Day 2 , Private Tour Athens (BL)
A morning private sightseeing tour takes us to all the high points : The Temple of Olympian Zeus, Hadrian's Arch, Syntagma Square, The Parliament and The world famous Acropolis. Private air-conditioned vehicle, private guide. Lunch is included in a charming local restaurant.

Day 3 , Athens (BL)
Athens Markets or BYZANTINE Churches
Ride the new Athens Subway alongside the locals today ( always escorted with your English speaking Guide) ! We take pride in affording you this experience, entirely by public transportation, with orientation by our English-speaking representative. You'll get to tour Athens fascinating vegetable & fruit markets by subway and/ or taxi. Tour as well the Jewelry museum (LALAOUNIS) Enjoy lunch at a charming local restaurant before we head back to the hotel . Markets days/dates are subject to change, we may have to change your program in Athens to accommodate such changes.

Or if you prefer you may choose instead to tour one of the following tours:

BYZANTINE CHURCHES
Russian Orthodox Church at Filellinon & Amalias
Athens cathedral (Mitropolis) at Mitropoleos
Kapnikarea at Ermou
Saint Theodore at Klafthmonos



HISTORICAL INTEREST- Museum Tour :
BENAKI MUSEUM - (closed on Tuesdays)
Covering the history of Greece from Paleolithic (pre-historic, 60000 B.C.) till present. Can easily spend over 4 hours in there. There is also a cafeteria for breaks.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL INTEREST
Temple of Olympian Zeus / Dionissos Theatre/ Ancient Agora/ Roman Agora

Day 4 , Athens / Santorini (B)
We'll rendezvous in time to take you to your morning flight heading for Santorini ( economy Class ) . On arrival, we'll see that you're checked in to your hotel. Santorini Hotel/Apartments/ Villas

Day 5 , Santorini (B)
Enjoy breakfast at your lovely hotel and linger for as long as you wish. The day is your as you please.
Sample optional tours available based on Private arrangement or Local Group tour .

Day 6 , Santorini (B)
Enjoy breakfast at your hotel . We offer an optional tour to the archaeological site of Akrotiri, reputed to be the center of the lost civilization of Atlantis.

Fira is the capital (largest city) while Oia and Firostefani are 2 other towns.  This is a brief description of these 2 places.
 
Firostefani, a suburb of the capital Fira (less than 1 km from the center), offering the same stunning views of the magnificent caldera, at a slight distance from all the action.  Firostefani also has a very picturesque square, and a beautiful church dedicated to St. Gerasimos, that is surrounded by cypress trees.  The stroll from Fira to Firostefani can be completed in roughly 20 minutes, although it usually takes at least an hour because of frequent pauses to enjoy the view. 
 
Oia is on the northern tip of the island and is about 11 km from Fira, built on a steep slope of the caldera. Oia is quieter than Fira, but easy enough to hop a bus or grab a taxi into town to visit the capital.  Its streets are charming narrow passageways that twist their way along the rim of the caldera, and down the slope of the cliff. There are plenty of tourist shops, but they are of a different, more artisan, quality than the more traditional tourist offerings of Fira, and there rare also a number of beautiful commercial galleries.

Day 7 , Departure From Santorini to Cairo via Athens (B)
We'll pick you up and see you to Santorini Airport, fly to Athens, please proceed to connect with the flights going to Cairo ( air ticket is included in economy class ). Kalo Taxidi!

Marhaba ! Aaaah Egypt , the exotic romance of the "Land of the Pharaohs:": You're met at the airport or seaport by our representative, who sees you to your hotel.
Our local rep will answer any questions you may have about getting to know the city.
As you ride into the great metropolis from the airport , thousands years of history are revealed: towering Mamluk and Saladin walls, ancient Coptic churches, slender minarets framing the bulbous domes of graceful mosques. And the Great Pyramids of Giza . These ancient monuments float on the skyline of a bustling modern metropolis of ten million people.
Please reconfirm locally the time you prefer for tomorrow tour, we suggest to meet around 8:30 AM or 9 AM

On arrival, we escort you to your comfortable hotel. Our representative greets you at the airport and whisks you to your hotel. Visa maybe issued upon arrival at Cairo Airport for a limited number of citizens such as : American, EU , Canadian , EU Singaporean and Japanese citizens. For Americans , please pay the $ 15 USD fee in cash upon arrival . You are responsible for having your passport in order valid at least for 6 month beyond the date of your arrival in Cairo. Our local rep. meets with a sign that carries your name you after you clear the passport and customs formalities . After exiting the terminal, our local representative will escort you (private vehicle) to the hotel.

DAY 8 - CAIRO (BLD)
The renowned Egyptian Museum, filled with the wealth of the pharaohs, is our first stop then its on to the Royal Manial Palace. Following lunch at a charming local Restaurant, we drive to Giza for a visit to the Sphinx and the valley temple, and a tour of the Pyramids. In the evening, we host you on the Hyatt Nile dinner cruise complete with exotic Egyptian entertainment.

DAY 9 - CAIRO- LUXOR -CAIRO (BL)
We fly from Cairo around 6 or 7 AM for Luxor, where cross the Nile to visit the Valley of the Kings and the Colossi of Memnon. After lunch in Luxor, we tour the Great Temple of Amon at Karnak, and visit the Sacred Lake . We have a quick look at the great temple of Amon Ra at Luxor on our way to the airport for our flight back to Cairo, and our hotel where dinner awaits you .

DAY 10 - Dahshour - CAIRO Home Hosted Dinner (B)
After breakfast, we'll motor to the edge of Cairo, to the mysterious Sphinx and the Pyramids of Giza. The museum of the Royal Barge of Cheops The museum is built over the rectangular pit that housed the Royal Barge for thousands of years , the wooden boat was readied for the king's daily journey with the sun god, Ra . Discovered in 1954, in a completely dismantled state, the 43-metre (140-foot) cedar boat is a rare window on the Royal boats used by the kings of Ancient Egypt.

