Legends of the Greek Isles
And
the Nile
A Grand 14 day Dream Vacation Tour of Egypt
and Greece including
A Greek cruise and a Nile Cruise
compare
with the 20-Days Grand Tour of the East Mediterranean
Add Rome
Among the most treasured memories of many travellers are a cruise
to the Greek Isles and a journey on a Nile steamer. You'll experience
both, along with the high points of Classical Greece, on this tour.
DAY
1 - ATHENS - Arrive Weekly on Sundays : March thru end of Nov
Our local personnel meets you at the airport and escorts you to
your hotel. Athens is yours and you may wish to cover on your own the
high points of the city .Sample Athens hotels :
Deluxe: Divani
Palace Acropolis. First : Titania . Electra Palace
. Tourist : Stanley
Private
chauffeur, private air conditioned vehicle for your transfers between
airports and hotels
Compare
with the Four Seasons Hotel level Ultra Deluxe Edition
DAY
2- CRUISE TO MYKONOS- Monday (BLD)
Our staff will escort you to Piraeus, the port of Athens, where
you'll embark on your three-day cruise to the Greek Isles. You'll sail
into the Aegean, and by sunset, reach the jet-set isle of Mykonos. Stroll
at your own pace along lanes lined with whitewashed houses, up to the
Church of Paraportiani, or along the shore to the island's signature
windmills. Enjoy an ouzo or a glass of retsina at a waterside cafe.
Re-embark for a nighttime sailing.
DAY 3- RHODES- Tuesday (BLD)
Our cruise ship arrives early at the harbor, allowing a full day
on the Island of Roses. The compact, cobbled medieval city is perfect
for exploring on your own. You'll want to visit the Palace of the Knights
of St. John, take a look at the wares in the boutiques, and spend some
time in a seaside cafe.
Or discover a hill-fringed beach a short walk or taxi ride from town.
We also offer an optional excursion to the Acropolis of Lindos and the
Valley of the Butterflies. Spend a restful night on board as we sail
to our next destination.
DAY
4- KUSADASI (Turkey), PATMOS - Wednesday (BLD)
We anchor at 7 a.m. in Kusadasi, on the Turkish mainland, gateway
to ancient Ephesus. Stroll the streets and stop in at shops filled with
leather goods and bargains in gold. Our optional tour takes you to Ephesus,
one of the best-preserved archaeological sites in the world. You'll
reboard in time for an afternoon sailing. In the late afternoon, your
ship will call at the island of Patmos. Here you can visit the Monastery
of St. John where the Book of Revelations was written.
DAY
5- HERAKLION (CRETE), SANTORINI - Thursday (BLD)
We drop anchor in the port of Heraklion at 7 a.m. You can explore
the old Venetian section of town on your own, or take an optional excursion
to the 5000-year-old Minoan Palace at Knossos and the archaeological
museum. We sail at midday. In a few hours, we'll reach Santorini, where
the lost civilization of Atlantis flourished. Enjoy outdoor cafes and
wander the lanes of Thira, lined with craft and clothing shops and bakeries
and cafes. Ride the funicular to the cliff top, or be adventurous, and
do it on mule-back! Either way, you'll be rewarded with a spectacular
sunset over the Aegean.
DAY
6- ATHENS, CAIRO - Friday (BD)
You'll sail into Piraeus early in the morning. Our
Athens-based local rep. will take you to the airport to catch your flight
for Cairo . Air fare is included in economy class Athens Cairo with
tax included .
Our local representative greets you at
Cairo Airport and whisks you to your hotel. Visa may be 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 :
Sample Deluxe Hotels :
Ramses Hilton , Nile Hilton , J. W. Marriott, Cairo Conrad , Grand Hyatt
or similar .
Sample First Class Hotel : Sonesta Hotel or similar
Sample Tourist Class Hotel : Novotel or similar
Private chauffeur, private air conditioned vehicle for all your
airport transfers while you are in Greece and / or Egypt with us .
DAY
7- CAIRO - Saturday (BLD)
Today, you'll explore the wonders of the Egyptian Museum, with its
treasures of the ancient pharaohs: mummies, statuary, precious stones
and metals. Travellers have long come to Cairo just to gaze on these
sights, but your day has just started. You'll also see the Citadel of
Saladin and the alabaster mosque of Mohammed Ali. In Giza, on the edge
of the desert, you'll gaze in awe at the mysterious Sphinx and the Pyramids,
for those interested a complimentary ticket is included for entry to
the King's chamber inside the Pyramid, you must be physically fit to
be able to climb. Dinner
is included at the hotel . Private
chauffeur, private air conditioned vehicle and private Egyptologist
DAY
8 - ASWAN - Board your Nile cruise - Sunday (BLD)
Our Cairo personnel will escort you to the airport to board your
flight to Aswan in Upper Egypt. You'll arrive in time to take lunch
aboard your Nile cruiser. We'll have the opportunity to experience Egypt
at its most authentic, as we sail the Nile in a graceful felucca. If
you wish, try your hand at camel riding! We'll take a traditional caravan
to enjoy tea with Nubian villagers.
sample Nile Cruise : Deluxe : M/S Monaco . M/S Mojito
or similar . Sample First Class : M/S Nile Dream. M/S Ruby , these same
First Class cruise will be used for the Tourist class rate as well.
