Egypt for three generations: the Pyramids, Aswan and the Nile

1. Day 1: Arrive in Cairo, stay by the pyramids

   Cairo International Airport to your hotel in Giza, about 1 hour

   • Drive about 1 h
   • Welcome dinner at the hotel
   • Stay in Giza
   Day 1 details

   Fly into Cairo International Airport (CAI). We meet you after arrivals, help with the bags and drive you west across the city, about an hour depending on traffic, to your hotel in Giza near the pyramid plateau. It is your base for three nights, so you unpack once and tomorrow's early start is minutes from the door instead of an hour in Cairo traffic. The hotel has a pool, and the rest of the day is free for children to swim and grandparents to rest after the flight. In the early evening your See Sight Tours guide meets the families for a short briefing: why we sightsee in the mornings, which tickets are already booked, how the tipping pool works, and what children should pack for the sun and the river. Then a welcome dinner together at the hotel at about 6:30 pm, so nobody has to go out again after a long journey.

   Included

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

   Free time: Rest of the day free at the hotel pool

   Activity: Any arrival time works on day 1. If your flight lands after the briefing, your guide catches you up at breakfast and dinner is kept for you.

2. Day 2: Giza at opening, then the pool

   The Giza pyramid plateau by vehicle and on foot, lunch, back to the hotel

   • Drive about 30 min
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Giza
   Day 2 details

   An early morning because the plateau demands it: by late morning the sand is hot and the coaches have arrived, so we are at the gate when it opens, around 7 am. With a licensed Egyptologist you walk around the Great Pyramid of Khufu, built about 4,500 years ago and still close to 140 metres tall; children usually want to touch the blocks, each taller than they are. Our vehicle then carries everyone across the plateau to the panorama viewpoint, where the pyramids line up across the desert, and down to the Great Sphinx beside the Valley Temple of Khafre. There are seats in the shade at the viewpoint and cold water in the vehicle. We sit down to lunch near the plateau by about midday and are back at the hotel by 1:30 pm. The afternoon is free for swimming and naps, before an evening on your own.

   Included

   • Giza pyramid plateau at opening with a licensed Egyptologist
   • Vehicle across the plateau to the panorama viewpoint
   • The Great Sphinx and the Valley Temple of Khafre
   • Sit-down lunch near the plateau

   Optional experiences

   • Inside the Great Pyramid of Khufu. Separate ticket, limited numbers; a low, steep passage not suited to small children
   • A short camel ride at the panorama viewpoint. With a licensed handler your guide chooses.

   Easier option: Stay with the vehicle at the panorama viewpoint and see the Sphinx from the viewing terrace without walking down.

   More active option: Walk with the guide between the pyramids of Khafre and Menkaure instead of riding to the viewpoint.

   Free time: Afternoon free at the pool

   Activity: About 2 km on foot over 3 hours, on sand and uneven stone, with the vehicle at every stop. Leave the hotel about 6:45 am.

3. Day 3: Saqqara and Memphis in the cool of the morning

   Giza to Saqqara and Memphis and back, about 1 hour 30 in three short drives

   • Drive about 1.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Giza
   Day 3 details

   A later start, about 8 am, for the drive of about 45 minutes south to Saqqara, where pyramid building began and the crowds are far thinner than at Giza. The Step Pyramid of Djoser, designed by the architect Imhotep around 2,670 BC, rises in six tiers above the sand; we walk in through the colonnade to the great courtyard. Nearby, your guide takes the group into a painted Old Kingdom tomb whose walls show fishing, farming and animals, from donkeys to hippos, which children can hunt for and count. A short drive brings us to Memphis, once the capital of a united Egypt, where a colossal statue of Ramesses II lies under a roof among palm groves and an alabaster sphinx sits in the garden, with benches in the shade. Lunch is at a local restaurant on the way back, and you are at the pool by about 2:30 pm.

   Included

   • Saqqara: the Step Pyramid of Djoser and a painted Old Kingdom tomb, with a licensed Egyptologist
   • Memphis open-air museum and the colossus of Ramesses II
   • Lunch at a local restaurant

   Optional experiences

   • An evening in Khan el-Khalili bazaar with your guide, with dinner in the old city

   Easier option: Skip the tomb and wait in the shade at Saqqara; Memphis is level and short.

   More active option: Walk the longer loop around the Step Pyramid enclosure with the guide.

   Free time: Afternoon free at the pool

   Activity: About 3 km on foot, on sand and stone, with the vehicle close by. Some tomb entrances have a few steps.

