8-Day Egypt Christmas & New Year Tour: Cairo Aswan & Nile Cruise to Luxor

After breakfast, head to the Giza Plateau with your Egyptologist, where the pharaohs of the 4th Dynasty built monuments meant to last forever, and they have.

📍The Giza Pyramids

The Great Pyramid of Khufu (Cheops in Greek) is the last surviving Wonder of the Ancient World, rising about 138.5 m (454 ft), originally 146.6 m (481 ft). Beside it stand the Pyramid of Khafre (Chephren) and the smaller Pyramid of Menkaure (Mycerinus). Along with 3 smaller Queens’ pyramids. Together they form a UNESCO World Heritage Site. → Giza Pyramids guide

💡Did you know? The Great Pyramid's sides are aligned almost perfectly to true north, south, east, and west, a precision that still amazes engineers today.

📍The Great Sphinx & The Valley Temple of Khafre

With a lion's body and the face of Pharaoh Khafre, the Great Sphinx has guarded Giza for 4,500 years. With the body of a lion and the face traditionally identified with Pharaoh Khafre, about 73 metres long and 20 metres high. Its lion’s body represents strength, while the human face reflects royal power and intelligence.

Nearby, the Valley Temple of Khafre was part of his pyramid complex and played an important role in his funerary rituals. Built from massive limestone blocks and lined with polished red Aswan granite, the temple was used for purification and ceremonial rites connected with the king’s burial and journey into the afterlife.

🔻Traditional Egyptian Lunch

Stop for one of a traditional Egypt's beloved national dishes.

📍The Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM)

The Grand Egyptian Museum is the world’s largest museum dedicated to a single civilization, showcasing more than 50,000 ancient Egyptian artifacts. Its highlights include the complete collection of King Tutankhamun, offering an extraordinary look at the golden mask, treasures, art, and daily life of ancient Egypt. 

The GEM also displays the Khufu Solar Boat, a 4,500-year-old cedar ship found buried beside the Great Pyramid in 1954, one of the oldest intact ships in the world.

Return to your hotel. Tomorrow, meet the pharaohs face to face at the Royal Mummies Hall, walk through the ancient churches of Coptic Cairo, and end at Saladin's Citadel.

Today reveals Cairo's many faces, from pharaonic kings to the early Christian churches and the medieval fortress that guarded the city.

📍The National Museum of Egyptian Civilization (NMEC)

The National Museum of Egyptian Civilization (NMEC) in Fustat, Old Cairo, traces Egypt’s history from prehistoric times through the Pharaonic, Greco-Roman, Coptic, Islamic, and modern eras. Its highlight is the atmospheric Royal Mummies’ Hall, including Ramesses II, Hatshepsut, Thutmose III, Seti I, and Seqenenre Tao. The museum also showcases royal mummies, ancient textiles, pottery, jewelry, and artifacts that reveal how Egyptian civilization evolved across thousands of years.

💡Did you know? In April 2021, Egyptians carried 22 royal mummies through Cairo to this museum in the spectacular Pharaohs' Golden Parade, watched by millions worldwide.

📍Coptic Cairo (Old Cairo)

Walk the narrow lanes of Coptic Cairo, home to the Hanging Church (Saint Virgin Mary’s Coptic Orthodox Church), built above the gate of the Roman Fortress of Babylon, and the Church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus (Abu Serga). 

💡Did you know? Coptic tradition holds that the Holy Family sheltered in the crypt beneath Abu Serga during their journey into Egypt, a meaningful stop to visit at Christmas.

Enjoy your last night in Cairo. Tomorrow, you fly south to begin your Nile cruise.

A short morning domestic flight carries you to Aswan, Egypt's sunniest winter city. Upon arrival, your Egyptologist guide meets you and takes you on today's magnificent visits.

📍The Aswan High Dam & Lake Nasser

Completed in 1970, the Aswan High Dam tamed the Nile's flood and created Lake Nasser, one of the world's largest artificial lakes that stretches about 500 km and crosses into Sudan, where it's known as Lake Nubia.

📍Philae Temple

A motorboat takes you to the island Temple of Philae, dedicated to Isis, the goddess of magic and motherhood. According to legend, Isis's husband Osiris was buried on the neighbouring island of Biga, which made Philae one of the holiest places in ancient Egypt.

