Day by Day Itinerary

November 22 Depart
Sunday New York
Our group will gather at New York’s JFK airport for check in, warm welcomes and introductions. Our Egypt Air flight MS986 to Cairo departs at 6:30 PM.
(Meals aloft)

November 23 Arrive Cairo
Monday
Arrive at Cairo international airport at 12:15 PM. Welcome to Egypt! We will be greeted by our Akorn Tour Coordinator who will assist you with all customs and visa formalities. Transfer in an air-conditioned coach to the Grand Hyatt Hotel. After check-in, the rest of the day is free to enjoy the facilities of the hotel and recover from jet lag. You might simply relax in your Nile- view room and enjoy the scenery. The Egyptian Museum is nearby.

*****Grand Hyatt Hotel
Nile view room

November 24 Memphis - Sakkara
Tuesday Giza - Sphinx
Breakfast at your hotel where we will meet our Egyptologist who will accompany us on today’s tour. Founded around 3,100 BC during the Old Kingdom, Memphis is the legendary city of Menes, the King who united Upper and Lower Egypt. According to tradition, he first created dikes to protect the area from Nile floods and then started building. Much of what we know of Memphis comes from its necropolis, texts and papyrus from other parts of Egypt, and Herodotus, who visited the city. Early on, Memphis was probably a fortress from which Menes controlled the land and water routes between Upper Egypt and the Delta. Later, this great city became the administrative and religious center of Egypt, was home to a cosmopolitan community and most likely one of the largest and most important cities in the ancient world.

Across the Great Court of the Pyramid Complex of Zoser in Sakkara, stands the Step Pyramid, the oldest known of Egypt’s 107 pyramids, which was built by Imhotep, one of the world’s most famous historical figures. This architect of the world’s first freestanding stone structure, which you will visit today with your Egyptologist, is often also recognized as the world’s first doctor, as well as a priest, sage, poet, and astrologer. Although the original structure was a burial chamber 28 meters underground, Imhotep enlarged it several times to eventually reach a six tiered rectangle 60 meters high. Sakkara seems to have been the first area where limestone was employed, not only for the outer casing of the pyramid but also to cover interior walls.

We’ll break for a lunch at the Saqqara restaurant. After lunch, we’ll have an unforgettable visit to the Great Pyramids of Giza built for the Pharaohs Cheops, Chefren and Mycerinus. They were constructed about 2500 BC with blocks of limestone from the plateau and from the Turah hills on the outskirts of Cairo - The Great Pyramid of Cheops alone, the only present-day survivor of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, required over 2,300,000 blocks of stone, each weighing about 2.5 tons. At its base, it covers 13 acres of land. Millions of visitors come each year to ponder the fascinating mystery of the pyramids’ existence and explore the ancient burial chambers within.

We’ll continue to the Valley Temple to visit the mysterious Sphinx, located in what was once a quarry to the east of Chefren’s pyramid. One theory suggests that Pharaoh Chefren’s workers shaped the body into a lion and gave it their king’s face, as a guardian of the necropolis. Almost a thousand years after its construction, King Thutmose IV placed a stela between the front paws. The stela describes how the Sphinx had spoken to the then prince in a dream. (B-L)

*****Grand Hyatt Hotel
Nile view room

November 25 Islamic Cairo
Wednesday Khan El-Khalili
After breakfast at our hotel, we’ll continue on a fascinating tour of 7,000 years of Egyptian history with a visit to the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities. Open since 1902, the Museum exhibits over 120,000 objects in its 107 halls, comprising the world’s greatest collection of Ancient Egyptian artifacts. Two grand halls containing countless artifacts and one room is reserved for the golden treasures from the world-famous tomb of the boy-king Tutankhamun. More than two million people flock to this magnificent museum each year.

Lunch will be at El-Azhar Park. Take a fascinating tour of Islamic Cairo, including the beautiful and graceful Mohammed Ali Mosque and the ancient Citadel, a spectacular medieval fortress perched on a hill above the city. Originally built by Salah El-Din in 1176 to fortify the city against the Crusaders, the Citadel was modified and enlarged over the centuries by subsequent rulers and today is a complex of three mosques and four museums.

Proceed to the fascinating Khan El-Khalili Bazaar reputed to be the largest bazaar in the Middle East. Originally founded as a watering stop for caravanserai in the 14th century, the bazaar has now grown to vast proportions. As you wander through the labyrinth of narrow streets you will find workshops and stalls selling all manner of things from woodwork, glassware and leather goods to perfumes, fabrics and Pharaonic curiosities. Remember to bargain hard! Return to our hotel for overnight. (B-L)

*****Grand Hyatt Hotel
Nile view room

November 26 Beni Hassan
Thursday
We’ll rise early this morning and enjoy a buffet breakfast at the hotel before departing for Al Minya. Our comfortable, air-conditioned bus will take us for a four-hour drive to visit the Beni Hassan tombs. Reached with a steep climb up a cliff on the East Bank of the Nile, the Rock Tombs of Beni Hassan are incredibly well preserved, and their walls display scenes of daily life in Ancient Egypt in dazzlingly vivid colors. The tombs are mostly those of local feudal lords and noblemen, dating back to the 11th Dynasty, and some of the paintings are totally unique, showing subjects not seen in any other tomb in Egypt. Our coach will deliver us to our hotel in time for lunch on our own and an afternoon of leisure. This evening, we will enjoy dinner at the hotel. Overnight in Al Minya. (B-D)

