Egypt in 8 Days: Nile Cruise, Abu Simbel and Alexandria

Breakfast at the hotel, then out to Giza. You begin at the Great Pyramid of Khufu, work along the line to Khafre and Menkaure, and stop at the panorama point where the three sit in one frame. The Valley Temple comes next, built of granite and alabaster, then the Sphinx at the end of Khafre's causeway. The afternoon goes to the Grand Egyptian Museum, whose two Tutankhamun galleries hold all 5,398 objects recovered from the tomb. You transfer to Giza railway station in the evening for the sleeper train to Aswan, with dinner served in your cabin.

Overnight: Sleeper train
Included visits: Great Pyramid, Khafre and Menkaure pyramids, Valley Temple, Sphinx, Grand Egyptian Museum
Meals: Breakfast, dinner
Optional experiences: Entry inside one of the pyramids; camel or horse ride across the plateau
Important notes: The GEM runs on timed entry and needs two hours minimum. Cabins are compact — pack an overnight bag and let the rest travel stowed. Lunch is not included today.

The train reaches Aswan in the morning. Your guide meets you on the platform and drives you to the ship, where you board and have lunch. Sightseeing follows in the afternoon: the High Dam, the structure that created Lake Nasser and reshaped the valley below it; the Unfinished Obelisk, still lying in its quarry where a flaw opened along its length; and a motorboat crossing to Agilkia Island for Philae Temple, dedicated to Isis and rebuilt here block by block when the water rose. Dinner is on board.

Overnight: On board in Aswan
Included visits: Aswan High Dam, Unfinished Obelisk, Philae Temple
Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Optional experiences: Felucca sail around Elephantine Island at sunset; the Nubian villages by motorboat
Important notes: Philae involves a short boat crossing at each end.

A pre-dawn departure for the drive south, roughly three hours across open desert. Ramses II cut two temples into the cliff here — the great one for himself, fronted by four seated colossi, and the smaller one for Nefertari. Both were sawn into blocks and lifted sixty-five metres uphill in the 1960s ahead of the rising lake, and the joins are visible if you look. You return to the ship in the afternoon and sail to Kom Ombo, going ashore for the double temple: twin entrances, twin halls and twin sanctuaries, one side for Sobek the crocodile god and the other for Haroeris, Horus the Elder. Dinner and the evening programme follow on board.

Overnight: On board
Included visits: Abu Simbel, Temple of Sobek and Haroeris at Kom Ombo
Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Optional experiences: Abu Simbel by short flight instead of road, at a supplement
Important notes: Six hours of driving plus the site, all before the afternoon sailing. Take water for the road.

After breakfast a horse-drawn carriage takes you from the mooring into Edfu for the Temple of Horus, whose roof and enclosure walls are both intact and whose inner walls carry the Horus and Seth story in carved sequence. The ship sails north for Luxor with lunch under way. The afternoon covers the East Bank: Karnak, where the Hypostyle Hall's 134 columns still hold traces of paint high up, then Luxor Temple on the corniche. Dinner is on board.

Overnight: On board in Luxor
Included visits: Temple of Horus at Edfu, Karnak Temple, Luxor Temple
Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Optional experiences: Luxor Temple again after dark, when it is lit; the sound and light show at Karnak
Important notes: Karnak is large and mostly unshaded. Small notes are useful for the carriage drivers at Edfu.

Breakfast on board, then disembarkation with your luggage. 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 into the cliff face, and the two seated Colossi of Memnon are the last stop. The afternoon is free in Luxor before your evening transfer to the station for the sleeper train to Cairo, with dinner in your cabin.

Overnight: Sleeper train
Included visits: Valley of the Kings, Temple of Hatshepsut, Colossi of Memnon
Meals: Breakfast, dinner
Optional experiences: Dawn hot-air balloon over the West Bank, before the tour begins; 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. Lunch is not included, and there is a long gap between disembarkation and the train; ask us about a day-use room if you want somewhere to shower.

Breakfast is served on the train before it reaches Cairo. Your representative meets you at the station and you drive northwest to the coast, roughly three hours on the desert road. The Bibliotheca Alexandrina comes first, built beside the site of the ancient library, then Qaitbay Citadel on the harbour wall where the Pharos lighthouse once stood, and finally the Catacombs of Kom el-Shoqafa, cut three levels into the rock with Egyptian and Roman funerary carving side by side. Lunch is included. You return to Cairo in the evening.

Overnight: Cairo
Included visits: Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Qaitbay Citadel, Catacombs of Kom el-Shoqafa
Meals: Breakfast, lunch
Important notes: A very long day — see the note below about restructuring it.

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 luggage if you would rather check out and use 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.