Egypt Kingdom of Civilization

Day 1 – Arrive Cairo

Upon arrival at Cairo International Airport, you are met by your Tour Coordinator who assists you with immigration and obtaining your luggage. You are then transferred by air-conditioned vehicle to your centrally-located hotel and assisted with check-in.

Overnight: The Four Seasons

Day 2 – Cairo

After breakfast at your hotel, you are introduced to your Egyptologist and begin your tour with a visit to the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities. Exhibiting over 120,000 objects in its 107 halls, the Museum of Antiquities boasts the world’s greatest collection of Ancient Egyptian artifacts. Venture into the fascinating Mummy Room within the museum, housing eleven royal Kings and Queens of ancient Egypt, including the Great Ramses II; Egypt’s longest ruling pharaoh.

Enjoy lunch at one of Cairo’s finest restaurants and the rest of your day is at leisure.

Overnight: The Four Seasons

Day 3 – Cairo – Aswan

After a buffet breakfast at your hotel, transfer by private air-conditioned car to Cairo Airport to take your domestic flight to Abu Simbel and then Aswan.

Upon arrival in Abu Simbel, meet your representative who escorts you to the Temple of Abu Simbel by private vehicle and introduces you to your resident Egyptologist.

Visit the Temple of Abu Simbel built by the Great Ramses II. This temple is one of the most recognizable images in the country. Two temples, namely the Great Temple of Ra-Harakhte, fronted by the four colossal statues of Ramses II and the Temple of Hathor, dedicated to Ramses’ favorite wife Queen Nefertari. Both were moved to their current location when the creation of Lake Nasser threatened their existence.

Continue to Aswan, where you are greeted and transferred to your Sanctuary Nile Cruise.

Entertainment on board the Sanctuary Nile Cruises

Exact entertainment schedules during your cruise are adjusted according to the needs of each group and the sailing schedules of the boat are subject to change. However, every Sanctuary Nile Cruise Will include:

A colourful galabeyya party which gives each guest the opportunity to dress up in traditional Egyptian dress and dance to Arabic music.

A Folkloric show accompanied by a whirling dervish show in Aswan.

A lecture by your Egyptologist guide.

Food & Beverage

Menus are changed on a seasonal basis to enable the Chef to use the freshest ingredients at all times. However, the following is applicable to every cruise:

Most meals are served in the restaurant. However, at least one barbecue lunch (while sailing) will be served on deck (weather permitting).

Mineral water, tea and American coffee are included with every meal.

Please note: that the strength of the WI-FI signals unavoidably varies depending on geographical location, especially whilst sailing in the more remote areas of Upper Egypt.

Check-in to your five-star deluxe Nile cruise boat where you are welcomed by the reception staff.

After lunch on board, take a ride on a felucca (a typical Egyptian sail boat) around Elephantine Island, Lord Kitchener’s Botanical Garden and the Agha Khan Mausoleum (weather permitting, life jackets will be provided).

Afternoon is served on board for you today enjoy after your felucca ride.

This evening you are greeted by your Boat Manager for a cocktail reception, who reviews your cruise program for the upcoming days. Enjoy Egyptian wine and beer with a selection of canapés, followed by a gourmet dinner. A folkloric show and a Whirling Dervish show follow.

Overnight: Sanctuary Nile Cruise

Day 4 – Philae and Kom Ombo

A breakfast buffet is served on board followed by a short motorboat ride to visit the romantic and majestic Philae Temple on the Island of Agilika. Next, it’s on to the Granite Quarries, which supplied the ancient Egyptians with most of the hard stone used in pyramids and temples. Here you see the Unfinished Obelisk, located in the northern region of the stone quarries

Later, an Egyptian cooking lesson is presented on board.

Enjoy lunch, while you cruise to Kom Ombo and visit the magnificent Temple of Kom Ombo, dedicated to the crocodile-god Sobek.

Afternoon tea is served while you cruise to Edfu.

Tonight’s dinner on board is an Egyptian Night costume party for all guests, with a chance to dress up in traditional Egyptian galabeyya. Dinner will be a lavish buffet of Egyptian specialities, followed by oriental music and dancing for everyone.

Overnight: Sanctuary Nile Cruise

Day 5 – Temple of Khnum and Temple of Horus

Breakfast is served on board, followed by a morning visit to explore the extraordinary Temple of Horus. Despite being built by the Greeks, this impressive structure is the largest and most complete preserved Pharaonic temple in Egypt.

