Jordan and Egypt: Petra, Wadi Rum, Cairo and the Nile

1. Day 1: Arrive in Amman

   Queen Alia International Airport to your hotel in Amman

   • Drive about 45 min
   • Welcome dinner
   • Stay in Amman
   Day 1 details

   Fly into Queen Alia International Airport (AMM), about 35 km south of Amman. Your Jordan Pass is bought before you fly, so the visa step on arrival is short, and a driver meets you in the arrivals hall for the drive of about 45 minutes into the city. Plan to land by mid-afternoon if you can; the latest arrival that still makes the briefing is confirmed with your final itinerary. Amman spreads over steep hills of pale limestone houses, and the first afternoon is yours to rest or walk down to Rainbow Street for coffee. In the early evening your See Sight Tours guide meets the group for a short briefing on the two weeks ahead: what to pack for Petra and the desert, how the flights work, and how the days are paced. Then we sit down together to a welcome dinner of mezze and grills at a local restaurant.

   Included

   • Pick-up at Queen Alia International Airport (AMM)
   • Welcome briefing with your guide
   • Welcome dinner

   Free time: Free until the evening briefing

2. Day 2: Jerash early, then the Amman Citadel

   Amman to Jerash and back, then the Amman Citadel

   • Drive about 1.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Amman
   Day 2 details

   We leave after an early breakfast to reach Jerash, about 50 km north, close to opening while the stone is cool and the coaches are still on the road. Roman Gerasa is one of the best preserved provincial cities of the empire. Walk in through Hadrian's Arch, raised for the emperor's visit in AD 129 to 130, past the hippodrome into the Oval Plaza and up the colonnaded Cardo, still grooved by cart wheels, to the Temple of Artemis and the South Theatre. Lunch is a sit-down meal in Jerash before we drive back to Amman. The afternoon is free to rest at the hotel or wander the downtown souks below the Citadel. Late in the day we climb the Citadel hill, where the Temple of Hercules and the Umayyad Palace catch the low sun above the Roman Theatre.

   Included

   • Jerash with your guide: Hadrian's Arch, the Oval Plaza, the Cardo, the Temple of Artemis and the South Theatre
   • Sit-down lunch in Jerash
   • The Amman Citadel in the late afternoon: the Temple of Hercules and the Umayyad Palace

   Free time: Part of the afternoon free in Amman

   Activity: About 2 to 3 hours on foot in Jerash on Roman paving and uneven ground.

3. Day 3: Madaba, Mount Nebo, Bethany and the Dead Sea

   King Abdullah I Mosque in Amman, then Madaba, Mount Nebo and Bethany Beyond the Jordan, then the Dead Sea

   • Drive about 2 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Dead Sea
   Day 3 details

   We start in Amman at the King Abdullah I Mosque when it opens to visitors, before prayers and crowds; its blue dome covers a single prayer hall hung with a huge ring chandelier, and robes are lent at the door. A short drive south brings us to Madaba and the Church of St George, whose floor holds the Madaba Map, a 6th-century mosaic of the Holy Land with Jerusalem at its centre. Ten minutes on, Mount Nebo looks from the terrace of the Memorial Church of Moses over the Jordan Valley to the Dead Sea. Lunch is a sit-down meal in Madaba, then we drop into the rift valley to Bethany Beyond the Jordan, Al-Maghtas, where John is believed to have baptised Jesus, listed by UNESCO in 2015. A walk through tamarisk and reeds leads to Byzantine church remains and the narrow Jordan River. By late afternoon you are at the resort on the shore, about 430 m below sea level, in time to float in water roughly ten times saltier than the ocean as the sun drops behind the far hills.

   Included

   • King Abdullah I Mosque, Amman
   • Madaba Map at the Church of St George
   • Mount Nebo and the Memorial Church of Moses
   • Sit-down lunch in Madaba
   • Bethany Beyond the Jordan (Al-Maghtas) with your guide
   • Time to float in the Dead Sea at the resort's beach

   Optional experiences

   • Spa treatments at the resort

   Free time: Late afternoon and evening free at the resort

   Activity: The mosque is closed to visitors at Friday prayers; on a Friday we swap it for the Jordan Museum. Do not shave on the day you float, and keep the water out of your eyes; the salt stings.

