(EGYPT – JORDAN)

Day 01: Cairo, Egypt
Arrive Cairo International Airport. Your local representative will meet you at the airport and escort you to your Cairo hotel for check-in and overnight.

Day 02: Cairo
Your Egyptologist will meet you at the hotel to escort you on an unforgettable tour of the Great Pyramids of Giza. No trip to Egypt would be complete without a ride on a “ship of the desert”, and so you will have an opportunity to mount your individual camel for a short ride across the sands of Giza to the Sphinx. Enter the temple of the mysterious Sphinx, an ancient figure shrouded in legend and mystery. Your Egyptologist will enthrall you with the tales told of this fascinating figure. Experience Egypt’s long and rich history in our exciting double tour to the city of Memphis and the necropolis of Sakkara. At the site of Memphis, you will see the ancient capital that once stood as a flourishing metropolis during the time of the Pharaohs. Return to the hotel and enjoy the balance of your day at leisure.

Day 03: Cairo - Abu Simbel - Aswan
Transfer to the Cairo Domestic Airport for you scheduled flight to Abu Simbel. Arrive Abu Simbel and board a shuttle bus for short transfer to the temples of Ramses II and his queen Nefertari. Here you will enjoy a narrated tour of Abu Simbel. Return shuttle to the airport to board your short flight to Aswan. You are met by cruise staff and transferred to the boat dock. Arrive on your 5-star deluxe Nile cruise boat, the “Nile Adventurer”, moored in private dock in Aswan. Next, your Egyptologist guide will escort you to visit the Aswan High Dam, take a short motorboat ride to visit the romantic and majestic Philae Temple on the Island of Agilka and on to the Granite Quarries. Tonight you will be greeted by your Boat Manager, who will introduce you to the boat staff and review on-board facilities and your cruise program for the next few days. Nile Adventurer

Day 04: Aswan - Kom Ombo - Edfu - Esna
Cruise to Kom Ombo and visit the Temple of Kom Ombo, dedicated to the crocodile-god Sobek. Return to your boat for lunch on board, while you cruise to Edfu. This afternoon, explore the largest and most completely preserved Pharaonic – albeit Greek-built – temple in Egypt, the extraordinary Temple of Horus at Edfu. Overnight on board in Esna. Nile Adventurer

Day 05: Esna - Luxor
Very early sailing in Luxor and breakfast buffet on board. This afternoon your Egyptologist will guide you on a tour of the East Bank of Luxor, starting with the strikingly graceful Temple of Luxor dedicated to the god Amun. Proceed to the Temple of Karnak, built over more than a thousand years by generations of Pharaohs. Tonight’s farewell dinner will be a formal gala dinner, with white-gloved waiters serving gourmet cuisine.
Nile Adventurer

Day 06: Luxor - Cairo
Very early breakfast buffet on board, and check out. Valley of the Kings & Queens: Begin your day with a visit to the West Bank of Luxor to explore the Valley of the Kings. You will also have the chance to visit at least one tomb in the Valley of the Queens. Rising out of the desert plain in a series of terraces, the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut (Ancient Egypt’s only female Pharaoh) merges with the sheer limestone cliffs that surround it, as if nature herself had built this extraordinary monument. On the way back to the river Nile, your road passes by the famed Colossi of Memnon, known in Ancient Greek times for their haunting voices at dawn. Transfer to Luxor Domestic Airport for you scheduled flight to Cairo. Arrive Cairo, you are met and transferred to your hotel for check-in and overnight.

Day 07: Cairo
Full day of sightseeing in Cairo. Your Egyptologist will escort you today on a fascinating tour of 7,000 years of Egyptian history with a visit to the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities. Your Egyptologist will guide you today round the highlights of Coptic Cairo. Take a fascinating tour of Islamic Cairo, including the beautiful and graceful Mohamed Ali Mosque and the ancient Citadel, a spectacular medieval fortress perched on a hill above the city. Then proceed to the fascinating Khan El-Khalili Bazaar – reputed to be the largest bazaar in the Middle East. Originally founded as a watering stop for caravanserai in the 14th century, the bazaar has now grown to vast proportions.

Day 08: Cairo - Amman, Jordan
Breakfast and transfer to Cairo International Airport to check-in for your flight to Amman, Jordan. Meet & assist at Queen Alia International Airport by your iExplore representative, who will assist you with visas, luggage, and customs. Transfer in modern air-conditioned vehicle to your hotel for check-in.

