Egypt and Jordan in 10 Days
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All Egypt Tours
Overview
Egypt and Jordan sit an hour and a half apart by air, which is why pairing them works. Ten days gives you the Giza Plateau, a three-night sail from Aswan down to Luxor, and then a change of country entirely — Roman colonnades at Jerash, a float in the Dead Sea, and a full day walking into Petra. Both domestic flights and the Cairo to Amman leg are booked for you, so the transitions are handled rather than improvised.
Egypt opens the trip. You spend a full day on the Giza Plateau — Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure, the granite-and-alabaster Valley Temple, and the Sphinx at the end of the causeway — before moving on to the Grand Egyptian Museum two kilometres east, where the complete Tutankhamun assemblage is now displayed together: 5,398 objects from a single tomb, the gold mask among them. Cairo sightseeing runs privately, so the pace bends around what you actually want to see.
You then fly south to Aswan and board the ship. Philae Temple, dedicated to Isis, is reached by motorboat from the jetty; it was dismantled and rebuilt block by block on Agilkia Island when the dams raised the water behind Aswan. The granite quarries and the Unfinished Obelisk sit on the edge of town, the obelisk still lying where a flaw opened along its length. Sailing north, Kom Ombo stands directly above the riverbank and is unusual for being doubled — one half for Sobek the crocodile god, the mirrored half for Haroeris. Edfu, reached by horse-drawn carriage from the mooring, still has its roof and enclosure walls intact, which makes it the most complete pharaonic temple left in Egypt. Luxor closes the sail: Karnak's 134-column Hypostyle Hall, the royal tombs cut into the Valley of the Kings, and Hatshepsut's terraced temple against the cliff at Deir el-Bahari.
Jordan is deliberately slower. Jerash gives you a Roman provincial city that was never built over — an oval forum, a colonnaded main street with the chariot ruts still cut into the paving, the Nymphaeum and the Temple of Artemis. The Dead Sea sits four hundred metres below sea level, salt-saturated to the point that floating takes no effort at all, and the mineral mud along the shoreline is why the resorts are there. Petra takes a full day, and it needs one: you walk the Siq, a kilometre-plus fissure through the sandstone that narrows and turns until the Treasury opens in front of you, and beyond it the Nabataean city runs for several kilometres more — the Street of Facades, the Royal Tombs, and the Monastery for anyone with the legs for eight hundred steps.
Jordan sightseeing is private throughout, as is Cairo. The Nile excursions run in small groups with your fellow passengers, which is standard for cruise sailings and keeps the fare sensible.
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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 time 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, built of granite and alabaster, 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 and Memphis as a half-day extension
Important notes: The GEM runs on timed entry and needs two hours minimum. There is almost no shade at Giza — hat and water.
You check out after breakfast and transfer to Cairo Airport for the flight south, about an hour and a quarter in the air. A local guide meets you on arrival and drives you to the ship, where you check in and have lunch on board. Sightseeing starts in the afternoon: a motorboat across to Agilkia Island for Philae Temple, then the granite quarries and the Unfinished Obelisk, still bearing the tool marks of the workers who abandoned it. Dinner is on board.
Overnight: On board in Aswan
Included visits: Philae Temple, granite quarries, Unfinished Obelisk
Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Optional experiences: Abu Simbel by road or short flight; a felucca sail around Elephantine Island at sunset
Important notes: Domestic baggage allowance is lower than international — check before you pack. Philae involves a short boat crossing at each end.
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, the two halves mirrored down a central 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 on towards Esna, and dinner follows 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.
The ship reaches Luxor in the morning. You cross to the West Bank first for three tombs in the Valley of the Kings, cut deep into the limestone with their painted ceilings intact; Hatshepsut's mortuary temple at Deir el-Bahari; and the two seated Colossi of Memnon on the road back. Lunch is on board. The afternoon covers the East Bank — Karnak, then Luxor Temple on the corniche. Dinner is on board.
