Day-by-day programme of this 9-day itinerary across Cairo and the Nile cruise.
Day 1 â Arrival in Cairo
Landing in Cairo, a chaotic, fascinating megalopolis at the edge of the desert: you begin right away with the only one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world still standing, the pyramids of Giza.
- âïļ Cairo â Aeroporto Internazionale del Cairo (CAI)
- ð Pyramids of Giza â The Giza plateau holds the three great pyramids - Khufu (the Great Pyramid, 139 metres high), Khafre and Menkaure - built 4,500 years ago as the tombs of the pharaohs. Standing at their feet, touching their colossal blocks and contemplating the only surviving ancient Wonder is breathtaking. You can enter a pyramid and explore the plateau on camelback. Just beyond watches the Sphinx.
- ð Great Sphinx of Giza â At the foot of the pyramids rises the Great Sphinx, the colossal figure with a lion's body and human face carved from a single block of rock, silent guardian of the necropolis for 4,500 years. At sunset the colours on the stone and the evening sound-and-light show make the place magical. You dine in Cairo. You sleep two nights in the capital.
- ðĻ The President Hotel Cairo â Giza / centro, Il Cairo
Day 2 â Pharaonic Cairo
A day among the pharaohs' treasures: the brand-new Grand Egyptian Museum, the step pyramid of Saqqara and the labyrinth of the Khan el-Khalili bazaar.
- ð Grand Egyptian Museum â The Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM), overlooking the pyramids, is the largest archaeological museum in the world devoted to a single civilisation: it holds over 100,000 artefacts, including Tutankhamun's entire treasure reunited for the first time, colossal statues and Khufu's solar boat. A staggering journey through three thousand years of history. From here you reach the necropolis of Saqqara.
- ð Saqqara â At Saqqara stands the Step Pyramid of Djoser, the oldest large stone construction in the world (2,650 BC): the prototype from which all pyramids developed, the work of the architect Imhotep. Around it, a vast necropolis with tombs whose painted colours are still vivid, and nearby Memphis, the ancient capital. In the afternoon you return to the city for the great bazaar.
- ð Khan el-Khalili â Khan el-Khalili is Cairo's great bazaar, a labyrinth of covered lanes alive since the Middle Ages: spices, brass, lamps, perfumes, fabrics and silver, amid the cries of merchants and the scent of mint tea. You stop in a historic cafe like El Fishawy to smoke shisha among Cairenes. All around, the mosques and minarets of Islamic Cairo. You dine and return to the hotel.
Day 3 â Luxor, the city of temples
Flight to Luxor, ancient Thebes: you board the cruise boat for the Nile journey and visit the two immense temples of the east bank, Karnak and Luxor.
- âïļ Cairo â Luxor â Aeroporto di Luxor (LXR)
- ð Karnak Temple â Karnak is the largest temple complex of antiquity, expanded over two thousand years: the heart is the Hypostyle Hall, a forest of 134 giant columns 23 metres high, covered in hieroglyphs, beneath which you feel like an ant. Avenues of sphinxes, obelisks and the sacred lake complete a place of absolute power, dedicated to the god Amun. In the afternoon, the Luxor Temple.
- ð Luxor Temple â The Luxor Temple, in the heart of the city, was linked to Karnak by a three-kilometre avenue of sphinxes, now brought back to light. Built by Amenhotep III and Ramesses II, it is magnificent at sunset and even more so in the evening, when the lighting brings out the colossi, the obelisk (whose twin is in Paris) and the columns. You return on board for the first night on the Nile.
- ðĻ MS Mayfair Nile Cruise â Motonave sul Nilo, Luxor
Day 4 â The Valley of the Kings
The west bank of Luxor, the realm of the dead: the Valley of the Kings with its rock-cut tombs, the temple of Hatshepsut and the Colossi of Memnon.
- ð Valley of the Kings â On the west bank, where the sun sets into the realm of the dead, opens the Valley of the Kings: 63 tombs cut into the rock for the New Kingdom pharaohs, including Tutankhamun, Ramesses and Seti I. You descend into the underground corridors where walls and ceilings explode with hieroglyphs and paintings whose colours are intact after 3,000 years. Moving and unrepeatable. You continue to the temple of Hatshepsut.
