Escape to the Sun
Dream Cruise on the Nile : Abu Simbel Edition - Board Luxor

Our special 9-day locally escorted tour shows you the top sights in Cairo, with four days (three nights) cruising on the Nile, including domestic air fare within Egypt. Add , Red Sea , or Alexandria

Compare with Private Touring, Private Nile Cruising

DAY 1 - CAIRO
Our staff meets you at the airport and escorts you to your hotel. Enjoy the sights and sounds of Cairo as you like for the rest of the day, complimentary visa for American, Australian , NZ , Western European , Canadian, & Japanese citizens, passport must be valid at least for 6 month beyond the date of arrival. Weekly on Sundays , Mondays & Tuesdays & Wednesdays, year round
Click here for  the 7 day

Visa will be issued upon arrival.
As you exit the gate, you will pass through a door or two , down some stairs , then walk for 2-5 minutes , until you pass the duty free shops, at the end of a wide corridor , you will see the security officers. There you will be met by a local representative, who will be holding a sign with the name you prefer to use for the sign .
Our local representative will then take your passport to obtain a stamp from the cashier / bank window and escort you to speak with the passport officer. He will escort you through another last check on your passport as you exit the passport control, into customs area, he will assist you in collecting your luggage and clearing customs . After exiting the terminal, our local representative will escort you (private vehicle) to the hotel

DAY 2 - CAIRO (BL)
Today we get to know the great Egyptian capital on a full-day tour. We start at the Egyptian Museum, including the Mummy room & Tutankhamoun Treasures, then go on to visit the majestic pyramids of Giza and the timeless Sphinx, and conclude with the 12th century district of Khan El Khalili. Lunch is included at al-Azhar Park or similar .

DAY 3 - CAIRO On Desert Safari for the Day - Fayoum Oases - And you thought the Pyramids were old (BL)
We leave Cairo by sunrise ( private air conditioned car/driver/guide): Full day Fayoum Oases including: Hawara Pyramid, El Lahoun Pyramid, Ruins of Karanis, drive by Lake Qarun, lunch is included at a local restaurant.

The wilds of the desert begin right on the outskirts of Cairo, and continue for hundreds of miles to the east and west, through sands, rock, mountains, oases, and a surprising variety of scenery and inhabitants.

Join us for a day ranging across the desert like modern nomads. In place of camels, we’ll travel in comfortable, reliable four-by-four Toyota Land Cruisers. Your guide and drivers will meet you at your hotel, and soon you’ll leave bustling Cairo behind as you undertake the drive toward the Oasis of El Fayoum, 150 kilometers to the southwest. Hard as it is to believe, a great inland sea once covered these sands. It was a holy reserve of sacred crocodiles, symbolized by the god Sobek.

We’ll visit the temple of Kom Oshim, drive over ancient lake beds, and alongside the waters of today’s Fayoum Lake to reach the fishermen’s village of Chak Chouk. There we’ll stop for a lunch of fish caught fresh that morning. There will be time to wander the village lanes and discreetly watch the everyday activities of baking flatbread, irrigating crops from the lake’s waters, and bringing in the catch. We’ll also include the craft and pottery museum where the best works of local artisans are on display.

Then it’s into our four-by-fours again, for an off-road adventure! We’ll head alongside and across desert washes, between dunes, and over ancient lake beds for 35 kilometers to the Valley of the Whales ( In Arabic : Wadi-El-Hitan) . Incredibly, these great mammals once thrived - almost forty million years ago- in waters surrounded by sands. We’ll stop and gaze in amazement at their fossilized remains alongside smaller sea creatures that remain in stone.
This valley was discovered in 1936 , by the German geologist George Schweinfurth in the northwestern corner of Wadi El-Rayan.

The valley provides evidence of one of the major changes in this mammal evolution has been declared by the UNESCO to be a World Heritage Site. It is believed that these land based whales once had feet that may have helped them somewhat while ashore . A team from the University of Michigan discovered in the late 80's that these Zeuglodon whales did have rudimentary feet , this was a startling discovery , suggesting that whales of Wadi -El-Hitan had recently started living in water as well , these whales were not related to any of the whales we have today , rather a more slender body and may grow up to 75 feet long. Several skeletons of whales are exposed in the sand. George Schweinfurth named this extinct specie the Zeuglodon Isis Whales .