   

4. Day 4: Up the rift valley to Shobak and Petra

   Dead Sea south along the Dead Sea Highway, up to Tafilah, the Dana viewpoint and Shobak Castle, then Wadi Musa

   • Drive about 4 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Wadi Musa
   Day 4 details

   Float once more before breakfast while the water is flat and the beach is empty. Then we drive south down the Dead Sea Highway, past the salt pans at the southern end of the lake, and climb out of the rift valley through the hills to Tafilah. The day's driving is about four hours, split by stops. On the King's Highway we pull over at the viewpoint above the Dana Biosphere Reserve, where sandstone and granite fall away towards Wadi Araba. Lunch is a sit-down stop in the hills, then Shobak Castle, built by the crusader King Baldwin I in 1115 and taken by Saladin in 1189, with its chapel, gatehouse and a stairway cut down into the rock. We reach Wadi Musa, the town at the gate of Petra, by late afternoon and stay two nights. On the evenings it runs, Petra by Night lights the Siq and the Treasury with candles.

   Included

   • Dana Biosphere Reserve viewpoint
   • Sit-down lunch on the way
   • Shobak Castle with your guide
   • Petra by Night (on whichever of your two Petra evenings it runs)

   Free time: Evening free if Petra by Night falls tomorrow

   Activity: We plan departures so that one of your two Petra evenings falls on a Petra by Night evening; the date is confirmed with your final itinerary.

5. Day 5: Petra from opening to the Monastery

   A full day inside Petra

   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Wadi Musa
   Day 5 details

   We are at the Petra gate when it opens, around 6 am, and walk down the Bab as-Siq past the Djinn Blocks and the Obelisk Tomb into the 1.2 km Siq while it is cool and almost empty. The Treasury, carved by the Nabataeans in the 1st century AD, is still in soft shade at this hour, and you will have it nearly to yourselves. Your guide then leads along the Street of Facades and the Theatre to the Royal Tombs, climbing to the terrace of the Urn Tomb for the view across the valley, and down the Colonnaded Street to the Great Temple and Qasr al-Bint. Lunch is a proper sit-down meal inside the site, followed by a rest in the shade. Mid-afternoon, when most visitors are walking out, we climb the roughly 800 rock-cut steps to the Monastery, Petra's largest facade, and the viewpoints beyond it, then walk back out in the late light.

   Included

   • Petra from opening with your guide: the Siq, the Treasury, the Street of Facades, the Royal Tombs, the Colonnaded Street, the Great Temple and Qasr al-Bint
   • Sit-down lunch inside Petra
   • The climb to the Monastery (Ad-Deir) in the quieter afternoon window

   Easier option: Skip the Monastery climb: walk back out after lunch and spend the afternoon at the Petra Museum by the visitor centre or at the hotel.

   More active option: Before lunch, climb the steep steps to the High Place of Sacrifice for the view over the city, then come down past the Garden Tomb.

   Free time: Evening free

   Activity: The longest walking day: up to about 15 km on sand and rock steps, with about 800 steps to the Monastery. Bring good shoes, a hat and water.

   

6. Day 6: A second Petra morning, then Wadi Rum

   Petra, Little Petra, then south to a camp in Wadi Rum

   • Drive about 2 h
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Wadi Rum
   Day 6 details

   Your Jordan Pass covers a second day in Petra, so this morning is your choice. Go back in at opening with your guide, past the Obelisk Tomb again, and take the Al-Khubtha trail up to the ledge that looks straight down on the Treasury, or sleep in and have a slow breakfast. We leave Wadi Musa late in the morning for Little Petra, Siq al-Barid, a narrow canyon of Nabataean houses, cisterns and dining rooms that was probably a caravan stop. Look up in the Painted Biclinium for a rare 1st-century ceiling fresco of vines and birds. From there it is about two hours south to Wadi Rum, a protected desert of red sand and sandstone mountains listed by UNESCO in 2011. Lunch is waiting at camp. After the heat of the day Bedouin drivers take us out by 4x4 to Lawrence's Spring, the rock carvings of Khazali Canyon and a red dune, and we stop on high ground for sunset before a zarb dinner lifted from an oven in the sand.

