Tour description
After having arrived in Cairo you’ll have time to explore this historical city. You can pay a visit to the citadel, to several pyramids, to the Egyptian Museum and to the crowded market of Khan al-Khalili.
Sailing along the Nile
On day 3 we’ll travel by train down the valley of the Nile to Aswan. Here, the following day, you can visit the Philae Temple or the gigantic dam at Lake Nasser.
On day 6 we’ll take a delightful boat trip along the Nile on a felucca, a two-masted merchant vessel with lanteen sails. We’ll have mattresses so we can sleep on board, listening to the water lapping the boat’s sides, on deck and under a starlit sky.
Unmatched Luxor
On day 7 we’ll drive to Luxor, unmatched for its antiquities, via the temples of Kom Ombo and Edfu. Here we’ll have two full days to enjoy the temples of the East Bank (Luxor and Karnak) and the West Bank (the Valley of the Kings, the Valley of the Queens, Hatshepsut Temple and the Colossi of Memnon). You ought to see the sound and light show at the Temple of Karnak. Luxor also has a lot of little markets, restaurants and tea-houses where you can hang out and relax.
Resort near the Red Sea
On day 9 we’ll go back by train to Cairo, where we’ll take the bus through the desolate landscape of the Sinai Desert to the Red Sea resort of Dahab, a great place to dive and snorkel or just lie on the beach with a drink. You can also take an optional excursion to Saint Catherine's Coptic monastery and Mount Sinai, famous for being where Moses was given the tablets by God.
Wadi Rum
On day 14 we’ll take a ferry to the Jordanian harbour-town of Aqaba to meet the friendly locals. A short ride on day 16 will take you to Wadi Rum, where you can take a spectacular jeep safari through the landscape of orange and red sandstone formations. Just when it seems like the trip couldn’t possibly become any more romantic, we’ll spend the night in a Bedouin tent.
Theatres of the Nabataeans
The next morning, on day 17, we’ll pay a visit to Petra and the 2,000-year-old temples and theatres of the Nabataeans which are hewn out of solid rock. We’ll also drive to the Dead Sea along the King’s Highway. When we arrive you can have a wonderful bath and read the newspaper while floating on top of the salt water (or pretend to read it, for the purposes of photographs, if you haven’t got one in your own language!).
‘Pompeii’ of Jordan
We will continue driving to Amman via Mount Nebo and Madaba. The views en route over the Jordan Valley will be absolutely magnificent. And, on arrival in Madaba, we’ll be going to look at the ancient Roman mosaics. In Amman we can pay a visit to the historical amphitheatre and the ‘Pompeii’ of Jordan (not to be confused with Pompeii in Italy) and the Roman city of Jerash.
On day 22 our group will break up and we’ll go our separate ways.