8 Days Cairo, Abu Simbel, Luxor & Hurghada Tour

Arrival

Our representative meets you in the arrival hall of Cairo International Airport, helps you through passport control and with your luggage, and drives you to your hotel, 30 to 60 minutes depending on traffic.

Evening: dinner on the Nile

In the evening you board a dinner cruise on the Nile, with Cairo lit up on both banks. A buffet dinner is served with Egyptian music, a belly-dance show, folklore and the tanoura, the whirling dance inspired by the Sufi tradition. You are back at your hotel around 10 pm.

Morning: the Giza Plateau

After breakfast and check-out, your Egyptologist takes you to the Giza Plateau. The pyramids of Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure were built about 4,500 years ago as royal tombs; the Great Pyramid of Khufu, around 2580 BC, is the largest and the only one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World still standing. Going inside needs a separate ticket bought at the site. The Great Sphinx, generally dated to the reign of Khafre, guards the causeway to his Valley Temple, built of huge granite and limestone blocks for the king's funeral rites.

Midday: the Grand Egyptian Museum

The Grand Egyptian Museum, about 2 km from the pyramids, opens with the colossal statue of Ramses II and a staircase of royal statues, and displays the Tutankhamun collection together. Lunch is at a local restaurant.

Afternoon: Saqqara

At Saqqara you see the Step Pyramid of Djoser, designed by Imhotep around 2650 BC, with six stepped levels: the first large stone building in Egypt and the model for the pyramids that followed.

Evening: the flight to Aswan

You transfer to Cairo airport for the flight to Aswan, about 1 hour 20 minutes, and to your hotel. Collect your breakfast box tonight: tomorrow starts before dawn.

Before dawn: the road to Abu Simbel

You check out very early with your breakfast box and drive south by private vehicle, about 280 km and three and a half hours across the desert.

Morning: the temples of Ramses II and Nefertari

The two temples were cut into the rock in the 13th century BC. The Great Temple has four seated statues of Ramses II, each about 20 metres tall, on its facade, and twice a year, around 22 February and 22 October, the rising sun reaches its sanctuary. The smaller temple honours Queen Nefertari and the goddess Hathor. In the 1960s both were cut into blocks and rebuilt on higher ground, in a UNESCO-led campaign, to save them from Lake Nasser.

Afternoon: back to Aswan and the train

You drive back to Aswan for lunch at a local restaurant, then board a first-class train to Luxor, about three hours along the Nile. Our representative meets you and takes you to your hotel.

Early morning: the West Bank

After an early breakfast and check-out, you start on the West Bank before the heat. The Valley of the Kings was the royal burial ground of the New Kingdom, with more than 60 tombs; the standard ticket opens three among those open on the day, and your guide explains how the tombs were cut and what their painted walls say about the afterlife. At Deir el-Bahari, the mortuary temple of Hatshepsut, one of the few women to rule as pharaoh, rises in terraces against the cliffs. On the way back you stop at the Colossi of Memnon, two seated statues of Amenhotep III that once guarded his temple.

Late morning: Karnak

Karnak, dedicated to the Theban triad of Amun, Mut and Khonsu, was built and enlarged over more than 1,500 years. Its pylons, obelisks and the Great Hypostyle Hall, with 134 columns, make it one of the largest religious sites in the world.

Afternoon: to the Red Sea

After lunch at a local restaurant, your private vehicle takes you north to Qena, then east across the Eastern Desert to the coast at Safaga and on to Hurghada, about four hours. You check in to your beach hotel in the evening.

After breakfast you join your boat for a day on the reefs off Hurghada with a private instructor, who explains the equipment and stays with you in the water. The Red Sea is known for its coral and colourful fish, and the reefs near the Giftun Islands are among the most visited; the exact sites depend on the wind and the boat's plan on the day. Masks, snorkels and fins are provided.

You are back at the hotel in the afternoon, with the rest of the day free. Breakfast is included. Our guide to the best beaches in Hurghada for snorkelling has ideas for the free time.

Good to know

Do not touch or stand on the coral, and use reef-safe sunscreen. Diving is not included, but an introductory dive can be booked on board at extra cost.

The morning is free for the beach or the pool. In the afternoon you are picked up for a desert safari into the Eastern Desert behind Hurghada. You ride a quad bike or a camel through the rocky valleys and dunes, visit a Bedouin camp, and watch the sun set over the mountains.

The evening ends with a barbecue dinner in the desert, often with tea and music, before the drive back to your hotel. Breakfast and dinner are included.

Morning: the flight and the Egyptian Museum

After breakfast you fly from Hurghada to Cairo, about one hour. Your Egyptologist meets you. The Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square, opened in 1902, holds statues and objects covering more than 5,000 years of history, from the Narmer Palette to the art of the Amarna period.

Midday: Old Cairo

After lunch at a local restaurant you visit the Christian and Jewish heart of Old Cairo:

• The Hanging Church, built above the southern gate of the Roman fortress of Babylon, with icons and woodwork from many periods.
• The Ben Ezra Synagogue, where the Cairo Geniza, a store of medieval Jewish manuscripts, was found in the 19th century.
• The Mosque of Amr Ibn al-As, founded in 641-642, traditionally the first mosque in Egypt and Africa, rebuilt many times.

Afternoon: the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization

Nearby in Fustat, the NMEC tells the story of Egypt from prehistory to the present, and its Royal Mummies Hall holds the mummies of kings and queens such as Ramses II and Hatshepsut.

Evening: al-Muizz Street and Khan el-Khalili

The day ends on al-Muizz Street, the main street of medieval Cairo, lined with mosques, madrasas and houses, and in Khan el-Khalili, a market since the late 14th century. You return to your hotel for the night.

Good to know

This is a full programme after a flight; the order and the time at each site follow the confirmed flight time and the opening hours.

After breakfast you check out and have free time until our representative drives you to Cairo International Airport; airlines usually ask you to be there three hours before an international flight. This is the end of the tour.