- ð Temple of Hatshepsut â The mortuary temple of the queen-pharaoh Hatshepsut, set against a wall of golden rock at Deir el-Bahari, is a masterpiece of strikingly modern architecture: three terraces of colonnades that merge with the mountain. Hatshepsut was one of the few women to reign as pharaoh. Nearby watch the Colossi of Memnon, two seated statues 18 metres high. You return on board: the boat sails south.
- ð Colossi of Memnon â The two Colossi of Memnon, monumental statues of Amenhotep III that once guarded the entrance to his temple (now vanished), stand alone amid the fields. In antiquity one of them 'sang' at dawn (through cracks in the stone), drawing Greek and Roman pilgrims. Back on board, you enjoy the sailing on the Nile among palm groves and villages. You sleep on the cruise boat.
Day 5 â Edfu and Kom Ombo
A day of sailing and temples: the majestic temple of Horus at Edfu, the best-preserved in Egypt, and the double temple of Kom Ombo overlooking the river.
- ð Temple of Edfu â The Temple of Edfu, dedicated to the falcon god Horus, is the best-preserved temple in all of Egypt: buried by sand for centuries, it has come down almost intact, with its 36-metre entrance pylon, dark halls and reliefs telling the myth of Horus. You often reach it by horse-drawn carriage from the river port. You return on board and sail to Kom Ombo.
- ð Kom Ombo â The Temple of Kom Ombo is unique because it is double and perfectly symmetrical: two entrances, two halls, dedicated half to the crocodile god Sobek and half to Horus. It stands right on the bank of the Nile, splendid at sunset, and houses a small museum with dozens of mummified crocodiles. You reach it on foot from the boat moored below. You sail to Aswan for the night.
Day 6 â Gentle Aswan
Aswan, the pearl of the Nile: the temple of Philae saved from the waters, the great dam and a felucca sail among the islands, with a visit to a Nubian village.
- ð Temple of Philae â The Temple of Philae, dedicated to the goddess Isis, stands on an island in the middle of the Nile and is reached by boat. When the dam threatened to submerge it, UNESCO dismantled it stone by stone and rebuilt it on the higher island of Agilkia: an epic rescue. It is one of the most romantic and evocative temples in Egypt. You continue to the great dam and then the felucca.
- ðŊ Nile at Aswan â The most relaxing afternoon of the trip: you sail the Nile aboard a felucca, the traditional white sailing boat, among green islands, the botanical garden and golden dunes, as the sun sets. You stop in a Nubian village of brightly painted houses, where you drink the tea of hospitality. Nubia has an African soul, warm and welcoming. You return on board (or to the hotel) for the night.
Day 7 â Abu Simbel
The most anticipated excursion: the colossal temples of Abu Simbel, carved into the rock by Ramesses II on the edge of Nubia and saved from the waters of Lake Nasser.
- ð Abu Simbel â Abu Simbel is the apotheosis of Egypt: two temples carved into the rock by Ramesses II in the 13th century BC, with a facade dominated by four seated colossi of the pharaoh 20 metres high. It is reached by a desert journey of about three hours (in convoy or by flight) to Lake Nasser. These temples too were cut and moved 65 metres higher by UNESCO. Twice a year the sun illuminates the back of the sanctuary. Unforgettable. You return to Aswan.
Day 8 â Back to Cairo
Return flight to Cairo: the Citadel of Saladin with the alabaster mosque and the Coptic quarter, before the last night in the capital.
- âïļ Aswan â Cairo â Aeroporto del Cairo (CAI)
- ð Citadel of Saladin â The Citadel of Saladin, a medieval fortress dominating Cairo from above, is crowned by the Mosque of Muhammad Ali, called 'alabaster' for the marble that clads it: its Ottoman-style domes and soaring minarets form the city's most recognisable profile. From the terrace the view embraces the metropolis as far as the pyramids. You then head down to Coptic Cairo.
- ð Coptic Cairo â Coptic Cairo is the Christian heart of Egypt, in the district of the ancient Roman fortress of Babylon: the Hanging Church (Al-Muallaqa), built over a bastion, the church of St Sergius where the Holy Family is said to have sheltered, and the country's oldest synagogue. A mosaic of faiths telling Egypt's age-old tolerance. You dine with a view of the Nile. Last night in Cairo.
- ðĻ The President Hotel Cairo â Centro / Giza, Il Cairo
Day 9 â Departure from Cairo
Return flight from Cairo. End of the journey among pyramids, temples and the eternal Nile.
- âïļ Cairo â Aeroporto di Milano Malpensa (MXP)
