Egypt Explorer & Nile Cruise

On  arrival at Cairo International Airport, your Tour Coordinator will meet you before immigration and assist you through.

Visa: Pre-Arrival entry Visa will be ready with the tour coordinator at the Airport.

Transfer: Your Tour Coordinator will escort you to your Cairo hotel.

Introduction to your Egyptologist:  Your Tour Coordinator will introduce you to your Egyptologist.

If you have arriving early in the morning, you will meet your guide and head out on a visit to the oldest area of Cairo where you may explore the remains of the Fortress of Babylon, visit the Church of St. Sergius and the Hanging Church.

Return to the hotel to check in at approximately 15:00. Dinner to your own account.

After breakfast, meet your guide and depart from the hotel for morning visit to Memphis before visiting the necropolis of Sakkara to explore the world-famous Step Pyramid of King Zoser, the first pyramid ever built and the world's oldest freestanding stone structure. 

You will have lunch at a local restaurant.

After lunch, move on to visit the Giza Pyramids, one of the present-day survivors of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Nearby sits the enigmatic Sphinx with the body of a lion and the face of a man.

Pyramid of Cheops: Enjoy entry to the great pyramid of Giza from inside.

Return to your hotel of accommodation. Dinner tonight is under your own arrangements.

Four Seasons Nile Plaza Hotel

After breakfast, depart from the hotel for morning visit to the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities, where you will tour 7,000 years of history.

Lunch: A lunch reservation is made at “Naguib Mahfouz” restaurant.

Next, move on to visit Islamic Cairo including the Citadel of Salah El-Din, the Mosque of Sultan Hassan and the Refaie Mosque. You will also have the chance to wander around the captivating Khan El-Khalili Bazaar.    

Return to your hotel of accommodation.

Dinner tonight is under your own arrangements.

Four Seasons Nile Plaza Hotel    

Check-out before tour: Your Tour Coordinator will be on hand to assist you with all check-out procedures.

The Grand Egyptian Museum (Special Visit): Depart from the hotel for a special visit to the Grand Egyptian Museum including the Hanging Obelisk, the Ramses II Statue, the ten statues of Senusret I (Distance view), the grand staircase (Distance view), the Ptolemaic King and Queen, the victory columns, the Royal Regalia, the Grand Atrium & gift shop and the commercial Boulevard.

Disclaimer: This visit only takes you to the building’s exterior, the atrium entrance, and the commercial area behind it. No other artefacts or exhibits other than what is mentioned above will be included in the visit. 

Drive from Cairo to your Alexandria hotel by private air-conditioned vehicle.  (Approximately three and half hours).

Lunch and dinner are under your own arrangements.

Four Seasons San Stefano Hotel

Alexandria Tour: Your morning visit in this lovely city known as “The Pearl of the Mediterranean” includes the Catacombs of Kom El Shugafa, the Roman Amphi-theatre and the Bibliotheca Alexandrina.

Lunch: A lunch reservation is made at “The Greek Club”. 

After lunch, move on to visit the Alexandria National Museum.

Also, you will enjoy a short drive to view the Abu El-Abbas Mosque and a photo stop at the Qait Bay Fortress.

Return to your hotel of accommodation.

Dinner tonight is under your own arrangements.

Four Seasons San Stefano Hotel

Breakfast and hotel check-out.

Drive from Alexandria to Cairo by private air-conditioned vehicle. 

Upon arrival, your Egyptologist will escort you to visit the 9th century Ibn Tulun Mosque and get a glimpse of Ottoman life by touring this period home from the 16th and 17th centuries at the Gayer-Anderson Museum.

Later, transfer to your Cairo hotel of accommodation.

Lunch and dinner are under your own arrangements.

Hilton Cairo Heliopolis Hotel 

Early this morning, you will check out from the hotel and meet your tour coordinator, who will be on hand to assist you with all check-out procedures.

Your Tour Coordinator will escort you to Cairo Domestic Airport by air-conditioned vehicle.

Take-off on board your Egypt-Air flight to Abu Simbel via Aswan.

Abu Simbel Tour: Visit this masterpiece of a temple with its four massive statues of Ramses II overlooking Lake Nasser.

Leave the Temples for your return to Abu Simbel airport for your Egypt-Air flight to Aswan, where your Tour Coordinator will meet you.

On arrival, your Tour Coordinator will meet you and escort you to your Aswan.

The remainder of the day is at leisure.

Sofitel Legend Old Cataract Hotel

Breakfast and hotel check-out.

Your Tour Coordinator will escort you to board the Sanctuary Nile Adventure Cruise, where you will enjoy a welcome Zaffa, with drums and flutes.

Check-in to cruise at noon time.

Entertainment: Exact entertainment schedules during your cruise are adjusted according to the needs of each group and the sailing schedules of the boat are subject to change. However, every cruise on Sanctuary Retreats Nile Cruises will include:

• A colorful “galabeyya party” which gives each guest the opportunity to dress up in traditional Egyptian dress and dance to Arabic music.
• A Dervish Show and belly dancer performance.
• A lecture by your Egyptologist guide.
• Welcome Zaffa.
• Music from an Oud trio.