   

4. Day 4: The Grand Egyptian Museum, then fly to Aswan

   Giza to the Grand Egyptian Museum, then a flight from Cairo to Aswan

   • Drive about 1 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Aswan
   Day 4 details

   Bags go in the vehicle after breakfast, and the Grand Egyptian Museum, ten minutes from the hotel, gets a whole morning instead of a tired hour after the pyramids. We go in on a pre-booked timed entry soon after opening. Climb the grand staircase lined with royal statues, or take the lift alongside it, stand under the colossal Ramesses II in the atrium, and see Tutankhamun's burial treasures shown together in their own galleries, from his golden mask to his chariots and his childhood chair. Your guide keeps the visit to about two and a half hours with a break in the middle, and if the museum's children's area is open on the day, younger travellers can spend part of it there. Lunch is at the museum. In the afternoon we drive to Cairo airport and fly south to Aswan, about an hour and twenty minutes, instead of the overnight sleeper train. Dinner tonight is free near your hotel on the river.

   Included

   • Grand Egyptian Museum on a pre-booked timed entry, with your guide
   • The Tutankhamun galleries
   • Lunch at the museum
   • Flight from Cairo to Aswan
   • Transfers to and from the airports

   Easier option: The museum lends wheelchairs at the entrance when available, and there are seats in the galleries; see only the Tutankhamun galleries and rest in the cafe.

   Free time: Evening free in Aswan

   Activity: About 2 km on foot, all indoors on level floors with lifts. Camera rules in the Tutankhamun galleries are strict.

   

5. Day 5: Philae by boat, a felucca and a Nubian family dinner

   Philae by motorboat, back to the hotel, then a felucca to Gharb Soheil

   • Drive about 30 min
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Aswan
   Day 5 details

   No alarm today: breakfast at leisure, then at about 9 am a short drive to the landing and a small motorboat across to Agilkia Island, which children usually rate as the best part of the morning. The Temple of Isis at Philae once stood on a nearby island that the old Aswan dam flooded for much of the year; in a UNESCO rescue completed in 1980 it was cut into blocks and rebuilt here, stone by stone. Your guide shows the children where early Christians carved crosses into the walls and where 19th-century visitors scratched their names. Lunch is near the hotel, and the afternoon is free for the pool. At about 4 pm a felucca takes the families out under a white sail past Elephantine Island to the Nubian village of Gharb Soheil, with its painted houses, for an early dinner with a Nubian family in their home. We are back at the hotel by about 8 pm.

   Included

   • Motorboat to Philae and the Temple of Isis with your guide
   • Lunch in Aswan
   • Felucca sail past Elephantine Island
   • Early dinner with a Nubian family in Gharb Soheil

   Easier option: Stay on the felucca or at the riverside while the others walk up through the village; the family dinner is near the landing and a guide comes back for you.

   More active option: Walk the lanes of Gharb Soheil with the guide before dinner.

   Free time: Early afternoon free at the pool

   Activity: About 2 km on foot. The Philae motorboat and the felucca are a step down from the jetty with a hand from the crew; children wear life jackets on both.

   

6. Day 6: Abu Simbel by air, then onto the Nile

   Aswan to Abu Simbel and back by plane, then by boat to Kom Ombo

   • Drive about 30 min
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Kom Ombo (on board)
   Day 6 details

   The one very early morning, and Abu Simbel is worth it: the temples face east, the early sun lights the facade, and by midday the site is hot and full. Most tours drive about three and a half hours each way through the desert; we fly instead, about 45 minutes from Aswan, with breakfast boxes for anyone who cannot eat at 5 am, and a short shuttle brings us to the temples. The four seated colossi of Ramesses II, each about 20 metres tall, are cut into the rock, and inside, carved halls run deep into the hill on a level path. Next door, the smaller temple honours Queen Nefertari and the goddess Hathor. Both were cut into blocks and moved up the hill in the 1960s before Lake Nasser rose. We fly back in time to board our Nile boat for lunch as it sails north. At dusk it moors at Kom Ombo, where the Crocodile Museum shows mummified crocodiles beside the temple of Sobek.

   Included

   • Return flights from Aswan to Abu Simbel
   • The Great Temple of Ramesses II and the Temple of Nefertari and Hathor
   • Board the Nile boat and sail to Kom Ombo
   • Temple of Kom Ombo at dusk and the Crocodile Museum

   Easier option: Stay on board at Kom Ombo and watch the temple lit up from the sun deck.

