Cairo Aswan Special long Nile Cruises 
14 nights15 Days

Cairo - Luxor - Aswan

#21
Departures: Mar 25, Apr 20, May 16, Sep 13, Oct 9, 2018

A special Nile cruise on selected dates only with shorter version from Cairo to Luxor only for 11 nights on additional dates: 23 March 2016. The most comprehensive visit to all the important ancients sites along the Nile of Egypt. 14, 12 and 9 night options available. Scroll down to the price chart for dates.

Day 1: Arrival in Cairo and embarkation
Individual arrival at Cairo airport where our representative will assist you through passport control formalities, luggage identification and portage will greet you. From the airport you will be transferred by a private A/C car to your Nile Cruise. Dinner & Overnight in Cairo.

Day 2: Egyptian Museum – Giza Pyramids - Folkloric show
Excursion tour to visit, one of the Seven Wonders of the World: the Pyramids of Giza (Cheops, Chephren and Mycerinus), Cheops is the most colossal ever built. Next is a close-up look at the sphinx - a huge funeral complex guarded by the legendary lion body with the face of king Chephren and The Valley Temple. Then visit The Egyptian Museum of antiquities. On display is a rare collection of 5000 years of art the largest most precious collection of Egyptian art in the world. Over 250,000 genuine artifacts are presented, including an exhibit dedicated to the Tutankhamen collection of treasures, gold, and jeweler, as it was enclosed in his tomb for over 3,500 years before it was discovered in the 1920s when his tomb was excavated. The tour is including Lunch.Some extra entrance fee has to be paid for the mummy room.
In the evening we will treat you to a Folkloric show. Dinner & Overnight in Cairo.

Day 3: Sailing Day - Staff Show
Enjoy a full day sailing to Beni Suef  115 km south of Cairo, an important agricultural center and historically the Egyptian center of the famous Egyptian linen production. In the evening we invite you for a special entertainment performed by the crew and staff on the ship. Dinner & Overnight on board.

Day 4: Hawara Pyramids - Maydom
Visit Fayoum the oldest city in Egypt built on the remains of a 4000 year old settlement which has been inhabited since per-historic times, known as Crocodopolis since it was dedicated to the crocodile god, Sobek. The crocodile was actually living in a special temple pond and was fed by the priests with food provided by visitors. Excursion to the Hawara Pyramid believed to be the final resting place of the pharaoh Amenemhet III. Continue to Maydom, Pyramid which was originally a step pyramid built for the last ruler of the third dynasty. Drive back to boat will take one and half hour. Dinner & Overnight on board at Beni Suef.

Day 5: Sailing Day
Full day sailing to Minya which takes almost 12 hours The city is about half way on the Nile between Cairo and Luxor and it is the birthplace of pharaoh Cheops the famous builder of the admired pyramid at Giza who rained round 2300 B.C. Mona is the Christian Coptic Center in Egypt where after having been lost for 1700 years a surviving copy of the Gospel of Judas was discovered ( The Codex of Tchacos) Retunr to the ship for. Dinner & Overnight on board at Minya.

Day 6: Beni Hassan - Tuna El Gebel - Ashmunein
After breakfast drive to Beni Hassan tombs, an ancient Egyptian cemetery from the Middle Period where tombs date back to the 21st cnetury B. C. We will visit 4 richly painted and decorated tombs carved in rock: the Tomb of Baqet III, Tomb of Khety, Tomb of Amenemhet and the Tomb of Khnumhotep with colorful depictions of everyday life in ancient Egypt.  Return back to the ship for lunch. After lunch, visit Tuna El Gebel & Ashmunein. One hour drive from Minya dock to Tuna el Gebel to visit the temple -shaped Tomb of Petosiris, tomb of Isadora the tragic girl from the Roman period of Eghypt whose drowned body has been mummified and displayed in her mausoleum. We will also visit the sacred catacombs of Thoth, the ibis-headed god. Then drive to Ashmunein to visit its the open air museum with its massive baboon statues, the remains of the Temple of Thoth and the sanctuary of Amun. Return to the ship. Dinner & Overnight in Minya on baord..

Day 7: Tel El Amarna
Sail to Tel El Amarna (6 hours). After lunch, visit Tel El Amarna site, the eerie remains of  the capital city of pharaoh Akhetaten, the "heretic" ruler who believed in only one god. Visit the remains of his palace and the royal tomb once housed the body of this famed ruler, then return to the ship to sail to the town of Asyut on the west bank of the Nile. Dinner and overnight on board.