🔻Board Your Nile Cruise

After you visit Agilkia Island for Philae Temple, check in to your 5-star Nile cruise and enjoy lunch on board as the cruise sails north to Kom Ombo, where it moors for the night.

Wake beside the Nile at Kom Ombo, where an ancient temple rises right from the riverbank.

📍Kom Ombo Temple

Kom Ombo is Egypt's rare double temple, a symmetrical double temple dedicated to two deities: Sobek, the crocodile-headed god of fertility and the Nile, and Haroeris (Horus the Elder), a form of the falcon-headed god Horus. Next door, the Crocodile Museum displays mummified crocodiles and other artifacts associated with the ancient cult of Sobek.

💡Did you know? The temple's ancient name was Nubt, meaning "City of Gold", a reminder of the gold that passed through here from Nubia.

Back on board, enjoy afternoon tea on the sundeck as the cruise resumes sailing to Edfu, where it moors for the night.

A horse-drawn carriage takes you through Edfu's streets to the best-preserved temple in Egypt. By evening, you'll be in Luxor.

📍The Temple of Edfu

Built between 237 and 57 BC during the Ptolemaic Period, the Temple of Horus at Edfu is one of the best-preserved temples in Egypt. Its massive pylon, hypostyle halls, relief-covered walls, courtyards, and inner sanctuary remain remarkably intact, offering a vivid look at ancient Egyptian temple architecture and religious rituals.

💡Did You Know? The temple’s inscriptions preserve the mythological conflict between Horus and Seth, the gods whose struggle represented the triumph of order over chaos. 

🔻Sailing to Luxor Through the Esna Locks

Back on board, the cruise ship passes through the Esna Lock, where it enters the lock chamber and is raised or lowered to match the water level of the Nile before continuing toward Luxor. 

📍Karnak Temple

Reach the East Bank of Luxor and explore Karnak Temple, the largest ancient religious complex in Egypt. Dedicated to Amun-Ra, the chief deity of ancient Thebes, Karnak was expanded by generations of pharaohs over more than 2,000 years. Walk through the monumental Great Hypostyle Hall, see its forest of massive columns, and discover the Sacred Lake, obelisks, pylons, and temple reliefs that reveal the power of ancient Thebes. 

💡Insider Reveal: Karnak's obelisk of Hatshepsut, about 29 metres tall, is the tallest ancient obelisk still standing in Egypt.

Enjoy dinner on board, moored in Luxor. 

🔻On Christmas Eve or New Year's Eve, celebrate with a festive gala dinner. Tomorrow, you cross to the West Bank, the land of the royal tombs.

After breakfast, check out from the Nile cruise and cross to Luxor’s West Bank, where the pharaohs were laid to rest in the desert hills.

📍The Valley of the Kings

The Valley of the Kings in Luxor, ancient Thebes, contains more than 60 royal tombs and chambers built for New Kingdom pharaohs. Many are richly decorated with scenes from Egyptian mythology, showing the pharaoh’s journey through the afterlife. 

💡Did you know? In the tomb of Ramesses VI (KV9), the sky goddess Nut stretches across the ceiling, swallowing the sun each evening and giving birth to it again at dawn.

📍The Temple of Hatshepsut

The striking Temple of Hatshepsut rises in golden limestone terraces against the cliffs of Deir el-Bahari in Luxor. Built for Hatshepsut, one of ancient Egypt’s most powerful female pharaohs, the temple showcases her reign and devotion to the god Amun.

💡 Did You Know? Its ancient name, Djeser-Djeseru, means “Holy of Holies,” reflecting the temple’s sacred importance in ancient Thebes.

📍The Colossi of Memnon

The towering Colossi of Memnon stand on Luxor’s West Bank, representing Pharaoh Amenhotep III and guarding the entrance to his long-lost mortuary temple for more than 3,000 years.

💡Did You Know? Look closely beside Amenhotep III’s legs to spot the smaller figures of Queen Tiye, his Great Royal Wife, and Mutemwia, his mother, beautiful details carved into these monumental statues.

In the evening, fly from Luxor back to Cairo and check in to your hotel for your final night in your 8 Days Christmas Vacation Tour.

After breakfast, our representative will transfer you to Cairo International Airport for your flight home.

🔻Not ready to leave? Tell your tour guide, and we'll arrange it for you. Extend to our 10-Day Egypt Christmas Tour with the Red Sea, or stay on until 7 January for Coptic Christmas in Cairo.