   Free time: Afternoon free on deck while the boat sails

   Activity: About 3 km on foot, on paved and level paths at Abu Simbel and a few steps up from the mooring at Kom Ombo. Wake-up about 5 am; the flight time sets the start. Children nap on deck in the afternoon.

   

7. Day 7: Edfu, then the road to Luxor

   Kom Ombo to Edfu by boat, then Edfu to Luxor by road, about 2 hours

   • Drive about 2 h
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Luxor
   Day 7 details

   The boat sails north at first light, and after breakfast on deck 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 dark inner sanctuary still in place. Children look for the two granite falcons of Horus at the gate and follow the story of Horus and Seth carved along the outer walls. We are there early, about 7:30 am, before the cruise boats arrive. Then our vehicle drives north to Luxor, about 115 km and two hours, with a stop for drinks and the bathroom halfway. Lunch is in Luxor, and the hotel pool takes the hot afternoon. As the light fades, a short walk through Luxor Temple, floodlit at dusk, to the Avenue of Sphinxes, then dinner nearby by about 6:30 pm.

   Included

   • Sail from Kom Ombo to Edfu
   • Temple of Horus, Edfu
   • Drive from Edfu to Luxor
   • Luxor Temple at dusk, with your guide
   • Lunch and an early dinner in Luxor

   Easier option: Skip Luxor Temple and stay at the hotel; dinner can be brought to the hotel's restaurant table.

   Free time: Afternoon free at the pool

   Activity: About 3 km on foot. If the boat cannot reach Edfu in time, the last stretch from Kom Ombo is by road, about an hour.

   

8. Day 8: A balloon for those who want it, then the Valley of the Kings

   Luxor West Bank, about 40 km of short drives

   • Drive about 1 h
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Luxor
   Day 8 details

   For anyone who wants it, and is above the balloon operator's minimum age, the day starts before dawn, about 4 am to 5 am by month, with a hot air balloon flight over the West Bank, included in your trip. You rise with the sun over the Theban hills, the temples and the green fields along the Nile. Whoever stays in bed is collected after breakfast. If flights are grounded for wind, which does happen, we watch sunrise from the West Bank by road instead. Then the whole group goes to the Valley of the Kings while it is still cool and enters three royal tombs whose painted corridors slope into the hillside; children look for the gods with animal heads. Next is Hatshepsut's terraced temple at Deir el-Bahari, and the Colossi of Memnon, two 18-metre statues of Amenhotep III. Lunch on the West Bank, back at the pool by about 2 pm, and a farewell dinner together at 6:30 pm.

   Included

   • Sunrise hot air balloon flight over the West Bank, for those who choose it
   • Valley of the Kings, entry to three tombs
   • Temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari
   • Colossi of Memnon
   • Lunch on the West Bank
   • Farewell dinner

   Optional experiences

   • Tomb of Tutankhamun. Separate ticket.

   Easier option: Skip the balloon and sleep in; at the Valley of the Kings, choose one tomb and wait in the shaded rest area while the others see the rest.

   More active option: Fly in the balloon at sunrise, then add Tutankhamun's tomb on a separate ticket.

   Free time: Afternoon free at the pool

   Activity: About 3 km on foot, with sloping corridors and some steps in the tombs, in the morning only. The site train from the Valley of the Kings visitor centre saves part of the walk.

   

9. Day 9: Karnak at opening, fly to Cairo

   Karnak, then a flight from Luxor to Cairo

   • Drive about 30 min
   • Breakfast
   Day 9 details

   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. Children can try to link arms around a column; it usually takes five or six of them. Your guide leads you on past the standing obelisks to the Sacred Lake and the giant stone scarab beetle, which local tradition says brings luck if you walk around it. We are back at the hotel by about 9 am for a late breakfast, a last swim 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. Plan an evening departure, or ask us to add nights in Luxor or Cairo.

   Included

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

   Easier option: Sleep in and join the group at the hotel for breakfast; Karnak is the one visit of the day.

   Free time: Late morning free

   Activity: About 2 km on foot, on level stone. Book a flight home leaving Cairo in the evening.

   

Wildlife and weather: Late October and November can still be hot by midday, which is why sightseeing is in the morning. December and January are mild by day but cold at dawn, so bring a warm layer for the balloon and early starts. Balloon flights depend on the wind and are sometimes grounded; we then watch sunrise from the West Bank by road.

• Giza3 nights
• Aswan2 nights
• Kom Ombo (on board)1 night
• Luxor2 nights