Overview
Egypt has fascinated European travellers from the time of Herodotus, who wrote the first surviving account of the ancient land. The sheer antiquity and breadth of Egyptian civilization cannot but reduce the visitor to awe, whether it be Napoleon with his famous exhortation to his troops in front of the Pyramids that forty centuries looked down upon them, or the more humble modern traveller exploring the tombs in the Valley of the Kings.
Nearly two thousand years separate King Menes (Narmer), the unifier of Upper and Lower Egypt around 3100 BC, and Rameses II, the builder of Abu Simbel, and it was yet another thousand years before Egypt became a province of Rome.
Throughout this time Egypt has also been a fertile source of legend. The fifty daughters of Danaus fled from a marriage threat by the fifty sons of Aegyptus, as recounted by Aeschylus; and if Euripides is to be believed, Helen of Troy may have sojourned on the banks of the Nile. Biblical references abound of a land of both oppression and refuge. Patriarchs found sustenance in Egypt, Moses led his people forth, and the Holy Family fled there from the wrath of Herod.
Egypt was the first major country to be subdued by the forces of Islam, and the line of conquerors reached a turning-point with Napoleon, who brought an army not only of soldiers but also of scholars. He left both groups to continue without him, and the scholars laboured throughout the land to produce the monumental Description de L’Égypte. The vast detective work of deciphering hieroglyphic script was commenced through the discovery of the Rosetta Stone in 1799, thereby eventually producing the key to our present understanding of ancient Egypt.
Nowhere in the world have so many monuments survived for so long, on such a scale and in such good condition. The magnificence of Egypt’s standing monuments, Pharaonic, Coptic and Islamic, is supplemented by an unrivalled series of tomb sculptures and paintings and by superb collections of jewellery and artefacts in the Egyptian museums.
And through the midst of the land, with its origins in the deep south, flows the Nile, which with its annual inundation was the source of all that has made Egyptian civilisation great.
Day 1
Fly at c. 5.00pm (Egypt Air) from London Heathrow to Luxor, arriving c. 11.20pm (time in the air: c. 5 hours). First of five nights in Luxor.
Day 2
Luxor. A leisurely day with talks by the lecturer outlining the main themes of the tour. Morning visit to Luxor Museum. Free afternoon. Overnight Luxor.
Day 3
Luxor. Full day visiting the Theban West Bank, the city of the dead and the Valley of the Kings, where the New Kingdom pharaohs are buried in magnificently decorated rock cut tombs, the vast royal mortuary temples erected as Houses of Eternity for the cult of the king. Visit the Tombs of the Nobles containing exquisite reliefs and painted festival and funeral scenes and the village of the workmen, Deir el Medina, who built and decorated the royal tombs, a rare settlement site, with their beautifully decorated tombs with perfectly preserved colour. Overnight Luxor.
Day 4
Luxor. The ancient site of Thebes and the vast temple complex of Karnak including the spectacular temple of Amun and the open-air museum. Free afternoon. Evening visit to Luxor temple, another great temple to Amun intimately connected to Karnak through a national festival. Overnight Luxor.
Day 5
Dendarah. Morning visit to the well-preserved and roofed Ptolemaic-Roman Temple of Hathor at Dendarah. Return to Luxor experiencing the rural landscape of Upper Egypt providing reflections of ancient times. Overnight Luxor.
Day 6
Edfu, Kom Ombo, Aswan. Drive south through the agricultural landscape and view the desert edge of Southern Upper Egypt to see the Temple of Horus at Edfu, the most complete of the Egyptian temples. At Kom Ombo visit the remains of the unique double temple to Sobek and Haroeris (Horus the elder), teetering on the banks of the Nile. First of three nights in the ancient border city of Aswan.
Day 7
Kitchener’s Island, St Simeon, nobles’ tombs. Travel by boat to the Old and Middle Kingdom tombs cut into the rock high on the West Bank. Island of Plants (Kitchener’s Island), a lush botanical garden with tropical vegetation imported by the eponymous British soldier. Optional visit by camel to the lonely seventh-century ruined fortress-monastery of St Simeon, situated on the edge of the desert. Alternatively, take a bird watching trip through the cataract at Aswan on a motor boat, accompanied by an ornithologist. The Nubian Museum has excellent collections of Nubian life from the Neolithic to the present. Overnight Aswan.