DAY
9 - ASWAN, KOM OMBO- On board your Nile cruise - Monday
(BLD)
After breakfast on board, we'll visit the dams at Aswan,
including the High Dam, a modern wonder in this ancient land. At the
ancient granite quarry, we'll see an obelisk left unfinished, then board
a launch on Lake Nasser to visit the Temples of Philae, rescued from
rising waters. Back aboard our cruiser, we'll sail northward down the
Nile at a stately pace, disembarking for a visit to Kom Ombo, the twin
temple dedicated to the crocodile river god, Sobek.
DAY
10 - EDFU, ESNA - On board your Nile cruise - Tuesday (BLD)
Horse-drawn carriages or vans meet us at riverside to take us through
Edfu to the Temple of Horus, best-preserved in all of Egypt. Later,
we'll cruise to Esna, and by evening, we'll be in fabled Luxor.
DAY
11 - Luxor- On board your Nile cruise - Wednesday
(BLD)
We'll cross the Nile to view an array of ancient splendors: the
tomb chambers of the Valley of the Kings; the imposing tomb-temple of
Queen Hatshepsut in the Valley of the Queens; and, on the way back to
the ferry landing, the Colossi of Memnon.
DAY
12 - LUXOR, CAIRO - Home Hosted Family Dinner - Thursday
(B)
We'll visit the imposing Great Temple of Amon at Karnak and the
great Temple of Luxor before heading to the airport to catch our flight
to Cairo. After we settle you into your hotel, you'll have your last
opportunity to experience the excitement of this great city and, of
course, do some last-minute shopping. This
evening we'll venture where few ordinary visitors ever tread . . . right
into the homes of some of the people of Istanbul! 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
13 - Fayoum Oases - Friday (BL)
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 to the Biblical Fayoum Oases including: Hawara Pyramid, El
Lahoun Pyramid, Ruins of Karanis, drive by Lake Qarun, lunch is included
at a local restaurant.
Fayoum
irrigation system and the Oasis was said to be designed by Joseph after
the Pharaoh entrusted Egypt's fate to him in facing the 7 years of abundance
that are followed by 7 years of drought.
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
14 - RETURN HOME - Saturday (B)
Our Cairo-based staff escorts
you to the airport for your flight home. Bon Voyage.
-
Cruise itinerary may vary according to ship and line selected
- Rates
based on Greek and Nile cruise in an outside standard cabin with two
lower beds.
- Rate
Per person in double in USD $
| Tourist
Class |
First
Class |
Deluxe
Hotel |
| US$
5180 |
US$
5590 |
US$
6330 |
Rate
includes:
- 3-day
cruise to Greek Isles and Turkey, including meals. Louis Cruise Lines,
or Golden Sun, we'll confirm the specific ship before you send us
your deposit.
- 5-day
Nile cruise, including all meals , afternoon tea served on deck daily
, and shore excursions.
- One
large bottled water per person delivered to your cabin daily while
you are on board the Nile Cruise . Plus a small bottle of water with
each & every meal on board the cruise
- Tea
or coffle and 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 on board the Nile Cruise.
- Hotel
accommodation as mentioned in Athens and Cairo, including tax and
service charges, and breakfast daily.
- Meals
as indicated, with preset menu (B = Breakfast, L = Lunch, D = Dinner).
-
Airport greeting and assistance. Transportation between airports,
hotels, and port.
-
One-way air transportation from Athens to Cairo in Y class .
- Port
taxes.
-
Domestic air transportation in Egypt in economy class.
Not
Included:
- Trip
interruption and cancellation insurance
- Shore
excursions from Greek cruise ships (Please note that the Egyptian
Nile Cruise does include all shore excursions as part of our service
s& rate).
- International
air fare.
- Additional
personal expenses, beverages, and meals not specifically mentioned
in the itinerary .
- Visa
for Egypt may be 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 .
More
choices :
What
other say about our service in Greece :
"
Omar -
We had a perfect vacation in Greece!
Dinner our first night at the rooftop restaurant of the Titania overlooking
the Acropolis as the sun set and the lights came on!
Santorini was magical - though we enjoyed the sunsets from Fira instead
of Oia. We did rent an ATV and got to Red Beach and Oia on day trips.
The ferry to Crete made half the boat sick - but not us!
The Movenpick in Crete was really beautiful - a luxurious place to rest
after a long week.
We were upgraded to executive suites by both the Titania and the Athens
airport Sofitel, you should know. They took good care of us!
We loved the Ouzo, the shopping, the sunsets, the beaches, the colors
of the sea and sky, the friendly waiters, the people at the Tzekos Villas,
the shop owners - we loved Greece!
We WILL return someday, especially to Santorini!
And contacting you via the Internet to arrange it was the perfect way
to set it up.
Let us know if we owe you money - the hotels said everything was pre-paid
though we charged a few things, like bottled water, to our rooms.
Thank you again, Omar, for everything! I've already referred a couple
of other people to you. You do a fine job!
Gratefully,
Jodi and Stan ""
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