14-Day Slow Travel Egypt: Cairo, Luxor & Nile Cruise

A representative meets you at Cairo Airport and drives you to your hotel, about an hour away. Settle in and rest. Later you can set out on a private tasting walk that starts from your hotel door, a gentle first look at Cairo's street food after dark. Nothing else is planned, so you can go to bed early if the journey was long.

This is the longest day in Cairo, about 8 hours, and the one most guests remember. Your driver collects you at the hotel and your Egyptologist takes you onto the Giza Plateau to see the pyramids and the Great Sphinx. Lunch is at a restaurant with a view. In the afternoon you walk through the Grand Egyptian Museum.

The guide, the entrance fees and the vehicle are all included, and you are back at your hotel to rest.

A slow morning at the hotel, then an afternoon pickup for a half day in medieval Cairo. You visit the Citadel of Saladin and the Muhammad Ali Mosque, walk through the old streets of Islamic Cairo and finish in the Khan el-Khalili bazaar. A licensed Egyptologist guides you, and the private vehicle and entrance fees are included. You return to the hotel for your third night in Cairo.

After breakfast you are driven to Cairo Airport for the flight to Luxor, about an hour in the air. Flight times follow the airline schedule, and the day is arranged around them. A driver meets you in Luxor and takes you to your hotel. The afternoon visit is the Luxor Museum, a half day among statues and objects from the city's temples and tombs. Luxor is your base for three nights.

Two half days on the West Bank, across the river from Luxor, without the big crowds of the best-known valley. One visit is Deir el-Medina and the Tombs of the Nobles, where the painted walls show everyday life. The other is the Valley of the Queens. Your Egyptologist guides you, and the guide, entrance fees and transport are included. The Valley of the Kings itself comes later, on the cruise.

A half day at the Mummification Museum with a private licensed Egyptologist. The private vehicle picks you up at your hotel, and the museum ticket is included. The rest of the day is yours. In the evening a horse carriage takes you for a private ride through Luxor, past the local market and on to Luxor Temple by night. You return to your hotel, and tomorrow you join the ship.

You check out of the hotel and join your Nile cruise ship in Luxor. The sightseeing package begins at once with Karnak, the largest temple complex in Egypt, including a visit to the Sacred Lake. The package also lists Luxor Temple on this day. Your Egyptologist guides you, and the entrance fees and transport are included. Lunch and dinner are on board, and the ship is your home for four nights.

The cruise package takes you across to the West Bank for the Colossi of Memnon, the Valley of the Kings, with three tombs included, and the mortuary temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari. Your Egyptologist is with you, and entrance fees and transport are covered.

Later you can take a private motorboat from the ship to Banana Island, about three hours, with fresh fruit, mint tea and water, and the river turning gold at sunset.

Today the ship moves upriver and you go ashore twice. The Temple of Horus at Edfu is one of the best-preserved temples in Egypt. The Temple of Kom Ombo, shared by two gods, stands close to the water. Your Egyptologist guides both visits, with entrance fees and transport included. Between the stops you can sit on deck and watch the river valley go by.

In Aswan your guide takes you to Philae Temple, the High Dam and the Unfinished Obelisk, still lying in its granite quarry. Entrance fees and transport are included. Later there is a visit to a Nubian village, with transfers by boat and vehicle and an English-speaking guide. You return to the ship for your last night on board.

After breakfast you say goodbye to the ship, and a driver takes you to your hotel in Aswan. The cruise sightseeing package has nothing more to show on this day, and no tour is booked. Use the afternoon for the river, the corniche or simply a long rest before tomorrow's big day. Aswan is your base for two nights.

A full day for one site. You travel from Aswan to Abu Simbel by road, visit the two great temples of Ramesses II and Nefertari, and return to Aswan the same day. The entrance fees are included. Because it is the one big outing of the week, nothing else is planned around it. Eat a good breakfast and bring water and a hat.

A last morning in Aswan: a private half day at Kalabsha Temple and the Nubian Museum. Then you are driven to Aswan Airport for the flight to Cairo, about an hour. The flight follows the airline schedule, and we arrange the visit around it. A driver meets you in Cairo and takes you to your hotel.

We build in this final Cairo night on purpose, so a delayed internal flight cannot cost you your flight home.