Sun Festival Nile cruise

Welcome to Egypt ! Upon arrival at Cairo airport you will be met by a local representative and transferred to your Cairo hotel, located by the Great Pyramids of Giza.
Overnight: Cairo

Cairo – Luxor. We start our Cairo day tour with a visit to the pyramids and Sphinx at the Giza Plateau. Sole survivors from the ancient Greek-listed Seven Wonders of the World, the pyramids are the planet’s oldest tourist attraction. Leaving the pyramids behind, we visit a papyrus emporium where you can buy genuine papyrus at quite reasonable prices. Continuing to the necropolis of Saqqara, we can explore the myriad tombs and temples at this site and see Zhoser’s step pyramid – constructed by Imhotep, the pharaoh’s chief architect in 2700 BC.

This evening we board an overnight sleeper train south to Luxor, with a light dinner served onboard.
Overnight: Sleeper Train | Breakfast, Dinner

Early this morning we arrive into Luxor. The massive pair of statues known as the Colossi of Memnon are the first monuments you’ll see during our morning visit to the West Bank – home to the legendary Valley of the Kings. You’ll also see the colonnaded Temple of Queen Hatshepsut. Return to Luxor for check-in on board our Nile 5 star cruise. Lunch at leisure and time to relax until our early evening visit to the Temple of Luxor. Luxor Temple looks stunning at dusk and is beautifully illuminated at night.

Note: Dependent upon Nile Cruiser scheduling it maybe required that we also undertake our excursion to Karnak Temple this afternoon. Should this occur, day 5 will be spent at leisure.
Overnight: Nile Cruising | Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Luxor – Nile cruising. Today we tour the ancient city of Thebes (the East Bank), taking in the magnificent Temple of Karnak. More than a temple, Karnak is a gigantic and stunning complex of sanctuaries and pylons dedicated to the Theban gods. Anchors away this afternoon as we set sail downstream to Esna and the Temple of Horus at Edfu.
Overnight: Nile Cruising | Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Nile cruising. Relax as we sail the Nile. Today we visit the Temple of Kom Ombo. A unique riverside temple, it is unusual in that everything architecturally is doubled and perfectly symmetrical along the main axis of the temple including twin halls, courts, colonnades, sanctuaries and entrances. In the evening we arrive into Aswan, a prosperous town at the crossroads of the ancient caravan routes late evening.
Overnight: Nile Cruising | Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

After a leisurely morning we take a felucca sailing trip to Elephantine and Kitchener Island. Feluccas are simple sailboats based on a unique design and have plied the mighty Nile since ancient times. Later we visit Philae Temple – dedicated to the goddess Isis and the Aswan High Dam

This evening watch an amazing sunset in Egypt’s southern most town straddling the River Nile and enjoy your last night on board the cruise ship. We have an early start tomorrow, where we’ll need to check out from our cruiser before travelling by road to the Abu Simbel Sun Festival.
Overnight: Nile Cruising | Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Possibly the most awe-inspiring temple in all ancient Egypt, the great Sun Temple of King Ramses II at Abu Simbel was constructed between 1290 and 1224 BC to revere the mighty pharaonic ruler himself. Ramses the Bold, Ramses the Great, Ramses the Narcissist are perhaps all apt titles for one of ancient Egypt’s most powerful rulers.

Built by Ramses II to demonstrate his political clout and divine backing to the ancient Nubians, Abu Simbel is an incredible self-tribute. Guarding the entrance to the temple, hewn into the side of a mountain, are four colossal statues of the pharaoh himself. Over the centuries, the desert sands imperceptibly shifted until the temple was all but lost to humanity. It was rediscovered by chance in 1813 by a Swiss explorer called John Lewis Burkhardt. Only one of the heads of the pharaohs was showing and a small part of the rest of the temple peeked above the desert sands. It wasn’t until the British happened upon the temple and started excavating that the full glory of Abu Simbel was revealed to the modern world. The other rock cut temple at Abu Simbel is the Temple of Hathor, which is fronted by six massive standing statues. Four of them represent King Ramses II, whilst the other two are of his beloved wife, Queen Nefertari.

In a fit of precision and architectural egotism, Ramses II had the Great Temple carefully angled and oriented in order that the sun’s rays would align twice a year on the date of his ascension to the throne (21 February) and on his birthday (21 October) to illuminate the inner sanctum of the temple. This incredible phenomenon provides for a most spectacular sight, which has come to be referred to as the Sun Festival of King Ramses II. Crowds assemble in to the temple before sunrise and watch the shafts of light slowly creep through the inner Hypostyle Hall and through to the Sanctuary. Significantly, the sun illuminates statues of Amun-Re, Re-Herakhte and Ramses the god, whilst the statue of Ptah – the god of darkness, remains in the shadows.

Famously, the temple was re-located in a multi-million dollar operation in 1972, further up from the shoreline of Lake Nasser, which had threatened to erode the foundations of this monolithic temple complex. For this reason, the sun now strikes a day later than Ramses had originally planned, though the event this morning itself is no less stunning.

After watching this incredible event unfold we return to Aswan where we will possibly have a little time on our hands as we await the earliest flight to Cairo. Arriving to our hotel in Cairo we enjoy a well earned rest.
Overnight: Cairo | Breakfast

Enjoy a guided visit to the Egyptian Museum today. A mind-boggling array of relics and antiquities from almost every period of ancient Egyptian history are housed in the museum, making it one of the foremost in the world. Arguably the most famous exhibit is the solid gold funerary mask of King Tutankhamun. Made of solid gold and weighing 11kg, the mask was found covering the head of the mummy, where it lay inside a series of 3 sarcophagi. You can also opt to see also the Royal Mummies, if you wish.
This afternoon offers free time to relax and enjoy the hotel facilities or join us for an optional city tour visiting old Cairo and the Islamic citadel.
Overnight: Cairo | Breakfast

Today is afree day for you to explore Cairo on your own or alternatively take an optional day trip to Alexandria or El Alamein.
Overnight: Cairo | Breakfast

Your Egypt holiday ends after breakfast and included onward departure transfer to airport.
Breakfast