12-Day Egypt Tour: Cairo, Nile, Abu Simbel & El Gouna

A representative is waiting in the arrivals hall at Cairo airport and a driver takes you to your hotel. Later in the day you are collected for a sunset camel ride on the Giza plateau: roughly an hour on camelback, one camel for each adult, with a handler beside you, tea and bottled water, and the pyramids turning gold in the low light.

The ride is arranged around your arrival, and a private vehicle brings you back to your hotel. There is no guided sightseeing today and no meal in the program.

Your Egyptologist collects you after breakfast for a private day of about eight hours. You spend the first part on the Giza plateau with the three great pyramids and the Great Sphinx, then drive across the city for a restaurant lunch. In the afternoon you walk through the Egyptian Museum on Tahrir Square, home to royal statues, coffins and gold from Tutankhamun's tomb.

Coffee or tea is part of the break before you are driven back to the hotel.

Today is shorter on the road and slower on the feet. One half day goes back to the Egyptian Museum to concentrate on the Old and Middle Kingdom masterpieces, royal linens and papyri, and the animal mummies. The Mummies Room is not part of the entry. The other half day is Coptic Cairo, where the old Roman fortress of Babylon stands beside the Hanging Church, St.

George's, the Church of Abu Serga with its crypt, and the Ben Ezra Synagogue. A mint tea and pastry stop is included. Your Egyptologist guides both visits, and lunch is not part of today's plan, so you are free to choose where to eat.

You leave Cairo for the airport and the short flight south to Aswan, where a driver takes you to the river and you join your Nile cruise ship. Your Egyptologist then takes you to the sights around Aswan: the High Dam, the Unfinished Obelisk still lying in its quarry, and Philae Temple on its island. The sightseeing is arranged around your flight, and the entrance fees and transport are included.

Dinner and the first night are on board.

The ship stays moored at Aswan while you set out early by road for Abu Simbel, where Ramses II carved his two great temples into the cliff above Lake Nasser. Entrance fees are included. You come back to the ship for lunch, and then she sails north. Later you step ashore at Kom Ombo, a riverside temple shared by two gods, with the cruise's Egyptologist and transport included.

It is a full day, so expect to rest on deck in the evening.

The Nile Valley slides past as the ship continues to Edfu, where your Egyptologist walks you through the Temple of Horus. Further on, the ship reaches Luxor. You visit Luxor Temple beside the river, then Karnak, the huge temple complex whose visit includes the Sacred Lake. Entrance fees and transport are part of the cruise sightseeing. Your third and last night on the ship is spent in Luxor.

After breakfast you leave the ship for the West Bank with your Egyptologist: the Valley of the Kings, with entry to three tombs, Hatshepsut's terraced temple at Deir el-Bahari and the Colossi of Memnon. Entrance fees and transport are included. From Luxor a private air-conditioned car then drives you east to El Gouna, about 5 to 6 hours on the road.

This is a long day, with sightseeing before the drive, so keep snacks and water handy. You check in to your hotel for the first of five nights on the coast.

A driver collects you from El Gouna for the harbor in Hurghada, where a motorboat crosses to Orange Bay on Giftun Island. You get two guided snorkeling sessions, with equipment and life jackets, plus sunbeds on the beach and a hot lunch with bottled water. The boat brings you back across the water in the afternoon and you are returned to your hotel.

Nothing is planned today. Sleep late, swim, walk through the lagoon town or just lie by the water. If you want something extra, such as another boat trip or a spa session, ask your representative and we can usually arrange it for a fee. After the long road day and two boat days around it, this is the pause in the middle of the Red Sea stay. Lunch and dinner are your own.

A day on the water of about eight hours, picked up at your El Gouna hotel. You head out on a boat shared with other guests to the reef known as Dolphin House, where wild dolphins often rest, though sightings are likely rather than certain. A snorkeling guide leads the swims, and mask, snorkel and fins are supplied.

Lunch is served on board with soft drinks and water, marine park fees are included, and the boat returns you to the hotel in the evening.

Your last full day is a gentle one. After breakfast you are picked up from El Gouna for a trip of about three hours on a semi-submarine, shared with other guests. You sit below the waterline to watch the reef through the windows, then have a swim stop with mask and snorkel. A soft drink and water are included. The rest of the day is yours, and you can pack in the evening.