Day 8
Temple of Philae, High Dam. The High Dam is one of the engineering wonders of the world. View in the distance the brooding hulk of Kalabsha temple, relocated to the banks of Lake Nasser as the High Dam was built. Between the High Dam and the Old Dam, the Temple of Philae, dedicated to the goddess Isis, reconstructed on a landscaped island following the flooding of the original island. The ancient granite quarries where a flawed obelisk dating to the 18th Dynasty lies unfinished. A free afternoon. Final night Aswan.
Day 9
Abu Simbel, Cairo. Fly to Abu Simbel to visit the dramatic twin temples of Ramesses II and his great royal wife, Nefertari, on the shores of Lake Nasser. Transfer by air to Cairo for the first of three nights.
Day 10
Giza, Cairo. On the edge of Cairo at Giza is the largest and most renowned complex of Pyramids, the solar boat museum and the Sphinx. Afternoon visit to the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities to view the richest collection of Pharaonic art in the world, including treasures from the tomb of Tutankhamun. Overnight Cairo.
Day 11
Dahshur, Saqqarah, Cairo. Drive to the Dahshur pyramid field to view and visit the pyramids pre-dating the Giza pyramids, the cathedral-like interior of the Red Pyramid is an engineering marvel. Saqqarah, the necropolis of the ancient capital city of Memphis. The Step Pyramid complex contains the earliest pyramid and Egypt’s first building in stone, the pyramid of Teti, containing the Pyramid Texts relating the king’s ascent to the stars. The Mastaba of Mereruka has detailed and finely rendered painted scenes of daily life. Overnight Cairo.
Day 12
Cairo. Fly from Cairo, arriving London Heathrow at approximately 2.05pm.
Price
In 2015: £3,880. This includes: flights (economy class) with Egyptair (Airbus Industrie); travel by private coach for airport transfers and excursions; hotel accommodation; breakfasts; 6 lunches (including 3 picnics), 7 dinners and a light snack with wine, water, coffee; all admissions; all tips; all taxes; the services of the lecturer and local guide. Single supplement £460 (double room for single occupancy). Price without flights £3,350.
In 2016: £3,880. This includes: flights (economy class) with Egyptair (Airbus Industrie); travel by private coach for airport transfers and excursions; hotel accommodation; breakfasts; 6 lunches (including 3 picnics), 7 dinners and a light snack with wine, water, coffee; all admissions; all tips; all taxes; the services of the lecturer and local guide. Single supplement £530 (double room for single occupancy). Price without flights £3,370.
Visas
Required for most foreign nationals. If you are flying with the group we will arrange for it to be issued on arrival (the cost is included in the tour price); if you are flying independently this must be organised prior to arrival in Egypt. Passports must be valid for 6 months from entry into Egypt.
Accommodation
The Sofitel Winter Palace, Luxor: a locally rated 5-star hotel on the banks of the Nile with delightful gardens. The Old Cataract, Aswan: perched on the banks of the Nile with fine views this 5-star hotel is one of the finest in Egypt, recently refurbished. Kempinski, Cairo: a 5-star boutique hotel, centrally located.
How strenuous?
This tour is not suitable for anyone with any difficulty with everyday walking or stairclimbing. Visits to the archaeological sites involve walking over rough and uneven ground. There are some early starts, and the heat during the day can be tiring. Average distance by coach per day: 25 miles.
Are you fit enough to join the tour?
Group size
Between 10 and 22 participants.
Travel advice
Before booking, please refer to the FCDO website to ensure you are happy with the travel advice for the destination(s) you are visiting.
'It was by far the best cultural tour we have ever had. Everything was first class and beautifully organised.'
'So impressed with the smooth movement of 16 individuals around 3 hotels in 3 cities and innumerable ancient sites. Breathtaking.'
'This was excellent. We saw all that we wanted to see.'