Return to your boat and continue cruising to Esna as you enjoy lunch.

This afternoon, your Egyptologist guides you round the Greco-Roman Temple of Khnum at Esna. The beautifully-preserved Great Hypostle 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 lower than present-day street level.

Afternoon tea is served as you sail to Luxor.

Tonight, a sumptuous dinner is served on board.

Overnight: Sanctuary Nile Cruise

Day 6 – East and West

A breakfast buffet is served on board whilst sailing to Luxor. This morning your Egyptologist guides you around the strikingly graceful Temple of Luxor dedicated to the god Amun and then onwards to the Temple of Karnak.

After lunch, visit the West Bank of Luxor to explore the Valley of the Kings and the Tomb of the Pharoah Seti I which is very impressive. It was discovered in 1817 and is undoubtedly the best-preserved tombs in the Valley of the Kings. The art that you see here, set the precedent for all the tombs that followed. You also have the chance to visit at least one tomb in the Valley of the Queens and visit the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut. On the way back to the river Nile, pass by the famed Colossi of Memnon, known in Ancient Greek times for their haunting voices at dawn.

Return to your cruise for afternoon tea on board.

Tonight’s farewell dinner is a gala dinner, with white-gloved waiters serving gourmet cuisine

Overnight: Sanctuary Nile Cruise

Day 7 – Disembark at Luxor

A buffet breakfast is served on board, before check-out at 8:00. Transfer by private air-conditioned car to Luxor Airport from where you take your domestic flight back to Cairo.

Transfer to the Four Seasons Hotel and enjoy the rest of the day at leisure.

Overnight: The Four Seasons

Day 8 – Cairo

After breakfast this morning, begin your day at the Citadel, a medieval fortress perched high on limestone hills above Cairo, which was built in 1176 to protect the city from Crusaders. Today, the Citadel complex houses mosques and museums, including the National Military Museum. Next, take a cultural walking tour down Muiz El-Din Allah Street, recalling the time when it was the main thoroughfare through the heart of Old Cairo. Start at Baab El-Fotouh, the massive fortified gate in the north wall of the historic city and walk towards Baab Zuweila, the gate in the south, along the way seeing beautiful Islamic monuments and busy markets where Egyptians buy their everyday items. This street has more listed buildings per meter than any other in the world.

Lunch today is served at Naguib Mahfouz Restaurant in the heart of the Khan El Khalili Bazaar.

Finally, visit 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.  Wander through the labyrinth of narrow streets to find workshops and stalls selling all manner of things from woodwork and glassware to leather goods and perfumes.

Overnight: The Four Seasons

Day 9 – Cairo

After breakfast, your day begins with a visit of the Great Pyramids of Giza which are the only present-day survivors of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, built over 4,500 years ago as giant tombs for the mummies of the pharaohs Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure, who were father, son and grandson. The pyramids are truly monumental in scale, with the largest, Khufu’s, constructed from over two million blocks. The pyramids were not built by slaves but by Egyptian peasants, whose labor in building the pyramids paid their taxes to the Pharaoh, who also fed, clothed and housed them.

Nearby sits the enigmatic Sphinx with the body of a lion and the face of a man wearing a royal head cloth, which workers may have based on King Khafre to guard his enormous funerary monument. About a thousand years after the Sphinx was built, it was covered in sand until a young prince had a dream in which the Sphinx told him that if he cleared the sand away, he would become Pharaoh. This story is told on the Dream Stela that was placed between the Sphinx’s paws by King Tuthmose IV.

Lunch is served at a local restaurant.

This afternoon, visit the pyramids of Sakkara. Sakkara is the former necropolis (cemetery) for the ancient Egyptian city of Memphis and the place where the very first pyramids were built as tombs for kings. Instead of the smooth sides featured on other pyramids, the pyramids here feature six steps on the outside, representing the pharaoh’s stepladder to heaven. Discover the famous Step Pyramid of King Zoser, the first pyramid ever built and the world’s oldest freestanding stone structure. Admire the beautiful tomb art at Sakkara, which gives great insight into the lives of the ancient Egyptians.

Overnight: The Four Seasons

Day 10 – Depart Cairo

Enjoy breakfast at your hotel and then transfer with your Tour Coordinator to Cairo Airport for your departure flight.