Sailing Through Civilisation
Programme Overview
Duration: 9 days
Explore the history and legacy of Ancient Egypt whilst cruising the Nile on a luxury boat.
Highlights: Cairo, Luxor, Edfu, Aswan.
Arrive Cairo
Upon arrival at Cairo International Airport you will meet your representative who will transfer you to your hotel in Cairo.
A welcome cocktail reception will be held at a selected venue.
Dinner at your own leisure.
Overnight: TBC
Cairo
After breakfast, a lecture will be given by Dr. Zahi Hawass, Director General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities.
Next you will visit the Pyramids and Sphinx. The Great Pyramids of Giza are the only present-day survivors of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World and were built for the pharaohs Cheops, Chephren and Mycerinus. The Solar Boat Museum is found inside the second pyramid. Visit the Valley Temple, housing the mysterious Sphinx, located in what was once a quarry to the east of Chephren’s pyramid.
After a buffet lunch you will transfer back to the hotel where you will meet in the lobby for a private group visit to the Egyptian Museum. The museum exhibits over 120,000 objects in its 107 halls, comprising the world’s greatest collection of Ancient Egyptian artifacts. More than two million people flock to this magnificent site each year.
Don’t miss the Mummies Room, a specially-built area dedicated to the well-preserved mummies of eleven royal kings and queens of Ancient Egypt, including the Great Ramses II, Egypt’s longest ruling pharaoh.
Enjoy dinner at a trendy Cairo restaurant.
Overnight: TBC
Meal Plan: B,L,D
Cairo
This morning you will enjoy a tour of Islamic Cairo, beginning with the ancient Citadel. Today it is a complex of four mosques and four museums, including the beautiful and graceful Mohamed Ali Mosque. Built between 1830 and 1857, the mosque also became the site of the great Ottoman ruler’s tomb.
After lunch in the Khan El-Khalili Bazaar, you will have time to explore this fascinating place which is reputed to be the largest bazaar in the Middle East. Originally founded as a watering stop for caravanserai in the 14th century, the bazaar has now grown to vast proportions. As you wander through the labyrinth of narrow streets you will find workshops and stalls selling all manner of things – from woodwork, glassware and leather goods to perfumes, fabrics and Pharaonic curiosities. Remember to bargain hard!
Transfer back to the hotel for a Middle East Panel Discussion.
Later you will be driven to the Sakkara area to dine at the residences of Cairo Chapter members.
Overnight: TBC
Meal Plan: B,L,D
Cairo - Luxor
This morning you will board a private charter flight to Luxor. Your tour of Luxor will begin with a visit to the East Bank. Proceed to the Temple of Karnak, built over more than a thousand years by generations of pharaohs. The great Hypostyle Hall is an incredible forest of giant pillars, covering an area larger than the whole of Notre Dame Cathedral. You will also visit the strikingly graceful Temple of Luxor dedicated to the god Amun.
Enjoy lunch on a felucca while transferring to the East Bank where you will board your cruise boat. After enjoying a welcome drink while you check in, afternoon tea will be served on board.
Later you will be transferred to the Sound & Light Show at Karnak Temple. After the show you will be transferred to a private and exclusive dinner at Habu Temple.
Overnight: On board in Luxor
Meal Plan: B,L,D
Luxor
This morning you will visit the West Bank of Luxor to explore the Valley of the Kings, a vast City of the Dead where magnificent tombs were carved into the desert rocks, decorated richly and filled with treasures for the afterlife by generations of pharaohs. You will also have the chance to visit at least one tomb in the Valley of the Queens.
Rising out of the desert plain in a series of terraces, the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut (Ancient Egypt’s only female pharaoh) merges with the sheer limestone cliffs that surround it, as if nature herself had built this extraordinary monument.
On the way back to the Nile, you will stop at the famed Colossi of Memnon, known in Ancient Greek times for their haunting voices at dawn.
Afternoon tea will be served on board, and there will be time to freshen up for the welcome cocktail party and dinner.
Overnight: On board in Luxor
Meal Plan: B,L,D
Luxor - Edfu
Enjoy breakfast and lunch while you cruise on the Nile to Edfu.
Edfu was, according to Egyptian myth, the place where the falcon-headed god Horus avenged the murder of his father Osiris by killing Seth.
Afternoon tea will be served while cruising to Kom Ombo.
Tonight there will be an “Egyptian Night” costume party where you will enjoy a lavish buffet of Egyptian specialties, with Oriental music and dancing for everyone.
Overnight: On board in Kom Ombo
Meal Plan: B,L,D
Edfu - Aswan
This morning you will visit Kom Ombo Temple. Located in the town of Kom Ombo, the temple, dating to the Ptolemies, is built on a high dune overlooking the Nile.
Lunch will be served whilst cruising to Aswan. Visit Philae Temple by boat. Philae is an approximate Greek rendering of the local name "Pilak" known from hieroglyphic texts and which may be Nubian in origin. Then visit the Unfinished Obelisk, by bus. The unfinished obelisk is located in the northern quarry and still lies in the same spot where a crack was discovered as it was being hewn from the rock. It was possibly intended as a companion to the Lateran Obelisk.
Tonight there will be a formal farewell gala dinner.
Overnight: On board in Aswan
Meal Plan: B,L,D
Aswan - Cairo
This morning you will transfer to Aswan Domestic Airport for your private charter flight to Cairo.
Upon arrival in Cairo, you will visit Old and Coptic Cairo. Begin at the Church of St. Sergius. According to tradition, it was built on the spot where the Holy Family, Joseph, Mary and the infant Christ, rested at the end of their journey into Egypt. Continue to the Hanging Church (El Muallaqa), so named for its location on top of the southern tower gate of the old Babylon fortress with its nave suspended above the passage. The modest Church of St Barbara is named after a beautiful young woman who most likely lived during the 4th century. She was the daughter of a pagan merchant who tortured and killed her when she converted to Christianity.
Continue to the Synagogue of Ben Ezra. Inside, the so-called “Geniza Documents” were found, a treasure hailed as an unparalleled source of information about the life of the Jews in Egypt’s past.
Spend the afternoon at leisure before transferring to the “Lawrence of Arabia” gala dinner at the Pyramids plateau.
Overnight: TBC
Meal Plan: B,L,D
Depart Cairo
This morning you will be transferred to the airport for your flight home.
Meal Plan: B