The Golden Age of Egypt - Cairo, Alexandria & Ancient Nile Cruise

Your Provisional Itinerary

Day 1 Wednesday Depart the UK and arrive in Cairo where you will be met. It's a quick transfer to your hotel for check in followed by a welcome drink in the hotel in the bar, which apparently was King Farouk’s favourite. 1st evening meal together .

Day 2 Thursday Local down town tour with guide. 

Day 3 Friday Museums , Pyramids and Giza 

Day 4 Saturday Day Visit to Alexandria, approx. 2 hours each way. Visit the Royal Jewellery Museum containing an inestimable collection of jewellery of the Muhammad Ali Dynasty. This palace of Princess Fatma Al-Zahra’ was originally built in 1919. It has 4,185 square meters interior space and is surrounded by gardens. Having a strong European architectural design, it was built by Italian, French and Belgium architects following the themes of the teaching of Michelangelo. 

Your adventure in Alexandria will include a downtown tour, also the famous Cornice which is the promenade on the sea where the lighthouse and library were originally housed . This will be a full day out!

Day 5 Sunday Palaces and the Grand Museum*

Day 6 Monday Depart Cairo to fly down to Luxor to join our Nile Cruise.where you will be met, then it’s a 45-minute transfer by private mini bus to the banks of the River Nile. Your own private motor boat waits to cross the Nile for a quick transfer to the West Bank where your private Dahabiyas are moored. The crew manage your luggage, so you can sit back and relax while it is taken to your cabin. A light snack of sandwiches and cake will be served and tea/coffee will also be available.

Day 7 Tuesday

Private transport visiting the following –

Guided sightseeing tour of the VALLEY OF KINGS on the West Bank of the Nile, where generations of Pharaohs and nobles were buried in great splendour in crypts cut into the cliffs. Sixty two tombs have been uncovered so far, of which only the tomb of Tutankhamun was intact when discovered in 1922. Visit DEIR EL-BAHRI, Queen Hatshepsut’s monumental rock temple, then onto the Coloosi of Memnon before returning to your Dahabiya where your crew awaits you for lunch.

After lunch a motor boat will take you across the river Nile where a bus will be waiting to take you across the Nile to visit Karnak Temple. After the temple tour, it’s free time to visit the Souk for an hour or so, maybe get your final night fancy dress attire! Returning to the Dahabiya, time for a change and freshen up preparing to say goodbye to Luxor with an Italian aperitivo reception on deck then it’s your first evening meal together. Dinner will be served on deck.

Meals - Breakfast, Lunch, Aperitivo, Dinner on board.

Day 8 Wednesday

Set sail early morning making our way down to Esna and the lock, going through the lock at lunchtime. Continue for the rest of the day sailing towards El Kab where you will moor for the night.

Meals – Breakfast, lunch & dinner on board 

Day 9 Thursday

After breakfast we start visit the village of El Kab where you will see the locals making bread, selling the baskets which they produce made out of recycled bags. Walking on to the Tombs around the great mud brick wall which encloses the now closed site of Nekbet, you can still see the glory of the 3000-year-old wall.

Returning to the boat late morning where you will continue to sail on to Edfu, visiting the Temple of Horus and the most intact temple in the country late afternoon, your transport will be a horse and cart. Mooring for the night at the Island of Ramadi.

Meals – Breakfast, lunch & dinner on board 

Day 10 Friday

Starting our sail down to the Quarries at Silsila during breakfast

Plenty of birds to identify , watching the local fisherman in there colourful rowing boats.

Late morning visit the site of Silsila with a small chapel dedicated to Horemheb.

During the 18th dynasty the Egyptians switched from limestone to sandstone. At this time the quarries at Gebelein were not yielding as much limestone as before. Gebel el-Silsila became a source of sandstone.

Many of the talatats used by Akhenaten were quarried from here, and used in buildings at Luxor and Amarna. A stela from the early part of Akhenaten's reign shows the king offering to Amun beneath the winged sun-disk. The inscription records that stone was cut for the great Benben of Harakhty in Thebes. Akhenaten's sculptor Bek oversaw the opening of a stone quarry here. Returning to the boat where we continue our sail to Aswan.

