Itinerary Expand allCairo to Luxor Day 1 Welcome to EgyptWelcome to Cairo, the magnificent capital of Egypt. It’s a loud and proud place where raucous modern life meets an entrenched ancient history. You’ll check into the beautiful Hyatt Regency Cairo West, just outside of the city with views over to the pyramids. Day 2 Check off the headline spectaclesYou’ve got nine days in Egypt, and there’s a lot to cram in. Your first full day has blockbuster attractions in store. After breakfast, you’ll head straight out to the Pyramids of Giza, spending an hour on a quad bike with the pyramids as your movie-like backdrop. Then there’s a tour to understand the secrets of these intriguing structures better.Later, in downtown Cairo, you’ll visit the Egyptian Museum to see the riches of Tutankhamun’s Tomb and other Egyptian treasures. The day continues at the architecturally beautiful Al Azhar Mosque, one of the oldest examples in the city. Meals included: Breakfast Day 3 Kayak the Nile then get lost in the souksYou’ll board a kayak this morning and paddle the Nile for around two hours. Then it’s back to downtown Cairo for a food tour and the chance to sample koshary, molokhia, ful and falafel traditional Egyptian dishes. There’s an afternoon tour of Old Cairo to wander the narrow lanes of the Khan El-Khalili bazaar.Tonight, you’ll be rocked to sleep aboard a sleeper train bound for Aswan, the southern frontier of ancient Egypt. Meals included: Breakfast Lunch Dinner Day 4 Wake up in AswanThere’s a full day on the Nile today. You’ll board a traditional felucca and get to know this famous waterway a little better. As the boat’s lateen sails unfurl, there’s time to relax and enjoy the scenery as you pass rocky islets and glimpse the golden dunes beyond the west bank. Later, you’ll check into Anakato Hotel, traditional Nubian-style accommodation. Meals included: Breakfast Lunch Dinner Day 5 Marvel at the enigmatic Temples of Abu Simbel You’ll rise before the sun this morning to travel through the desert to Abu Simbel. It’s renowned for its colossal temples -- spectacular examples of ancient Egyptian art and engineering overlooking Lake Nasser. After, there’s some downtime back at the Anakato Hotel before your adventure continues in the late afternoon when you’ll take a desert walk with a Nubian guide. You’ll feast on a home-cooked Nubian meal and learn about the culture and history of this region. Sun Festival DeparturesA very early start today, leaving Aswan at approximately 1 am to join the convoy for the 3.5-hour drive to Abu Simbel, with the aim of arriving before dawn. Abu Simbel Temple remains in darkness all through the year except for when it sees the stream of natural sunlight on two occasions, on 22nd February and 22nd October. The light which streams into the complex reflects on Ramses II and Sun God’s seated statues, illuminating the entire place and highlighting its brilliant architecture. The Sun Festival takes place when the light hits the statues. The statue that remains in darkness, even on these two days is of Ptah, the Goddess of darkness. Meals included: Breakfast Dinner Day 6 Board the dunes This morning, you’ll be sandboarding across the dunes. It’s an extreme sport that’s sure to get your heart pumping. Buzzing with adrenaline, the rest of the day is yours to swim and kayak in the Nile, explore Aswan’s bazaar or take an optional tour of Philae Temple, the High Dam or a nearby Nubian village. Meals included: Breakfast Day 7 Explore LuxorIt’s on to Luxor today, taking the four-hour transfer to this one-of-a-kind destination. You’ll tour the ancient Karnak Temple and marvel at the sheer grandeur of the monuments that have survived here. After sunset, you’ll visit the Luxor Temple, built between 1390 and 1352 BC. Tonight, you’ll stay at the excellent Steigenberger Nile Palace Luxor on the Nile’s east bank. Meals included: Breakfast Day 8 Visit the Valley of the KingsAn early transfer this morning takes you to the Valley of the Kings, the site of 63 royal tombs. It was part of the ancient city of Thebes and the burial site of almost all the pharaohs of the 18th, 19th, and 20th dynasties. Then it’s onto the Colossi of Memnon, two giant and faceless stone statues guarding the entrance to the temple of Amenophis III.There’s lunch at the El Marsam restaurant and then a visit to ACE Luxor animal hospital, a charity dedicated to treating animals in the most impoverished communities of Luxor.Tonight, there’s a farewell dinner at El Sofra restaurant, dining on traditional Egyptian dishes. Meals included: Breakfast Day 9 Adventure completeAnd, just like that, a whirlwind exploration is complete. Today you’ll head to Luxor’s airport for your return flight home. Meals included: Breakfast
EgyptVisas are required by all non-Arab nationalities and currently cost approximately GBP20. It is recommended that you obtain your visa before you travel (although it’s still possible to get a tourist visa on arrival). You can get a visa online at Visa2Egypt or alternatively, the address of the Egyptian Embassy in London is 2 Lowndes Street, SW1. Tel: 020 7235 9777. Visas are now generally available for same day collection, although this should NOT be relied upon. Opening hours are 09.30 to 12.30 for applications, 14.15 to 16.00 for collection of passports after the visa has been issued. Postal applications direct to the embassy for visas are not recommended as the service takes 15 to 20 days.If you are obtaining your visa online then please ensure you have a scan of your passport ready. The file size should be small and ideally saved as a JPEG or PDF otherwise you might not be able to load it on the visa application.You will need to provide your host’s information on the application – please use the following details:South Sinai Travel79 Merghany StreetCairoEgyptTel: +20 22418 7310www.southsinai.com[email protected]Please note that recently Egyptian officials have requested tourists carry a copy of their passport with them whilst in the country.