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!

Continue to Dahshour, the newly-opened pyramid field south of Cairo. We visit the great pyramid of Senfru, father of Cheops, and other structure:

The "Discovery" of Dahshour:
For almost half a century, the great field of huge pyramids near the desert village of Dahshour, 25 miles south of Cairo, has been off limits to the public. Confined within the perimeter of a military base were many pyramids, including the great 4500-year-old pyramid built by Senfru, father of Cheops. Senfru's pyramid, the largest in Egypt until his son built Giza's Great Pyramid, is rhomboidal in shape: it tapers more distinctly on its upper half. All the pyramids were coated in thick plaster at one time. Most have lost these protective, decorative sheaths, but Senfru's--miraculously--is still in place.
Lunch is included at a local restaurant or at your hotel.

Complimentary Dinner is included at a local home:
Meet the locals, you may wish to bring token gifts to exchange with the host family ( T shirt , small souvenirs of your home town): 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.

DAY 11 - Tanis - Suez Canal - Monday or Wednesday (B. Lunch Box )
Breakfast is included at the hotel, lunch box will be prepared by your chef with bottled water.

To the Lair of Rameses and the Suez Canal

Venture where few visitors have gone before, away from trafficked pathways and neatly packaged tours, to the legendary capital of Rameses II, the Great. So unusual is this full-day adventure, and so select are the people who take it, that special permits are required from the Egyptian Department of Antiquities. And if this opportunity is not enough to whet your appetite, we'll round out a spectacular day with a journey forward through the centuries, to the modern wonder of the Suez Canal.

Arrange your wake-up call . . . we'll be heading out from Cairo at 6 a.m. on our day of discovery. We'll make our way through busy streets, and beyond, to the fertile farmlands of the Nile Delta, seemingly unchanged since the time of the pharaohs, watered by a web of canals running from the life-giving Nile, worked by villagers with hand tools and the aid of camels and donkeys. We'll pass through Zagazig, a bustling cotton and grain farming center, and stop at nearby Bubastis, capital of the 22nd and 23rd dynasties. Here, the cat was more than a king, it was honored as a goddess, and sacred cats were buried in chambers that lie behind an Old Kingdom Chapel. Parts of temples erected by Osorkon II and Nectanebo II also remain.

But this is only prologue ... We'll continue to Tanis--modern San El Hagar--famed in the film Raiders of the Lost Ark as the resting place of the Ark of the Covenant. Tanis was the capital of Smendes, founder of the 21st Dynasty, a grand center whose rich remains include the main temple of Amun, and a royal Necropolis with the only Pharaonic burials never touched by ancient tomb raiders. There are even artificial lakes contained by limestone blocks.

So grand was Tanis that many believe that it was the capital of Rameses the Great. Among the layers of cities and palaces might lie the site of the Pharaoh's court that was built by the labor of the ancient Hebrews. before Moses led them out of Egypt.

Tanis is a restricted site because of its ongoing excavations and its intact burial chambers that are still yielding treasures and understanding of the ancients. It will be your privilege to make your own discoveries as one of the few to tread these stones. Because our path is away from the usual routes of visitors, we will travel with provisions, including a box lunch, and of course, bottled water.

After our discovery of Tanis, we'll journey northeastward through the delta and across the centuries to a wonder of the modern world. The Suez Canal opened in 1869 to international celebration that included the commissioning of the opera Aida, after ten years of excavation that employed more than a million laborers. The canal was the technological feat of its day, connecting the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea, cutting trade routes to the East in half, and changing the course of history. Even today it is the mainstay of Egypt's economy, its neutrality guaranteed by treaty.

We'll visit Ismailia, where the historic Canal headquarters are located. We'll soak up the atmosphere of worldwide commerce passing through this sash of the sea, and conjure up the international intrigues of bygone days, as we take a break for tea and sandwiches at a local establishment. If time permits, we'll see the fortifications of the Bar Lev line, held by Israel after the Six Day War of 1967, and demolished by water cannon in 1973 in a surprise Egyptian attack.

After a day of encounters with ancient and modern history, we'll continue on our way back to Cairo.

DAY 12 - DEPARTURE (B)
After a full breakfast, our staff escorts you to the airport for your flight home. Add Argolis and Delphi in Greece .

Rates per person in double in US $

 

Per person Sharing in :	Deluxe Hotel Deluxe Nile Cruise	First Class
Triple Occupancy	US$ 5366	US$ 4450
Double	US$ 5215	US$ 4565
Single	US$ 6370	US$ 5640

Children 10 years and younger sharing with 2 adults : % 20 discount

Infants - 2 Years : pay only 10 %

Inclusions:

• All Transfers in Greece and Egypt on private basis. Private air-conditioned vehicle, private Chauffeur.
  
• Hotel l accommodation, including tax, service charges & continental or buffet breakfast daily.
  
• Guided sightseeing in Athens and Egypt as per itinerary including all entrance fees.
  
• Ferry and air tickets in Greece and Egypt.
  
• As well as Athens Cairo , in economy class as per itinerary.
  
• All tips to drivers, porters and guides

Not included:

• International airfare from/to your home country .
• Gratuities, porterage at hotels.
• Personal expenses.
• Beverages, and meals not specifically listed .
• Trip Cancellation Insurance. Travel Insurance
• Egyptian Visa : Visa maybe issued upon arrival at Cairo Airport for a limited number of citizens such as : American, EU , Canadian , EU Singaporean and Japanese citizens. You are responsible for having your passport in order valid at least for 6 month beyond the date of your arrival in Cairo.

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