Meals – Breakfast, lunch & dinner on board 

Day 11 Saturday.

For those visiting Abu Simbel, breakfast at 5am . Leaving the boat at 5.30am to Aswan airport for your flight at 7.05am. Arriving to Abu Simbel at 7.40am and transfer to the site. Visiting Abu Simbel for 2 hours before returning to the airport for the flight back to Aswan at 11am where your transfer will be waiting to take you back to the Dahabiya. Arriving back for lunch at around 1pm.

Optional Excursion to Abu Simbel - The Temple of a King 1290 and 1224 BC.

It's worth the early start as you arrive at the temples first thing, avoiding the mid-day sun and hopefully experiencing a desert sunrise too. 

Abu Simbel consists of two magnificent temples excavated into the rock, one is dedicated to Ramses II, the other to Nefertiti, his favourite wife. The temples took over 20 years to complete all under the management of Ramses II. 

Amazingly these temples were originally preserved and buried underneath sand for centuries and then secondly survived major flooding by an amazing feat of modern-day engineering which involved physically moving these gigantic temples to a new location just south of Aswan ensuring they would be preserved, protected and adored for ever!

• Pickup directly from the boat @ 5 30  am  
• Pickup services from your boat and return 
• Internal Flight to Abu Simbel 
• Transfers & transportation by private air-conditioned mini bus 
• Assistance during the tour
• Professional English-speaking Egyptologist guide.
• Entrance fees to Abu Simbel
• Bottle of Water
• Pre packed snacks fruit and bread to take along with you

Lunch will be waiting for you when you return re-joining the sail boat 

2 hours on site at the Magnificent Abu Simbel Temple .

Note from Claire Dymond of Wings, this is one of the most magnificent temples she has ever had the privilege to see, it’s definitely one to put on you bucket list.

A relaxing morning on deck for those not visiting Abu Simbel. Lunch served on the return of the rest of the group. We will then start our journey back towards Komombo.

Mooring for the night at Darow. Guests will have chance to put on their local dress for an Egyptian music night where the crew will play and sing for you all. You'll need to take some costumes with you or get something while you are there!

Day 12 Sunday

After breakfast visit the site of Komombo.

Set dramatically on the bank of the Nile, 47 kilometres north of Aswan and 168 kilometers south of Luxor, the soaring, chunky columns of the Great Temple of Kom Ombo are a magnificent sight as you arrive from the river. Dedicated to the gods Sobek and Haroeris, the temple's finely carved reliefs give a sense of this area's prominence as capital over the surrounding region during the Ptolemaic era. Today Kom Ombo may be a sleepy agricultural backwater surrounded by sugar cane fields, but its prime position along the Nile once made it one of Upper Egypt's most important cities.

Returning to the boat late morning when we will start our journey back down the Nile reaching Esna around 7pm. 

Meals – Breakfast, lunch & dinner on board 

Last day sailing, your Captains will find a nice quiet spot for a swim, for those that want. All ready to be back on board for lunch, then starting our journey back to Esna. Reaching Esna in the evening where you will moor for the final night.

Day 13 Monday

Breakfast will be served from 5am as your transport will be ready to leave from Esna at 5.45am to take you to Luxor airport and your onward journey home.

WingsItaly adventures focus on experiences, therefore a high level of flexibility is required on this trip. As we have a personal local guide throughout we may change plans in order to follow the magical moments. 

Cairo Accommodation

You will be staying in a classic 1920s hotel in down town Cairo in the historical stock exchange area. The iconic Cosmopolitan Hotel opened originally in1925, built by an Italian architect in an era of opulence and luxury, sadly, the hotel closed its doors in 1961, however it has been recently refurnished giving its guests the flavour of the roaring 20's atmosphere! 

