Private Egypt New Year Tour: 8 Days in Cairo, Aswan and Luxor

After breakfast, your guide leads you onto the Giza Plateau to see the three pyramids of Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure, then the Great Sphinx and the Valley Temple, where the guide explains the ancient rituals carried out there. From there you continue to the Grand Egyptian Museum for the Tutankhamun treasures and other pharaonic displays. Lunch follows at a local restaurant, and you return to your hotel for a quiet evening.

Breakfast is followed by a transfer to Cairo airport and a short flight south to Aswan. Your guide meets you there and takes you to Philae Temple, dedicated to the goddess Isis, and tells the story of how the complex was moved to Agilkia Island. Next stop is the Aswan High Dam, the dam that controls the river's flow. You then board your five-star Nile cruise, where lunch is served on deck as the ship sets sail. The afternoon is free to watch the riverbank from the deck, and dinner is on board.

You have breakfast while the ship sails north toward Kom Ombo. This is a double sanctuary with mirrored halves, one side for the crocodile god Sobek and the other for Horus the Elder, and your guide walks you through the layout. After that the cruise continues to Edfu, where a horse-drawn carriage takes you to the Temple of Horus, known for its many hieroglyphic carvings. Back on board, you spend the rest of the day on the water as the ship keeps heading for Luxor, with lunch and dinner served on the cruise.

This morning you go ashore on the West Bank of Luxor, the ancient royal burial ground. In the Valley of the Kings, your guide leads you through the tomb paths where pharaohs were buried with goods meant for the afterlife. The Temple of Hatshepsut follows, then a stop at the Colossi of Memnon, the two seated statues of Amenhotep III. Afterward you return to the cruise ship to rest, with lunch and dinner served on board.

The morning is spent on Luxor's East Bank. You start at the Karnak Temple Complex, where you walk among towering columns and inscribed walls, then visit Luxor Temple, associated with the renewal of kingship. In the afternoon you transfer to Luxor airport for the flight to Cairo. On arrival you check in at your hotel, and the evening is left open. Only breakfast is listed for the day, so you arrange lunch and dinner yourself.

Nothing is scheduled today, so you can set your own pace in Cairo. Options include wandering the stalls of the Khan El Khalili bazaar, visiting the historic mosques of Islamic Cairo, or staying at the hotel to rest. For a more structured day, ask about an Alexandria day trip or a Nile dinner cruise, both optional extras that sit outside the included services.

Breakfast at the hotel comes first, then check-out. A representative takes you by private vehicle to Cairo International Airport for your flight home, which ends the program. A flight in the afternoon or later suits this schedule best when you book your ticket home. If you want extra nights in Egypt, the team can arrange added hotel nights and transfers.