12 Day Egypt Tour: Cairo, Abu Simbel, Nile Cruise and Hurghada
Overview
Twelve days is enough to stop rushing. This trip gives you four nights in Cairo rather than the usual two, a night in Aswan before you board so Abu Simbel fits without a pre-dawn scramble from a moving ship, three nights on the river, and three at the end on the Red Sea with nothing scheduled at all.
Cairo takes the first stretch. The Giza Plateau fills one day — Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure, the granite-and-alabaster Valley Temple, the Sphinx at the end of the causeway — followed by the Grand Egyptian Museum two kilometres east, where the complete Tutankhamun assemblage is displayed together: 5,398 objects from a single tomb, the gold mask among them. The next day changes centuries entirely. The Citadel of Salah al-Din sits on a limestone spur above the city with the Alabaster Mosque of Muhammad Ali inside its walls; below it, Old Cairo is layered within the Roman fortress of Babylon, where the Hanging Church is built across a gate tower and the crypt of St Sergius and Bacchus sits beneath the street. The day ends at the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization, whose Royal Mummies Hall holds twenty-two kings and queens in individual cases, lit low and shown without ceremony.
You then fly south to Aswan and sleep on land. Philae, dedicated to Isis, is reached by motorboat — dismantled and rebuilt block by block on Agilkia Island when the dams raised the water — and the Unfinished Obelisk lies nearby in its granite quarry, abandoned when a flaw opened along its length. The following morning is Abu Simbel, three hours south, where the two temples Ramses II cut into the cliff face were themselves sawn apart and lifted sixty-five metres uphill in the 1960s to keep them above the rising lake. You board the ship on your return.
The river takes three nights. Kom Ombo sits directly above the bank and is unusual for being built double, one half for Sobek the crocodile god and a mirrored half for Haroeris. Edfu, reached by horse-drawn carriage from the quay, still has its roof and enclosure walls intact, which makes it the most complete pharaonic temple standing anywhere in Egypt. Luxor closes the sail with the Valley of the Kings, Hatshepsut's terraced temple at Deir el-Bahari, the Colossi of Memnon, and then Karnak and Luxor Temple on the east bank.
Hurghada is the last three nights and the point is that nothing is planned. The reef comes close enough to shore that a mask is enough to see it, dive boats run every morning, and the eastern desert is open for quad and jeep trips. Or none of the above, which after eight days of temples is a defensible choice.
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Daily Itinerary
Your representative meets you inside Cairo International Airport, past passport control, holding a sign with your name. They handle the arrival formalities, wait while your luggage comes through and walk you out to a waiting air-conditioned vehicle. The drive into the city runs from 40 minutes to well over an hour depending on traffic and the hour you land. Your guide confirms tomorrow's pickup at check-in. The rest of the evening is yours.
Overnight: Cairo
Included visits: None
Meals: None
Important notes: Airport pickup is included whatever time you arrive.
Breakfast at the hotel, then out to Giza with your guide. You start at the Great Pyramid of Khufu, work along to Khafre and Menkaure, and stop at the panorama point where all three sit in one frame. The Valley Temple follows, then the Sphinx at the end of Khafre's causeway. Lunch is at a local restaurant. The afternoon goes to the Grand Egyptian Museum: the Grand Hall with its Ramses II colossus, the Grand Staircase, and the two Tutankhamun galleries.
Overnight: Cairo
Included visits: Great Pyramid, Khafre and Menkaure pyramids, Valley Temple, Sphinx, Grand Egyptian Museum
Meals: Breakfast, lunch
Optional experiences: Entry inside one of the pyramids; camel or horse ride across the plateau; Saqqara, Dahshur and Memphis as a half-day extension
Important notes: The GEM runs timed entry and needs two hours minimum. Almost no shade at Giza — hat and water.
After breakfast you drive up to the Citadel of Salah al-Din and go into the Alabaster Mosque of Muhammad Ali, built at its centre in the 1830s. From there you descend to Old Cairo for the Hanging Church, the crypt below the Church of St Sergius and Bacchus, and the Ben Ezra Synagogue, all within the Roman walls of Babylon. Lunch follows. The afternoon is at the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in Fustat, where the Royal Mummies Hall is the reason to go.
Overnight: Cairo
Included visits: Citadel of Salah al-Din, Mosque of Muhammad Ali, Hanging Church, Church of St Sergius and Bacchus, Ben Ezra Synagogue, National Museum of Egyptian Civilization
Meals: Breakfast, lunch
Optional experiences: Khan el-Khalili and a tea stop at one of the older cafés, added to the end of the day; a Nile dinner cruise
Important notes: Shoulders and knees covered at the mosque and churches, and shoes come off inside the mosque. No photography in the Royal Mummies Hall.
You transfer to Cairo Airport after breakfast for the flight south, about an hour and a quarter. Your Aswan guide meets you on arrival. A motorboat carries you across to Agilkia Island for Philae Temple, and the Unfinished Obelisk follows, still lying in the granite quarry where it cracked with the ancient tool marks visible along its flank. You check into your Aswan hotel for the night.