Exploring locally there are lots of historical beautiful buildings, silent relics of a by gone era, feeling like you are suddenly transported to a strange worn-out copy of a European city during the 1920s, now with a touch of the modern-day Cairo. 

However, whilst the heavy dust and the recent times have muffled their voices, and are drowned out by the heavy city Cairo traffic, these buildings still remain and so do the rich stories of their pasts. 

https://cosmopolitancairo.com

Your Cruise

Dahabiyeh - The African Queen will be your home for this 7-night adventure floating on the Nile with Egypt’s strong Roman history how better than to be hosted by WingsItaly, Andrea Dal Moro and Claire, alongside them the Dahabiyeh owners Jane and Alaa. Alaa’s company has an amazing history, the business started with Feluccas over 30 years ago, all sons followed in their father’s footsteps, learning the traditional trade of boat making and today they manage a majestic fleet on the Nile. 

In the early 19th Century if the wind dropped Dahabiyehs would have been rowed by hand and while you can’t control the wind, you can work with it so we are delighted to confirm you will not be expected to row, as tug boats are at hand and used when necessary!

Breakfast and lunch served on the deck of each boat daily, all evening meals will be served on one boat, granting friends coming together after a day exploring this magical land.

http://nilesailing.com/index.html for more information 

The African Queen, 45 metres

The African Queen boasts 10 spacious cabins on a 45 meter vessel. The cabins have either a double bed or 2 twin beds, all with plenty of cupboard space and double windows to watch the landscape go by. The windows have shutters if you prefer a darker room and they all open up to enjoy the gentle breeze as you sail along. For your comfort each window is also fitted with a mosquito screen. Each cabin has its own large bathroom with all the modern amenities including power showers and lots of fluffy towels - Egyptian cotton of course, perfect when returning from the desert exploration and wanting to freshen up.

The deck of this matchless boat has plenty of soft comfortable seating, decorated with an African theme, in both an area shaded with a canvas canopy and at the front of the boat where you can enjoy the sun. There are plenty of rattan chairs and deck chairs available on the deck on which to relax whilst admiring the beauties of Egypt and its abundant wildlife as it silently glides by.

The evening meal is generally served on the deck but if the guests find the night air a bit too chilly the salon makes an excellent dining area. A large area spanning the width of the boat, the salon, has lots of comfortable seating all around the room, where you can enjoy conversations about your days events with your fellow passengers or just simply relax quietly with a book.

Provisional Flight information

11/10/23 London Heathrow to Cairo Dep: 1520 Arr: 2040

16/10/23  Cairo to Luxor  Dep: 1340 Arr: 1440

23/10/23  Luxor to Cairo  Dep: 1300  Arr: 1430

23/10/23 Cairo to London Heathrow Dep:1735 Arr: 2105

If booking own flight option the internal flight from Cairo to Luxor is included.

Passport validity

You should have at least 6 months remaining on your passport from the start date of your holiday and your passport must be less than 10 years old (even if it has 6 months or more left). Your visa for entry can be purchased on arrival in Egypt.

Travel Insurance

Please ensure that you have adequate personal travel insurance to suit your requirements in place before you travel. Spice Escapes have arranged a scheme with Staysure who are fully authorised and regulated by the FCA (firm reference number 663617) full details of which can be found on the FCA website www.fca.org.uk. For an instant online quotation please click here.

The latest FCO travel guidance for Egypt

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/Egypt

Egypt is Muslim country therefore alcohol will not be available at certain times and can be expensive compared to many European countries. Local bars, stores and some restaurants serve alcohol and European wines 

Please note this is a traditional sail boat, generators are required on board, in line with conservation, respecting the environment the generators will stop and be switched off overnight once everyone is in bed, they will come on around 6.30am the following morning meaning no electricity and water supply overnight.

NB - Sometimes things happen, times and itinerary’s may change due to circumstances out of our control, nearer the time a detailed itinerary and information hints, tips pack will be provided.

*Wi-Fi - please note whilst Wi fi is available, high quality constant connectivity whilst sailing on the Nile cannot be guaranteed.