Stand before the pyramids of Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure on the golden sands of the Giza Plateau. Gaze up at the Great Pyramid of Khufu and the enigmatic Great Sphinx, carved from bedrock, while your guide unpacks royal tombs, funerary rites, and ancient engineering.

Learn how these Fourth Dynasty monuments align to the cardinal points and rise from a vast desert plateau just beyond Cairo’s skyline. Ample time is set aside to pause for photos and reflection at classic viewpoints.

Make fresh pasta by hand with a Roman chef, learning to knead, roll, and shape tagliatelle or filled ravioli before you taste your creations with traditional sauces. Expect flour-dusted fun, tips you can use at home, and a friendly kitchen vibe.

While plates are served with a glass of local wine, your host shares stories of Roman cucina povera and seasonal ingredients. This experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Join a local expert to sample meze and souvlaki in characterful lanes around Psyrri and Monastiraki, finishing with sweet loukoumades drizzled in honey. Along the way, learn the rituals of the Greek table and how neighborhoods come alive after dusk.

Hear how regional cheeses, olive oils, and herbs anchor home cooking as you sip anise-scented ouzo or a crisp Greek wine. This tasting experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Explore the vast Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) near Giza with a qualified guide, encountering royal statues along the monumental Grand Staircase and marveling at the richly displayed Tutankhamun collection.

State-of-the-art galleries illuminate craft, belief, and daily life across millennia, placing pharaohs and artisans in vivid context. This museum visit is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Trace centuries of faith and power at the Salah El-Din Citadel and the gleaming Alabaster Mosque of Muhammad Ali. Continue into Coptic Cairo to step inside the Hanging Church and explore narrow lanes lined with artisan workshops.

Stories of Fatimid, Mamluk, and Ottoman eras reveal Cairo’s layered past as minarets and domes punctuate the skyline. This cultural deep-dive is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Cruise the Nile after dusk as Cairo’s skyline shimmers on the water. Enjoy a plentiful buffet dinner on board while live music sets the mood, followed by a colorful whirling tanoura performance and classic dance routines.

From open decks, watch bridges glow and feluccas glide past, capturing luminous city views and cool river breezes. This evening outing is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

• 3 Dinner (D)
• 9 Breakfast (B)

• Cairo: Tipping’s a big deal in Egypt – it’s part of the culture and helps support locals (especially those working in tourism). During your trip, you’ll be expected to tip people like hotel staff, local guides, porters, and restaurant crews. To keep it simple (and avoid the awkward maths), your Trip Manager will organise a tipping kitty. They’ll let you know the suggested amount upon arrival in Egypt, and collect it in USD or Egyptian Pounds to cover group service tips along the way. Heads-up: this doesn’t include a tip for your Trip Manager.

• Rome:  Kick back with your Contiki crew and feast on some yummy Italian cuisine – served at a local restaurant working to train and provide jobs for members of the community with disabilities.  
• Rome: Stroll around the Italian capital, ticking off some sights on your bucket list! 
• Rome: Wander through the ruins of the ancient Roman Empire’s political heart, while our Local Guide peels back the layers of history & reconstructs the past. From the assassinations at the Forum to the bloody battles in the Colosseum, learn how the roots of Western culture started here. 
• Athens: A locally guided tour of Athens, including entry to the legendary Acropolis.
• Cairo: The world’s largest archaeological museum complex is no joke. You’ll find 100,000 artifacts here (including King Tut’s ENTIRE treasure collection). You don’t wanna miss this one…
• Cairo: Needs no introduction! Marvel at the Great Pyramid and the Sphinx. #bucketlist

Taste Rome with purpose at a local trattoria that provides meaningful jobs for people with disabilities. Settle in, meet your Trip Manager, and support a social enterprise while sharing classic Roman plates—think cacio e pepe, amatriciana, and seasonal antipasti—paired with regional vino and warm hospitality.

Learn how the restaurant’s training model fosters inclusion and preserves neighborhood food traditions. It’s a convivial first night that blends hearty flavors, community values, and the easy rhythm of Roman dining.

Step inside the Colosseum with a local expert to picture roaring crowds and the gladiatorial arena beneath soaring travertine arches. Continue among the Forum’s ruins—basilicas, temples, and triumphal arches—where Rome’s public life once unfolded.

Walk the Via Sacra past the Temple of Saturn and the Arch of Titus, tracing the city’s rise from republic to empire. Stories of emperors, senators, and citizens bring the roots of Western law and politics into vivid focus amid evocative stones.

Ascend the Acropolis with a specialist guide to stand before the Parthenon, examine the Erechtheion and its Caryatids, and look down to the ancient Theatre of Dionysus. Panoramas sweep across modern Athens to the blue Saronic Gulf.

Along the way, hear how Pericles, philosophers, and playwrights forged ideals of democracy and drama. A city drive typically showcases Syntagma Square and the Panathenaic Stadium, framing classical masterpieces within the living energy of today’s capital.

Cruise the Saronic Gulf to Aegina, skimming past sailboats and rocky islets toward pastel harbors and bobbing fishing skiffs. Stroll the Aegina Town waterfront, where neoclassical facades, pistachio stalls, and seaside cafés create a laid-back island rhythm.

History lovers may visit the hilltop Temple of Aphaia, a Doric gem that forms a “sacred triangle” with the Parthenon and Cape Sounion. Sample the island’s famed pistachios and breathe pine-scented breezes as chapels and citrus groves dot the countryside.

Contiki

Explore the heart of Rome on foot as you join a guided orientation walk through cobbled lanes and lively piazzas. Toss a coin at the Trevi Fountain, admire the perfect dome of the Pantheon, and linger by Bernini’s fountains in Piazza Navona while street artists and café terraces set the scene.

Hear how emperors, popes, and patrons shaped this compact historic center, where baroque facades rise above ancient stones. Expect postcard views, artisan gelaterie around every corner, and moments to pause for photos and reflection amid Rome’s layered grandeur.