Essence of the Near East
Full Itinerary
Day 1
Arrive Cairo where you will be met by our Egypt Tours and Travel tour manager who will meet and assist you. Transfer to your hotel, the luxurious and historical Marriott Mena House Hotel. Overnight
**Accommodation in a junior suite in the palace section of the Mena House Marriott Hotel
Day 2
Meet with your Egypt Tours tour guide. Drive to Memphis, the capital of the Ancient Kingdom. Continue to Sakkara, the vast Necropolis of ancient Memphis. Visit the Step Pyramid of Zoser (3rd dynasty, 2668 BC–2649 BC). Also visit the exterior of the Pyramid of Unas, the last King of the 5th dynasty. In the afternoon, drive to the Pyramids of Giza. Cheops Pyramid, the largest of the three, was built in the 4th dynasty about 2690 BC. Continue your tour to visit the legendary Sphinx. Also, visit the Solar Boat Museum where ancient dismantled river barges of King Cheops (Khufu) were found and have been masterfully re-assembled. Later transfer back to your hotel. Overnight.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Day 3
Meet with your Egypt Tours tour guide. Drive to Dahshur, visit the Red Pyramid and the Bent Pyramid. The constructor of these Pyramids is thought to have been Sneferu. Sneferu is thought to have built the Pyramid of Maidum as well. Return to your hotel. In the evening you will be met by your Egypt Tours tour manager and transferred to embark on a dinner cruise with a folkloric floor show and belly dancing. Enjoy dinner while sailing, watching live music, while observing the Cairo skyline. Transfer back to your hotel. Overnight.
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Day 4
Meet with your Egypt Tours tour guide, and drive to Fayoum, Egypt's largest oasis, overlooking Lake Qarun, a popular spot for hunting and fishing. Visit the remains of the temple and Pyramid of Amenemhat III (1842 BC) which is also called the Pyramid of Hawara. Also, visit the Roman site of Chariness. Lunch at the historical Oberge Fayoum Hotel. Continue the tour with a drive to Maidum Pyramid, started by King Huni and completed by Sneferu. Transfer back to Cairo. Overnight.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Day 5
You will be met by your Egypt Tours tour manager and transferred to Cairo Airport for your early flight to Abu-Simbel. Upon arrival at Abu-Simbel Airport, you will be transferred to visit the great temple, with its four colossal seated statues of the king in front of the entrance. Also, visit the king's wife temple. Transfer back to Abu-Simbel Airport for your flight to Aswan. Arrive Aswan and transfer to embark your cruise ship. The M/S Oberoi Zahra. All luxury, junior suites boat. Later visit by "Felucca" the Elephantine Island, the exterior of the Mausoleum of Agha Khan, and the Botanical Gardens. In the afternoon, meet with our tour guide for a private tour of the Nubian Museum in Aswan, where you can see the history of Nubian civilization from its start until the present time. Transfer back to your cruise ship. Overnight on board.
**Accommodation either in a Royal or a Presidential suite for the duration of the cruise
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 6
Breakfast, then visit the Unfinished Obelisk in the ancient granite quarries, Temple of Philae, and the High Dam. Cruise to Kom-Ombo. Visit the Ptolemaic Temple of Kom-Ombo, was dedicated to two gods: the crocodile god Sobek and the falcon-headed god Haroeris. Sail to Edfu. Overnight on board.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 7
Visit the Temples of Horus (237 BC) the best-preserved Egyptian Temple in existence. Lunch. Sail to Luxor via Esna. Overnight on-board your cruise ship.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 8
Breakfast, then cross to the West Bank of the Nile, visit the Necropolis of ancient Thebes. Explore the Valleys of the Kings and Queens where tombs of 64 pharaohs and 57 queens have been discovered, and enter some of the most important burials including. In the afternoon, visit the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut, and Tomb of Ramses IV. This tomb still retains much of its beautiful colors and astronomical ceilings. Also, visit the Colossi of Memnon. Continue the tour to the Temple of Karnak, which took over 1500 years to build and is considered the world's largest religious complex. Continue your tour to visit the Temple of Luxor, started by Amenhotep III, and completed by Ramses II. Overnight on board.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 9
Breakfast, then disembark your cruise ship. You will be met and transferred to the Old Winter Palace Hotel. Nile view Palace suite. Later, meet your guide for a tour of the Valley of the Nobles, visiting Userhat and Rekhmire Tomb famous for their fine wall decorations and drawings depicting scenes from the daily life of ancient Egyptians. Continue your tour to visit the famous tomb of King Tut (14th century BC). Also visit the unfinished tomb of Seti II, known as KV 15 (from the 13th century BC). This tomb's outer halls are decorated with reliefs on beautiful limestone. Also visit the temples and chapels of Madinet Habu, the largest complex that was built by Ramses III. Transfer back to your hotel. In the evening, transfer to Karnak temple to attend the magnificent Sound and Light show. Return to your hotel. Overnight
**Accommodation in a junior suite of the Old Winter Palace Hotel.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 10
Start your day with a visit to the tomb of Nefertari, built by King Ramses II for his beloved queen. This tomb is most famous for its fine artwork. It is a breathtaking exhibit and is truly one of the highlights of your trip. Continue your tour to visit the beautiful tomb of Tuthmosis III, known as KV 34. This is the tomb dedicated to the pharaoh who won an empire for his country. End your tour with a visit to the Luxor Museum. In the evening you will be met and transferred to Luxor Airport for your flight back to Cairo. Upon arrival at Cairo Airport, you will be met by your Egypt Tours tour manager and transferred to your hotel, the luxurious and historical Cairo Marriott, and Towers Hotel. Overnight.