   Included

   • Second morning in Petra with your guide (optional)
   • Little Petra (Siq al-Barid) and the Painted Biclinium
   • Lunch and dinner at camp, with a zarb dinner cooked in the sand
   • Afternoon 4x4 tour with Bedouin drivers: Lawrence's Spring, Khazali Canyon and a red dune
   • Sunset from high ground, then stargazing at camp

   Easier option: Skip the second Petra morning and rest at the hotel until we leave for Little Petra.

   More active option: The Al-Khubtha trail at opening, about 2 hours with steep stairs, to the viewpoint above the Treasury.

   Free time: Morning free if you skip the second Petra visit

   Activity: Wadi Rum sits at about 1,000 m, so nights are cool for much of the year and cold in winter. Camp tents have their own bathroom with hot water.

   

7. Day 7: Desert sunrise, then fly to Cairo

   Wadi Rum on the Desert Highway to Queen Alia International Airport, then fly from Amman to Cairo

   • Drive about 4 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Cairo
   Day 7 details

   Wake early for sunrise from the camp, when the light runs down the cliffs and the sand has no fresh tracks, then a camel ride across the valley floor before breakfast for anyone who wants one. We leave by about 8:30 and drive north on the Desert Highway to Queen Alia International Airport, about 310 km and four hours, with a sit-down lunch on the way. This is why the Dead Sea came earlier: flying out of Amman from the desert avoids a five-hour drive to the Dead Sea and another back. The flight to Cairo takes about an hour and a half, and your See Sight Tours guide flies with you rather than handing you to a new leader at the airport. In Cairo, a driver and your Egyptian site guide meet the group for the transfer to a central hotel. The evening is free; your guide can point you to a koshary shop or a Nile-side terrace nearby.

   Included

   • Sunrise from camp
   • Short camel ride at camp
   • Sit-down lunch on the way to the airport
   • Flight from Amman (AMM) to Cairo (CAI), with your guide
   • Transfer to your hotel in Cairo

   Free time: Evening free in Cairo

   Activity: The longest travel day: about four hours on the road and a short flight. One checked bag per guest, within the airline allowance.

8. Day 8: Giza at opening, then the Grand Egyptian Museum

   Cairo to the Giza plateau and the Grand Egyptian Museum, then back to Cairo

   • Drive about 1.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Cairo
   Day 8 details

   We leave Cairo early to be at the Giza plateau at opening, before the tour coaches and the heat. The Great Pyramid of Khufu has stood for about 4,500 years, and walking its base with your guide shows its scale better than any photo. We drive across the plateau to the panorama viewpoint, where all three pyramids line up, then down to the Sphinx and the Valley Temple of Khafre. Lunch is a sit-down meal near the plateau. In the hottest part of the day we are indoors at the Grand Egyptian Museum, about 2 km away, which opened fully in November 2025. The Grand Staircase climbs past colossal statues to a window framing the pyramids, and the Tutankhamun galleries show the young king's burial goods together, including the gold mask and his chariots. We return to the hotel by late afternoon, and the evening is yours.

   Included

   • The Giza pyramids at opening, the panorama viewpoint, the Sphinx and the Valley Temple, with your guide
   • Sit-down lunch near Giza
   • The Grand Egyptian Museum, including the Tutankhamun galleries

   Optional experiences

   • Inside the Great Pyramid (separate ticket, priced at booking)

   Free time: Evening free

   Activity: Little shade at Giza: bring a hat, sunscreen and water. The passage inside the Great Pyramid is steep, low and hot.

9. Day 9: Fly to Luxor: Karnak and Luxor Temple after dark

   Cairo to Luxor by air, then Karnak and Luxor Temple on the East Bank

   • By plane
   • Breakfast
   • Stay in Luxor
   Day 9 details

   A morning flight of about an hour takes us south to Luxor, ancient Thebes. We check in to a hotel near the corniche, and lunch and the hot middle of the day are yours: a cold drink by the river or a rest. Late in the afternoon, as the light lowers, we walk into Karnak, the temple of Amun built and rebuilt over some 2,000 years. Your guide leads through the pylons into the Great Hypostyle Hall, where 134 columns stand like a stone forest, then past the obelisk of Hatshepsut to the sacred lake. After a break we go on to Luxor Temple, which stays open into the evening and is lit after dark, so the colossal statues of Ramesses II and the obelisk at the gate glow against the night sky. The restored Avenue of Sphinxes runs north from the temple towards Karnak. Dinner is your choice in town.

