11 Day Wonders of Egypt - A Platinum Small Group Tour

Salaam Alaikum! Welcome to Egypt and its ancient capital, Cairo. 

On arrival you will be welcomed off the aircraft and whisked through immigration and customs to your private transfer. Your home for the next three nights is the luxurious Fairmont Cairo located in the heart of this bustling city and along the Nile River. Enjoy your Inspiring Stay with uninterrupted views from the comfort of your upgraded Nile view room, your home for the next three nights. 

Depending on your arrival, spend the rest of the day as you wish.

Arrival airport transfers are included as part of your package. You will be met upon arrival at the airport and transferred to your hotel.
If Inspiring Vacations has not provided your international airfares, please ensure you provide your flight details via your Traveller Hub portal no later than 90 days prior to travel so that your transfers can be confirmed.

Please note: if you are arriving early and have made your own arrangements prior to your tour commencing, airport transfers will not be included. However, if you are purchasing pre-nights accommodation as part of your Inspiring Vacations package, airport transfers will still be provided to the starting hotel.

After breakfast, meet your Tour Guide and fellow travellers for a tour briefing before you head out for your first full day of sightseeing. 

Our first stop is the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities (colloquially known as the Egyptian Museum or the Museum of Cairo). This magnificent museum has a collection of 120,000 items over two main floors, each brimming with historical wonders. 

The Citadel of Saladin is next. Built between 1176 and 1183, the citadel had one main objective: to protect the city from crusader attacks which explains the privileged views. It was so effective as a strategic point of defence (and therefore the safest place in the city), that both the royal family and the Egyptian government office called it home for a time. There are mosques, palaces, museums to see; pay particular attention to the Alabaster Mosque or Mohammed Ali Mosquewhich was designed on the basis of the New Mosque in Istanbul. 

After this interesting visit it’s onto the Khan el-Khalili Bazaar, a 20-minute drive away. A labyrinth of narrow streets and passageways, this is one of the world’s largest bazaars and offers a truly authentic local experience. We’ll also enjoy an Inspiring Taste as your guide takes you on a food safari sampling some of the delicacies on offer. 

Today, enjoy lunch at Felfela, a Cairo staple built into an alleyway and the perfect place to try Egyptian dishes including shorbat ‘ads (lentil soup), or ta’amiya (the local version of falafel).

We’ll return to the hotel where the rest of the day is at leisure to relax and enjoy the hotel amenities.

Tonight, we join together for a welcome dinner at one of the city’s favourite restaurants where a journey through Middle Eastern cuisine awaits.

This morning, meet your guide and head out to see some of the world’s most iconic sights – the Pyramids of Giza and the Great Sphinx. Explore these structures that have stood tall for some 4,500 years and learn about the ancient history of the monuments. Prepare for an incredible Inspiring Sight as we experience the Sphinx like never before. Closed to the general public, you have exclusive access right to the paws of this incredible monument where you can get up close for an incredible perspective not available to the normal tourist. Not a burial tomb itself, your Egpytolist guide will explain its historical importance as a guard to the important tombs, temples, and monuments in the Giza complex. 

Following your incredible visit to Giza, we then travel to Sakkara where you will also see the pyramid of Djoser, sometimes called the Step Pyramid of Djoser, it is the first pyramid built and the earliest colossal stone building in Egypt. Afterwards, we will tour inside the Serapeum, an ancient burial chamber which was for mummified bulls.

Before heading back to the hotel, we will enjoy an Inspiring Taste as we enjoy a traditional Middle Eastern BBQ lunch. Owned by the same family for over 60 years Andrea is recognised as one of the Top 50 “Discovery” restaurants in the world specialising in grilled chicken and traditional Egyptian mezze and dips.

Return to your hotel where the rest of the day is at leisure.

This morning we will head to the airport to board a flight to Aswan and onto Abu Simbel. This Inspiring Sight is an essential on any visit to Egypt and part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site known as the Nubian Monuments.