Food & Beverage: Menus are changed on a seasonal basis to enable the Chef to use the freshest ingredients at all times. However, the following is applicable to every cruise:

• Most meals are served in the restaurant. However, at least one barbecue lunch (while sailing) will be served on deck (weather permitting).
• Mineral water, tea and American coffee are included with every meal.

Lunch will be served on board.

Felucca Ride: Take a ride on a felucca (a typical Egyptian sailboat) around Elephantine Island, Lord Kitchener’s Botanical Garden and the Agha Khan Mausoleum (weather permitting, life jackets will be provided).

Afternoon tea will be served in the lounge while you enjoy the sounds of an Oud trio.

Tonight, you will be greeted by your Boat Manager for a welcome reception.  A gourmet dinner will be served on board.

The Sanctuary Nile Adventure Cruise  - Standard Cabin Promenade Deck – Double

A breakfast buffet is served on board.

Philae Temple: Take a short motorboat ride to visit the romantic and majestic Philae Temple on the Island of Agilika.

Unfinished Obelisk: Next proceed to visit the Unfinished Obelisk.

Enjoy lunch, while you cruise to Kom Ombo.

Kom Ombo Temple: This afternoon, visit the Temple of Kom Ombo, dedicated to the crocodile god Sobek.

Afternoon tea is served while you cruise to Edfu.

Tonight, a delicious dinner is served followed by a movie night on board.

The Sanctuary Nile Adventure Cruise

A breakfast buffet will be served on board.

Edfu Temple: This morning, explore the extraordinary Temple of Horus.

Enjoy lunch on board while cruising to Esna.

Cooking Lesson: After lunch, an Egyptian cooking lesson will be presented on board.

Esna Temple: This afternoon, your Egyptologist will guide you round the Greco-Roman Temple of Khnum at Esna.

Afternoon tea will be served while you sail to Luxor.

Tonight, will be an “Egyptian Night” costume party for all guests, with a chance to dress up in traditional Egyptian “galabeyya”.

Dinner will be a lavish buffet of Egyptian specialties, followed by oriental music and dancing for everyone.

The Sanctuary Nile Adventure Cruise

Breakfast is served on board.

West Bank of Luxor: This morning, visit the Valley of the Kings Kings including entry to the Tombs of King Tutankhamun, Ramses VI Tomb and Seti I Tomb entry. You also have the chance to visit Nefertari’s Tomb in the Valley of the Queens and visit the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut. On the way back to the river Nile, pass by the famed Colossi of Memnon.

East Bank Tour After lunch, your Egyptologist will guide you around the strikingly graceful Temple of Luxor, dedicated to the god Amun - and then onwards to the Temple of Karnak.

Return your luxury Nile Cruise boat where afternoon tea will be served in the lounge.

Tonight’s farewell dinner will be a gala dinner, with white-gloved waiters serving gourmet cuisine followed by a Dervish Show and belly dancer performance.

Breakfast and cruise check-out at 08:00 am

Drive from Luxor to Dendera by private air-conditioned vehicle. 

Dendera: Visit Dendera to see the Ptolemaic temple of the goddess Hathor, who enjoyed great devotion as the deity of maternal and family love, beauty and music, and whom the Greeks associated with Aphrodite. This wonderfully preserved temple complex is almost intact, allowing us a special glimpse of its former glory. Hathor is portrayed throughout with a cow head or cow ears.

Abydos: The ancient city of Abydos was a center for the cult of Osiris, lord of the netherworld, and also a burial place for pre-dynastic kings and pharaohs. Today all that remains of Abydos is the limestone Temple of Seti I, built for a 19th dynasty pharaoh. The temple has some of the best bas-reliefs in Egypt and is the site of the famed 'Kings' List,' a list of 76 Egyptians rulers which helped Egyptologists figure out the order of Egyptian dynasties.

Transfer: Your Tour Coordinator will escort you to your Luxor hotel.

Enjoy your day in Luxor at leisure.

Lunch and dinner are under your own arrangements.

Sofitel Winter Palace Luxor Hotel

After breakfast, check out and meet your Tour Coordinator, who will escort you to Luxor Airport for your Nile-Air flight to Cairo.  

Upon arrival, your Egyptologist will escort you to visit the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization.  The museum showcases Egyptian civilization from prehistoric times to the present day. Here, you will gain access to the fascinating Mummies Room.

Lunch: A lunch reservation is made at “Le Pacha Boat”. 

Transfer to your Cairo hotel of accommodation.

The remainder of the day is at leisure. Dinner tonight is under your own arrangements.

Hilton Cairo Heliopolis Hotel 

This morning after breakfast, your Tour Coordinator will be on hand to assist you with all check-out procedures.                                 

Transfer to Cairo International Airport, where your Tour Coordinator will assist you in boarding your international flights home.

End of your Egypt adventure!