10 Day Egypt Tour
Signature Brand
All Egypt Tours
Overview
Ten days is enough to see four separate versions of Egypt without rushing any of them. This affordable Egypt tour moves from the Giza Plateau to the Nile, from the Nile to the Red Sea, and finishes on the Mediterranean coast — one booking, one guide network, no gaps you have to fill yourself.
## What does the Cairo half of the trip cover?
You start on the Giza Plateau: the three pyramids, the Valley Temple built from granite and alabaster, and the Sphinx at the end of Khafre's causeway. The Grand Egyptian Museum sits two kilometers away and holds the entire Tutankhamun find — 5,398 objects from one tomb, shown together for the first time since 1922. Cairo sightseeing is private, so the pace is yours rather than a coach group's.
## How do you get from Cairo to Aswan?
By sleeper train, overnight, with dinner and breakfast brought to your cabin. It saves you a hotel night and a morning at the airport, and you wake up in Upper Egypt. Your ship is waiting in Aswan.
## What happens on the three-night cruise?
Philae Temple, rebuilt stone by stone on Agilkia Island after the High Dam raised the water, comes first. Then Kom Ombo, split down the middle between the crocodile god Sobek and Haroeris. Then Edfu, whose Temple of Horus still has its roof — the most complete pharaonic temple left standing. Luxor closes the sail with 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.
## Where does the Red Sea fit in?
You drive east from Luxor to Hurghada for two nights. The reef starts close to shore here, so a mask and snorkel are enough to see it, though dive boats run daily if you want depth. Nothing is scheduled — the point of these two days is that nothing is.
## Is Alexandria worth the detour?
It is a different country from the rest of the itinerary. Founded by Alexander in 331 BC and Mediterranean ever since, it gives you the Catacombs of Kom el-Shoqafa cut three levels into the rock, the Bibliotheca Alexandrina raised on the site of the ancient library, and Qaitbay Citadel standing on the foundations of the Pharos lighthouse. You return to Cairo the same evening.
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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 and stay with you until your bags are through, then walk you out to a waiting air-conditioned vehicle. The run into the city takes anywhere from 40 minutes to well over an hour, depending on the time you land and what Cairo traffic is doing. Check-in at your hotel is arranged in advance, so it should take minutes rather than an hour. Your guide confirms tomorrow's pickup time before leaving. The rest of the evening is unscheduled.
Overnight: Cairo
Included visits: None
Meals: None
Important notes: Airport pickup is included regardless of arrival time.
Breakfast first, then out to the Giza Plateau. You start at the Great Pyramid of Khufu, the only one of the seven ancient wonders still standing, then work along the line to Khafre and Menkaure, with time at the panorama point where all three sit in frame together. The Sphinx comes last, at the end of Khafre's causeway. The afternoon belongs to the Grand Egyptian Museum, two kilometers from the plateau, where the entire Tutankhamun find is displayed together — 5,398 objects from one tomb. You transfer to the railway station in the early evening for the sleeper train to Aswan, with dinner served in your cabin.
Overnight: Sleeper train
Included visits: Great Pyramid, Khafre and Menkaure pyramids, Sphinx, Grand Egyptian Museum
Meals: Breakfast, dinner
Optional experiences: Entry inside one of the pyramids; camel or horse ride on 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 of your luggage travel stowed.
The train pulls into Aswan mid-morning. Your local guide meets you on the platform and drives you to the ship, where you check in and have lunch on board. Sightseeing starts in the afternoon with the Aswan High Dam, the 1960s structure that created Lake Nasser and reshaped the Nile Valley. From there a motorboat carries you to Agilkia Island for Philae Temple, dedicated to Isis and moved here block by block when the rising water threatened its original site. You return to the ship for dinner.
Overnight: On board in Aswan
Included visits: Aswan High Dam, Philae Temple
Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Optional experiences: Felucca sail around Elephantine Island at sunset; the Nubian villages by motorboat
Important notes: Philae is reached by boat, so expect a short transfer at each end.
The morning is free unless you take the Abu Simbel excursion, in which case you leave very early for the drive south to the two rock-cut temples Ramses II carved into the cliff face — and which were cut apart and lifted 65 meters uphill in the 1960s to save them from the lake. The ship sails for Kom Ombo later in the day. The temple there stands right on the riverbank and is unusual for being doubled: one half for Sobek the crocodile god, the mirrored half for Haroeris. Sailing resumes after the visit.