EgyptThere are no mandatory vaccination requirements. Recommended vaccinations are: Tetanus, Typhoid, Hepatitis A. Although not usually advised, other vaccinations to consider include rabies and Hepatitis B.
Hotels Hyatt Regency Cairo WestA contemporary five-star hotel overlooking the Pyramids of Giza. Facilities include a swimming pool, a spa, a well-equipped gym, and a choice of dining outlets. Anakato HotelAuthentic Nubian-style accommodation with views of the Nile. Rooms are brightly coloured and furnished in the local style.Steigenberger Nile PalaceA large five-star property perched on the banks of the Nile with extensive facilities including a large swimming pool, a fitness studio, sauna, and a range of restaurants and bars.Please note that if the listed accommodation is not available then an alternative of a similar standard will be used.
Reviewed April 2022 Ray ButlerAll the sights with a good group, though bit rushed I found the trip did exactly what it said on the tin - go and see all the main sights in 9 days, visiting the Pyramids, and the major temples. The group was nice, and being a 30s-40s trip they were all around my age which was good. The hotels were good quality, which others like, though I felt that using 5-star hotels took Exodus away from the good mid-range hotels I’m used to, and was a largely unnecessary expense in a country where most of the accommodation is much better value. The main negatives for me were being bussed everywhere to a timetable - which made it feel less like adventure travel, and the fact that a lot of the sights felt quite rushed, with relatively little time to do independent sightseeing - the worst example of this being the Philae temple visit. This was an optional extra that we paid more for, but (partially due to the sleeper getting in late, which admittedly was beyond their control) we ended up being there for only 90 min, with no unguided time. But apart from this the trip was a good introduction to Egypt and its history.What was the most inspirational moment of your trip? Seeing the pyramids for the first time. The amazing carvings in so many of the temples. Nice group.What did you think of your group leader? Ahmet was pretty much always an enthusiastic, knowledgeable leader, even when things weren’t going quite right (for example when the sleeper train arrived significantly late). Nothing was generally too much trouble, and he made the tour much more than it would have been without him. By the end of the trip he was still the same as at the start, ready to explain how great Egypt is, and how ‘everything started in Egypt’! Only issues I noticed were a couple of times where we could have used time better (once we did a 40 min coach trip, that Google maps confirmed was actually only to drive less than 2 miles - I think we were killing time without being told, which annoyed me - we just drove one way and then the other through Luxor town!), and a delay in getting alternative flight info that caused me issues and cost on the return flight.Do you have any advice for potential travellers? Don’t expect to do everything in depth, and consider adding more time after the trip - I spent an extra day in Luxor, and 2 days in Cairo, and would recommend that. I went back to Karnak temple and spent another half day on my own, in addition to the quick trip with the group. I also hired a taxi in Cairo and went to the ‘other’ pyramids at Darshur/Saqqarah - which I felt was one of the best days of the whole trip, less tourists, more time to see, and almost better than the Giza pyramids in my view. The sunrise at Abu Simbel wasn’t really worth it - we didn’t really see anything additional - though going to Abu Simbel is worth it. The sound & light show at Karnak (which I did independently) wasn’t really worth it).Is there anything else you would like to add? The issue with flights back (as I ‘missed’ the one from Luxor to Cairo, due to wanting to stay an additional day in Luxor and ending up having to buy another flight after the options weren’t given to me in time) cost me over £100 to pay a random ‘fee’ that Egyptair charged, to allow me to travel back to the UK (on a flight I had already paid for) and nearly led to me missing that flight. To date Exodus haven’t been very helpful in trying to sort this, or apologising for not making it clear this ‘fee’ was a possibility, which has been disappointing, especially given I’ve used Exodus on multiple occasions and always had good service.
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