Wonders of Egypt (Summer 2016)
ADDITIONAL FIVE STAR SERVICES
- An expert Insight Tour Director, at the pinnacle of their career, will guide you on your journey. Serving as your 'travelling concierge', this skilled guide will act as consummate organiser and be your 'friend in a foreign land'.
- Enjoy the unique comfort of Insight's luxury air-conditioned 40 seat coach with extended leg room and on-board restroom. It's business class comfort.
- A personal radio headset gives you the freedom to wander during visits to famous highlights, without missing any of your Local Expert's fascinating insights and commentaries.
- Baggage handling everywhere, with seamless and prompt delivery to your door at every hotel.
- Hotel and restaurant tips included - you'll never have to worry about how much to give, nor search for foreign currency. Plus we include all taxes and porterage charges at hotels.
- Stay connected with friends and family with our complimentary coach and hotel Wi-Fi.
- Insight Flourishes - from time to time, your Tour Director will enchant you with local tidbits, each representing authentic food or beverages unique to the destination.
- Included airport transfers to and from your Insight Vacations hotel.
- Deluxe hotel in Cairo.
- 4 night Nile cruise on MS Medea or MS Sapphire or MS La Boheme (or similar) including all cruise boat gratuities.
- Scheduled air travel Cairo/Luxor and Aswan/Cairo.
- Services of Insight's Representative in Egypt.
AUTHENTIC REGIONAL FLAVOURS
- Cruising: Join the fun at an Egyptian dinner and galabeya party.
- Included Quality Dining: 1 Welcome Drink (WR), 11 Buffet Breakfasts (BB), 1 High Tea (AT), 1 Signature Evening (SE), 7 Lunches (L) and 6 Dinners (D), plus bottled water, tea or coffee with included lunches and dinners while cruising. Departures on tour for New Year's Eve enjoy a festive celebration dinner.
SIGNATURE EXPERIENCES AND DINING
- Cairo: Gaze upon the most recognisable symbols of ancient Egypt: the full-faced funeral mask, gold coffin, gilded throne and precious jewellery – Tutankhamun's treasures.
- Giza: If only these walls could talk! Oh, but they do at the audio visual Sound & Light Show at the Great pyramids.
- Karnak: Stand amid a vast forest of columns in the largest temple complex known to man.
- West Bank: Embark on an experience with an Egyptologist to visit the Temple Hatshepsut and royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings.
- Luxor: Visit a working bakery and witness the local artisans creating authentic Egyptian bread.
- Aswan: On a traditional Nile felucca, meet the captain and learn the art of sailing this ancient Nile craft.
- Philae Island: Board a motorboat to the temple complex.
- Aswan: Like Winston Churchill and Agatha Christie before you, enjoy the sunset and high tea in colonial English-style at Aswan's famous Old Cataract Hotel.
- Giza: Meet the enigmatic Sphinx and venture deep inside one of the pyramids, to the chambers where the Pharaohs went to meet their Gods in the afterlife.
STAY AT THE BEST ADDRESSES
- Cruising: Cruise the Nile in style aboard your traditional Nile cruiser with its spacious cabins, bars, shops, lounge, restaurant and swimming pool.
A country rich in wonders and mysteries. You are met at the airport and transferred to your hotel.
Begin your city sightseeing at the world-famous Egyptian Museum. Starring among its attractions is the amazing treasure recovered from Tutankhamun's tomb. Sightseeing continues at the Citadel where you enjoy breathtaking views over the whole city. Salah El Din started the Citadel in the 12th Century, but it owes its present outline to Mohammed Ali, whose Great Alabaster Mosque you'll visit next. Then free time to enjoy as you wish. In the evening, get to know your Tour Director and fellow guests over a Welcome Drink at the hotel. Later, take your seats at the magical Sound & Light Show at the Great Pyramids which literally illuminates the history of Giza - an unforgettable introduction to the world of ancient Egypt.
Gain a deeper understanding of the last remaining Wonder of the Ancient World during a visit to Giza with a Local Expert. Meet the enigmatic Sphinx crouching at the foot of Chephrenís Causeway and venture inside one of the magnificent pyramids. Nearby lies Memphis, capital of the Old Kingdom, see the colossal statue of Rameses II and the great Alabaster Sphinx. Continue to Sakkara, view the Step Pyramid of Zoser I; dating from 2,686 BC, it's the oldest in the world. Then free time this afternoon.
Fly to Luxor and transfer to your cruise ship. After lunch onboard, visit Luxor Temple unearthed by Mariette in the 1860s. Continue to the huge temple complex of Karnak. Walk through the avenue of ram-headed sphinxes to stand among the columns of the Hypostyle Hall. The following morning, relax as you gently cruise along the Nile, past palm-fringed villages and irrigated fields, to exotic Aswan. Before leaving Luxor, there is an experience by coach to the west bank, which includes a photo stop at the Colossi of Memnon and visits to the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut, as well as some of the royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings. Also visit a working bakery to witness the local artisans creating authentic Egyptian bread. As you cruise upstream, stops are made at ancient sites along the way. These include Kom Ombo Temple and a delightful horse and carriage ride to the magnificent Temple of Horus, dedicated to the Falcon God in Edfu. On arrival in Aswan, included sightseeing shows you the High Dam and unfinished obelisk in the granite quarries. It also includes a motorboat ride to the Philae Island Temple complex and sailing in a traditional wooden Nile felucca. As the sun starts to fade, enjoy colonial-style high tea at the historic Old Cataract Hotel, a favourite haunt of Agatha Christie, who is said to have penned ‘Death on the Nile’ over the cafés signature drink. While cruising, breakfast (BB), lunch (L) and dinner (D) are served daily and one night you get to celebrate Egyptian-style at a galabeya party and dinner.
(Relaxed Start) Why not join an optional experience by air to the magnificent Temples of Rameses II at Abu Simbel? Otherwise, spend the morning as you wish. There is lots to enjoy; the Botanic Gardens, Elephantine Island, the Aga Khan Mausoleum or soak up the African atmosphere in the Nubian bazaar. Later, transfer to the airport for your return flight to Cairo for the night.
Your journey ends after breakfast with transfers to the airport.
