Jewel of the Nile Sun Festival - 10 days

Friday 14 October 2022. Welcome to Egypt and the start of your holiday! Upon arrival at Cairo airport you will be met by a local representative and transferred to your hotel, located by the Great Pyramids of Giza. Tonight, your Welcome Meeting will be held at 7pm.

Today we visit the new Grand Egyptian Museum, which houses a giant exhibition containing the treasures of King Tutankhamun. In this incredible 490,000 sq.m complex many of the exhibits are being displayed for the first time and artefacts have been brought together from across Egypt and the world. The museum also makes use of new technology including virtual reality.



After our guided tour of the Grand Egyptian Museum we head over to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilisation to visit the fascinating Royal Mummies' Hall where the mummies of ancient Egyptian kings and queens are on display.
Please Note: the Grand Egyptian Museum is scheduled to open in late 2022, though an official opening date has yet to be released. If travelling prior to the opening of the new facility we'll visit the Egyptian Museum instead.

Cairo - Luxor. Our day starts with a visit to the legendary pyramids and the iconic Sphinx at Giza Plateau. Sole survivors from the ancient Greek-listed Seven Wonders of the World, the pyramids are the planet’s oldest tourist attraction. Leaving the pyramids behind, we visit a government supervised papyrus emporium where you can buy genuine papyrus at quite reasonable prices.
Continuing to the necropolis of Saqqara, we can explore the myriad of tombs and temples at this site and see Zhoser’s step pyramid - constructed by Imhotep, the pharaoh’s chief architect in 2700 BC.
This evening we board an overnight sleeper cabin train, travelling south to Luxor with a light dinner included.

Early this morning we arrive into Luxor. The massive pair of statues known as the Colossi of Memnon are the first monuments you’ll see during our morning visit to the West Bank - home to the legendary Valley of the Kings. You’ll also see the colonnaded Temple of Queen Hatshepsut. Return to Luxor for check-in on board our Nile 5 star cruiser. Lunch at leisure and time to relax until our early evening visit to the Temple of Luxor. Luxor Temple looks stunning at dusk and is beautifully illuminated at night.
Note: Dependent upon Nile Cruiser scheduling it maybe required that we also undertake our excursion to Karnak Temple this afternoon. Should this occur, day 5 will be spent at leisure.

Luxor - Nile Cruising. Today we tour the ancient city of Thebes (the East Bank), taking in the magnificent Temple of Karnak. More than a temple, Karnak is a gigantic and stunning complex of sanctuaries and pylons dedicated to the Theban gods. Anchors away this afternoon as we set sail downstream to Esna.

Nile cruiser - Aswan. Relax as we sail the Nile. Today we visit the Temple of Kom Ombo. A unique riverside temple, it is unusual in that everything architecturally is doubled and perfectly symmetrical along the main axis of the temple including twin halls, courts, colonnades, sanctuaries and entrances. In the evening we arrive into Aswan, a prosperous town at the crossroads of the ancient caravan routes late evening.

Today, we enjoy a short boat trip to Agilika Island to explore the beautiful Philae Temple, which is dedicated to the goddess Isis and dates to 4th century BCWe then make a stop at a perfume oil emporium. Perfumed oils in Egypt date back to 2700BC and were used by women, pharaohs and by temple priests.
After lunch, we visit the High Dam and take a traditional felucca sailing trip to Elephantine and Kitchener Island. As the sun sets, enjoy free time to shop in the colourful souqs and markets or simply relax and watch an amazing sunset in Egypt’s southernmost town straddling the River Nile.

22 October. Aswan - Abu Simbel - Aswan. In the early hours of the morning (approx 4am) we embark on our coach journey to the Grand Temples of Abu Simbel. Here we await the first rays of sunlight, signifying the start of the Sun Festival of the mighty King Ramses II.

Possibly the most awe-inspiring temple in all ancient Egypt, the great Sun Temple of King Ramses II at Abu Simbel was constructed between 1290 and 1224 BC to revere the mighty pharaonic ruler himself. The Great Temple carefully aligned so the sun’s rays would illuminate the inner sanctum of the temple only twice a year, on the date of his ascension to the throne (21 February) and on his birthday (21 October). This incredible phenomenon provides for a most spectacular sight, which has come to be referred to as the Sun Festival of King Ramses II. Crowds assemble before sunrise and watch the shafts of light slowly creep through the inner Hypostyle Hall and through to the Sanctuary. Significantly, the sun illuminates statues of Amun-Re, Re-Herakhte and Ramses the god, whilst the statue of Ptah - the god of darkness, remains in the shadows.
After watching this incredible event unfold we return to Aswan you can spend the rest of the day at leisure.

Aswan - Cairo. Today we fly back to Cairo where the rest of the day is free to relax and enjoy the hotel facilities, or join us for an optional city tour visiting old Cairo and the Islamic citadel (book locally).

Sunday 23 October 2022. Our tour concludes after breakfast and included onward departure transfer to airport.