Pharaohs and Deserts

• Day 1:
• Arrive in Cairo

Meet and greet at the airport and transfer to your hotel. The rest of the day is free for you to settle into the hotel and relax after your journey.

• Day 2:
• Cairo - Pyramids & Museum Tour

Enjoy a full day tour of the famous pyramids and Sphinx at Gisa before visiting the Egyptian Museum in Cairo to see the famous Tutankhamun exhibit. In the evening we board the overnight sleeper train to Aswan.

• Day 3:
• Aswan - Tour to Philae Temple & High Dam

We arrive in Aswan in the morning and transfer to your hotel. In the afternoon we take a tour to Philae Temple and the High Dam at Lake Nasser.

• Day 4:
• Aswan - Abu Simbel option. Start felucca sailboat cruise.

Early this morning there is the option to drive out into the desert early morning to visit the spectacular temples at Abu Simbel. In the afternoon we enjoy a boat trip to some of the islands that dot the Nile around Aswan before boarding our felucca sailboat to begin our Nile cruise (luxury Dahabiya or Nile cruise upgrade available).

• Day 5:
• Nile Felucca Cruise

You spend the day relaxing today as you float down the Nile on our traditional felucca sailboat. In the evening we are entertained by our boat crew who perform traditional Nubian musical entertainment.

• Day 6:
• Komombo and Edfu temples. Luxor temple at night

We end our felucca cruise after breakfast before exploring the riverside temple at Komombo and then Edfu temple en-route to Luxor. In the afternoon you can explore the markets in Luxor or relax in your hotel by the Nile before our evening visit to Luxor temple, which sits right in the middle of town and is beautifully lit up at night.

• Day 7:
• West Bank Tour. Karnak Temple. Travel to Cairo

We cross the Nile today to visit the sights on the west bank including the Valley of the Kings, Queen Hatchepsut and Medinat Habu Temples and the imposing Colossi of Memnon. There is also an option to take a spectacular early morning hot air balloon flight over the Nile. Late in the afternoon we visit the huge complex of temples at Karnak before boarding the overnight sleeper train back to Cairo.

• Day 8:
• Cairo - Free time. Day trip options

We arrive back in Cairo during the morning and the rest of the day is free for you to explore the city some more yourselves or on a guided tour, or perhaps take an optional day trip to the nearby city of Alexandria.

• Day 9:
• Cairo to Wadi Hitan

Our desert adventure starts today, and we drive out of Cairo to the Fayoum region, once the bread basket of the whole Middle East. We visit the Meidum Pyramid en-route and tour some sites in Fayoum before driving into the beautiful desert scenery of Wadi Hitan where camp under some cliffs with beautiful views over the rock formations and sands below us.

• Day 10:
• Valley of the Whales. Desert drive to Bahariya Oasis

We rise this morning, and explore the World Heritage Site of the 'Valley of the Whales' just below us. This is acknowledged as the most important site worldwide for learning about the history of whale skeletal development, and hundreds of fossilised whale skeletons as well as mangrove roots and crab tunnels have been found in the sand. Many of these are now displayed on the sand surface and we take a walk of a few kilometres through the desert to view these. After stopping at the freshwater desert lake of Wadi Rayan, and the nearby Springs Oasis, we drive through the desert to the large depression, salt lake and villages of the Bahariya Oasis. 

• Day 11:
• Bahariya Oasis tour - White desert safari

Our day starts with a tour of some interesting sites around the Bahariya Oasis, before boarding our jeeps and heading out for our desert safari. We drive over some huge sand dunes, and see the 'Crystal Mountain' and some spectacular cliff and sand scenery before arriving in the White Desert itself. Here there are strange rock formations formed by wind and sand erosion and we make a basic camp for the night under one of these and sleep under the stars (bedding and blankets are available, but you'll need a sleeping bag in the winter months).

• Day 12:
• Farafra and Bahariya Oases

We finish our jeep safari this morning by driving to the small Farafra Oasis. Here we look around the old town with traditional mud houses, some with inscriptions from the Koran still written on the walls. We then drive back to the Bahariya Oasis where we have time to explore the centre, and bathe in one of the hot sprints nearby. 

• Day 13:
• Drive to Cairo

Tour tour leaves Bahariya this morning and we drive back to Cairo, arriving around lunchtime. the afternoon is free for you to do some final shopping or sightseeing in Cairo, perhaps enjoying the spectacular Sound and Light show at the Pyramids in the evening, or taking a dinner cruise on the Nile. 

• Day 14:
• Cairo - Tour ends

The tour ends today and your time is free until we transfer you to the airport for your flight home.