sense of temple ritual. The monumental scale and clarity of the reliefs make this one of the most instructive stops on the Nile.

Enter the Valley of the Kings to visit three royal tombs included with your ticket. Descend painted corridors to burial chambers where vivid afterlife scenes—solar boats, protective deities, star-studded ceilings—still glow against limestone.

Your Tour Leader explains symbolism in the Book of the Dead texts and how rotational closures protect fragile pigments. This encounter with New Kingdom belief brings pharaonic eternity into the present moment.

Admire the terraced Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari, a harmony of colonnades and cliffs honoring Egypt’s formidable female pharaoh. Painted chapels and reliefs celebrate divine birth, trade with Punt and ritual offerings.

Nearby, pause at the Colossi of Memnon, colossal seated statues that once guarded Amenhotep III’s temple. The sweep of the West Bank sets these monuments in their dramatic desert amphitheater.

Walk through Karnak’s Hypostyle Hall, where a forest of papyrus-topped columns soars overhead, and trace the sacred lake and pylons of the vast Temple of Amun. Follow the restored Avenue of Sphinxes toward Luxor Temple, anchored in the heart of the modern city.

Reliefs, obelisks and colossal statues map three thousand years of royal patronage. Evening light often lends the sandstone a warm glow that enhances inscriptions and architectural lines.

Meet your Tour Leader and traveling companions over a hosted welcome dinner in Cairo. Share first impressions while sampling Egyptian dishes—perhaps smoky baba ghanoush, grilled kofta, or a bowl of comforting koshary layered with lentils and pasta.

This convivial start sets the tone for collaborative exploration, with practical tips and cultural insights woven between courses. It’s a relaxed moment to align expectations and savor the city’s culinary rhythms.

Opt to visit the Abu Simbel temples, carved for Ramesses II and Nefertari and rescued stone-by-stone above Lake Nasser. Four colossal seated statues greet you before richly carved interiors that celebrate victory, divinity and royal devotion.

This optional add-on is at additional cost and bookable on tour, with travel by bus or plane depending on preference and availability. Guided time on site ensures you experience the complex’s artistry and epic relocation story.

Choose to step inside a pyramid to experience narrow passages, corbelled ceilings and the charged hush of an ancient burial chamber. The contrast between monumental exteriors and intimate interiors reveals the engineering genius of Old Kingdom builders.

This optional add-on is at additional cost and bookable on tour; access is timed and capacity-controlled to protect the structure. Your Tour Leader advises on which pyramid is open and the level of stooping or stair climbing involved.

Enhance your West Bank visit with entry to the Tomb of Tutankhamun and the exquisitely decorated Tomb of Ramesses VI. From the boy-king’s modest yet iconic chamber to celestial ceilings and intricate Book of the Dead scenes, these add depth to the standard selection.

This optional add-on is at additional cost and bookable on tour, subject to rotating openings and crowd management policies that protect fragile pigments.

Discover Cairo’s newest cultural landmark as you step inside the Grand Egyptian Museum, where a colossal statue of Ramesses II presides over the light-filled Great Hall. Explore the Grand Stairs leading to masterworks that trace Egypt’s artistic evolution and view exquisite objects from the Tutankhamun Galleries that illuminate the life of the young pharaoh.

Curated displays reveal craftsmanship in gold, stone and faience, setting iconic pieces within their ancient Nile context. Clear sightlines, climate-controlled cases and thoughtful storytelling elevate this museum visit beyond a checklist into a deep encounter with Egypt’s material culture.