Arrive in Cairo, Egypt’s capital, after your international flight and meet your tour representative in the airport arrivals hall. From here, enjoy a comfortable transfer to your deluxe hotel in the heart of this vast and fast-growing city. Straddling the River Nile, Africa’s largest metropolis is a blend of ancient monuments, vibrant bazaars, and urban modernity, all swathed in a whirl of color and noise that travelers find intoxicating. After checking in at your hotel, the remainder of today is yours to spend as you please—either making your first forays into the bustling streets to shop, eat, or simply take in the atmosphere, or to relax at your hotel in readiness for your sightseeing tomorrow.

Enjoy a hotel breakfast and the entire day to discover the star attractions of this extraordinary city, whose origins date to 2,000 BC. Start with a visit to the Giza Plateau, on Cairo’s western edges, to view its UNESCO-listed Great Pyramids. Marvel at these vast pharaoh’s tombs, built around 4,500 years ago, and the neighboring Sphinx as your guide share their secrets and stories. Next, continue to Cairo’s famous Egyptian Museum to see the treasures of Tutankhamun and other artifacts, including ancient animal mummies, household goods, and more. After viewing the incredible displays here, travel on to the 14th-century Khan el Khalili bazaar, Cairo’s biggest souk, to explore its maze of stall-filled lanes. Later, enjoy the evening as you wish, perhaps sampling Cairo’s varied dining scene or scouting the shops for souvenirs.

Today is yours to use as you please, either enjoying free time to sightsee and stroll or choosing to join optional excursions. Perhaps delve deeper into Cairo and its surrounds with visits to the Citadel of Saladin and Alabaster Mosque. Alternatively, explore Alexandria, the delightful Mediterranean port originally founded by Alexander the Great, to see its many Greco-Roman ruins.
Note: All optional tours are operated in English only, and on a seat-in-coach basis.

This morning, fly to Luxor and board your 5-star cruise ship on the Nile—Egypt’s lifeblood for thousands of years. Then, enjoy lunch in the elegant dining room before joining your guide for an afternoon’s sightseeing. Wonder at the pillars and sanctuaries of Karnak complex and stroll the halls and courts of Luxor Temple as your guide shed lights on the pharaohs who built them. Tonight, attend a dramatic Sound and Light Show at the temples before enjoying an evening of dinner and dancing on your ship.

Start today by touring the ancient relics of the Nile’s West Bank. Gaze at the two huge statues of the Colossi of Memnon, and visit a selection of pharaoh’s tombs at the Valley of the Kings before exploring the Valley of the Queens. Back aboard, admire the Nile scenery as you cruise upstream to Esna—where you dock overnight.

Sail to Edfu and take a horse-drawn carriage to its highlight—a temple dedicated to the falcon-headed god, Horus. Dwarfed in size only by Karnak, this well-preserved complex unfolds in a series of courtyards and halls lined with statues, reliefs, and pillars. Having explored here, enjoy lunch on board and drink in the views from the deck as you sail to Kom Ombo.

Begin today at Kom Ombo Temple, built between 108 to 47 BC, and unusual for its double-design of two parallel temples dedicated to the god Horus and Sobek, the crocodile god, in turn. After exploring here, rejoin your ship and cruise to the ancient city of Aswan. Following lunch on board, take a tour of Aswan’s highlights: seeing the High Dam, Old Dam, Temple of Philae, and the Unfinished Obelisk—a sleeping, semi-finished granite pillar that still lies abandoned in its original rock quarry.

Your 4-night Nile cruise ends this morning when you disembark in Aswan after breakfast, still there are sightseeing and activities have to be done in Aswan after disembarkation. Drink in the beauty of nature as a wooden ‘felucca’ sailboat ferries you down the ancient River Nile. Watch in wonder when overlooking the beautiful Kitchener Island. Afterward, perhaps take an optional air-excursion to Abu Simbel. Fly to Abu Simbel, home to the Great Temple of Ramses II on the banks of Lake Nasser. Admire the temple’s enormous Ramses II statues and explore inside as you hear how it was rescued from the rising Nile during the late 20th century. Later, board a flight at Aswan for Cairo for your final night in the city.

Optional Tour: Abu Simbel Excursion,

This morning, transfer to Cairo airport to catch your return flight to the US.