   Included

   • Flight from Cairo to Luxor (LXR), with your guide
   • Karnak in the late afternoon with your guide
   • Luxor Temple after dark

   Free time: Middle of the day and the evening free

10. Day 10: The Valley of the Kings, then onto the Nile

    Luxor West Bank, then sailing south from Luxor

    • By boat
    • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
    • Stay in On the Nile, near Edfu
    Day 10 details

    We cross to the West Bank for the Valley of the Kings at opening, while the valley is still in shade and before the day coaches arrive. Your ticket covers three tombs, chosen on the day from those open, and we add Tutankhamun's tomb, small but with the king's mummy still inside. Next is the terraced temple of Queen Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari, set against the cliff, and a stop at the Colossi of Memnon, two seated statues of Amenhotep III about 18 m high. By lunchtime we are aboard our small Nile boat for three nights, with lunch on deck as the crew casts off. The afternoon is for the sundeck: palms, fields and villages slide past, and the boat passes through the lock at Esna in the evening. Dinner is on board.

    Included

    • Valley of the Kings at opening, three tombs plus Tutankhamun's tomb
    • The Temple of Hatshepsut and the Colossi of Memnon
    • Board the Nile boat: lunch and dinner on board

    Optional experiences

    • Sunrise hot air balloon over the West Bank before the Valley of the Kings (priced at booking)
    • The tomb of Queen Nefertari in the Valley of the Queens (separate ticket, priced at booking)

    Free time: Afternoon on the sundeck

    Activity: Tomb corridors are steep and warm, and photography rules in the tombs change; your guide explains them on the day.

11. Day 11: Edfu early, Kom Ombo at dusk

    Edfu, sailing south, then Kom Ombo

    • By boat
    • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
    • Stay in On the Nile, at Kom Ombo
    Day 11 details

    Edfu is our first stop, and we walk or ride a horse cart into town early, before the boats moored behind us arrive. The Temple of Horus, built between 237 and 57 BC, is the most complete temple in Egypt: roof, pylon and inner sanctuary all stand, and the falcon statues of Horus guard the court. Back on board for a late breakfast, we sail south through the morning and the afternoon. Watch for herons and kingfishers on the banks, the sandstone quarries at Gebel el-Silsila where the river narrows, and fishermen in small boats. Lunch is on deck. Towards sunset the boat ties up below Kom Ombo, the double temple of the crocodile god Sobek and the falcon god Haroeris, with a mirror-image plan and a doorway for each. We see it at dusk as the lights come on, then the small Crocodile Museum next door with its mummified crocodiles. Dinner is on board.

    Included

    • The Temple of Horus at Edfu with your guide
    • A day sailing south on the Nile
    • Kom Ombo temple at dusk and the Crocodile Museum
    • All meals on board

    Free time: The middle of the day free on the sundeck

12. Day 12: Into Aswan: Philae and a felucca at sunset

    Kom Ombo to Aswan by boat, then Philae and a felucca sail

    • By boat
    • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
    • Stay in Aswan (on board)
    Day 12 details

    The last stretch of the river runs between granite boulders and green islands into Aswan, where the boat moors for the night. After lunch on board we drive a few minutes to the jetty and cross by motorboat to Philae, the Temple of Isis. The whole complex was taken apart and rebuilt on Agilkia Island in the 1970s, when the earlier Aswan Dam left it half under water, and the boat ride in is the best view of its colonnades. Late in the afternoon we board a felucca, a wooden sailboat with a single canvas sail, and drift between Elephantine Island and Kitchener's Island while the Nubian crew tacks against the current. Watch the sun go down behind the tombs on the West Bank hills. Dinner is our last on board, and the evening is free to walk the corniche or sit on deck.

