Board your overnight flight to Cairo today.

Welcome to Egypt, where tales etched in stone await your discovery—and where your own Egyptian story will unfold.

Transfer from Cairo to your hotel in Giza and get settled in. This evening, enjoy dinner at your leisure in the hotel.

Set off on a guided tour of Cairo, where its strategic location in the Nile Valley drew the area’s first settlements 2,000 years ago. You’ll explore labyrinthine alleys and ornate mosques as you learn more about the region’s history from your Egyptologist—who is also your Tour Director.

• Visit the Cairo Citadel. Built in the 12th century by the mighty Saladin and originally used as a fortress, it remained the seat of the Egyptian government until the 19th century.
• Stop at the Muhammad Ali Mosque, built in the Ottoman style and known as the Alabaster Mosque for its extensive marble paneling. Its twin minarets make it one of the most striking structures in Cairo’s cityscape.

Gather with your fellow travelers for a welcome dinner with beer or wine at a local restaurant this evening.

Please note: Travelers are required to remove their shoes when entering the Alabaster Mosque, and to dress modestly. Women should cover their heads and shoulders, and men should wear long pants.

Meet up with your Tour Director and set off on a guided tour of Giza, Egypt’s third-largest city and home to some of the world’s most enduring ancient monuments.

• Stand in the shadow of the Pyramids of Giza, the only Wonder of the Ancient World to have survived into the modern era. Standing as tall as 480 feet when it was built, the Great Pyramid of Giza continues to amaze with its size and the precision with which it was constructed.
• Visit the enigmatic, 4,500-year-old Great Sphinx, the largest monolithic statue in the world. (It was carved from a single limestone bedrock!)
• Enter the Grand Egyptian Museum, said to be the world’s largest museum, and explore its vast collection of ancient Egyptian artifacts alongside your Tour Director.
• Enjoy an included lunch at a local restaurant.

Please note: If the Grand Egyptian Museum is not yet open to the public, travelers will visit the Egyptian Antiquities Museum instead.

Dine like an Egyptian by adding an optional home-hosted dinner in Cairo, during which you’ll sample Egypt’s complex flavors, like dukkah and fenugreek.

Please note: Some cruise departures will follow days 5-9 in reverse.

Fly to Luxor, where you’ll board your cruise ship this afternoon. Enjoy an included lunch before seeing the painstakingly excavated Temple of Karnak and Luxor.

It’s said that 30 pharaohs presided over the building of the temple—a sprawling and vast ancient site. You’ll feel a palpable connection to the ancient world as you walk in the footsteps of priests and worshippers who came here for thousands of years.

• Venture through the Karnak temple complex with your guide to see the Precinct of Amun-Re, whose mudbrick walls stretch over 1.5 miles around. Gaze over extensive hieroglyphic inscriptions marking moments in history, and end at the Temple of Khonsu—a smaller, more intimate temple dedicated to the god of time and the moon.
• Take an early evening walking tour through Luxor Temple, located on the banks of the Nile River. As you approach, an avenue of human-headed sphinxes creates a dramatic and awe-inspiring entrance. The temple unfolds with a series of striking architectural elements that include massive columns, colossal statues, and hieroglyphs.
• Continue your exploration of the complex at the Abu Haggag Mosque. Although the structure itself “only” dates to the 13th century, its site has been used as a place of worship for more than 3,500 years—and is still in use today.

This evening, sit down for an included dinner aboard the ship, served with beer or wine.

Spend the morning relaxing and catching up on sleep, or greet the day with an early start for an optional, but certainly once-in-a-lifetime, hot-air balloon ride over the Valley of the Kings and the Nile.

Later, tour the Nile’s West Bank with your Tour Director.

• Explore the Valley of the Kings, a series of tombs nestled between rugged limestone outcroppings and mountains in the Theban Hills. The barren, rocky terrain contrasts with the lush greenery of the Nile’s eastern bank.
• Enter King Tut’s tomb, famous for containing the treasures a pharaoh would need in the afterlife, such as clothing, food, chariots, games, and ceremonial items. Although these precious artifacts have since been relocated, you’ll observe the tomb resting amidst richly adorned walls.

This afternoon, enjoy an included lunch before sailing toward Edfu. Sit down for an included dinner this evening.

