Day by Day Itinerary

March 2 Depart U.S.A.
Friday
Depart JFK via Egypt Air flight MS986 departing at 6:30 PM. (Meals aloft)

March 3 Arrive Cairo
Saturday
Welcome to Egypt! Arrive at Cairo international Airport just after noon at 12:15 PM. Meeting and assistance with all customs and immigration procedures at Cairo Airport. Drive to Fairmont Heliopolis hotel to check-in. Overnight at hotel in Cairo.

***** Fairmont Heliopolis Hotel

March 4 Giza
Sunday
Buffet breakfast at your hotel. Start the tour by visiting Giza Pyramids.

The Great Pyramids of Giza, Cheops, Chefren, Mecherenus and Sphinx are the only present-day survivors of the Ancient Seven Wonders of the World. You will be able to enjoy these fabulous monuments and explore the mysteries of their ancient past.

The pyramids of Giza were built during the 4th dynasty about 2600 BC to be as the eternal life house of the kings of Egypt.

The Sphinx was cut out of one single piece of lime stone with the figure of a Lion's body and a Human's head. The Lion's body pertains to the strength and the Human's head pertains to the intelligence and wisdom meaning the Sphinx pertains to the king himself to be able to control and protect Egypt.

Lunch at local restaurant overlooking the Pyramids.

Drive to visit Sakkara to see the early pyramid built in Egypt by the King Zoser and explore the nobles tombs around it. The Nobles tombs were built for the official people who were working for the Egyptian kings and they were as family tombs. These tombs have the depiction of the daily life in Ancient Egypt. (B-L)

***** Fairmont Heliopolis Hotel

March 5 Cairo Museum
Monday Medieval Cairo
Tahrir Square
(Freedom Square)
Buffet breakfast at your hotel. Drive to visit the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities to go deep in to 7,000 years of Egyptian history. It includes the world-famous golden treasures of King Tutankhamen and has about 160,000 items. It has the world’s largest collection of Pharaohs antiquities. The Egyptian government established the museum in 1835 and moved to Boulaq in 1858 because the original building was getting to be too small. In 1878 after the museum had been completed, the Nile River flooded it. In 1902 they moved, for the last time, to the current museum in Tahrir Square. During the Egyptian Revolution of 2011, the museum was broken into, and some artifacts were also shown to have been damaged.

In Tahrir Square we will explore the Freedom Square which saw the outbreak of the Egyptian revolution on January 25, 2011.

Lunch at local restaurant. Continue the tour to Medieval Cairo to visit Ibn Tulun mosque, Gayer Anderson house and visit the Sultan Hassan mosque.

The Ibn Tulun mosque is located in Cairo, it is the oldest mosque in the city surviving in its original form, and is one of the largest mosques in Cairo. It was built by Ahmad Ibn Tulun, the Abbasid governor of Egypt in the 9th century AD. The mosque is constructed around a courtyard, with one covered hall on each of the four sides, the largest being on the side of the Qibla, (direction to Mecca).

Gayer-Anderson Museum is located in Cairo, next to Ahmad Ibn Tulun Mosque. The museum takes its name from Major Gayer Anderson Pasha, who resided in the house between 1935 and 1942 with special permission from the Egyptian Government. It is noted for being one of the best preserved examples of 17th century architecture left in Cairo, and also for Gayer Anderson's vast collection of furniture, carpets, curio, and other objects.

The Mosque-Madrassa of Sultan Hassan is a massive Mamluk era mosque and madrassa (school), located near the Citadel in Cairo. It was constructed between 1356 and 1363. At the time of construction the mosque was considered remarkable for its fantastic size and innovative architectural components. For example it was designed to include schools for all four of the Sunni schools, a hostel and a restaurant. Overnight in Cairo. (B-L)

***** Fairmont Heliopolis Hotel

March 6 Cairo
Tuesday Alexandria
Buffet breakfast at your hotel. Drive 3 hours (135 miles) in the Sahara desert to reach Alexandria with time to stop in a rest house about midway. Alexandria dates back to Alexander the Great, in 332 BC and was the Ptolemaic capital of Egypt, which became one of the greatest cities of the Hellenistic world.

