Cairo and a Nile Cruise

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1. Day1 Athens to Cairo: welcome to the NileAthens → Cairo

   Fly from Athens to Cairo on a scheduled flight. Your Greek coordinator meets you on arrival and the transfer to the hotel crosses a city that never sleeps, a blur of car horns, minarets and the smell of warm bread. Dinner and a first night in Cairo, so that you are rested for the day of the pyramids.

   • Flight
   • Dinner
2. Day2 The Giza Pyramids, the Sphinx and the museumGiza · Cairo

   Morning on the Giza plateau: the pyramids of Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure rise above the desert, while the Sphinx, carved from the bedrock, guards the entrance to the necropolis. After lunch, a visit to the museum of Egyptian antiquities, with statues, sarcophagi and jewellery spanning three millennia. The evening is free.

   • Coach
   • Breakfast · Lunch
3. Day3 Flight to Luxor and boarding the shipCairo → Luxor

   A domestic flight takes you to Luxor, where you board the superior 5★ ship that will be your home for three nights. In the afternoon, Karnak Temple and its hypostyle hall of 134 columns; at dusk, Luxor Temple bathed in golden floodlights. Dinner and overnight on board.

   • Flight
   • Breakfast · Lunch · Dinner
4. Day4 The Valley of the Kings and EdfuLuxor → Edfu

   On the West Bank, the Valley of the Kings: pharaohs' tombs cut into the rock, their walls still painted in vivid colour. Next come Hatshepsut's terraced temple and the Colossi of Memnon. In the afternoon the ship sails for Edfu, with tea on the open deck, and you visit the Temple of Horus, one of the best-preserved in Egypt.

   • Boat
   • Breakfast · Lunch · Dinner
5. Day5 Kom Ombo, Aswan and a felucca at sunsetKom Ombo → Aswan

   In the morning, the double temple of Kom Ombo, dedicated to Sobek, the crocodile god, and to Horus the Elder, right on the riverbank. The cruise continues to Aswan between palm groves and mud-brick villages. At sunset, a felucca ride around Elephantine Island, the white sails turning gold. Overnight on board.

   • Boat
   • Breakfast · Lunch · Dinner
6. Day6 Abu Simbel: the temples of RamessesAswan → Abu Simbel

   Disembark and set off early by coach for Abu Simbel, across the Nubian desert. The two temples of Ramesses II and Nefertari, cut into the rock and guarded by four seated colossi about 20 metres high, were moved piece by piece in the 1960s to save them from the waters of Lake Nasser. Back in Aswan for dinner and a night in a 4★ hotel.

   • Coach
   • Breakfast · Lunch · Dinner
7. Day7 Aswan to Cairo and Khan el-KhaliliAswan → Cairo

   A free morning in Aswan: the souk, with its sacks of spices, hibiscus for karkadé tea and Nubian baskets. Then a flight to Cairo and an evening in the Khan el-Khalili bazaar: narrow alleys, brass lanterns, spice stalls and the scent of tea and incense. Time for shopping, then a farewell dinner.

   • Flight
   • Breakfast · Dinner
8. Day8 Farewell to Cairo and flight homeCairo → Athens

   A last breakfast in a city you will already miss. Depending on the flight time, there may be one more stroll or a little time for last gifts before the transfer to the airport. The flight home to Athens, with your head still full of pyramids, temples and sunsets on the Nile.

   • Flight
   • Breakfast