Overnight: On board
Included visits: Kom Ombo Temple
Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Optional experiences: Abu Simbel by road or short flight, booked in advance
Important notes: Abu Simbel means a pre-dawn start and roughly three hours on the road each way. Confirm the sailing time with the ship before booking it.
You go ashore in the morning at Edfu for the Temple of Horus, which still has its roof and its enclosure walls intact — the most complete pharaonic temple left anywhere in Egypt. The reliefs carry the full Horus and Seth story from start to finish. The ship then sails north to Luxor. Your afternoon covers the East Bank: Karnak first, a site built and rebuilt across two thousand years, where the Hypostyle Hall's 134 sandstone columns tend to silence a group, and 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
Important notes: The Edfu temple is a short ride from the mooring, usually by horse-drawn carriage.
Breakfast on board, then disembarkation with your luggage. The West Bank fills the morning: three tombs in the Valley of the Kings, cut deep into the limestone and still carrying their painted ceilings; the terraced mortuary temple Hatshepsut set against the cliff at Deir el-Bahari; and the two seated Colossi of Memnon, all that survives of Amenhotep III's own temple. Afterwards you drive east across the desert to Hurghada, about four hours with stops, with a packed lunch for the road. Dinner is at your resort.
Overnight: Hurghada
Included visits: Valley of the Kings, Temple of Hatshepsut, Colossi of Memnon
Meals: Breakfast, packed lunch, dinner
Optional experiences: Dawn hot-air balloon over the West Bank, before the tour starts; the tombs of Tutankhamun and Seti I, ticketed separately
Important notes: This is the longest day of the trip. Uneven ground and warm still air in the tombs — closed shoes and water are worth having.
Nothing is scheduled. The reef sits close enough to shore in most of Hurghada that a mask and a pair of fins will show you plenty, and dive boats leave every morning if you want to go deeper. If you would rather be off the water, quad and jeep safaris run into the eastern desert, and glass-bottom boats cover the reef without getting you wet. Or you stay on a sun lounger and do none of it, which after five days of temples is a defensible choice.
Overnight: Hurghada
Included visits: None
Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Optional experiences: Snorkeling and diving trips, desert safari, glass-bottom boat, day sail to Giftun Island
Important notes: Reef-safe sunscreen is worth bringing. Coral is protected — standing on it carries fines.
After breakfast you transfer to the bus station for the VIP coach north. It is a long run up the Red Sea coast and across to the capital — allow most of the day — with rest stops along the route and reclining seats and air conditioning throughout. Your representative meets you at the Cairo end and drives you to your hotel. The evening is free, and after a day sitting down most people are content to eat at the hotel and turn in early.
Overnight: Cairo
Included visits: None
Meals: Breakfast
Optional experiences: Dinner cruise on the Nile
Important notes: Take water and something to read. The coach makes scheduled stops but does not detour.
An early start for the drive northwest to the coast, roughly three hours on the desert road. Alexandria feels like a different country from the rest of the trip — Mediterranean, salt-aired, laid out by Alexander in 331 BC and Greek, Roman and Ottoman by turns ever since. You go down three levels into the Catacombs of Kom el-Shoqafa, where Egyptian and Roman funerary art sit side by side in the same rock. The Bibliotheca Alexandrina follows, built beside the site of the ancient library. Last is Qaitbay Citadel on the harbor wall, standing on the foundations of the Pharos lighthouse. You are back in Cairo by evening.
Overnight: Cairo
Included visits: Catacombs of Kom el-Shoqafa, Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Qaitbay Citadel
Meals: Breakfast, lunch
Important notes: A long day with a lot of road. The citadel stop is exterior and photographic; entry is not included.
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 security, and your representative walks you through to departures.
Included visits: None
Meals: Breakfast
Important notes: Allow three hours before an international departure.
What's Included
- Airport meet-and-greet by our representative on arrival and departure
- Private air-conditioned vehicle for all transfers and sightseeing
- Road transfer from Luxor to Hurghada in a private air-conditioned vehicle
- First-class air-conditioned coach for the Hurghada to Cairo legThree nights in Cairo on a bed-and-breakfast basis
- One night in a sleeper-train cabin, dinner and breakfast served on board
- Three nights aboard a 5-star superior Nile cruise on full board
- Two nights in Hurghada with breakfast each morningLicensed English-speaking Egyptologist throughout your sightseeing
- Cairo sightseeing runs privately, just your party and your guide
- Nile cruise excursions run as small-group tours with fellow passengers
- Meals as set out day by day in the itinerary
- All service charges and applicable taxes
Not Included
- International Airfare
- Entry visa to Egypt
- Any optional tour/ Personal Spendings
- Tipping
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