Spend a free morning while docked in Edfu or add an exploration of one of the best-preserved temples in Egypt—the Temple of Horus. This classic example of Ptolemaic architecture, with massive stone walls and towering pylons, is also one of the few temples in Egypt where inscriptions on its walls describe how it was built and used in ancient times.

Later, continue uncovering the wonders of Egypt after an included lunch aboard your ship. You’ll visit the Temple of Kom Ombo. Dedicated to the deities Sobek and Horus, it was constructed as two symmetrical temples aligned in parallel. Although they were initially built during the Ptolemaic period, they were expanded after the Roman conquest of Egypt, resulting in a blend of both local and Greco-Roman architectural styles.

Your day ends when you dock in the busy market city of Aswan, where you’ll sit down for an included dinner, served with beer or wine, aboard your vessel.

Enjoy a free morning aboard your ship or add an optional trek to Abu Simbel. You’ll visit the temples of Ramses II and his wife, Nefertari, originally carved into the mountainside and painstakingly relocated to save them from being submerged by the damming of the Nile.

Please note: Depending on flight schedules, the Abu Simbel excursion may be offered on day 9 instead of day 8.

Later, enjoy an included lunch before climbing aboard a felucca, a traditional Egyptian sailboat, to ride past Elephantine. Sited across from the hubbub of central Aswan, the island is home to two serene Nubian villages and once played an integral role in the ivory trade.

• Cruise past partially excavated ruins scattered across the island, including the remains of the Temple of Khnum’s granite step pyramid. You may also spot a nilometer carved directly into the river’s rocky shores and marked with Arabic, Roman, and Egyptian numerals. In ancient times, nilometers were used to indicate the Nile’s water levels to predict the harvest and calculate taxes for the coming year.
• Take in panoramic views of the dusty pink granite stones of the Mausoleum of Aga Khan. The historic site is the final resting place of Aga Khan III, one of Islam’s most important imams, and a testament to enduring love. Khan’s widow left a red rose on his tomb every day until her passing, a tradition still carried on today in the tomb that she commissioned.

Sit down for an included dinner, served with beer or wine, aboard the ship this evening.

Disembark your cruise in Aswan and set off on a sightseeing tour of the city led by your Tour Director. Known as the gateway to Nubia, Aswan is surrounded by a unique natural setting where the Nile, dotted with lush islands, meets an arid desert landscape.

• Board a boat to visit the temples at Philae, an island in the Nile River. Watch in awe as enormous columns and imposing facades rise from the water, emblazoned with hieroglyphics.
• Walk through the colorful local market where you’ll find perfumes, spices, traditional talismans, and souvenirs.

Spend a free afternoon in Aswan perusing one of the local markets. Or, add an immersive visit to a Nubian village and experience the hospitality of this distinct group that’s indigenous to southern Egypt.

Sit down for an included dinner this evening, served with beer or wine.

Transfer to the airport and fly back to Cairo today.

After sitting down for an included dinner, served with beer or wine, enjoy a free evening in Cairo. Ask your Tour Director for a recommendation or find a cozy cafe on your own. Be sure to order mint tea and kunafa, a spun pastry soaked in sweet syrup and sprinkled with pistachios.

Spend today in the oldest part of Cairo, exploring labyrinthian alleys, entering ancient houses of worship, and learning more about Egypt’s prismatic history.

• Enter the Hanging Church. Officially known as Saint Virgin Mary’s Coptic Orthodox Church, this third-century sanctuary is adorned with expertly turned wood carvings, colorful frescoes, and ornate marble columns. Its moniker stems from its position atop the gatehouse of Babylon Fortress, giving the impression that it’s suspended in the air.
• Step inside the Turkish-style Ben Ezra Synagogue, a place of pilgrimage for North African Jews. It’s believed to have been built on the site where, according to biblical accounts, the baby Moses was found in the Nile River.

Then, transfer to the Gayer-Anderson Museum, a former home that now showcases Egyptian art, furniture, and curios.

Celebrate your trip with your fellow travelers during tonight’s farewell dinner, served with beer or wine, and raise a glass to an unforgettable trip and new friendships.

Transfer to the airport for your flight home or extend your trip to Jordan, where you can keep satisfying your wanderlust at two of our travelers’ favorite bucket list destinations: Petra and the Dead Sea.