Deserts, Tombs & Jordan

Tour description

Throughout history Egypt’s vast array of breathtaking monuments has proved an irresistible draw to travellers from all over the world. Jordan’s treasures are different, and newer to the world’s tourists, but equally impressive and interesting in their own right. Combining these with the Red Sea and a safari through the Egyptian Western desert and desert camps in the White Desert and Wadi Rum, this tour gives you a taste of everything these ancient countries have to offer.

We begin the tour in Cairo where we take time to visit possibly the most famous of ancient monuments, the Pyramids and Sphinx. We also head into the centre of the city to explore the huge Egyptian Museum and learn more about Egyptian Pharaonic history. From Cairo the tour heads into the Western Deserts and we visit the oases of Bahariya, Farafra, Dakhla and Kharga en-route to Luxor.

Egypt's Western desert is a place of fantastic beauty and weird, otherworldly rock formations and we include a jeep safari and overnight camp amongst some of the strangest in the White desert. In Luxor, we explore the Pharaonic tombs in the Valleys of the Kings as well as some other important West Bank sites, and have time to do an optional early morning hot air balloon flight, and visit Luxor and Karnak temples.

From Luxor we return to Cairo and say farewell to the Nile Valley and head for the coast and the wonderfully laid-back beach resort of Dahab where we have time to relax and enjoy some snorkelling in the Red Sea. You can also climb Mt. Sinai and visit St. Catherine's monastery if you wish.

Next we cross into Jordan and start our tour through the country with a jeep safari and Bedouin camp amidst the stunning desert & mountain scenery of Wadi Rum (in summer we use a mobile camp giving us more flexibility in where to spend the night, while in winter we use a fixed camp which provides more shelter and facilities in case of poor weather).

Our next top is Jordan's main highlight, the hidden city of Petra, where we have a full tour of this world famous Nabatean city as well as visiting 'Little Petra' and having plenty of free time to explore the main site. From Petra we head north up the scenic King's Highway to Amman, via stops to visit the crusader castle of Kerak, the intricate Byzantine mosaics at Madaba, and the peaks, churches and distant views at Mt. Nebo.

We take a day trip out from Amman to bathe in the Dead Sea, and visit the Roman Ruins at Jerash. The tour finishes in Amman.

Note: This tour also runs alongside two of our other Egypt & Jordan tours and when group numbers are small you may join with travellers from another group for the Jordan section (for example doing our Egypt & Jordan Adventure tour). All visits and tours in Jordan are identical.