Visit Alexandria's Catacombs, known as Kom al-Shoqafa, The excavations in the site started in 1892 but the Catacombs were not found until 1900 by chance when a donkey fell in to pit which led to the discovery. They consist of a three-level labyrinth, reached via a large spiral staircase.

Continue to visit Bombay pillar erected during the 3rd century AD for Diocletian, as thanks to him from the people of Alexandria.

Lunch in local restaurant. Check-in the Mediterranean Azur Hotel in Alexandria. Overnight in Alexandria. (B-L)

***** Mediterranean Azur Hotel

March 7 Alexandria
Wednesday Cairo
Buffet breakfast at your hotel. Drive to explore the city to see the revolution squares in Alexandria at Mahateet El-Raml (Tram station) and El-Kaed Ibrahem Mosque square. Continue the tour to visit the Bibliotheca of Alexandria and the Roman Amphitheater.

The Bibliotheca Alexandria (Library of Alexandria) is a major library and cultural center located on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea in the city of Alexandria. Construction work began in 1995 and, after some USD $220 million had been spent, the complex was officially inaugurated on October 16, 2002.

The Roman Amphitheater is the most complete Roman ruin in Egypt. It was discovered in 1960 during the foundation of Alexandria University. Its small one was used for musicians and poets and dates back to the 2nd century AD with the excavation still running on the site.

Lunch in local restaurant. Drive to Cairo to check-in to the Fairmont Heliopolis hotel. Overnight in Cairo. (B-L)

***** Fairmont Heliopolis Hotel

March 8 Cairo
Thursday Aswan
Buffet breakfast at your hotel. Drive to Cairo international Airport to fly to Aswan via MS411 departing at 8:00 AM and arriving at 9:25 AM.

Aswan’s ancient Egyptian name is Swän (meaning Market) and is the frontier town of ancient Egypt facing Sudan.

Visit the High Dam, Philae temple and The Nubian village. The Aswan High Dam is an embankment dam situated across the Nile River in Aswan. It is larger and newer than the Aswan Low Dam, which was first completed in 1902. The High Dam was constructed between 1960 and 1970. It aimed to increase economic production by further regulating the annual river flooding and providing storage of water for agriculture, and later, to generate hydroelectricity.

The Philae Temple is dedicated to the Goddess Isis, the ancient Egyptian Goddess of love and happiness. It’s a Greco-Roman temple built in the same design as the pharaohs’ temples and was built between 280 BC and 100 AD. In 1960 UNESCO started a project in order to rescue the temple from the destructive effect of the Nile’s increasing water. Then the temple was dismantled into about 40,000 units, and transported to the nearby island of Agilkia, situated on higher ground about 1640 feet away.

Lunch in local restaurant. Check in to Movenpick Aswan hotel.

The Nubian village hosts Nubia, a region along the Nile, in northern Sudan and southern Egypt.

There were a number of small Nubian kingdoms throughout the middle Ages, the last of which collapsed in 1504, when Nubia became divided between Egypt and Sudan. Nubia means the land of gold in the ancient Egyptian Language. The population had to move from their village to the north during the building of the High Dam project.

Optional visit to the Aswan Market. Overnight in Aswan. (B-L)

****** Movenpick Aswan

March 9 Aswan
Friday Kom Ombo - Edfu
Luxor
Buffet breakfast at your hotel. Drive towards Kom Ombo to visit Kom Ombo Double temple of the God Horus the falcon, the good God and the God of protection and the God Sobic the crocodile, the bad one and the evil God. Both of them have peace in Kom Ombo.

The building is a unique and unusual double temple built during the Ptolemaic dynasty. Some additions to it were later made during the Roman period.

The God Horus Temple in Edfu is located on the west bank of the Nile in the city of Edfu, which is a Greco-Roman temple. It’s one of the best-preserved temples in Egypt, dedicated to the falcon god Horus, the god of protection. It was built in the Ptolemaic period between 237 and 57 BC.

Drive to Luxor. Lunch and check-in at the Sonesta St. George Hotel Luxor. Overnight in Luxor. (B-L)

***** Sonesta St. George Hotel

March 10 Luxor
Saturday Valley of Kings
Buffet breakfast at your hotel. Luxor was the great capital of ancient Egypt during the New Kingdom, and the glorious city of the God Amun-Ra. Drive to visit the west bank in Luxor to visit the most remarkable sight seen around the world - the Valley of Kings, Hatshepsut Temple, the Colossi of Memnon and Habu Temple.

