Here's the best of Egypt in only 10 days- Arrive any day of the week.
All transfers are on a private basis. Private touring in Cairo.
A good look at Cairo and a cruise along the Nile

Compare with the 9 Day Version , the 12 day edition , add Athens
Petra edition, the 11 Day Abu Simbel or 14 Day with Alexandria . Add Israel and Palestine .
Compare with the 12 Day private Touring . Add Sharm El Sheikh or add London

DAY 1 - DEPART - NEW YORK- Daily ( Subject to availability) Air fare add-on available from major cities
Board your Lufthansa , Swiss , Air France or British Airways wide-body jet at New York's John F Kennedy International Airport for your transatlantic flight . Egyptair is the only non-stop flight JFK Cairo with an afternoon arrival into Cairo .



For West Coast guests : You need NOT to fly via New York . When you fly onboard Lufthansa, British Airways , Air France , etc, then you fly non stop from the West Coast to Europe then connect to Cairo .
Click for Thursday departure version

Day 2 - CAIRO
Our representative greets you at the airport, helps with formalities, and whisks you to your hotel. Visa fee is included. Visa will be issued upon arrival for " American, Australian , NZ , Canadian, EU & Japanese Citizens, you are responsible for having your passport valid for at least 6 month beyond the date of arrival.
For London and Rome / Milan : you board your flight land same day in Cairo

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 3- CAIRO (BL)
On your first full day in Egypt we show you the Egyptian Museum, including the Mummy Room and the fabulous treasures Tutankhamon, the Pyramids of Giza, Those who are fit and adventurous enough may wish to penetrate into the heart of the Great Pyramid, to the King's Chamber your ticket is included with our compliments (or the interior of Kephren Pyramid). Taking a camel ride (Included) is entirely your own choice! the Sphinx, the Citadel of Saladin,and the Mohammed Ali Mosque, made of alabaster. In the evening, we return to the pyramids for a memorable sound-and light show.

DAY 4 - Luxor - Board your Nile Cruise (BLD)
We fly to Luxor ( or Aswan ) , domestic air ticket is always included, transfers are on a private basis.

Most of the domestic flights arrive early morning, your cabin may not be ready . For guests that arrive while breakfast is being served in the dinning room, are welcomed to enjoy another breakfast or a warm cup of coffee ( always included with our compliments)
Welcome drink is served upon arrival on board. Morning complimentary tour of the small yet charming Luxor Museum. Walk back along the water front on to your Nile cruiser. Check in is around noon in time for a delicious lunch. Welcome fruit basket & Egyptian pastries await you in your cabin.

Day 5 - Valley of the Kings (BLD)
We tour today as well the magnificent tombs in the Valley of the Kings, including Tut-Ankh-Amon's tomb, and the great temple of Queen Hatshepsut, we stop at the Colossi of Memnon on the way back to our cruise.

Afterward, we'll continue on Luxor's west bank to get a totally different perspective on ancient Egyptian life, at the ancient workers' settlement of Deir el-Medinah. While most of the imposing stone monuments and sites of Egypt honor the lives and after-lives of royalty, Deir el-Medinah gives us unique and surprising insights into the ordinary citizens who constructed and decorated the tombs.

Here we'll see the excavated homes shared by laborers with their domestic animals. These quarters were surprisingly large, with three good-sized rooms, courtyard, kitchen, and even storage cellars. While ancient Egypt might not have been a workers' paradise, we'll see that artisans and builders were highly regarded in their community. We are proud to be the only operator to offer regular visits to this singular ancient settlement in its tour and cruise programs. We visit the great temples of Luxor and Karnak, then return to our Nile cruiser in time for afternoon tea. In the evening we attend a sound & light show at Karnak ( Bring your jacket) .

DAY 6 - EDFU & KOM OMBO - ASWAN - (cBLD)
We cruise by Esna to Edfu, where we board horse-drawn carriages for the ride to the Temple of Horus. Returning to our ship, we set sail for Kom Ombo. We explore the twin Temples of Haroeris and Sobek at Kom Ombo, then sail south to Aswan. In the evening, there's a jolly galabia party aboard.

DAY 7 - ASWAN - (cBLD)
After breakfast we start our visit to the awesome Aswan dams, and next an ancient granite quarry complete with an unfinished obelisk, the Nubian Museum ,then board a motor launch to visit the Island Temple of Philae , dedicated to the Ancient Goddess ISIS :

The Mystery of 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 was the powerful and quick-witted protector of her son Horus, the Sun God. Ancient peoples throughout the Mediterranean regarded Isis and Horus as the perfect Madonna and Child. Another legend says she was also the mother of the fertility god Min who, judging from the depiction of him on temple walls, needed no help from Viagra!

Because of her wisdom and skill at protection, she was admired as a good magician capable of healing the sick and protecting the dead in their journey to the Underworld.

Isis is portrayed regally, as a queen seated on a throne (which may be the meaning of her name), often holding her son Horus as a baby. Other images show her with broad, magnificent gilded wings able to protect the world.

Isis, the great Mother Goddess. Come explore her mystery in timeless Egypt when you Travel in Style!

Be our guest if you wish on a complimentary short camel caravan to a near by Nubian Village for tea with the locals

After lunch we board a graceful felucca and cruise among the islands, returning to our ship in time for tea. . In the evening, we take a short ride by motor launch to the Temples of Philae, on an island in the Nile, for a sound-and-light show which explains the Nile's endless history.

