Egypt by Land

You’ll be met inside passport control by our Cairo team who will assist you with securing your visa and escorting you through immigration, baggage claim, customs and on to the Four Seasons First Residence on the Nile. 

Following breakfast, we’ll begin at the Great Pyramids of Giza c. We’ll also approach the Sphinx and its watchful gaze. A camel ride across the desert may strike one as a bit touristy, but we guarantee you’ll never forget the experience. We’ll enjoy lunch at the landmark Mena House where Churchill and Roosevelt met during the Second World War. Afterward, we’ll visit the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities downtown or the new Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza should it have opened, both the greatest repositories of ancient Egyptian treasures in the world. Following a guided visit, we’ll return to our hotel to freshen up before a delightful welcome dinner.  Meals B+L+D

This morning we fly south to Abu Simbel c and the two temples of Ramses II. Originally on the southern frontier of Ancient Egypt, the nearly 3,000-year-old temples with 67-foot-high statues of the Pharaoh, still intact and carved from solid rock, are overpowering even today. We’ll fly to Aswan where our private vehicle will meet us for our drive up the Nile to the Temple of Horus at Edfu, another of Egypt’s most spectacular ancient monuments. This 2,000-year-old temple complex is renowned for its monumental reliefs, its impressive setting and exquisite hieroglyphics. We’ll continue on to Luxor.  Meals B+L

After breakfast, we cross the Nile and drive west to the fabled Valley of the Kings c. Here, the pharaohs of the 18th Dynasty built tombs deep into the arid mountainsides, abandoning the funerary pyramids of their predecessors. We’ll be here early, before any crowds, to admire the vivid frescoes that adorn each tomb in miraculous condition, visiting the most elaborate tombs of Ramses III, Ramses IX and King Tutankhamen. In the neighboring Valley of the Queens, we’ll visit the elegant Tomb of Queen Hatshepsut, one of two female pharaohs. With our skilled Egyptologist in the lead, we’ll next stand in front of the massive pillars of the great Karnak Temple c to admire the enormous Grand Hypostyle Hall, still the largest religious hall in the world. We’ll then walk the recently renovated Avenue of the Sphinxes to the temple walls of Luxor c, embellished with skillful carvings of the gods accompanied by festive processions of priests, musicians, dancers and sacred cows. We return to our hotel for the evening. Meals B+L

Mid-morning we’ll fly back to Cairo c and visit the Khan al-Khalili Bazaar, which since the 15th Century has been Cairo’s major center of foreign goods, jewels and even slaves in its early days. We’ll have lunch in an atmospheric restaurant with time to roam the extensive alleyways of the market. Meals B+L

This morning we’ll drive to Memphis c, the site of Egypt’s ancient capital, to marvel at the formidable Colossus of Ramses II. Nearby we’ll see the Alabaster Sphinx before heading to Sakkara at the edge of the Egyptian desert to visit the impressive Step Pyramid of King Zoser c, the oldest standing stone structure in the world. We’ll also enter the 4,000-year-old Tomb of Mehu, a wealthy merchant, with its vibrant drawings of daily life that adorn the walls.  Meals B+L

Today you’ll be escorted to the airport for your departure at the appropriate time for your onward flight.  Meals B