****Hotel Mercure Al Minya

November 27 Tel El-Amarna
Friday Ashmonein
Tuna El Gabai
After an early breakfast, we’ll check out of our hotel and continue on our journey. We’ll cross the Nile by ferry to visit Tel El-Amarna. This rich archaeological site was originally known as Akhetaten, and was built as a new city in around 1348 BC by the Pharaoh Akhenaton. Akhenaton moved there with his beautiful wife Nefertiti to escape the wrath of the priests of Thebes, which he incurred for rejecting the cult of Amun-Ra and destroying its idols, instead promoting a monotheistic cult dedicated to the worship of the One God, Aton. The city was abandoned four years after Akhenaton’s death, when his son-in-law Tutankhamun set up court once again in Thebes. The site of the ruined city lies on an incredibly peaceful plateau, which is reached by a steep climb up a cliff. 400 cuneiform tablets discovered here in 1887 provide a detailed record of Ancient Egypt and its relations with the rest of the Middle East, in the form of letters between Akhenaton and the governors of cities in Syria and Palestine. At the base of the cliff are more than 25 tombs, many with intricate complexes of tunnels and chambers, and spectacular wall paintings and inscriptions.

We’ll have a picnic lunch before continuing our on our journey to El-Ashmonein and Tuna El Gabal. El-Ashmonein marks another brief stop on the journey of the Holy Family. El-Ashmonein boasts the relics of temples and shrines from the 19th Dynasty right through to the Christian Era, including columns of a basilica similar to the Acropolis in Greece.

Drive through the lush green countryside lining the Nile Valley, and out into the surrounding desert, to visit the necropolis of Tuna El-Gabal on the West Bank, where hundreds of mummified ibis and baboons – held sacred by the god of writing, Thoth – were found in an underground cemetery. The paintings on the tombs are notable for their integration of Egyptian and Greek cultures – for example, an Egyptian farming scene with people wearing Greek fashions. Our coach will deliver us back to Cairo in time for dinner at our hotel close to the airport and a good night’s rest. (B-L)

*****Fairmont Heliopolis Hotel

November 28 Cairo - Luxor
Saturday Karnak Temple Hatshepsut Temple
Colossi of Memnon
After breakfast and check out, we will be escorted to the Cairo Domestic Airport to board MS353 flight to Luxor. We will be met upon arrival and chauffeured to our luxurious, five-star cruise ship, the Sun Boat III, at the private dock in Luxor where she awaits us. This is a super deluxe cruise, floating palace from which we explore sites of antiquity along the Nile. On board, you will be welcomed by the reception staff, who will offer you chilled fruit juice while assisting with your check-in.

This morning we’ll set off with our Egyptologist to explore Luxor. First, we visit to the Temple of Karnak, built over the course of more than a thousand years by generations of Pharaohs. The great Hypostyle Hall is an incredible forest of giant pillars, covering an area larger than the whole of Notre Dame Cathedral. We’ll return to our ship for lunch.

In the afternoon we experience the Valley of the Kings and Queens, a vast City of the Dead where magnificent tombs were carved into the desert rocks, decorated richly, and filled with treasures for the afterlife by generations of Pharaohs. You will also have the chance to visit at least one tomb in the Valley of the Queens.

Our tour continues to the Hatshepsut Temple and Colossi of Memnon. Rising out of the desert plain in a series of terraces, the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut (Ancient Egypt’s only female Pharaoh) merges with the sheer limestone cliffs that surround it, as if nature herself had built this extraordinary monument. On the way back to the river Nile, your road passes by the famed Colossi of Memnon, known in Ancient Greek times for their haunting voices at dawn.

Afternoon tea will be served in the lounge. Tonight at the Captain’s Cocktail Party, we will be greeted by your Boat Manager, who will introduce you to the boat staff and review on-board facilities and our cruise program for the next few days. Cocktails and canapés will be served. Dinner will be a gourmet delight this evening on board our floating palace. (B-L-D)

*****Sunboat III in Luxor

November 29 Nagaa Hammadi
Sunday Abydos
Sail northwards early this morning to Nagaa Hammadi passing by Qena. This part of your cruise is very much off-the-beaten track, and passes through some of the most beautiful scenery along the Nile, far away from the crowds or other cruise boats. After lunch onboard, visit Abydos which stands apart from other sites in Egypt, as it was in fact the center of a holy city dedicated to Osiris, Lord of the Netherworld. It was also the burial-place for pre-dynastic kings and pharaohs dating back to the fourth millennium BC. Afternoon is at leisure. A dip in the pool would be refreshing! Enjoy the facilities on board your cruise. (B-L-D)

*****Sunboat III in Qena

November 30 Denderah
Monday Luxor Temple
Breakfast on board. Continue sailing away from the crowds, exploring the secrets of history and enjoying the breathtaking landscape.