**Accommodation in a junior suite at the Cairo Marriott and Towers Hotel.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 11
Meet with your Egypt Tours tour guide. Start your tour by visiting the Egyptian Museum famous for its antiquities, which include the fabulous treasures of King Tut-Ankh-Amon. Afternoon excursion to Old Cairo, visiting the very old Coptic Churches and the oldest Jewish Synagogue of Beni Ezra. Continue your tour to visit the Citadel of Salah El-Din and the Alabaster Mosque of Mohammed Ali. Also, visit the famous City of the Dead. This is a centuries-old cemetery in the Old Cairo area, with very small houses encompassing both the dead and their living relatives, who—because of inadequate housing—have moved into their family's graves. Continue your tour to the Medieval Bazaars of Khan-El-Khalili. Return to your hotel. Overnight.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Day 12
You will be met by your Egypt Tours tour manager and transferred to downtown Cairo, for a two-hour "Felucca" ride (sailboat). Sail the Nile River in a Felucca, the same way ancient Egyptians used to do thousands of years ago. Lunch at a traditional restaurant. Enjoy the remainder of the day at leisure for last-minute shopping or just to relax by your hotel pool. Overnight at your hotel.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Day 13
You will be met by your Egypt Tours tour manager and transferred to Cairo Airport, where you will be helped with your check-in for your flight to Amman. Arrive at Amman Queen Alia Airport where you will be met by our representative and transferred to your hotel, the Inter-Continental Hotel. Overnight.
**Accommodation will be in a junior suite at the Inter-Continental Amman.
Meals: Breakfast
Day 14
Start the tour with a drive north for a full day tour to three of Jordan's most famous sites: Jerash, Ajlun, and Umm Qais. Start in the biblical land of Gilead, Jerash. This is one of the finest and most preserved Greco-Roman cities, with its intact towering city walls, colonnaded streets, three theaters, several baths, two temples, plazas, fountains, and many other public spaces that formed the typical wealthy Roman town, from the Byzantine period, Jerash has at least 15 churches with sparkling mosaics. Transfer to your hotel. Overnight.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Day 15
Early start with a drive south, via the King's highway, on your way to one of the 7th wonders of the ancient world: Petra. As you pass south of Amman through the Old Ammonite Kingdom, you reach Madaba, has one of the best-preserved collections of early Christian Byzantine mosaics from the 4th to the 7th centuries AD. Ten minutes east of Madaba is Mt. Nebo, with its commanding view of the Dead Sea and the Jordan Valley. It is the same spot where Moses is thought to have looked out over the Holy Land. Continue to the massive crusader fortress of Kerak, with its labyrinth of underground galleries, rooms, and secret passages. Continue to Petra. Overnight at Tibet Zaman Village.
**Accommodation in a suite at the Tibet Zaman Village.
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Day 16
Start your full-day tour in the Rose Red City of Petra, the wondrous, rock-carved Nabatean capital. From that same well-secured spot, the Nabatean Arab Kingdom controlled one of the greatest international trade routes of the ancient world, the fabled "spice and incense route," which linked China, India, and southern Arabia with the rich markets of Greece, Rome, and the rest of the Mediterranean world. For approximately 500 years, between the 3rd century BC and the 2nd century AD, the Nabateans carved a fabulous city out of the Rose Red rock, of which more than 800 individual monuments and tombs can still be highly appreciated today. Overnight at your hotel in Petra.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Day 17
Drive to Wadi Rum. First start with a one-hour camel ride into the desert, followed by a desert safari deep into the valley, in a four-wheel-drive vehicle. You will see the Thamudic inscriptions, Nabatean waterworks, and other assorted structures attesting to the area's use by residents and passers-by during the past 3,000 years. View the sand-carved cliffs of this wide valley which provided an ideal backdrop for the filming of the movie "Lawrence of Arabia." continues to meet the Bedouins in the desert and enjoy their hospitality by having a freshly cooked dinner in a tent in the desert. Drive back to Amman. Overnight at the luxurious Marriott Amman Hotel.
**Accommodation in a junior suite in Amman Hotel
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 18
Breakfast, then you will be met by our tour manager and transferred to Amman Airport, where you will be helped with your check-in for your departure flight back.
Meals: Breakfast
Also Included: All transfers within Egypt and Jordan, all service charges imposed by hotels, Nile Cruise port charges, portage, meeting and assistance at airports, hotels, and docks. Accommodations on this tour are in junior suites throughout and airfare is based on business class.
Extensions & Optional Tours: Extra days and optional tours to other sites are available upon request.
Essence of the Near East
Price
$18575
Single Supplement
$4980
Interested?
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