Cairo and Sharm El Sheikh Vacation Package

Our representative meets you in the arrival hall at Cairo International Airport, helps you through the formalities and walks you to your air-conditioned vehicle. The drive to your hotel in Giza, near the pyramids, takes 45 to 75 minutes depending on traffic.

At check-in you are offered a welcome drink, and our representative goes through the week with you: the pick-up times for the next two days, what to wear for the churches and mosques on Day 3, and the timing of your flight to Sharm El Sheikh on Day 4.

Evening

No meals are included today. If you arrive in time and still have energy, the Sound and Light show at the pyramids, a short drive from the hotel, is an optional first look at Giza after dark. Otherwise keep the evening light: tomorrow starts after an early breakfast.

Morning: the Pyramids of Giza

Your Egyptologist meets you at the hotel after breakfast, at about 8 am, and you reach the Giza Plateau as it opens. The three main pyramids were built for the Fourth Dynasty kings Khufu (Cheops), Khafre (Chephren) and Menkaure (Mycerinus) about 4,500 years ago. The Great Pyramid of Khufu is the largest, and the only one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World still standing. Your guide explains how the blocks were quarried and raised and how the plateau worked as a royal cemetery, with its temples, causeways and the tombs of officials around the kings. Going inside the Great Pyramid needs a separate ticket bought at the site; a short camel ride near the panoramic viewpoint is an optional extra.

Late morning: the Sphinx and the Valley Temple

Below the pyramids stands the Great Sphinx, carved from the bedrock of the plateau, with a lion's body and, most likely, the face of Khafre. Beside it is Khafre's Valley Temple, built of huge granite blocks, where the king's funeral rites began.

Lunch

Lunch is at a local restaurant on the way south, with Egyptian dishes such as grilled meat, rice, salads and bread.

Afternoon: Saqqara and Memphis

Saqqara, about 45 minutes from Giza, was the burial ground of Memphis for some 3,000 years. Its Step Pyramid of Djoser, designed by the architect Imhotep around 2650 BC, is the earliest large stone building in Egypt and the model from which the smooth-sided pyramids at Giza grew. Around it you see the courtyard of the jubilee festival and, when they are open on the day, decorated tombs of nobles with scenes of daily life.

A few minutes away, the open-air museum at Memphis marks the capital of Egypt during the Old Kingdom. Its centrepiece is a colossal limestone statue of Ramses II, lying on its back in a hall built around it, and in the garden stands the Alabaster Sphinx.

Evening

You are back at the hotel at about 6 pm, with the evening free.

Morning: the Grand Egyptian Museum

After breakfast you drive to the Grand Egyptian Museum, about 2 km from the Giza pyramids. You enter through the Grand Hall with its colossal statue of Ramses II and climb the Grand Staircase, lined with royal statues, to the main galleries. Most of the visit is spent in the Tutankhamun galleries, where the objects from the young king's tomb, including the golden mask, the shrines and the chariots, are displayed together for the first time. The museum is very large, so your Egyptologist plans a route through the key pieces in about two and a half hours.

Late morning: the Citadel

Next you cross the city to the Citadel, the fortress Saladin began in 1176 on a spur of the Muqattam hills, which was the seat of Egypt's rulers for almost 700 years. Its landmark is the Mosque of Muhammad Ali, finished in 1848 in the Ottoman style and often called the Alabaster Mosque for the stone on its walls. From the terrace you look over the domes and minarets of historic Cairo, and on a clear day as far as the pyramids. When time allows, you also stop at the Sultan Hassan and al-Rifai mosques at the foot of the Citadel.

Afternoon: Coptic Cairo

After lunch at a local restaurant you visit the Coptic quarter, built inside the walls of the Roman fortress of Babylon. The Hanging Church takes its name from its position above the fortress gatehouse. The Church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus, Abu Serga, is built over the crypt where, by tradition, the Holy Family rested during their flight into Egypt. Nearby, the Ben Ezra Synagogue is where the Cairo Geniza, a store of medieval Jewish manuscripts, was found in the 19th century. Shoulders and knees should be covered in all three.

