We began our trip to Egypt with a 7 day liveaboard on the Red Sea. Diving the Red Sea was on our bucket list and it was the perfect way to begin our trip in this amazing country. (If you are interested in our diving trip you can read a little about that HERE.)
But the best part of our trip would be the next 12 days discovering the wonders of Ancient Egypt. And there is no better way to explore Egypt than to include a cruise down the Nile River! We began our tour in Luxor and made our way down to Aswan and then flew to Cairo to finish out the trip. And WOW! What a trip it was. Sailing the Nile, touring the pyramids in Giza, Luxor’s West Bank, Mummies, the Sphinx, the temples, the museums, if there was something to see, I am pretty sure we saw it! It was one of the most amazing places we have been!
If you want to see a summary of our itinerary by day it will be listed at the end of this post. We saw so much over the 12 days it was really hard to even keep track of so here is a short breakdown of how we spent our 12 days in Egypt:
- 2 nights in Luxor at the The Hilton Hotel
- 4 nights aboard the Nile cruise (cruising from Luxor to Aswan)
- 1 night in Aswan at the Mövenpick Hotel
- 5 nights in Cairo at the Four Seasons Hotel
Egypt is an amazing place and we really couldn’t have done it without the help of Memphis Tours. They did an awesome job and we would recommend using them if you are planning a trip. The tour was seamless and they handled every bit of our transportation and our guides were wonderful! We really didn’t have to worry about a thing the entire time. And travel through Egypt is a little different than other countries we have been to. There are a lot of checkpoints and traffic controls when driving and you have to be registered and have tickets for just about everything you plan on visiting. But luckily for us all of that was taken care of so we were able to just sit back, relax and enjoy the trip!
Our cruise down the Nile was fantastic and it was a really relaxing way to experience Egypt. Our personal guide was with us each day and our suite was perfect on the boat. We had a sitting area and our own balcony to enjoy the views anytime we were on the boat.
And no trip to Egypt is complete without some shopping. We were able to visit some local shops where they made beautiful items out of alabaster, granite, and basalt. And shops that sold art on the traditional papyrus paper and of course the Egyptian carpet schools and showrooms that had amazing silk, cotton and wool pieces!
Below is a gallery of photos from our trip! Hope you enjoy!
Here is a more detailed daily itinerary of our 12 days in Egypt :
Day 1: We had a driver pick us up in Port Ghalib (where we disembarked our liveaboard) and we had a long 5 hour drive to Luxor. Once we arrived we didn’t waste any time because upon arrival we headed out to visit the Valley of the Queens, Medinet Habu and Ramasseum. And to end our first night in Luxor we took a horse carriage ride through the city streets of Luxor!
Day 2: This was another Luxor Day Tour where we visited Dandara and Abydos Temples.
Day 3: Visits to the impressive Karnak and Luxor Temple and the spectacular Avenue of the Sphinx! The ‘Avenue of Sphinx’ is ongoing restoration project. This 2.7 kilometer ancient road was constructed by the pharaoh Amenhotep III and was finally formed under Nectanebo I in 400 BCE. Incredibly, this road was lined with Sphinx statues and connected the Karnak and Luxor temples and was hidden for thousands of years. We ended the day by boarding our Nile Cruise which would set sail the next day!
Day 4: We spent the morning exploring a little more of Luxor (before our cruise set sail later in the day) which included an excursion to the royal cemetery for 62 Pharaohs, Valley of the Kings, then to mortuary Temple of Queen Hatshepsut, which was built by the architects of the New Kingdom Pharaoh Hatshepsut in the 15th century BC. The afternoon was spent on the boat sailing to Edfu, our next destination along the Nile.
Day 5: Edfu and Kom Ombo Temples. We started our day by visiting the well-preserved Ptolemaic Temple dedicated to Horus at Edfu. Next we headed to Kom Ombo to see the unique Temple of Sobek, dedicated to Sobek the crocodile god, and Horus the falcon-headed god. After lunch we continued sailing to Aswan.
Day 6: We woke up in Aswan and had a full day of sightseeing. We started with the High Dam and the largest known ancient obelisk, located in the northern region of the stone quarries of ancient Egypt, the Unfinished Obelisk. Next we proceeded to the beautiful Temple of Philae, which is devoted to the two goddesses Isis and Hathor. One very interesting thing about the Philae temple complex is that it is an island-based temple complex in the reservoir of the Aswan Low Dam. And this was not the original location. This temple was moved here from a nearby island that is now underwater due to the dam that was built in the 1960’s.
Day 7: We disembarked the cruise and moved over to the Mövenpick Hotel in Aswan which is where we would spend our last night before heading back to Cairo. We used this day as a relax and recharge day and just spent the day relaxing by the pool.
Day 8: We would be flying back to Cairo later in the day but not before we did a final tour in Aswan. We started with a visit to Kalabsha Temple. This temple was actually relocated in the 1960’s due to the high dam being built. It was originally located about 50 km south of Aswan. The temple is located on an island and had been closed to the public but luckily for us they had reopened it the day we scheduled to visit it. We had to get a special permit from the Egyptian Secret Service and we were the only visitors on the island during our visit so we felt pretty special! Then the last stop of the day was to get on a motorboat and head over to visit the Nubian Village. This Village was also relocated in the 60’s by the government due to the high dam. We spent some time walking through this village and even got to tour one of the homes while we were there. We ended the day by heading to the airport and jumping on a flight and heading to Cairo!
Day 9: We woke up in Cairo and had an early start for our Pyramids Tour! We started with a trip to Giza Plateau to visit the Great Pyramids of Cheops, Chefren and Mykerinus – Famous Sphinx and Valley temple facing the great statue. We then proceeded to Sakkara area to visit Sakkara Complex and the first pyramid ever built (Djoser Pyramid). And we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to take a ride on a camel while we were there! Before heading back to our hotel we also took a tour through Memphis; Old kingdom’s capital and famous Necropolis.
Day 10: This was another day of Cairo Sightseeing which included: Egyptian Museum, the Saladin Citadel including Mohamed Ali Alabaster Mosque inside, Coptic Cairo to visit the Hanging Church and Ben Ezra Synagogue, and finally ending in Islamic Cairo.
Day 11: Today was a day trip to Alexandria from Cairo by Car. This was about a 2 hour drive but was definitely worth it! We started with a stop at Pompay’s Pillar. It was constructed in honor of the Emperor Diocletian at the end of the 4th Century. Originally from the temple of the Serapis, it was once a magnificent structure rivaling the Soma and the Caesarean. Next we went to visit the Catacombs which are the largest Roman Cemetery consisting of three levels cut in the rock. Then we proceeded to see the Qaitbay Citadel which was built on the site of the ancient pharaohs (lighthouse) of Alexandria then to Bibliotheca Alexandrina. This was a long day especially considering we had a 2 hour drive back to Cairo!
Day 12: Our last day of touring in Egypt Pete had to go solo on this day because I wasn’t feeling too great and needed a day to just chill at the hotel. This last day of tours included a visit to the National museum of the Egyptian civilization which included a visit to the New Mummies Hall (which Pete found super interesting) then followed with a visit to the Cave Church (which turns out is located in what is referred to as garbage city – literally a place where streets are lined with trash and locals rummage through for recycling).
Our last full day in Cairo was spent reflecting on what an amazing time we had and getting packed up and ready to head to our next destination! This stop on our travel for 2023 will rank near the top of the list!
The Modern Nomads 
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