8-Day Egypt Christmas Holiday: Cairo, Luxor Nile Cruise, Aswan and Abu Simbel

After breakfast you head out to the Giza Plateau for the three great pyramids, known as Cheops, Chephren and Mykerinos, and for the Sphinx, a natural stop for holiday photos. Next is the Valley Temple, part of the ritual landscape of the plateau. From there you continue to the Grand Egyptian Museum, where the Tutankhamun galleries sit within a much wider collection of pharaonic treasures. Lunch is at a local restaurant, and you return to your Cairo hotel for the night.

Breakfast is followed by a transfer to Cairo airport and the domestic flight to Luxor. Your guide takes you across the East Bank, starting with the Karnak complex, the great sanctuary of Amun-Ra, and ending at Luxor Temple. Once the sightseeing is done you board your 5-star Nile cruise ship, settle into your cabin and sit down to a festive dinner on board. You spend the night on the ship in Luxor, and the slower rhythm of river life starts here.

Once breakfast on board is finished, you cross to the West Bank. The first stop is the Valley of the Kings, where pharaohs were buried in tombs cut into the desert hills. Your guide then leads you to the Temple of Hatshepsut, set into the cliffs at Deir el-Bahari, and the morning ends at the Colossi of Memnon, two giant seated statues standing on the plain. You return to the ship for lunch, and the cruise sets off upstream toward Edfu, where you spend the night.

The morning starts with a horse-drawn carriage ride to the Temple of Edfu, dedicated to Horus, the falcon-headed god. Then the ship carries on to Kom Ombo, an unusual double temple that serves Sobek, the crocodile god, and Haroeris, the falcon god. Evening comes with the cruise moving on toward Aswan, and the ship is decorated for the season, which gives dinner a warm holiday feel. You sleep on board near Aswan.

A guided tour covers the main sights of Aswan once breakfast is done. Your first stop is the Temple of Philae, dedicated to the goddess Isis, which was moved to Agilkia Island from its original site. Next comes the High Dam, a major piece of modern Egyptian engineering. The afternoon is left open, and the sun deck is a good place for a cup of tea while the Nile goes by. You spend the night on board in Aswan.

Plan on an early start, since you leave Aswan by private vehicle for Abu Simbel. The two temples there were carved into the mountainside for Pharaoh Ramses II and his queen Nefertari, and their scale and symmetry make the effort worthwhile. Afterward you are taken to Aswan airport for the flight to Cairo. In Cairo you check in at your hotel and have the evening free to look back over the journey. Breakfast is the only meal scheduled on this day.

The last morning in Egypt starts with breakfast at the hotel. A private vehicle then takes you to Cairo International Airport for your flight home. No sightseeing is planned for this day, so it helps to avoid booking an international departure very early in the day, since a later flight leaves room for a slow start. If you would like extra nights in Egypt after the tour, our team can help arrange the hotel and the transfers.