Day 09: Jerash
After breakfast, enjoy a full day sightseeing beginning with a city tour of Amman. Start the day by visiting the Citadel, the Archaeological Museum, the Roman Theatre, the Folklore Museum, walk down town through the bazaars and the Gold market, then on to visit Darat al Funun. Next, drive to Jerash where you will enjoy lunch at the Green Valley Restaurant. After lunch visit the site of Jerash. Return transfer to Amman for overnight.

Day 10: Amman - Petra
Breakfast and hotel checkout. Depart Amman for a full day excursion along the Kings’ Highway and on to Petra for overnight. Drive to Mount Nebo, the mountain where Moses was allowed to see the Holy and… and not allowed to enter it. When the weather is clear, you should even be able to see Jerusalem, which is about 60 kilometres away. Continue to Madaba. South of Amman proudly stands the “City of Mosaics,” Madaba, perched on an archaeological site with more than 4000 years of history buried beneath it. Enjoy lunch at Kings Castle Restaurant at Kerak, after visit the Crusaders Castle of Kerak. Proceed to Petra for hotel check-in and dinner this evening.

Day 11: Petra - Amman
Breakfast and check out from hotel, luggage will be stored at your vehicle. Begin your full day tour of Petra. Start the visit with a horse ride from the main gate of Petra to the entrance of the old city. Then walk on foot along the to visit the rose-red city of Petra. Buffet lunch inside Petra at Basin Restaurant. Return to your vehicle and drive to Amman via the Desert Highway. Check-in to your hotel and enjoy an evening at leisure in Amman.

Day 12: Amman - Depart
Breakfast and hotel check-out. Transfer to the Amman Airport to board your homebound flight.

Egypt and Nile River Cruise

Egypt, the cradle of history and culture which can trace its beginning to remote civilizations that developed along the banks of the Nile River. It was the Nile that molded the character of the people, made then the most prosperous, then most famous, and the most civilized among any nations of ancient times.

Day 01: Cairo
Arrive Cairo, dinner and overnight.

Day 02: Cairo
This morning drive to the ancient city of Memphis to view the statue of Ramses II and Alabaster   Sphinx, At Sakkara, you will see the Step Pyramid; then join a camel caravan in Giza to visit the Sphinx and the Royal Burial Chambers of the Great Pyramids. Also see the reconstructed Solar Boat of the Pharoahs. This afternoon, visit the Cairo Museum and see the Coptic Church, which tradition says is built over the cave where the Holy family stayed on their sojourn in Egypt. Transfer to train station for overnight train to Aswan.

Day 03: Aswan / Cruising
After breakfast in train, you will board your luxurious Nile Cruise Boat in Aswan. The ship is fully air-conditioned with deluxe staterooms, Swimming pool and large sun deck from which you can experience the spectacular view as you float down the Nile. To cruise the Nile as the Pharoahs once did is to return to the ancient glories of Egypt. This afternoon enjoy an excursion by Fleuccas past the Mausoleum of the Aga Khan to visit the Kichner Island Botanical
Garden

Day 04: Aswan / Komo Ombo
This morning you visit the Old Dam now dwarfed by the New High Dam built to control the flooding of the Nile that for millennia has plagued Egyptian life. You visit the granite quarries where an immense, unfinished 1170- ton obelisk illustrates the magnitude of ancient Egyptian skill. The Temple pf Philae represents a fusion of three great civilizations Egyptian, Greek and Roman, Sailing to Komo Ombo you view the temple which is dedicated to the hawk headed god, Harwar, and the crocodile god Sobek. Cruise to Edfu

Day 05: Edfu / Esna
In Edfu, you visit the well preserved temple of  falcon headed Horus one the finest examples of Ptolemaic art in Egypt. At Esna you will explore the Temple of Khonoun. Work on this Ptolematic temple was started about 1800 BC, but it appears an earlier temple was construed by Thutmose III in 1500 BC on the same site

Day 06: Luxor / Thebes
Luxor lies on the site of Thebes, the capital of Egypt as its height. The Necropolis of Thebes is  along the west bank of the Nile. You tour the valley of the Kings, which includes the Tomb of Tuthankhamun, the Temple of Queens Hatshepsut, and the valley of the Queens.

Day 07: Luxor / Cairo
The Temples of  Karnak and Luxor we once decoraed with gold, silver, alabaster, and marble. The gate of the Temple of Kanak, which was built by Ptolemy III, is still in almost perfect condition. See the incredible stone forest of pillars in the Hypostyle Hall of Karnak, the view the famous Luxor Temple in the heart of the city. Rediscovered less than a century ago, the Luxor Temple was excavated to reveal excellent preserved ruins, late afternoon, fly back to Cairo

Day 08: Return back home
Farewell this morning as you transfer to the Cairo airport to board your return flight back home.