Egypt: Pyramids, Abu Simbel and the Nile

Arrive in Cairo, stay by the pyramids

Cairo International Airport to your hotel in Giza

• Repas libres
• Nuit : Giza

Soir

In the early evening your See Sight Tours guide hosts a short welcome briefing: how the days run and why we start early, what the included tipping pool covers, which tickets are already booked, and how to set up mobile data before the river, where wifi is patchy. If you land early, the rest of the day is free. Dinner tonight is on you, and your guide can point you to somewhere good nearby.

Compris

• Pick-up at Cairo International Airport (CAI)
• Welcome briefing with your guide

Giza at opening, then the Grand Egyptian Museum

Giza pyramid plateau and the Grand Egyptian Museum

• Petit-déjeuner
• Nuit : Giza

Matin

Late morning we cross to the Grand Egyptian Museum, about ten minutes away, on a pre-booked timed entry. Climb the grand staircase lined with royal statues, stand under the colossal Ramesses II in the atrium, and see Tutankhamun's burial treasures shown together in their own galleries.

Après-midi

The afternoon is yours to rest.

Compris

• Giza pyramid plateau at opening, with the Great Sphinx and the Valley Temple of Khafre
• Panorama viewpoint over the nine Giza pyramids
• Grand Egyptian Museum on a pre-booked timed entry, with your guide

Activités en option

• Inside the Great Pyramid of Khufu. Separate ticket, limited numbers.

Saqqara and Memphis, then fly to Aswan

Saqqara and Memphis by road, then a flight from Cairo to Aswan

• Petit-déjeuner
• Nuit : Aswan
• En avion

Après-midi

After lunch we fly south to Aswan, about an hour and twenty minutes, instead of the overnight sleeper train.

Soir

The evening is free on the Nile corniche.

Compris

• Saqqara: the Step Pyramid of Djoser and painted Old Kingdom tombs
• Memphis open-air museum and the colossus of Ramesses II
• Flight from Cairo to Aswan
• Transfers to and from the airports

Activités en option

• The Red and Bent Pyramids at Dahshur. When flight times allow.

Philae, then the desert road to Abu Simbel

Philae by boat, then Aswan to Abu Simbel by road

• Petit-déjeuner
• Nuit : Abu Simbel
• Environ 3.5 h de route

Matin

A small motorboat takes us across to Agilkia Island in the morning, with soft light on the Temple of Isis at Philae. The temple once stood on a nearby island that the old Aswan dam left flooded for much of the year, and in a UNESCO rescue completed in 1980 it was cut into blocks and rebuilt here, stone by stone.

Après-midi

Back on shore there is time for lunch and a rest before the afternoon drive south, about 280 km and three and a half hours across the Western Desert beside Lake Nasser.

Soir

We spend the night at Abu Simbel itself, instead of the pre-dawn convoy day trip most tours use. In the evening the sound and light show is projected onto the temple facades.

Compris

• Boat to Philae and the Temple of Isis with your guide
• Drive from Aswan to Abu Simbel
• Abu Simbel sound and light show

Abu Simbel at dawn, then a felucca and a Nubian dinner

Abu Simbel to Aswan by road, board the boat, felucca at sunset

• Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
• Nuit : Aswan
• Environ 3.5 h de route

Après-midi

Mid morning we drive back to Aswan and board our small riverboat for lunch.

Soir

At sunset a felucca sails us past Elephantine Island to the Nubian village of Gharb Soheil, where we have dinner with a Nubian family in their home.

Compris

• The Great Temple of Ramesses II and the Temple of Nefertari at opening
• Drive from Abu Simbel to Aswan
• Board the riverboat
• Felucca sail at sunset past Elephantine Island
• Dinner with a Nubian family in Gharb Soheil

Sailing the Nile to Kom Ombo

Aswan to Kom Ombo on the river

• Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
• Nuit : Kom Ombo
• En bateau

Matin

Breakfast on deck as we leave Aswan, then slow hours past palm groves, sugar cane fields, sandstone cliffs and fishermen working from small rowing boats.

Après-midi

Lunch is served on board, and the afternoon is yours to read, doze in the shade on deck, or simply watch the banks go by. Late in the day we moor below Kom Ombo, a temple on a bend of the river with a rare double plan, one half for Sobek the crocodile god and the other for Haroeris, a form of Horus. Walk through as the floodlights come on, then see the mummified crocodiles in the small museum next door.

Compris

• A day of sailing from Aswan to Kom Ombo
• Temple of Kom Ombo at dusk, with your guide
• Crocodile Museum, Kom Ombo

Edfu and Esna, on to Luxor

Kom Ombo to Edfu by boat, then Edfu to Luxor by road with a stop at Esna

• Petit-déjeuner
• Nuit : Luxor
• En bateau

Matin

The boat sails north early, past the old sandstone quarries of Gebel el-Silsila, and after breakfast we leave it at Edfu. The Temple of Horus here is the best preserved temple in Egypt, built between 237 and 57 BC, with its roof, towering pylon and inner sanctuary still in place and the story of Horus and Seth carved along the outer walls. Then we drive north and stop at Esna, where the Temple of Khnum sits well below street level in the middle of town, and a recent cleaning has brought back the blues, reds and yellows of its painted ceiling.

Après-midi

We reach Luxor in the early afternoon.

Soir

After a rest, walk through Luxor Temple at dusk as the lights come on along the Avenue of Sphinxes.

Compris

• Sail from Kom Ombo to Edfu
• Temple of Horus, Edfu
• Temple of Khnum, Esna
• Drive from Edfu to Luxor
• Luxor Temple at dusk, with your guide

Balloon at sunrise, then the Valley of the Kings

Luxor West Bank

• Petit-déjeuner
• Nuit : Luxor

Matin

We collect you before dawn, about 4 am depending on the month, for the hot air balloon flight over the West Bank, included in your trip. You rise with the sun over the Theban hills, the Ramesseum and the green fields along the Nile. If the aviation authority grounds flights for wind, which does happen, we cross to the West Bank by road and watch sunrise from the ground instead. After landing we go straight to the Valley of the Kings, arriving while it is still cool, and enter three royal tombs whose painted corridors run deep into the hillside. Then Hatshepsut's terraced temple at Deir el-Bahari, and the Colossi of Memnon, two 18 metre statues of Amenhotep III.

Après-midi

Back at the hotel by early afternoon.

Compris

• Sunrise hot air balloon flight over the West Bank
• Valley of the Kings, entry to three tombs
• Temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari
• Colossi of Memnon

Activités en option

• Tomb of Tutankhamun or the tomb of Seti I. Separate tickets.

Karnak at opening, fly to Cairo

Karnak, then a flight from Luxor to Cairo

• Petit-déjeuner
• En avion

Matin

Last morning, and the biggest temple complex of all. Karnak opens at 6 am and we are there for it, walking into the Great Hypostyle Hall while low sun slants between its 134 columns, the tallest about 21 metres, before the heat and the tour groups arrive. Your guide leads you on past the standing obelisks of Thutmose I and Hatshepsut to the Sacred Lake, where priests once purified themselves before rituals. Back at the hotel for a late breakfast and time to pack, then we fly from Luxor to Cairo, about an hour, and take you to Cairo International Airport for your flight home, or to a hotel if you are staying on.

Soir

Plan an evening departure, or ask us to add nights in Luxor or Cairo.

Compris

• Karnak at opening, with your guide
• Flight from Luxor to Cairo
• Transfer to Cairo International Airport (CAI)