In the evening, you’ll return to your hotel in Cairo. Land transportation in air-conditioned four-wheel-drive Toyota Land Cruiser with the services of driver and English-speaking driver. Lunch is included

DAY 4 - LUXOR or (Aswan) / Edfu (BLD)
An early flight takes us to Luxor, ( Cruise embarkation may also be from Aswan).
In Luxor , our local rep will meet you & escort you to your Nile cruise. Welcome fruit basket .
After you settle in , we visit the gigantic Temple of Amon at Karnak, the pharaohs' tombs in the Valley of the Kings.

Then its on to the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut at Deir el Bahari, and the Colossi of Memnon. We continue to Esna, where we enjoy a shipboard dinner.
Welcome complimentary fruit basket.

DAY 5 - EDFU & KOM OMBO (BLD)
At dockside, we board horse-drawn carriages for the short clip-clop ride through the town of Edfu to the stupendous Temple of Horus, the best preserved temple on the Nile. Returning to our ship, we set sail for Kom Ombo and its famous twin temples dedicated to the sun and the crocodile god. Complimentary Galabya, maybe to wear it for tonight's costume party .

DAY 6- ASWAN & PHILAE (BLD)
We explore the Temples of Horus and Sobek at Kom Ombo, haggle with peddlers for souvenirs, then re-board our ship for the voyage south to Aswan. In the afternoon, we take a motor launch to the Temples of Philae, rescued from the rising waters behind the High Dam. , rescued from rising waters , dedicated to the Ancient Goddess ISIS : Two millennia ago the Mediterranean world was enthralled by the mystery of Isis:

"I, Isis, am all that has been, that is or shall be; no mortal man hath ever seen me unveiled."

Called Aset by the ancient Egyptians, the goddess was a Madonna in the Mediterranean tradition that stretches far, far back to the primitive Mother Goddess from Anatolia, home to some of the oldest human communities on earth.

Isis, the great Mother Goddess. Come explore her mystery in timeless Egypt when you Travel in Style! In the evening, Aswan's colorful bazaar awaits us. Complimentary Egyptian sweets/pastry tonight.

DAY 7 - NUBIAN VILLAGE /ASWAN (B)
Complimentary short camel ride to a nearby Nubian Village for tea with the locals. Followed by a tour of the Nubian Museum . We check into your hotel in Aswan.

DAY 8- Aswan / Abu Simbel / Cairo (aB)
An early flight takes us to Aswan , ( Cruise embarkation may also be from Luxor).
In Aswan we connect by air to Abu Simbel , group tour of these two mighty temples:

In the larger temple, colossal figures of Ramses are seated with the gods and attended by his queen and daughters.
The smaller temple is dedicated to Queen Nefertari, who appears as Hathor, the goddess of love, joy and fertility, symbolized by the benevolent cow.
We explore these fine temple , admiring their ancient aura and artistry, after which you had back ( group transfer to Abu Simbel Airport. Connect in Aswan for your flight back to Cairo ( All domestic flights are included)

DAY 9- DEPARTURE (aB)
After breakfast, our staff escorts you to the airport for your flight home . Bon Voyage

RATES per person in USD $

• Domestic airfare within Egypt, tickets issued & delivered in Cairo.
  
  

• All transfers within Egypt.
  

• Bottled water ( one large bottled per person) delivered to your cabin daily while you are on board.

• Tea or coffee and small bottled water with each & every meal while you are on board the Nile Cruise.

• Complimentary welcome drink upon arrival on board the Nile Cruise.

• Complimentary welcome fruit basket in your cabin upon arrival on board the Nile Cruise.
  

• Pre set menu meals including B = Breakfast, (or cB, Continental Breakfast) L = Lunch, D = Dinner.
  
  

• Complimentarily visa, included & issued upon arrival for American,Australian, NZ, EU , Canadian & Japanese citizens, passport must be valid at least for 6 month beyond the date of arrival.

• Hotel accommodation ,including tax & service charges.

• Guided sightseeing as per itinerary including all entrance fees
  

• Nile cruise including all meals & shore excursions.

Rates do not include:
Any international airfare. Tips. Travel Insurance ( Please ask us for the flyer)

Please add a supplement of 10% to these rates for departures from December 23 to January 3, or during Easter Week.

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Dining Room Reservations :
NOT REQUIRED ! our dinning rooms are large enough to accommodate all passengers in one seating, so no hassle of reserving your dinner seating.

Clothing on board :
Lightweight comfortable & casual clothing, swimsuits, sun hat. Dinning room dress code : Casual for breakfast & lunch, smart casual for dinner. All ships are fully air conditioned.