DESTINATION

ITINERARY

Day 1: APR 20, 2024 - Departure from the USA on an overnight flight to Egypt.

Day 2: APR 21, 2024 - Welcome to Cairo! Upon arrival, proceed through customs and collect your luggage. A Jet Vacations professional guide will personally greet you. Depart by deluxe coach and be dropped off at the hotel. Check-in at the hotel and enjoy the rest of the day at your leisure. Tonight, savor a welcome dinner with fellow group members. Overnight in Cairo. (D).

Day 3: APR 22, 2024 – Cairo. After breakfast, meet your Egyptologist at the hotel and embark on a guided tour of the Pyramids & the Sphinx on the Giza Plateau. The great Pyramid was considered one of the Seven Wonders of the World by the ancient Greeks. As you stand beside these incredible Egyptian monuments, you will marvel at the size of the Giza pyramids and the magnitude of their construction. Witness the enigmatic Sphinx, with the body of a lion and the face of a man. The evening is yours to enjoy at leisure. (B).

Day 4: APR 23, 2024 – Travel to Aswan (Optional Tour to Abu Simbel). After breakfast, check out of the hotel and transfer to Cairo Airport for a morning flight to Aswan. Those not taking the Optional Tour to Abu Simbel will have a day to explore Aswan on their own. Participants of the optional excursion will take a short flight from Aswan to Abu Simbel, where they will visit ancient monuments dating back millennia. Upon arrival in Abu Simbel, you will explore the temples of Ramses II and his favorite wife, Queen Nefertari. These temples, carved from limestone mountains, were created by Ramses II between 1290 to 1124 BC. They showcase giant figures of the king that exude power and dominate the landscape. The temples were relocated to avoid submersion by the waters of the Aswan High Dam. The Great Temple of Ra-Harakhte features colossal statues of Ramses II, while the temple of Hathor is dedicated to the goddess of love and built in honor of Queen Nefertari. Fly back to Aswan and reunite with group members who did not join the Abu Simbel optional tour. Before dinner enjoy a sunset cruise on a typical boat called a felucca. Enjoy dinner in a local restaurant. Overnight at your hotel in Aswan. (B, D)

Day 5: APR 24, 2024 – Tour Aswan and Board the Nile Cruise. This morning, meet your local guide and visit the High Dam, a monumental example of contemporary construction in Egypt. The dam, controversial in its own right, is 3600 meters across and reaches a height of 111 meters at its highest point. It has created Lake Nasser, the world's largest artificial lake, stretching nearly 500 km into Sudan. Continue to Philae Temple on the Island of Agilika, a site that has attracted pilgrims for thousands of years. Despite the threat of submersion beneath the Nile's rising waters, the ruins remained a legendary tourist attraction in the 19th century. After exploring Aswan, transfer to your cruise ship for a two and a half day, three-night cruise on the Nile. Enjoy lunch, dinner, and overnight on board. (B, L, D)

Day 6: APR 25, 2024 – Full-day tour of Kom Ombo and Edfu. Enjoy a buffet breakfast on board before setting sail to Kom Ombo. Explore the Temple of Kom Ombo, which is situated on a promontory at a bend in the Nile. In ancient times, sacred crocodiles used to bask in the sun on the river bank here. Despite being significantly damaged by the changing tides of the river and later builders who repurposed its stones for new structures, Kom Ombo remains a breathtaking site. Continue sailing along the Nile, and savor lunch and dinner on board. Spend the night on the cruise ship. (B, L, D)

Day 7: APR 26, 2024 – Full-day tour of Edfu and Luxor. Begin the day with a buffet breakfast on board. Visit the Temple of Horus in Edfu, the largest and best-preserved Pharaonic temple in Egypt, although it was built by the Greeks. Construction of this immense complex started in 237 BC under Ptolemy III Euergetes I and was completed nearly 200 years later during the reign of Ptolemy XIII in the 1st century BC. Dedicated to Horus, the falcon-headed son of Osiris, who avenged his father's murder by slaying his uncle Seth, the temple was constructed on the site where, according to legend, the two gods engaged in a deadly battle. Enjoy lunch on board and proceed to the East Bank, where you will visit Luxor Temple. This temple, built over several centuries by Amenhotep III, Tutankhamun, Ramses II, and Alexander the Great, is an elegant architectural masterpiece. It features an avenue of sphinxes, remarkable statuary of Ramses II, the Great Court of Ramses II, the colonnade and court of Amenhotep III, the hypostyle hall, and the Temple of Amun at Karnak. Conclude the day with dinner on board the cruise ship, and spend the night on board. (B, L, D)

Day 8: APR 27, 2024 – Full-day tour of the Valley of the Kings. Start the day with a buffet breakfast on board, and then disembark from the cruise ship. Visit the West Bank, including the renowned Valley of the Kings, where 62 Pharaohs are entombed. These tombs are adorned with opulence, gold, jewels, and treasures, replicating all that they would need in the afterlife. The pharaohs cleverly hid their tombs in rock-cut chambers, away from public view and separate from their mortuary temples, as a response to the pillage of earlier, more visible tombs. After an included farewell lunch in a very local place, continue to the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut, rising from the desert plain in terraces and seamlessly merging with the sheer limestone cliffs of the eastern face of the Theban Mountain. This monumental temple gives the impression that nature itself constructed it. Afterward, transfer to the Sonesta St. George hotel, where you will check in and have the evening free at leisure. Spend the night in Luxor. (B,L)

Day 9: APR 28, 2024 – Tour of the Cairo National Museum and Khan El-Khalili bazaar. Enjoy breakfast and check out from the hotel. Transfer to Luxor Airport for your flight to Cairo. Upon arrival in Cairo, start your tour with a visit to the Egyptian Museum. Located in the heart of Cairo, the museum has an ambiance that evokes the ancient times of the Pharaohs. Experience the captivating contrast between the well-maintained garden and the museum's facade. Next, explore the Khan El-Khalili Bazaar, the largest and oldest bazaar in Cairo. Originally built in 1382 by Sultan Barquq's Master Garkas El Khalili, it was known as the Turkish Bazaar during the Ottoman period. Khan El Khalili partly occupies the site where the now-vanished Fatimid Palaces once stood, covering an impressive area of 400,000 square meters and accommodating 12,000 staff members. Conclude your day with a farewell dinner in Cairo, followed by a direct transfer to the airport for your early morning flight back to the USA. Arrive back home on Day 10. (B, D)

Day 10: APR 29, 2024 – Departure Day. Check out early in the morning and transfer to Cairo Airport for your return flight to the U.S.