12-Day Egypt Tour: Cairo, Nile Cruise, Luxor & Hurghada

On arrival at Cairo International Airport, our representative will meet you inside the airport and transfer you by private vehicle. After check-in the hotel, meet your tour guide and continue by private air-conditioned vehicle to the Giza Plateau.

Visit the three Great Pyramids, the Great Sphinx of Giza and the Valley Temple. Then continue to the Grand Egyptian Museum, a 3-Gallery Museum with a wide collection of ancient Egyptian antiquities and artifacts, before returning to the hotel.

Meals: lunch.

Visit the Step Pyramid of King Djoser at Saqqara, a Third Dynasty monument and one of the earliest major structures built entirely of stone.

Continue to the ancient city of Memphis, located around 20 minutes from Saqqara, to see surviving relics and statues from Egypt’s former capital, including the alabaster sphinx and the statue of Ramesses II. The original program describes the alabaster sphinx as having been carved from a very large stone block.

Later, see the Nile cruise in Cairo as listed in the original itinerary.

Meals: Breakfast and lunch.

Early in the morning, transfer to Cairo Airport for your flight to Aswan. On arrival, check in to your Nile cruise, then begin the Aswan sightseeing.

Visit the Unfinished Obelisk, which shows how ancient Egyptians carved an obelisk directly from the bedrock and is commonly associated with the period of Queen Hatshepsut.

Continue to Philae Temple, the major sanctuary of the goddess Isis. The temple complex was relocated during an international rescue campaign to protect it from rising waters.

Visit the Aswan High Dam, built during the 1960s and creating the large reservoir behind it, before returning to the cruise.

Meals: Breakfast, lunch and dinner.

After breakfast aboard the Nile cruise, travel by road with your driver and guide to visit the Abu Simbel Temples. The two rock-cut temples were built during the reign of Ramesses II, with the smaller temple dedicated to Queen Nefertari.

Continue to Kom Ombo Temple, associated with the crocodile god Sobek, then sail onward to visit the Temple of Horus at Edfu.

Meals: Breakfast, lunch and dinner.

After breakfast aboard the Nile cruise, visit the Karnak Temple complex, one of the world’s largest ancient religious complexes. Its Great Hypostyle Hall was developed mainly during the reigns of Seti I and Ramesses II.

Continue to Luxor Temple, a major New Kingdom monument in the heart of modern Luxor and an important setting for the annual Opet Festival.

Meals: Breakfast, lunch and dinner.

After breakfast, visit the Colossi of Memnon, the enormous statues created for King Amenhotep III and described in the original itinerary as weighing about 1,000 tons.

Continue to the mortuary Temple of Queen Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari, then proceed to the Valley of the Kings, where rock-cut tombs were created for pharaohs and powerful figures of the New Kingdom, including rulers of the 18th and 19th Dynasties.

After the sightseeing, transfer to your hotel in Luxor.

Meals: Breakfast.

Overnight: Luxor hotel.

Enjoy a free day in Luxor to watch the Nile cruises, just as included in the original program. Sleep in, walk on the promenade, or just sit on the deck with a coffee and watch the floka go by.

If you prefer to go out and see something, there is an optional excursion to Dendera, about an hour's drive north of Luxor. The temple belongs to Hathor, the goddess of love and music, and is in remarkably good condition. The ceilings still have their original coating, and in the main hall you will find yourself looking at huge columns with a carved Hathor face on each of them. Take the stairs to the roof if you can. The view over the fields is beautiful, and the small chapels there are worth a look. Around the back you can find a sculpture of Cleopatra and her little son. Most people are walking right past, so ask your guide to point it out.

You returned to Luxor in the early afternoon, taking the rest of the day for yourself.

Meals: Breakfast.

Overnight: Luxor hotel.

Transfer by private air-conditioned car to your hotel in Hurghada and check in.

Meals: Breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Enjoy a free morning, then transfer by air-conditioned bus to the quad biking station. After receiving the briefing and preparing for the ride, set off by quad bike through the multi-colored sands of the Hurghada desert.

Make stops along the route to take photos in the desert, then transfer back to your hotel after the quad bike experience.

Meals: Breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Pickup from your hotel is scheduled between approximately 8:00 AM and 8:30 AM for transfer to the main port, where your boat will be waiting. Snorkeling equipment, including masks and fins, is provided on the boat.

After around 45 minutes of sailing, stop for approximately one hour of snorkeling in the clear waters of the Red Sea. The original itinerary notes visibility that can reach up to 45 meters and the possibility of seeing marine life such as clownfish, manta rays, dolphins and colorful corals.

Continue sailing toward Orange Island and spend time on the beach at Orange Bay, with its golden sands and wooden umbrellas.

After leaving the island, sail to another snorkeling stop to explore the coral reefs and see colorful fish before returning to Hurghada.

Meals: Breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Overnight: Hurghada hotel.

Enjoy your free morning in Hurghada, then transfer to Hurghada Airport for your flight to Cairo.

On arrival in Cairo, transfer to your hotel.

Meals: Breakfast.

Have breakfast at the hotel and enjoy any remaining free time at leisure. The original program notes that Cairo trips may be booked during this free time.

Afterward, check out from the hotel and transfer to Cairo International Airport for your final departure.

Meals: Breakfast.