Overnight: Aswan
Included visits: Philae Temple, Unfinished Obelisk
Meals: Breakfast
Optional experiences: Felucca sail around Elephantine Island at sunset; the Nubian villages by motorboat
Important notes: Domestic baggage allowance is lower than international — check before you pack. Philae involves a short boat crossing at each end.
An early start for the drive south to Abu Simbel, roughly three hours across the desert. The two temples Ramses II cut into the cliff — the great one for himself, the smaller for Nefertari — were dismantled and lifted to higher ground in the 1960s ahead of the rising lake, and the joins are visible if you look for them. You return to Aswan in the afternoon and board your ship, with dinner on board.
Overnight: On board in Aswan
Included visits: Abu Simbel
Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Optional experiences: Abu Simbel by short flight instead of road, at a supplement
Important notes: A long day — six hours of driving plus the site, mostly before noon. Take water and something to eat for the road.
Breakfast is served on board as the ship sails north to Kom Ombo, where you go ashore for the double temple — Sobek on one side, Haroeris on the other, mirrored down a shared axis. Sailing continues to Edfu with lunch under way. A horse-drawn carriage takes you into town in the afternoon for the Temple of Horus, whose inner walls carry the Horus and Seth story carved in sequence. Afternoon tea is served as you sail towards Esna, with dinner on board.
Overnight: On board
Included visits: Temple of Sobek and Haroeris at Kom Ombo, Temple of Horus at Edfu
Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Important notes: Small notes are useful for the carriage drivers at Edfu.
Breakfast on board, then across to the West Bank. Three tombs in the Valley of the Kings come first, cut deep into the limestone with their painted ceilings intact. Hatshepsut's mortuary temple at Deir el-Bahari follows, terraced directly into the cliff and unlike anything else the New Kingdom built. The Colossi of Memnon are the last stop, on the road back. Lunch and dinner are on board, with tea in the afternoon.
Overnight: On board in Luxor
Included visits: Valley of the Kings, Temple of Hatshepsut, Colossi of Memnon
Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Optional experiences: Dawn hot-air balloon over the West Bank; the tombs of Tutankhamun and Seti I, ticketed separately
Important notes: Uneven ground and warm, still air inside the tombs — closed shoes are worth wearing.
Breakfast on board, then disembarkation with your luggage. Karnak comes first, which needs a couple of hours and is best done before the heat builds, then Luxor Temple on the corniche. You drive east across the desert to Hurghada in the afternoon, roughly three and a half hours. Dinner is at your own arrangement in Hurghada.
Overnight: Hurghada
Included visits: Karnak Temple, Luxor Temple
Meals: Breakfast
Optional experiences: Luxor Temple after dark before departure, if your transfer allows
Important notes: A packed lunch can be arranged from the ship — ask reception the night before, since the drive runs through the middle of the day.
Nothing is scheduled. The reef sits close enough to shore across most of Hurghada that a mask and fins will show you plenty, and dive boats leave every morning. Your representative can arrange anything you want on the day.
Overnight: Hurghada
Included visits: None
Meals: Breakfast
Optional experiences: Snorkeling and diving trips; a day sail to Giftun Island; quad or jeep safari into the eastern desert; glass-bottom boat
Important notes: Reef-safe sunscreen is worth bringing. Coral is protected — standing on it carries fines.
A second free day, arranged as you want it. If you took a boat trip yesterday, this is the day to stay put; if you have been on the go for a week, both days on a lounger is a reasonable use of them.
Overnight: Hurghada
Included visits: None
Meals: Breakfast
Optional experiences: As above
Breakfast at your resort, then a transfer to Hurghada Airport for the short flight north, under an hour. Your representative meets you at Cairo Airport and drives you to your hotel. The evening is free.
Overnight: Cairo
Included visits: None
Meals: Breakfast
Optional experiences: A Nile dinner cruise; a half-day of Islamic Cairo and Khan el-Khalili if your flight lands early enough
Breakfast at your hotel, then free time until your transfer. Late checkout can usually be arranged for a fee if you fly in the evening, and reception will hold your bags if you would rather check out and spend the last hours in the city. Your driver collects you with enough margin for Cairo traffic and airport queues.
Included visits: None
Meals: Breakfast
Important notes: Allow three hours before an international departure.
What's Included
- Meet-and-assist by our representative on arrival and departure
- Guest relations support for the length of your stay
- Air-conditioned vehicle for every transfer and tour
- Domestic flights: Cairo to Aswan, and Hurghada to Cairo
- Road transfer from Luxor to Hurghada in an air-conditioned vehicle
- Four nights in Cairo on a bed-and-breakfast basis
- One night in Aswan on a bed-and-breakfast basis
- Three nights aboard a 5-star Nile cruise on full board
- Three nights in Hurghada on a bed-and-breakfast basis
- Cairo sightseeing runs privately, just your party and your guide
- Nile cruise excursions run as small-group tours with fellow passengers
- Licensed English-speaking Egyptologist on all tours
- Entrance tickets to every site named in the itinerary
- Meals as set out day by day below
- Mineral water replenished in the vehicles
- Porterage at hotels and airports
- All service charges and applicable taxes
Not Included
- International Flights
- Egypt Entry visa
- Tipping
- Personal spendings
- Any optional tours
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