Off the Beaten Track to the Treasures of Egypt

Enjoy breakfast at your hotel in the morning before starting your pyramid tour where you will visit the Great Pyramids of Giza: Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure, Valley Temple and the Sphinx. You will have lunch at a local restaurant. Not far away lies the Necropolis of Saqqara where the ruins of the Step Pyramid of King Zoser, the first Pyramid ever built, stands. Overnight at your hotel in Cairo. Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner. Visits: Great Pyramids of Giza, Valley Temple, Sphinx, Saqqara, Step Pyramid of King Zoser.

You will explore Cairo, the city of a thousand minarets, by starting the tour with Al Darb Al Ahmar, the area south of Cairo's city walls; between Bab Zuweila and the Citadel, was initially the site of Fatimid and Ayyubid-era cemeteries. Under the prosperous reign of Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad (between 1293 and 1341), the population of the city reached its peak and the area began to be developed in earnest. After that you will visit Salah El Din Citadel, the Alabaster Mosque of Mohamed Ali, then proceed to Sultan Hassan Mosque and Madrasa which is considered Stylistically the most compact and unified of all Cairo monuments. Then, you will visit the Mosque of Ahmed Ibn Tulun; this mosque is cosnidered to be the third large mosque built in Egypt. It is characterized by its spacious hall (saha), its unique spiral minaret and a large collection of gypsum decoration. Meals: Breakfast, Lunch. Visits: Cairo, Al Darb Al Ahmar neighbourhood, Salah El Din Citadel, the Alabaster Mosque of Mohamed Ali, Sultan Hassan Mosque and Madrasa, Ahmed Ibn Tulun Mosque.

You will have an early departure to be driven from Cairo to Fayoum, 60 km from Cairo. You will visit Lake Qaroun and then proceed to the National park of Wadi Rayan where we visit the Water Falls, Gabal Al Modawara and the Wales Cemetery. Enjoy a picnic Lunch. Later, you will head to El Minya and upon arrival, you will be transfered to Grand Aton El Minya hotel for check-in. Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner Visits: Fayoum, Lake Qaroun, National park of Wadi Rayan, Fayoum Water Falls, Gabal Al Modawara, Wales Cemetery, El Minya.

You will visit the necropolis of Tuna El Gabal, which includes many important elements such as the crypts of baboons and Ibis that actually represent the god Thoth, the tomb of Isadora, the tomb of the priest Pet-osiers, the old water wheel and the boundary stele of the city of the Aton. Proceed to Al Ashmunien, the ancient city of Hermopolis, where you will visit the open museum with the two colossal baboon statues and the ruins of the basilica church with its Rose granite columns. Then, proceed to the site of Beni Hasan, eastern bank of the Nile. There you will visit the unique rock-cut tombs with its scenes depicting local and regional life during the Middle Kingdom. Many of these have scenes of wrestling and military training. Overnight at the hotel. Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner. Visits: El Minya, The Necropolis of Tuna El Gabal, Al Ashmunien, Beni Hasan.

After breakfast, you will be driven to Tell Al Amarna, the capital of Akhnaton, where you will explore the city, the northern and the southern tombs, the ruins of the palace and temples and finally the royal tomb. Then, you will go to Assuit city to visit Al Muharraq Monastery, 48 kilometers north of Assiut. The Holy Family stayed there for 6 months and 10 days, the longest period spent at any single site, and then you will head to Meir Village which was the functioning cemetery for Cusae, located in Egypt, approximately thirty to forty miles north of the city of Assuit. Meir functioned as an Old Kingdom-Middle Kingdom (6th-12th Dynasty) cemetery for the nomarchs of the fourteenth Nome of Upper Egypt. Below the hillside of the rock-cut tombs lies a cemetery that is specifically for the more common folk. The rock-cut tombs only functioned for nomarchs of the city of Cusae, which was a cult center for the Egyptian deity Hathor. Last, you will be driven to Abydos. Overnight at Abydous. Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner. Visits: Tell Al Amarna, Assuit city, Al Muharraq Monastery, Meir Village.

- Have breakfast on board. - Visit Horus Temple in Edfu. - Enjoy lunch on board. - Enjoy an afternoon tea and a relax time while sailing to Kom Ombo. - Visit the Temple of Kom Ombo shared by the two gods Sobek and Haeroris in Kom Ombo. - Sail to Aswan. - Have an appetizing dinner on board. Overnight in Aswan. Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner. Visits: Horus Temple, Kom Ombo, Kom Ombo Temple, Aswan.

- Have breakfast on board. - Disembark after breakfast. - Get transferred to Aswan Airport for your flight to Cairo where you will take your flight home. Meals: Breakfast.