Late afternoon: Khan el-Khalili

The day ends at Khan el-Khalili, a market since the late 14th century, in the heart of medieval Cairo. Walk the lanes of lamps, spices, silver and cotton, or sit at one of the old cafés for mint tea before the drive back to your hotel, at around 6.30 pm.

Morning: Cairo to Sharm El Sheikh

After breakfast you check out, and our driver takes you to Cairo airport, where our representative helps with check-in. The flight to Sharm El Sheikh takes about one hour, crossing the Gulf of Suez and the mountains of southern Sinai. In Sharm we meet you on arrival and drive you to your resort, usually 15 to 30 minutes from the airport.

Afternoon and evening: first hours by the sea

The rest of the day is free. Most resorts in Sharm El Sheikh have their own beach and jetty over the reef, so you can often snorkel straight from the hotel; ask at the beach desk where the best entry point is. Your resort is on full board, so lunch and dinner are included from today.

In the evening, Naama Bay and the pedestrian streets of Soho Square have cafés, shops and restaurants if you want to go out; a taxi from most hotels takes 10 to 20 minutes.

Morning at the resort

The morning is free for the beach or the pool after breakfast.

Afternoon: the quad-bike safari

Our driver collects you from the hotel in the early afternoon for the short drive to the quad-bike centre on the edge of the desert. After a safety briefing, with helmet and goggles provided, you ride in a line behind the guide along sandy tracks between rocky hills and dry valleys, the wadis that cut through the Sinai mountains. No experience is needed; the guide sets a pace that suits the group, and children usually ride with a parent.

Halfway, you stop at a Bedouin camp, where your hosts serve sweet tea brewed over a fire and talk about the life of the tribes of southern Sinai. The ride back is timed to catch the low light of the late afternoon over the mountains. Altogether the safari takes about three hours, and you are back at the hotel in time for dinner.

Good to know

Wear closed shoes, sunglasses and a scarf or buff against the dust, and leave valuables at the hotel. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are at your resort.

Morning: sailing to Ras Mohammed

After an early breakfast you are collected at around 8 am for the marina, where you board the boat with your passport, as the coast guard checks the passenger list. Ras Mohammed, at the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula where the Gulf of Suez meets the Gulf of Aqaba, became Egypt's first national park in 1983. Its reef walls drop steeply into deep, clear water, which brings large shoals of fish close to the coral. The sail there takes about an hour and a half; on the way the crew gives a briefing and fits the masks and fins.

Midday: snorkelling stops and lunch on board

The boat makes two or three snorkelling stops, chosen by the captain for the day's wind and current. Expect hard and soft corals, parrotfish, angelfish, triggerfish and Red Sea anemones with their clownfish; turtles and reef sharks are seen on some days. The crew watches from the boat, and life jackets are available for less confident swimmers. Lunch is served on board between the stops. When the sea is rough in Ras Mohammed, the boat goes to the reefs of the Tiran Strait instead.

Afternoon

You are back at the marina at about 4 pm and at your hotel by 4.30 pm, with the evening free and dinner at the resort. Our guide to Ras Mohammed National Park tells more about the park and its reefs.

Good to know

Do not touch or stand on the coral, and use reef-safe sunscreen. Tonight, check the time of tomorrow's transfer with our representative and the baggage allowance printed on your domestic ticket.

Breakfast is at the resort, and the time until the transfer is free. Our driver takes you to Sharm El Sheikh airport for the flight to Cairo, about one hour, timed to connect with your international flight. In Cairo our representative meets you and assists you to the departure terminal; leave at least three hours between landing and your flight home, as you change terminals and check in again.

If your flight home leaves late in the evening, ask us when you book about a day room or a short visit in Cairo, such as the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization with the Royal Mummies Hall, as an optional extra. This is the end of the tour.