Pyramids, Petra, Promised Land - 19 Days

Friday. Today is the start of your adventure through the holy lands. Included transfer from Cairo airport and hotel check in. The rest of the day is free to relax or those arriving early can opt to pre book our optional Backstreets of Cairo tour which departs the hotel at 10am today. For those who are arriving early, we also offer a pre tour Alexandria Day Trip. every Thursday.

We start the day with a visit to the Giza Plateau to see the ancient Pyramids of Giza and the iconic Sphinx. Sole survivors from the ancient Greek-listed Seven Wonders of the World, the pyramids are the planet’s oldest tourist attraction! Next we explore the sand-strewn tombs and temples of the ancient necropolis of Saqqara, home to Zhoser’s step pyramid. A visit to a government supervised Papyrus Museum will also be made at some point during today.

Cairo - Aswan. Today we visit the Grand Egyptian Museum for an informative guided tour. This vast new 490,000 sq.m complex contains a mind-boggling array of relics and antiquities from almost every period of ancient Egyptian history. Arguably the most famous is the giant exhibition of King Tutankhamun's treasures, including his spectacular solid gold funerary mask. After our tour we head over to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization which is where the mummies of ancient Egyptian kings and queens are now on display in the Royal Mummies' Hall. There are 20 mummies in total including King Ramses II and Queen Hatshepsut. Some of the mummies are so well preserved you can still see hair on the heads and fingernails! Once we've explored this incredible hall there's time to relax back at the hotel this afternoon before we board the overnight train to Aswan this evening. Please Note: the Grand Egyptian Museum is scheduled to open in late 2023, though an official opening date has yet to be released. If travelling prior to the opening of the new facility we'll visit the Egyptian Museum instead.