DAY 8 - CAIRO (BD)
After breakfast we check out. Our touring done, we return by air to Cairo ( all domestic flights are always included in our rate , in Cairo on to your hotel remainder of the day at leisure. Transfers are ALWAYS ona private basis, private air -conditioned vehicle, private chauffeur.

DAY 9 - CAIRO - Possible Home Hosted Family dinner (B)
On Desert Safari for the Day - Fayoum Oases - And you thought the Pyramids were old
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

Complimentary Dinner is included at a local home:
Meet the locals: This evening we'll venture where few ordinary visitors ever tread . . . right into the homes of some of the people of Cairo l! You'll be invited to a family dinner, and while you enjoy wholesome home-cooked specialties, you'll learn about and appreciate the outlook, aspirations, and way of life of your hosts. Be assured, as curious as you may be about your new friends, they're sure to have questions about your own background. Once the ice is broken, you'll enjoy a lively evening, and find that you have more in common than you ever suspected. Of course, you may enjoy a quiet evening with your travel companions, by letting us know your preferences. You may wish to bring token gifts to exchange with the host family ( T shirt , small souvenirs of your home town)

DAY 10 - DEPARTURE (B)
Our representative escorts you to the airport for your homeward flight . Bon Voyage

Extend to Petra

DEPARTURE DATES

This tour departs daily from New York (JFK) , please ask us for add-on from other major cities.

For Easter, Christmas and New Year's Weeks, a 20 % holiday surcharge will apply.

Air Fare Notes:

For departures from Atlanta, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego or Seattle, please add US$ 450 per person to the rates. DC , Denver Chicago, Miami : $ 400

Air fare supplement : Doesn't apply when you handle your own air fare:
For May - Sep 15 , Dec 15 - Jan 2: departures, please add a summer airline surcharge of $450 per person to the rate

Package Rates are subject to change without notice.

Your tour includes:

• Round-trip transatlantic airfare, in economy class , including air taxes, from New York to Cairo and return on British Airways, Air France, Swiss , Lufthansa or another IATAN airline, subject to seat availability at the time of reservation.
  

• All transfers in Egypt always on a private basis : private air-conditioned vehicle, private chauffeur.
  
• All tipping in Egypt : to drivers, guides, porters etc.

• Hotel accommodations, including tax and service charges.

• Nile cruise; the sequence of sights visited between Aswan and Luxor is subject to change according to vessel requirements, and the cruise may begin in either Aswan or Luxor.

• Meals as indicated in the tour itinerary: B = continental breakfast; L = set-menu lunch; D = set-menu dinner.
  
• Bottled water ( one per person ) delivered to your cabin daily while on board the cruise.

• Guided sightseeing by private air-conditioned motor coach or car as per itinerary, including all entrance fees.

• Complimentary Lonely Planet travel guidebook to Egypt

• Sample Deluxe boats : M/S Adonis , M/S Mojito , M/S Monaco , M/S Monte Carlo , M/S Beau Soleil, Queen of Hansa, M/S Solitaire.
  
  
• All meals and shore Excursions while on board the cruises.
  
• Complimentary welcome drink upon arrival on board the cruises. Complimentary welcome fruit basket awaits you in your cabin, on board your Nile cruise.
  
• Tea or coffee with every meal while on board the cruise .

• Meals as indicated in the tour itinerary: B = continental breakfast; L = set-menu lunch; D = set-menu dinner.
  
• Bottled water ( one per person ) delivered to your cabin daily while on board the cruise.

• Cairo Guided sightseeing by private air-conditioned motor coach or car as per itinerary, including all entrance fees.

• Complimentary Lonely Planet travel guidebook to Egypt

DRESS CODE :

What to Pack . Clothing on Board the Nile Cruise

Not included:

• Travel Insurance
• Any item of personal nature, i.e. laundry, phone calls. etc.
• Any item that's not specifically listed in the "inclusions"

More Choices:

• Compare with the 9 Day Version , or add a resort stay in Sharm El Sheikh

• The 11 day edition with Memphis and Sakkara

• The 12 day with Athens

• Add Petra , or Petra and Syria

• Add Sharm el Sheikh on the Red Sea ,

• Add Alexandria . 

• Add Israel and Palestine

• Compare with the 12 Day private Touring

• Form London to Luxor Tour : The King Tut's connection
  
• Private Touring with a stay in the Egyptian Riviera on the Red Sea .
  
• The Great Arabian Adventure : A 20- Day True Near East Fantasy Tour of : Egypt , Jordan and Syria. Weekly Departure from the USA - Year Round
  
  
• Egypt Dahabia and Felucca Tour
  A 10 -Day Adventure . Tour Egypt The Way Ramses , Nefertiti and Cleopatra did
  Cairo , Luxor, Aswan, Edfu and Kom Ombo . Choose from Sailing aboard a Sailing Boat / Felucca
  Air Conditioned Dahabiya , or one of the Royal Family Dahabiyas. Nile felucca or a Royal Dahabia cruise , perfect for couples , honeymooners, families, great for families with children , and great as well for small group and parties. With a professional local captain . And your resident English Speaking guide on board of course available at all times
  
  Compare with Zarafa ( giraffe) Deluxe Felucca Photo Gallery