7-Day Egypt Christmas Tour & New Year with Nile Cruise

Some sights you've seen a thousand times in pictures, yet nothing prepares you for the real thing. This morning, after breakfast, your Egyptologist leads you onto the Giza Plateau, where the story of ancient Egypt begins.

📍The Giza Pyramids

Built during Egypt's 4th Dynasty around 2600–2500 BC, the Giza Pyramids were the pharaohs' stairway to the stars. The Great Pyramid of Khufu, designed by the royal architect Hemiunu, is the only one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World still standing. Beside it stand the pyramids of Khafre and Menkaure, together a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

💡Did you know? The Great Pyramid was the tallest human-made structure on Earth for around 3,800 years, until Lincoln Cathedral in England overtook it in the 14th century.

🔻Insider tip: Ask your guide to stop at the Panorama Point for the classic photo of all nine pyramids, and the best spot for a camel ride.

📍The Great Sphinx

Carved from a single ridge of limestone, the Great Sphinx is about 73 metres long and 20 metres high. It has the body of a lion and, most scholars believe, the face of Pharaoh Khafre. Known as Horus of the Horizon (Hor-em-akhet), a royal guardian watching the sunrise over Giza for 4,500 years.

💡Did you know? Between its paws stands the Dream Stele of Thutmose IV, set up around 1400 BC. It tells how the Sphinx promised him the throne of Egypt if he cleared away the sand burying it. He did, and he became pharaoh.

📍The Valley Temple of Khafre

Built during the Old Kingdom's 4th Dynasty, the Valley Temple was the gateway to Khafre's eternal journey. Its massive red granite walls and alabaster floor are where the king's body is believed to have been purified before rituals such as the Opening of the Mouth ceremony. In 1860, French archaeologist Auguste Mariette discovered the famous diorite statue of Khafre here. 

🔻Stop for a traditional Egyptian lunch, often with a view of the Pyramids.

📍The Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM)

After lunch, enter the Grand Egyptian Museum, the largest museum in the world dedicated to a single civilisation. Climb the Grand Staircase lined with royal statues, and discover the complete Tutankhamun collection, more than 5,000 objects displayed together for the first time.

💡Did you know? The 11-metre colossus of Ramesses II in the Grand Atrium weighs about 83 tonnes. It once stood in a busy Cairo square before being moved to the museum in 2018.

Return to your hotel for the night. Tomorrow, you fly south to the most beautiful part of the Nile.

Get ready for a short morning flight that carries you to Aswan. Upon arrival, our Egyptologist guide meets you to begin sightseeing before you board your cruise ship. 

📍Philae Temple

A motorboat ride brings you to the island Temple of Philae, dedicated to Isis, the mother goddess and protector of Egypt, and part of the UNESCO-listed Nubian Monuments. The ancient Myth of Osiris unfolds across the temple walls. It is now located on the golden Agilkia Island.

💡Did you know? The elegant open-air pavilion known as Trajan's Kiosk, nicknamed "Pharaoh's Bed", was built by the Roman emperor Trajan. It's the most photographed spot on the island.

📍The Unfinished Obelisk

The Unfinished Obelisk is one of ancient Egypt’s most remarkable examples of monumental stonework. Commissioned by Queen Hatshepsut during the 18th Dynasty, it was carved from Aswan’s granite bedrock and intended to stand at the Temple of Amun at Karnak. 

Board Your Nile Cruise & Sail to Kom Ombo

Check in to your Nile cruise and enjoy lunch on board as the ship sets sail north. In the late afternoon, it moors beside Kom Ombo.

Wake to the gentle movement of the ship as it leaves Aswan behind. Spend the morning on the sundeck, watching palm groves, Nubian villages, and golden dunes drift past.

📍Kom Ombo Temple

Set on a bend in the Nile, Kom Ombo is Egypt's rare double temple, dedicated to Sobek, the crocodile god, and Haroeris (Horus the Elder). Next door, the Crocodile Museum displays mummified crocodiles once sacred to Sobek.

💡Did you know? Because the temple honours two gods, everything is doubled: two entrances, two hypostyle halls and two sanctuaries. Look up, and you'll spot traces of the original paint on the ceilings.

Back on board, the ship sails on to Edfu, where it moors for the night. 

The morning begins in the old way, by horse-drawn carriage through Edfu's streets, to the best-preserved temple in all of Egypt.

📍The Temple of Horus at Edfu

Built between 237 and 57 BC during the Ptolemaic period, the Temple of Horus looks almost as it did 2,000 years ago, with towering pylons, and was dedicated to Horus, the falcon-headed god associated with kingship and protection. Its magnificent reliefs and inscriptions preserve the ancient myth of Horus’s epic struggle with Seth for the throne of Egypt. 

Sailing to Luxor through the Esna Locks

Back on board, the ship passes through the Esna Lock, where local traders row alongside and throw scarves and galabeyas up to the top deck, haggling from below.

📍Karnak Temple

Arriving in the East Bank of Luxor, visit Karnak, the largest temple complex ever built, created over 2,000 years ago for the god Amun. Walk through the Great Hypostyle Hall and its forest of 134 columns.

💡Did you know? In the Festival Hall of Thutmose III, look for the "Botanical Garden" reliefs of exotic plants and animals the pharaoh brought back from Syria.

Return to your ship for dinner and your last night on the Nile. 

🔻On Christmas Eve or New Year's Eve, the evening ends with a festive gala dinner on board. Tomorrow, you cross to the West Bank, home of the royal tombs.

On the West Bank, where the sun sets, the pharaohs prepared for eternity. Today you check out of your cruise to follow them into the desert hills of the Theban Necropolis.

📍The Valley of the Kings

Hidden in a desert valley, the Valley of the Kings holds more than 60 royal tombs of the New Kingdom, their walls painted with the journey to the afterlife.

💡Did you know? On 4 November 1922, archaeologist Howard Carter discovered the tomb of Tutankhamun (KV62), the only nearly intact royal tomb ever found in the valley. An additional entrance fee applies to Tutankhamun’s tomb, as well as to the Tomb of Seti II.

📍The Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut

Set against golden cliffs at Deir el-Bahari (1508-1458 BC), which was overseen by Senenmut, the terraced Temple of Hatshepsut (Djeser-Djeseru) honours one of history's first great female rulers. Hatshepsut ruled as king, not queen, and was often shown in royal statues wearing the pharaoh's ceremonial false beard.

📍The Colossi of Memnon

Two Colossi of Memnon, 18-metre (60 ft) statues of Amenhotep III, guard the West Bank, the last survivors of his vast mortuary temple in 1350 BC 

💡Did you know? The statues were restored during the Roman period, after an earthquake damaged them. Around this time, ancient travelers reported the “Vocal Memnon”, a mysterious sound said to emerge from one statue at dawn. 

Flight to Cairo

In the evening, transfer to Luxor Airport for your domestic flight to Cairo, and check in to your hotel for your final night.

After breakfast, transfer to Cairo International Airport for your flight home, taking with you a Christmas you'll never forget.

🔻Not ready to leave? Let your guide know, and we'll arrange it for you. Extend into our 8-day or 10-day Egypt Christmas packages with the Red Sea, or stay on until 7 January to celebrate Coptic Christmas in Cairo.