Classic Egypt Nile Cruise Tour

Welcome to Egypt. On arrival at Luxor Airport, you will be met and assisted by one of our memphis Tours representatives and escorted in an air conditioned vehicle to your 5 Star Nile Cruise Boat for embarkation and check in. After check in you will settle into your Cruise cabin and later be introduced to you expert English speaking Tour Guide who will give you a briefing on your Classic Egypt Nile Cruise tour itinerary. Enjoy your first evening with dinner on board and time to rest. Overnight in Luxor.

After breakfast on your cruise boat, your Tour Guide will accompany you for your first tour in Luxor, starting with the impressive karnak Temple, the largest place of worship ever built. Its ancient name Ipet-isut means ‘The Most Sacred of Places’. The Temple or more correctly, the complex of Temples, was built over more than two thousand years ago by generation after generation of Pharaohs. Within the complex, the great ‘Hypostyle Hall’ is an incredible forest of giant pillars. Next on to nearby Luxor Temple (the two Temples were once linked by the ‘Avenue of Sphinx’ which is currently being reconstructed).

Then continue the tour to visit the majestic Luxor Temple which was built by Amenhotep III and Ramses II for ritual and festivals and dedicated to the God Amun. Return to your cruise for lunch and afternoon tea. Time in the evening to take an optional tour of the ‘Sound and Light Show’ at karnak temple, depicting the ancient history of ‘Thebes’ ( the Pharaonic Capital of old Luxor). Overnight and dinner on board in Luxor.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Early morning the boat will set sail on your delightful Nile river journey, watching life on this ancient and biblical river unchanged for centuries. See the local life with the villagers and fishermen along with wildlife that inhabit this region. Enjoy your breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea whilst sailing until reaching Kom Ombo Temple, the only Egyptian Temple dedicated to two Gods, that of Sobek, the Crocodile God of Fertility and life, and Horus the Falcon Headed God the Elder, (the Good Sister, a special form of Hathor). After the visit, you will sail on to Aswan, home of the colourful and friendly Nubians. Pass under the large constructed Aswan bridge (great for photo’s) and known as the Gateway to Nubia. See the lovely lights of the granite cliffs illuminating the ‘Tombs of the Nobles’ on arrival in Aswan. Overnight in Aswan.

Breakfast on board your Nile cruise with free time to explore Aswan City and it’s colourful incense and spice market. Highly recommended is the optional tour to the Abu Simbel Temples. Driving from Aswan to Abu Simbel by a private air-conditioned vehicle. Arrive at Abu Simbel on Lake Nasser to be in awe of the huge structure of the Temple of Ramses II, dedicated to the four universal Gods Ptah, Re-Harakhte, Amun-Re, and to Ramesses II. The second temple is dedicated to the beloved wife of Ramesses, Nefertari. Other optional tours are available in Aswan such as the Nubian Museum, Nibian Villages, St. Simeon’s monastery, Kitchener’s Island, Tombs of the Nobles, and Aswan Market. Lunch and free leisure time in Aswan. Dinner on board and Overnight in Aswan.

Another exciting day awaits you after breakfast on board the Nile cruise vessel where you will be escorted by your Egyptologist tour guide in Aswan for an amazing tour to visit the High Dam, built in the 1960’s to provide the much needed electricity and irrigation for the country. Nubia, the area that was flooded, experienced the biggest and most thorough archaeological excavations that Egypt has ever known. Then a visit to see the ‘Unfinished Obelisk’ which still lies in the granite quarries which provided ancient Egypt with building materials. It would have been the largest piece of stone ever handled but when a crack was discovered it was abandoned where it was being hewn. Cross by boat to Angilika Island, to see Philae Temple which is one of the Nubian Temples rescued before the High Dam was built. Enjoy Philae’s long colonnades, towers and reliefs which include the last surviving hieroglyphic and demotic inscriptions in Egypt. Dinner with overnight stay in Aswan with time to explore the city independently or with an optional tour and Guide. Overnight in Aswan.

Sailing back towards Luxor with a restful day enjoying the views. Lunch and afternoon tea on board with a stop at Edfu temple with your Tour Guide. Horus Temple in Edfu is considered the best-preserved ptolemaic cult Temple in Egypt dedicated to Horus the Falcon-Headed God. Sailing on to Luxor and arriving late with dinner on board. Overnight in Luxor.

After breakfast you will be escorted by your Tour Guide on a fascinating and ancient tour of the West Bank of Luxor with your Tour Guide. Stepping back in time, you will start at the Colossi of Memnon, the two colossal statues of Amenhotep III then a journey into ancient Egyptian history at the Valley of the Kings, where the magnificent Tombs were discovered including the famous boy King Tutankhamun. These Tombs were carved deep into the desert rock, richly decorated and filled with treasures from the afterlife of the Pharaohs and include a visit 3 Tombs. Then you will continue your tour to Hatshepsut Temple at El Deir El Bahary. This impressive Temple was dedicated to Queen Hatshepsut the only female Pharaoh, rising out of the desert plain in a series of terraces and merges with the sheer limestone cliffs. (The three tombs visited are determined by the Egyptian Government as to preserve them from the large flow of visitors, therefore are rotated throughout the year and cannot be confirmed as to which tombs prior to your visit ). Back to the boat for free time at your leisure with optional tours available. Overnight on the boat. Back to your Nile cruise to begin your lovely sail along the Nile towards Esna, a small city with a large Lock which all of the Nile boats have to pass through. A great photo opportunity. Overnight in Luxor.
Please note* There is an additional charge to enter the Tombs of of King Tutankhamun and Ramses VI.

Breakfast on board then disembarkation from your Nile Cruise to be transferred to Luxor Airport for your flight home.