Day 8: Sailing Day - Black & White Party
Sail to Sohag a modern city located in an agricultural area on the west bank of the Nile. Sail to El Balyana, the closest city and hop off point to ancient Abydos. This night we feature a night Black & White dress up party. Dinner & Overnight on board

Day 9: Abydos Temple
Visit Abydos Temple from El Balyana which is a 20 minutes drive. The ancient city is one of the oldest ones in the world already inhabited before Egyptian dynastic times as early as 6000 B.C. predating the time of the first pharaohs. Abydos is one of the most important sites in Egypt in its heydays featuring many secret temples and the Necropolis. The highlight of the day is a visit to the Temple of Seti, a warrior ruler from the 19th dynasty of pharaohs who captured the city of  Kadesh from their enemy, the Hittites and was the father of Egypt's greatest ruler, Ramses II.
Inside the temple's Hypostyle Hall and on one of the beams you could find the sensational carvings that caused the greatest  controversy among archeologists and people believing in otherwordly visitations. You can see a series of carving depicting helicopters and spacecraft and submarines.  Return to the ship at Naga Hammadi best known for the collection of ancient Coptic books discovered in the area containing the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Philippe and the Gospel of Truth. This ancient Christian library is now housed in the Coptic Museum in Caior. The boat will pass the two locks and continue sailing to Qena. Dinner & Overnight on board

Day 10: Dendara temple - Belly Dancer Party
This morning after brekfast we drive to Dendara temple complex an other important site in Egyptian history. View the Temple of Hathor, the Egyptian Goddess of  love, joy, feminism and maternity. She is usually depicted as a slender "cow" holding the sun disk among two of her horns. The temple was the place where the famed Dendera Zodiac relief  was found depicting the ancient sky. It is on display at the Louvre.  Return to boat and sail to Luxor. At night Belly Dancer party.
Dinner & Overnight in Luxor.

Day 11: Luxor: West Bank: Valley of the Kings - Temple of Queen Hatshepsute - Colossi of Memnon
Breakfast. Visit the West Bank including: Valley of the Kings (Is a valley in Egypt where for a period of nearly 500 years from the 16th to 11th century BC, tombs were constructed for the kings and powerful nobles of the New Kingdom (the Eighteenth through Twentieth Dynasties of Ancient Egypt). The valley stands on the west bank of the Nile, across from Thebes (modern Luxor), within the heart of the Theban Necropolis.), Colossi of Memnon (The two colossi are made of sandstone, which during ancient times was brought from Gabal El Silselah. Each colossus, including the pedestal and the crown, is about 21m tall and represents King Amenhotep III seating on his throne, wearing the Memes, or royal headdress, with the divine cobra protecting his forehead. On the sides of the colossi there is a representation of the Nile god Hapi, bending together the lotus and the papyrus plants, symbolizing the union of Upper and Lower Egypt) and Temple of Queen Hatshepsute (Hatshepsut was the fifth Pharaoh of the18th-dynasty who was one of the handful of female rulers in Ancient Egypt. Her reign was the longest of all the female pharaohs. Her funerary temple still stands as a tribute to her incredible rise to power). Dinner & Overnight in Luxor.

Day 12: Luxor: East Bank – Karnak Temple - Luxor Temple - GALABYA PARTY
Breakfast. Visit the Karnak Temple, which is a serious of temples, built in different reigns. Starting by the Avenue of Sphinxes visit the Unfinished Propylon, the Hypostyle Hall with it's 134 gigantic columns, the Obelisks of Queen Hatshepsute and Tutomosis III, the temple of Amon adorned with lotus and papyrus designs, the Granite Scarbeus of Amenophis III and the Sacred Lake. Then visit Luxor Temple, It was known in the New Kingdom period as Ipt-Rsyt, which means the southern shrine. This was to differentiate between this Temple and Karnak Temple, which was the northern house of Amon Ra. Sail to Edfu. At night GALABYA PARTY. Dinner & Overnight on board.

Day 13: Edfu Temple – Kom Ombo Temple
Morning visit The Edfu Temple (Lies in Edfu town, 123 km north of Aswan on the west bank of the Nile. It dates to the Ptolemaic period. It was dedicated to the worship of god Hours represented as a falcon. It is one of the most beautiful Egyptian temples, distinguished by its huge splendid structure that blends Pharaonic and Greek architecture. Its grandeur competes with Luxor temples. It is the second largest temple after Karnak. It also houses the Nilometer and a huge pylon at the entrance). Sail to Kom Ombo and Visit the Kom-Ombo Temple (Located in Kom Ombo town, 45 km north of Aswan. It is built on a hillside overlooking the Nile. This temple was constructed in the Ptolemaic Roman era for the worship of god Haroeris and Sobek, the crocodile god. It is noted for relief engravings on its walls which show ancient surgical tools, bone saws and dentistry tools. Nearby there are three mummified crocodiles. They are now in Hathor's chapel). Sail to Aswan. Dinner & Overnight in Aswan.

Day 14: Aswan: Philae Temple - High Dam – Nubian Show
After Breakfast, Excursion tour to visit, Philae Temple (The Temple of Isis is one of the greatest Temples in Egypt and it occupies about a quarter of the island. It is the main Temple on the island, with its huge, complete, pylons and beautiful scenes) and High Dam (One of the most outstanding architectural achievements of the twentieth century. It was constructed to replace the old Aswan dam built in 1902. The High dam was constructed to protect Egypt from the floods as well as providing irrigation and electricity all over Egypt. It is 3600 meters long. Visitors can easily locate Lake Nasser which is a huge water reservoir). At night Nubian Show Party. Dinner & Overnight in Aswan.

Day 15: Aswan: Disembarkation.
After breakfast, Disembarkation. Check out from the Nile Cruise. Possibility to add a side trip to Abu Simbel with its 2 fantastic temples of Ramses II and his favorite wife, Nefertari.