Overnight: On board in Luxor
Included visits: Valley of the Kings, Temple of Hatshepsut, Colossi of Memnon, Karnak Temple, Luxor Temple
Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Optional experiences: Dawn hot-air balloon over the West Bank; the tombs of Tutankhamun and Seti I, ticketed separately; the sound and light show at Karnak
Important notes: This is the longest walking day in Egypt. Uneven ground and warm, still air inside the tombs — closed shoes are worth wearing.
Breakfast on board, then disembarkation with your luggage. Your guide transfers you to Luxor Airport for the flight north, under an hour, and a representative meets you at Cairo Airport to drive you to your hotel. The remainder of the day is unscheduled — this is the natural slot for Islamic Cairo, Coptic Cairo or Khan el-Khalili if you want to fill it.
Overnight: Cairo
Included visits: None
Meals: Breakfast
Optional experiences: Half-day tour of Coptic and Islamic Cairo with Khan el-Khalili; dinner cruise on the Nile
The Egypt half ends after breakfast. You check out and transfer to Cairo International Airport for the flight to Amman, roughly an hour and a half. Your representative meets you at Queen Alia Airport, helps with the entry formalities and drives you into the city, about forty minutes. The rest of the day is free.
Overnight: Amman
Included visits: None
Meals: Breakfast
Optional experiences: An evening walk through downtown Amman and the Citadel hill
Important notes: Confirm your Jordanian visa arrangements with us before travel — requirements differ by nationality, and the Jordan Pass, bought online in advance, covers the visa fee alongside Petra and Jerash entry for most visitors.
After breakfast you drive north to Jerash, about an hour, where a Roman provincial city stands largely as it was left: an oval forum ringed by columns, a colonnaded main street with chariot ruts worn into the paving, the Nymphaeum fountain and the Temple of Artemis above it. You then drive south and west to the Dead Sea, dropping four hundred metres below sea level on the way. The water is salt-saturated enough that floating requires no effort, and the mineral mud along the shore is what the resorts are built on. You return to Amman in the evening.
Overnight: Amman
Included visits: Jerash, Dead Sea
Meals: Breakfast
Important notes: Bring a swimsuit and flip-flops. Do not shave that morning and keep the water out of your eyes — the salt stings badly on any broken skin. Twenty minutes in the water is plenty.
An early start for the drive south to Petra, roughly three hours on the Desert Highway. You walk about seven hundred metres from the visitor centre to the mouth of the Siq, then follow the gorge itself — a kilometre and a bit of sandstone fissure, narrow enough in places that the sky is a line overhead — until the Treasury appears at the far end. Beyond it the Nabataean city opens out: the Street of Facades, the theatre cut into the rock, and the Royal Tombs along the eastern cliff. You return to Amman in the evening.
Overnight: Amman
Included visits: Petra
Meals: Breakfast
Optional experiences: The climb to the Monastery, around 800 rock-cut steps; horse or golf-cart assistance along the approach
Important notes: A full day on your feet with little shade, and the walk back out is uphill. Proper shoes, a hat and more water than you think you need. Lunch is not included; there are restaurants inside the site.
Breakfast at your hotel, then a transfer to Queen Alia Airport for your flight home. Timing is set around your departure, with margin for the drive and the 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 in both countries
- Guest relations support for the length of your stay
- Air-conditioned vehicle for every transfer and tour
- Domestic flights: Cairo to Aswan, and Luxor to Cairo
- International flight, Cairo to Amman
- Three nights in Cairo on a bed-and-breakfast basis
- Three nights aboard a Nile cruise, Aswan to Luxor, on full board
- Three nights in Amman 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
- All Jordan sightseeing runs privately
- Licensed English-speaking guides in Egypt and Jordan
- Entrance tickets to every site named in the itinerary
- Meals as set out day by day below
- Bottled water whenever you are away from the hotel or the ship
- All service charges and applicable taxes
Not Included
- International Airfare to Egypt and Jordan
- Flight ticket from Cairo to Amman
- Entry visa to Egypt and Jordan
- Personal expenses & optional tours
- Tipping for Cruise crew and Guides
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