The two enormous sandstone structures were built in the 1200s BCE by Ramses II to commemorate himself and his favourite wife Nefertari. The larger temple, dedicated to three major Egyptian deities, features four large statues of Ramses II on its façade, while the smaller temple is dedicated to the goddess of love, Hathor, with statues designed to embody Nefertari. Set on the banks of the artificial Lake Nasser, the structures were once in danger of being flooded with the construction of the Aswan High Dam but were saved via an extensive project to cut the temples into pieces and move them to higher ground, where they are seen today.

On our return to Aswan, check into your Superior Nile View Room at the 5-star Movenpick Aswan with time to relax and enjoy the hotel facilities. 

This evening, enjoy your Inspiring Taste as we experience modern Nubian culture first-hand with a visit to Heissa Island. On your visit you’ll join a Nubian family for dinner and experience true traditional Nubian hospitality. Here, you will encounter traditional food and an unforgettable insight into daily life. This is a rare and memorable experience, giving you the chance to become fully immersed in the local culture.

After, we’ll return to the hotel.

After breakfast we transfer to the Nubian Museum for an exclusive tour lead by the Museum Director. With a staggering collection of 3,000 Egyptian antiquities spanning the geological, Pharaonic, Roman, Coptic, Islamic, and, of course, the Nubian periods. The outdoor exhibition showcases 90 rare monumental pieces, and additionally, the museum houses 503 Pharaonic pieces, 52 from the Coptic era, 103 Islamic artefacts, 140 Nubian items, and 360 pieces that echo the history of Aswan itself.

Follwoing our tour we transfer to your Inspiring Stay as you embark on your luxury Nile cruise for the next 3 nights. You’ll cruise between Aswan and Luxor on this elegant ship, with all the comforts you would expect from a 5-star floating hotel. Enjoy one of the most modern ships on the Nile featuring a beautiful sundeck with swimming pool as well as sumptuous cabins equipped with stunning ensuite bathrooms and floor to ceiling panoramic windows with french balconies. 

After boarding the Jaz Regent and settling in, we’ll enjoy a buffet lunch on board before embarking on our first excursion on the Nile, sailing around the enchanting islands of Aswan on a traditional felucca. We’ll also walk around the Aswan’s spice souk, a colourful bazaar known for its Egyptian/African influences. 

Heading back to our ship, we’ll enjoy dinner on board and a Nubian show.

Note: Guests travelling during the months of May - September will be travelling aboard the Sonesta Sun Goddess. Built in 2020, this luxury new ship offers all-suite cabins with a separate lounge and sit out balconies. 

This morning after breakfast, we will visit the Aswan High Dam at 360 feet tall and 12,500 feet across, it is an impressive sight to behold and a feat of engineering. We’ll also visit the Philae Temple complex, home to the Temple of Isis which was rescued from the rising waters of the Nile and relocated on Philae Island in the 1960s. It was built by the last dynasty of ancient Egypt, the Ptolemaic. The temple is dedicated to Isis - the goddess of healing, magic and birth, her husband Osiris and their son Horus. It’s a marvel of decorative pylons featuring some of Egypt’s finest carvings – definitely one of the real gems of Upper Egypt.

We’ll return for lunch on board before our journey ashore to visit the Great Temple of Kom Ombo. The soaring, chunky columns are a magnificent sight as you arrive from the river. Dedicated to the gods Sobek and Haroeris, this unusual double temple was constructed during the Ptolemaic period, which lasted from 108 to 47 BC. 

The temple is well preserved, especially the detail on the murals and columns. One unique engraving is thought to be among the first representations of medical and surgical instruments. 

Today, Kom Ombo may seem 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 centres. Wander through the temple’s colonnades, gazing up at scenes of kingly propaganda, and you’ll catch a feel of this glorious history for yourself.

We’ll return to the ship and get ready for a fun evening - we’ll have dinner onboard and then participate in a Galabeya party where we will wear a galabeya, a traditional Egyptian gown, and enjoy the evening with our fellow cruise travellers.

