8 Days Cairo & Nile Cruise by Flight

Breakfast first, then your guide meets you at the hotel and the day begins. The Giza Pyramids are one of those places that genuinely stops you in your tracks, no matter how many photos you've seen. You'll visit all three — Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure — and spend time with the Great Sphinx up close. Most people are surprised by how much there is to take in at the Valley Temple too, with its views over the plateau. Lunch is at a good local restaurant nearby. The afternoon takes you to the Grand Egyptian Museum — one of the biggest museums in the world, and easily one of the best. The collection spans thousands of years: jewelry, royal statues, everyday objects that give you a real sense of what life actually looked like in ancient Egypt. It's a lot to take in, in the best way. Back to the hotel in the evening. Meals: Breakfast, Lunch Accommodation: Cairo

After breakfast, you'll head to the airport for the short flight down to Luxor — the old capital of the New Kingdom, and still one of the most extraordinary places in the country. Your guide meets you on arrival and takes you straight to the East Bank. Karnak Temple is first: it's enormous, and the Hypostyle Hall — a forest of towering columns — is worth taking your time in. Then Luxor Temple, right on the riverfront, with its avenue of sphinxes and colossal statues standing exactly where they've always stood. By evening, you'll board your Nile cruise and settle into your cabin. Dinner is on the ship as you ease into river life. Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner Accommodation: Nile Cruise

After breakfast, you cross the Nile to the West Bank — the side reserved, in the ancient world, for the dead. The Valley of the Kings is where Egypt's pharaohs were buried, their tombs carved deep into the limestone cliffs and covered with painted scenes. You'll go inside several of them, including Tutankhamun's. Across the valley, the Temple of Hatshepsut rises in terraces against the cliff face — built for one of Egypt's few female rulers, and still striking after 3,500 years. The Colossi of Memnon wrap up the morning: two massive seated statues, battered by time, still standing in the middle of a field. Back to the ship for lunch, then an afternoon drifting south along the Nile. Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner Accommodation: Nile Cruise

Off the ship in the morning to visit Edfu Temple — dedicated to Horus, and one of the best-preserved temples in Egypt. The reliefs inside tell the story of Horus's battles, and the place's scale is hard to prepare for. Back on board for lunch, then on to Kom Ombo. This one's unusual: a double temple, split symmetrically between two gods — Sobek the crocodile and Horus the falcon. The Crocodile Museum next door displays actual mummified crocodiles, which is exactly as strange and fascinating as it sounds. That evening, the ship hosts a Galabeya party — Egyptian music, traditional dress, and dancing on deck. Worth joining in. Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner Accommodation: Nile Cruise

Breakfast, then into Aswan — a quieter, more relaxed city than Luxor or Cairo, with a different feel entirely. The Aswan High Dam is a good starting point for understanding modern Egypt: an enormous piece of engineering that reshaped the country's agriculture and electricity in one move. Then a short boat ride to Philae Temple, sitting on its own island in the Nile. It was moved here stone by stone in the 1970s to save it from the rising waters behind the dam. The setting, surrounded by water and palms, is genuinely beautiful. Lunch and overnight back on the ship. Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner Accommodation: Nile Cruise

Breakfast on the ship, then a transfer to Aswan Airport for the flight back to Cairo. The rest of the day is free — rest, explore, or do a bit of both. Optional: A day trip to Abu Simbel, about an hour south by plane. The temples of Ramses II there are on a different scale from anything else in Egypt — two cliff-cut temples that were also moved to save them from the dam's floodwaters. If you have time, it's worth it. Meals: Breakfast Accommodation: Cairo

Breakfast at the hotel, then we'll get you to Cairo Airport in good time for your flight home. It's been a pleasure traveling with you — safe onward journey, and we hope Egypt exceeded expectations. Meals: Breakfast