    Included

    • Sailing into Aswan
    • Philae, the Temple of Isis, by motorboat
    • Felucca sail at sunset around Elephantine and Kitchener's Island
    • All meals on board

    Free time: Evening free in Aswan

13. Day 13: The High Dam and a Nubian lunch

    Aswan: the High Dam, the Unfinished Obelisk and a Nubian village on the West Bank

    • Drive about 1 h
    • Breakfast and lunch
    • Stay in Aswan
    Day 13 details

    We leave the boat after breakfast and move to a hotel in Aswan for the night. The morning starts at the High Dam, finished in 1970, which holds back Lake Nasser and ended the Nile's yearly flood; from the dam wall you see the lake on one side and the river on the other. In the granite quarries nearby lies the Unfinished Obelisk, abandoned when it cracked, which would have stood about 42 m tall. Late in the morning a boat takes us downstream to a Nubian village on the West Bank, with its painted houses, for a home-cooked lunch with a Nubian family. The afternoon is free: the Nubian Museum, the souk or a drink on a riverside terrace. If you want Abu Simbel, we can book the early flight for you instead of the morning programme; by road it is about seven hours there and back, so we leave it out of the plan.

    Included

    • The Aswan High Dam
    • The Unfinished Obelisk
    • Boat to a Nubian village on the West Bank and lunch with a Nubian family

    Optional experiences

    • Abu Simbel by air, early morning (priced at booking)

    Free time: Afternoon and evening free in Aswan

    

14. Day 14: Back to Cairo: Al-Muizz Street and a farewell dinner

    Aswan to Cairo by air, then Islamic Cairo and Khan el-Khalili

    • Drive about 1 h
    • Breakfast and dinner
    • Stay in Cairo
    Day 14 details

    A morning flight of about an hour and a half takes us back to Cairo. After check-in and a free lunch hour, we head into Islamic Cairo in the late afternoon, when the heat eases and the streets fill. Your guide leads us along Al-Muizz Street, the old spine of Fatimid Cairo, lined with mosques, madrasas and the Qalawun complex with its carved stucco and stained glass. We pass the Bab Zuweila gate and wind into Khan el-Khalili, the bazaar that has traded on this site since the 14th century, with time to browse the lamp makers and spice sellers on your own and a mint tea at a cafe. As the lights come on, we sit down together for a farewell dinner of Egyptian dishes at a restaurant in the old city, the last evening with your guide and the group.

    Included

    • Flight from Aswan (ASW) to Cairo, with your guide
    • Al-Muizz Street and Bab Zuweila with your guide
    • Khan el-Khalili bazaar
    • Farewell dinner

    Free time: Lunch hour and time in the bazaar free

    Activity: About 2 hours on foot on busy streets. Covered shoulders and knees for the mosques; women need a headscarf.

15. Day 15: Depart Cairo

    Your hotel in Cairo to Cairo International Airport

    • Drive about 1 h
    • Breakfast
    Day 15 details

    The trip ends after breakfast. Most international flights leave from Cairo International Airport (CAI), about 45 minutes to an hour from central Cairo depending on traffic, and we drive you there at the time that suits your flight. Allow three hours before departure at the airport, because security queues start at the terminal door. If your flight is in the evening, the morning is free: the Egyptian Museum on Tahrir Square, the Coptic quarter with the Hanging Church, or a last walk by the Nile. Your guide can help store bags at the hotel and suggest where to have lunch. If you would like to stay longer, we can book extra nights in Cairo; ask when you request to book.

    Included

    • Drop-off at Cairo International Airport (CAI)

    Free time: Free until your airport transfer

    Activity: Book a flight out of Cairo International Airport (CAI) any time today; allow three hours at the airport.

Wildlife and weather: October, November, March and April are warm and dry in both countries. December to February brings cool days in Jordan, cold nights in Wadi Rum and the odd wet day in Petra, but mild sun in Luxor and Aswan. From May to September Luxor and Aswan are very hot, so we do not plan dated departures then.

• Amman2 nights
• Dead Sea1 night
• Wadi Musa2 nights
• Wadi Rum1 night
• Cairo2 nights
• Luxor1 night
• On the Nile, near Edfu1 night
• On the Nile, at Kom Ombo1 night
• Aswan (on board)1 night
• Aswan1 night
• Cairo1 night