The Valley of the Kings was the graveyard of the Egyptian kings. They were constructed during the New Kingdom (the Eighteenth to the Twentieth Dynasties of Ancient Egypt), by digging their tombs in the bed rock to hide their mummies in graves among the mountains.

Hatshepsut Temple is a complex of mortuary temples located on the west bank of the Nile, opposite the city of Luxor. The first monument built at the site was the mortuary temple of Mentu-hotep II during the Eleventh Dynasty. During the Eighteenth Dynasty, Hatshepsut built her mortuary temple at the site to record her trip to the country of Punt (Somalia) and to tell about her holy birth as the daughter of the God Amun.

Habu temple is a name given to the Mortuary Temple of Ramses III. It’s an important New Kingdom structure on the West Bank of Luxor. The temple is probably best-known as the source of inscribed relief's depicting the defeat of the Sea Peoples during the reign of Ramses III.

The Colossi of Memnon are two massive stone statues of the Pharaoh Amun-hotep III about 1400 BC. The original function of the Colossi was to stand guard at the entrance of Amun-hotep III dated mortuary temple.

Lunch at a local restaurant. Overnight in Luxor. (B-L)

***** Sonesta St. George Hotel

March 11 Luxor
Sunday Cairo
Buffet breakfast at your hotel. Visit the El-Karnack temples.

The Karnack Temples Complex comprises a vast mix of ruined temples, chapels, pylons, and other buildings, notably the Great Temple of Amun, a massive structure in Egypt. The construction was running for more than 1000 years. The temple is dedicated to the God Amun-Ra the great God of Luxor.

Drive to visit Luxor temple.

Luxor temple is dedicated to the Goddess Mut, the wife of The God Amun-Ra, founded by the king Amun-hotep III of the 18th dynasty in 1450 BC and finished by King Ramses II of the 19th Dynasty in 1290 BC. It has Roman addition.

Lunch followed by a drive to Luxor International Airport to fly to Cairo. Drive to the Fairmont Heliopolis Hotel to check-in. Overnight in Cairo. (B-L)

***** Fairmont Heliopolis Hotel

March 12 Depart Cairo
Monday Arrive New York
Buffet breakfast at your hotel. Transfer to Cairo International Airport for our international flight to JFK via Egypt Air flight MS985 departing at 9:30 AM. Arrives New York at 3:25 PM. Welcome Home! (B)

B=Breakfast, L=Lunch, D=Dinner
Flight schedules always subject to change.

Better yet, continue on the Suez Sinai Extension. See below.

March 12 - 15, 2012

March 12 Cairo - Ismailia
Monday Port Said
Buffet breakfast at your hotel. Drive towards Ismailia city to go to one of the most important military pass call (Tepet El Shagarah). Continue driving to Port Said City. Lunch in local restaurant. City sightseeing. Check-in Grand Albatros hotel in Port Said. (B-L)

Grand Albatros Hotel

March 13 Port Said- Suez
Tuesday Sinai
Buffet breakfast at your hotel. Drive to Suez city to see Suez Canal where the statue was of Ferdinand de Lesseps is located. He was the manager of Suez Canal project 1859-1869. There you can view the Red sea. Lunch.

Cross the Suez Canal and continue the drive to St. Catherine’s in Sinai. (About 6 hours driving). (B-L)

St. Catherine’s

March 14 Sinai
Wednesday Cairo
Sunrise trek to mountain by camel up to Moses Mountain.

Note: we need warm cloth (Ice cap, gloves and jacket), flash light and small change (20 USD as coins) in case you need to have tea or coffee on the way up.

Come down after sunrise to visit the St. Catherine monastery. Buffet breakfast at your hotel. Drive to return from Sinai to Cairo and cross Suez Canal.

Arrive at the Fairmont Heliopolis Hotel to check-in. Overnight Cairo at Fairmont Heliopolis. (B)

Fairmont Heliopolis

March 15 Depart Cairo
Thursday Arrive New York
Transfer to the airport for the international flight arriving New York the same day. (B)

B=Breakfast, L=Lunch

Flight schedules always subject to change.