After enjoying breakfast on board, we will continue sailing the West Bank to Edfu – home to ancient settlements and temples, as well as a bustling town centre and a bazaar. We are here to tour the Temple of Horus (using cars not horse carriage). Built between 237 and 57 BC, the temple is dedicated to Horus, the Egyptian sky god and a pharaoh of Egypt and the avenging son of Isis and Osiris. 

Continuing our journey to Luxor, we’ll enjoy lunch on board and prepare for a very special, final evening of activities, the first a sunset visit to Luxor Temple. Situated on the East Bank of the Nile River, in the city of Luxor, Luxor Temple was built approximately 1400 BC. The site is over 73 sq km and exhibits obelisks, giant statues, an Avenue of Sphinx statues, the Grand colonnade and the Barque Shrine of Theban Triad. Viewing this magnificent structure is magical at night, and the perfect way to spend our final night on the Nile.  

Returning to the ship, an atmospheric dinner awaits with live music and dancing. We’ll watch talented belly dancers and the magic of the spinning tanoura dance show - a night to remember!

This morning we will enjoy one last breakfast on board as your Nile cruise comes to an end. As we disembark the ship, we continue our tour in the open-air museum of Luxor and there is no better place to start than with the spectacular royal burial site of the Valley of the Kings.

Buried under the arid hills here are the tombs of more than 60 pharaohs, many richly decorated with reliefs and paintings. Explore this sprawling and spectacular place with our Tour Guide, where the pharaohs of the New Kingdom (16th to 11th century BCE) were secretly interred for all eternity, and where archaeological discoveries are still being made. Your guide will explain the history of and legends surrounding these remarkable people, their funerary rites, and the significance of the many paintings and hieroglyphics, still well-preserved in the deepest tombs.

After paying a visit to some of the most interesting royal tombs we'll continue to the Mortuary Temple of Queen Hatshepsut, a stunning colonnaded building of sharp lines that contrasts beautifully against the craggy high cliffs behind it, creating a spectacular natural amphitheatre. One of Egypt’s greatest queens, this temple was built to prove her importance among the ancestors.

The Valley of the Queens contains at least 75 tombs that belonged to queens of the 19th and 20th dynasties. Enjoy a special Inspiring Sight as we enter the beautiful tomb of Queen Nefertari, which is the most famous and only reopened to the public in late 2016. 

Nestled inside a 1930s house, hidden down a side street, an Inspiring Taste awaits at Sofra restaurant, our lunch spot today. This charming local eatery has fast become one of the “must try” restaurants of Luxor and known as the “taste of Egypt” with its authentic cuisine. 

We’ll then transfer to our hotel for the night, the stunning Hilton Luxor Resort & Spa. Located facing the West Bank on the Nile, enjoy incredible resort facilities and stunning views for your Nile View room. 

This evening is at leisure to relax and unwind at the resort or why not venture into town to experience the illuminated temples by night.

After a leisurely breakfast and check out, you will have a free morning to explore as you wish. 

We will be departing Luxor today early this afternoon where we’ll transfer to the airport to catch our flight to Cairo.

On arrival in Cairo, we will be transferred to our hotel for the night, Intercontinental Citystars, conveniently located close to the airport. 

This evening we’ll enjoy one final night together at our farewell dinner.

After breakfast and check out it’s time to bid your new travel friends and Egypt farewell! 

Depending on the time of your flight, you will be transferred by private vehicle to the airport in time for your departing flight. 

We hope that you enjoyed your tour and we look forward to helping you plan and book your next inspiring adventure!

Departure transfers are included as part of your package. You will be collected from your hotel at the appropriate time and transferred to the airport to meet your flight.

If Inspiring Vacations has not provided your international airfares, please ensure you provide your flight details via your Traveller Hub portal no later than 90 days prior to travel so that your transfers can be confirmed.

Arrive home today. 

Thank you for travelling with Inspiring Vacations.  We hope you had a memorable experience.