Our excursion today takes us to Denderah. We’ll visit the Ptolemaic Temple of the Goddess Hathor. This wonderfully preserved temple complex is a rare sight to behold, complete with a massive stone roof, dark chambers, underground passages and towering columns inscribed with hieroglyphs. The main Temple of Hathor is almost intact. Hathor was the goddess of pleasure and love, usually represented as a cow or a woman with a cow’s head. She was the beneficent deity of maternal and family love, of beauty and light; the Greeks associated her with Aphrodite. Lunch on board while you cruise to Luxor.

This afternoon our Egyptologist will guide you on a tour of the East Bank of Luxor, with the strikingly graceful Temple of Luxor dedicated to the god Amun. We’ll enjoy afternoon tea and dinner on board our ship. (B-L-D)

*****Sunboat III in Luxor

December 1 Esna
Tuesday
Early sailing to Esna with buffet breakfast on board. Our Egyptologist will guide you around the Greco-Roman Temple of Khnum at Esna. The beautifully preserved Great Hypostyle Hall was built during the reign of the Roman Emperor Claudius; it was excavated from the silt that had accumulated through centuries of annual Nile floods and is about nine meters below present-day street level. Lunch on board then afternoon tea will be served in the lounge while you sail to Edfu. Gourmet menu on board. (B-L-D)

*****Sunboat III in Edfu

December 2 Edfu – Kom Ombo
Wednesday
This morning we explore the largest and most completely preserved Pharaonic – albeit Greek-built – temple in Egypt, the extraordinary Temple of Horus at Edfu.

It’s back to our ship for lunch while we cruise Kom Ombo. Visit the Temple of Kom Ombo, dedicated to the crocodile-god Sobek. The temple stands at a bend in the Nile where in ancient times sacred crocodiles basked in the sun on the riverbank. Return to our ship for afternoon tea. Tonight’s dinner on board will be an “Egyptian Night” costume party for all guests, with a chance to dress up in traditional Egyptian “galabeyas”. Dinner will be a lavish buffet of Egyptian specialities, followed by oriental music and dancing for everyone. (B-L-D)

*****Sunboat III in Kom Ombo

December 3 Aswan
Thursday Felucca Ride
After breakfast the morning is free while we sail to Aswan. Lunch on board as we continue sailing to Aswan. In the afternoon (weather permitting) take a ride on a felucca, a typical Egyptian sail boat, around Elephantine Island, Lord Kitchener’s Botanical Gardens, and the Agha Khan Mausoleum. Afternoon tea and dinner on board. (B-L-D)

*****Sunboat III in Aswan

December 4 High Dam
Friday Philae Temple
This morning, our Egyptologist will escort you to visit the Aswan High Dam, Egypt’s contemporary example of building on a monumental scale. Philae Temple: Take a short motorboat ride to visit the romantic and majestic Philae Temple on the Island of Agilka. Next we proceed to the Granite Quarries, which supplied the ancient Egyptians with most of the hard stone used in pyramids and temples, and still hold a huge unfinished obelisk. Lunch on board. Afternoon at leisure. Afternoon tea will be served in the lounge. Tonight’s farewell dinner will be a formal gala dinner, with white-gloved waiters serving gourmet cuisine. (B-L-D)

*****Sunboat III in Aswan

December 5 Abu Simbel
Saturday Cairo
After breakfast, we’ll check out of our hotel and depart for the airport for our flight to Abu Simbel.

We will be met on arrival in Abu Simbel and escorted to the world-renowned site where Ramses II ordered two sun temples carved from the limestone mountains at Abu Simbel, between 1290-1124 B.C. At the Great Temple of Ra-Harakhte, the four famous colossal statues of Ramses II sit majestically over 65.5 feet high, staring out across the desert. Six massive standing statues front the Temple of Hathor, dedicated to the cow-headed goddess of love and built in honor of Ramses’ favorite wife, Queen Nefertari, each stand 33 feet high. In modern times the waters that would rise with the completion of the High Dam threatened the two temples of Abu Simbel. A campaign to save them was organized by UNESCO, with the temples being cut into blocks, raised piece-by-piece, and reassembled in a new position higher up the hillside. The massive job took two years to complete, 1966-1968.

Board your return flight from Abu Simbel to Cairo via Aswan. Arrive at Cairo Airport where we will be meet by our Cairo Akorn Tour Coordinator. Transfer in modern air-conditioned bus to your Hotel in Cairo Grand Hyatt. Farewell dinner will be at the famous historic Hotel Mena House at Rubbayat Restaurant where your will enjoy an authentic folkloric show. (B-D)

*****Grand Hyatt Hotel
Nile view room

December 6 Depart Cairo
Sunday Arrive U.S.A.
After breakfast, we bid a fond farewell to Egypt and proceed to the airport for the flight home. (B)

B=breakfast, L=lunch and D=dinner

Note: Flight schedules always subject to change.