9 Days in Egypt: Cairo, Saqqara and a 5-Star Nile Cruise

After breakfast your private Egyptologist collects you for the drive to Giza. You start at the Great Pyramid of Khufu and work along the line to Khafre and Menkaure, with time at the panorama point where all three sit in one frame. The Valley Temple follows, built of granite and alabaster, then the Sphinx at the end of Khafre's causeway. Lunch is at a local restaurant. The afternoon runs south to Saqqara for Djoser's Step Pyramid — the earliest large stone building in Egypt, raised in six stages around 2650 BC and the model everything at Giza was built from.

Overnight: Cairo
Included visits: Great Pyramid, Khafre and Menkaure pyramids, Valley Temple, Sphinx, Step Pyramid of Djoser
Meals: Breakfast, lunch
Optional experiences: Entry inside one of the pyramids; camel or horse ride across the plateau; Dahshur and Memphis added to the Saqqara afternoon
Important notes: Almost no shade at either site — hat and water. Saqqara is about forty minutes from Giza.

The morning belongs to the Grand Egyptian Museum, where the complete Tutankhamun assemblage sits in two purpose-built galleries: 5,398 objects from a single tomb, the gold mask among them, together for the first time since Howard Carter cleared it in 1922. Lunch follows. The afternoon is at Khan el-Khalili, laid out in the fourteenth century and still worked by coppersmiths, perfume sellers and lantern makers, with time for tea at one of the older cafés. You transfer to the railway station in the evening for the sleeper train to Aswan, with dinner served in your cabin.

Overnight: Sleeper train
Included visits: Grand Egyptian Museum, Khan el-Khalili
Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Optional experiences: The Citadel and the Mosque of Muhammad Ali, added to the morning
Important notes: The GEM runs on timed entry and needs two hours minimum. Cabins are compact — pack an overnight bag and let the rest of your luggage travel stowed.

The train reaches Aswan in the morning and your guide meets you on the platform. A motorboat carries you across to Agilkia Island for Philae Temple, dedicated to Isis and rebuilt block by block here when the dams raised the water behind the town. You then board the ship and have lunch. The afternoon is unscheduled — the sundeck, or one of the optional excursions if you would rather be off the ship.

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

The morning is free unless you have booked Abu Simbel, which leaves before dawn for the three-hour drive south. Both temples Ramses II cut into the cliff — the great one for himself, the smaller for Nefertari — were sawn apart and lifted sixty-five metres uphill in the 1960s ahead of the rising lake, and the joins are visible if you look. The ship sails north in the afternoon to Kom Ombo, where you go ashore for the double temple: one half for Sobek the crocodile god, the mirrored half for Haroeris, Horus the Elder, laid out either side of a shared axis. Sailing continues towards Edfu.

Overnight: On board
Included visits: Temple of Sobek and Haroeris at Kom Ombo
Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Optional experiences: Abu Simbel by road or short flight, booked in advance
Important notes: Abu Simbel is six hours of driving plus the site. Confirm the sailing time with reception before booking it.

After breakfast a horse-drawn carriage takes you from the mooring into Edfu for the Temple of Horus — roof intact, enclosure walls intact, the most complete pharaonic building standing anywhere in Egypt, with the Horus and Seth story carved in sequence along the inner walls. The ship sails north for Luxor with lunch under way. The afternoon covers the East Bank: Karnak first, which needs a couple of hours, 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 painted ceilings that have survived three thousand years underground. Hatshepsut's mortuary temple at Deir el-Bahari follows, terraced directly into the cliff face, and the two seated Colossi of Memnon are the last stop. You transfer to your Luxor hotel afterwards, with the evening free.

Overnight: Luxor
Included visits: Valley of the Kings, Temple of Hatshepsut, Colossi of Memnon
Meals: Breakfast
Optional experiences: Dawn hot-air balloon over the West Bank, before the tour begins; the tombs of Tutankhamun and Seti I, ticketed separately; Medinet Habu and the Ramesseum added to the morning
Important notes: Uneven ground and warm, still air inside the tombs — closed shoes are worth wearing. Lunch and dinner are not included today.

After breakfast you transfer to Luxor Airport for the flight north, under an hour. A representative meets you at Cairo Airport and drives you to your hotel. The afternoon is free. In the evening you eat at an Egyptian family's home — home cooking rather than a restaurant menu, and the most direct look at ordinary Cairo life the trip offers.

Overnight: Cairo
Included visits: None
Meals: Breakfast, dinner
Optional experiences: A half-day of Coptic and Islamic Cairo if your flight lands early enough; a Nile dinner cruise instead of the family dinner
Important notes: Lunch is not included today.

Breakfast at your hotel, then checkout and 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.