Egypt Best Holidays to Cairo, Abu Simbel, Aswan & Luxor

Day 1: Cairo - Arrival

Our representative will meet & assist you at Cairo International Airport, and handle you through passport control & customs formalities. Then you will be transferred to your hotel by a private air-conditioned vehicle. Tomorrow enjoys Egypt Holidays.

Day 2: Giza pyramids - Egyptian museum

Visit the Great Pyramid of Cheops(Khufu). It is certainly one of the most important monuments of ancient Egypt. A masterpiece of fabricated structure and architecture, you will be overwhelmed by the huge size of its blocks, the height, and the age that exceeded 4600 years. Your guide will explain fully the history of all the area including the other pyramids, of Chephren and Mycerinus, answer all your questions and you will have the chance to take pictures of the whole area. You will spend more than two hours in the area so that you can enter one of the pyramid's chambers. You may like to have a camel ride around the area.

Moving to the Sphinx area where you will spend some time exploring this monolith statue, which symbolizes the power and wisdom of the pharaoh. Next to the Sphinx area, you will visit the valley temple where you will learn about mummification in ancient Egypt.

The Egyptian Museum in Cairo is one of the largest museums in the world. Your Egypt tours will take you on a tour to explore the museum's treasures (opened in 1901). Look at the amazing monuments and artifacts in its different halls in a guided tour. Although the museum has tens of thousands of artifacts in this short tour, your Egyptologist guide will focus on the highlights and masterpieces of the museum. Visit the Tut Ankh Amun Wing on the first floor and see his wonderful collection of historically important artwork. The treasures are mainly golden and they cover a quite large section of the museum. This area of the museum includes significant statues, furniture, and gold sculptures. After enjoying the guided part of the tour, take some free time to browse the museum.

Day 3: East and West Luxor

At the beginning of your tour, you will cross the Nile to the West bank where you will visit the Valley of the Kings. The Pharaohs were hiding their mummies and treasures in this barren desert area. Many of these treasures were found in these beautiful colored tombs. You can visit three tombs to enjoy the colors and murals on the walls. The tombs were carved deep in the mountain rock; you have the option to visit other royal tombs such as Tut Ankh Amun.

Drive to the mortuary temple of Queen Hatshepsut. She is the first female pharaoh in ancient Egypt who ruled the kingdom for 20 prosperous years. This temple is called El Deir el Bahari as the early Christians used the Northern monastery, as it was a Coptic monastery. Unlike the other temples, this one was built of limestone and partly hewn in the mother bedrock. It has three terraces and its focal point is to tell the story of the Divine birth of the Queen.

The Colossi of Memnon are two monumental statues representing king Amenhotep III of the 18th Dynasty of Egypt. They are located west of the modern city of Luxor and face east looking toward the Nile River. The statues depict the seated king on a throne with some other carvings of his mother, his wife, the god Hapi, the Nile god, and other symbolic engravings. Both are carved from single blocks of sandstone and the name refers to the Greek hero Memnon who fell in the Trojan War.

Karnak temple is a complex of temples. The temple is dedicated to Amun Ra, the chief god in Egyptian mythology. Enjoy the Great Hypostyle court and the reliefs and murals that were added through the generations. Feel astonished at the tall obelisks 70 feet high and cut from a single piece of granite. Look at the statues of the different pharaohs who want to show their loyalty to RA. Keep an eye on the magnificent tall columns and their papyrus and Lotus capitals while their shafts are loaded with hieroglyphics.

The temple of Luxor witnessed many historical eras and has its extensions and additions along the ages. Different structures and murals show the Greek, Roman, Islamic, and Coptic influences. Stare at the statues and obelisks of Ramses II. There should be two obelisks at the entrance of the temple but one of them was sent to Paris.

Day 4: Aswan Attractions

The magnificent Temple was dedicated to the Cult of the Goddess Isis, but it became submerged after the first Aswan dam was built in 1902, and it was not until the sixties that many countries attempted to save the Temple. All these countries, together with UNESCO moved the temple to the Agilika Island. The Egyptians built the temple and during the Greek, Roman, and Byzantine era; every ruler was keen on adding and expanding the temple to show his reverence to the Egyptian deities. Your Egyptologist guide will explain all the different reliefs, courts, and pylons of the temple before you ride a motorboat back to your next stop.

The High Dam of Aswan is one of the most important and great achievements of Egypt during the 20thCentuy. For many years, the dam represented the period of modernism in the country. It provided Egypt with Hydroelectric power and safeguarded the country from the dangers of the flood. Your guide will accompany you to explain the history of the Dam, its advantages and disadvantages.

Stare at the huge obelisk in Aswan. In the granite quarry of the city, lying the giant obelisk. It is called the Unfinished Obelisk because it was never erected. It would have measured about 137 feet (42 meters) if completed and is estimated to weigh around 1164 tons. It is believed that the female pharaoh Hatshepsut ordered carving it during the 18th dynasty.

Day 5: Abu Simbel Tour

The great site is located miles south of Aswan. Your guide will pick you up to drive 145 miles to Abu Simbel. There are two temples there; both were erected by the famous pharaoh Ramses II in 1240 B.C.The two temples were carved into the mountainside. The large of them contains four huge seated statues for the pharaoh; each of them is 70 feet high. The second one is smaller and for his wife Nefertari. This one has six statues on its façade, two of them for the queen and four for the king. During the tour, your Egyptologist guide will explain the history of the temples and the pharaoh outside the temples, and then you will have enough free time to explore the interior of the temples and enjoy looking at the wall painting and hieroglyphics. Ramses is defeating his enemies and showing himself as a god.

Day 6: Cairo - Optional tour

Sakkara was the main necropolis of the old kingdom era. It is a great archeological site where the famous and multi-titled architect Imhotep built the oldest pyramid in Egypt. The first stone structure is 4800 years and was erected in the form of huge solid steps on top of each. (The name Step Pyramid is quite suitable). you will learn in the complex the step pyramid the development of the royal tomb structure. Your tour guide will accompany you inside one of the tombs of the nobles (tomb of Kagmini) to see murals reflecting daily life activities in ancient Egypt. Moreover, you have the chance to enter the pyramid of Titi, where you can see the oldest form of the pyramid text on the chamber walls 4340 years old.

Memphis is your second destination to visit the open-air museum in the city. In Memphis, you will see the second-largest Sphinx in Egypt, known as the alabaster Sphinx, the lying colossus of Ramses II that is a masterpiece and a strong proof of how Egyptian sculpture reached its peak. You will also see many more monuments dug in this great city. Memphis was the first capital city of Egypt after the unity of the Southern and Northern kingdoms. Enjoy all the beautiful monuments on display in the open museum.

Day 7: Alexandria Day Tour

Discover the impressive mixture between Egyptian art, architecture, and burial traditions with the Roman ones through your visit to the Catacomb of Kom El Shoqafa. A 1900 years old Roman subterranean tomb where cremated and mummified bodies were preserved.

Enjoy the best view over the city and the sea from the Fort of Qaitbay, a 15th fort built on top of the original location of the Lighthouse that was gone. The fort was meant to protect the Eastern harbor of the city.

You will spend some time touring that huge and modern library that was built as a revival of the ancient one. During the day tour, you will have free time to consider the seafood and cafe culture that the city is famous for a long time ago.

Day 8: Departure

Breakfast, transfer to Cairo International Airport for departure.