Time & Space Relaxed-Pace Egypt Tour
with
Both Ancient Egyptian Sights and Time for Writing or Extra Activities of Your Choice
14-Day Egypt Tour at a Relaxed-Pace
for Writers, Returning Travelers, and
Those Who Want a Deeper Experience of Egypt
Friday – Thursday, December 5 – 18, 2025
Friday – Thursday, January 30 – February 12, 2026
This Egypt tour offers possibilities not included in other tours –
additional sights and activities of your choice or
free time for you to be creatively inspired by the power of Egypt.
SMALL GROUP TOUR: Limited to 12 Travelers
• Returning Travelers who are curious to see additional sites
• Writers who want time to record the inspirations they receive in Egypt
• Those who want to listen within and connect in a deeper way
This tour is for YOU!
What Makes This Tour Different?
The itinerary of this tour accommodates additional activities not included in the group schedule. We begin our group sightseeing each morning at 9:00am. This leaves time for writers to do Morning Pages, for early risers to visit temples from 6:00-8:00am, and for others to sleep later and have a leisurely breakfast while enjoying the views from our hotels.
The group sightseeing covers one site a day and is from 9:00am – 1:00 or 1:30pm followed by lunch. After lunch, you are free to choose other activities – additional museums, extra tombs in Luxor, shopping at the street bazaars, a horse-drawn carriage city tour, mosques or churches, interesting restaurants and other food options… Our All One World staff will assist you with any of these options, if you would like. It’s your choice!
BRIEF Itinerary • DAY-BY-DAY Itinerary • PRICES • REGISTRATION Form
BRIEF ITINERARY
December 5 – 18, 2025 and January 30 – February 12, 2026
Note regarding OPTIONS: A few of the options are listed here, but there are many more options not in this list. See those in the FULL DAY-BY-DAY INTINERARY below.
DAY 1, Friday December 5, 2025
or January 30, 2026: Arrivals
Hotel: Giza Pyramids – night #1. D.
DAY 2, Sat, Dec 6, 2025 or Jan 31, 2026:
Dashur Pyramids – Red Pyramid, Bent Pyramid
Hotel: Giza Pyramids – night #2. BB, L.
DAY 3, Sunday: Sakkara – Step Pyramid, other pyramids, tombs, and Imhotep Museum
Hotel: Giza Pyramids – night #3. BB, L.
DAY 4, Monday: Giza Pyramids and Sphinx
Hotel: Giza Pyramids – night #4. BB, L.
DAY 5, Tuesday: Flight Cairo/Luxor, Luxor Temple
Hotel: Luxor West Bank – night #1. BB, L.
DAY 6, Wednesday: Karnak Temple
Option: Early morning Balloon Ride
Hotel: Luxor West Bank – night #2. BB, L.
DAY 7, Thursday: Hatshepsut’s Deir el-Bahari Temple, Colossi of Memnon
Option: Meet village children in the afternoon
Hotel: Luxor West Bank – night #3. BB, L.
DAY 8, Friday: Valley of the Kings, begin private Dahabiya Nile cruise – night #1. BB, L, D.
DAY 9, Saturday: Esna Temple
Hotel: Dahabiya Nile Cruise – night #2. BB, L, D.
DAY 10, Sunday: Kom Ombo Temple. Option: Silsila & Horemheb Temple
Hotel: Dahabiya Nile Cruise – night #3. BB, L, D.
DAY 11, Monday: Philae Isis Temple
Hotel: Dahabiya Nile Cruise – night #4. BB, L, D.
DAY 12, Tuesday: Aswan sights. Option: Abu Simbel
Hotel: Dahabiya Nile Cruise – night #5. BB, L, D.
DAY 13, Wednesday: Flight Aswan/Cairo, Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM).
Hotel: Cairo Airport – night #1. BB, D.
DAY 14, Thursday, Dec 18, 2025 or February 12, 2026: Departures or add more days
DAY-BY-DAY ITINERARY
December 5 – 18, 2025 and January 30 – February 12, 2026
BRIEF Itinerary • PRICES • REGISTRATION Form
Thursday, Dec 4, 2025 or January 30, 2026: Departures from home.
International flights are not included in your tour. Flights within Egypt – Cairo/Luxor and Aswan/Cairo – are included.
Cairo is 7 hours ahead of New York, 10 hours ahead of California. Your flights will arrive in Cairo on the following day.
* NOTE: The EXPIRATION DATE on your passport needs to be 6 months after your arrival in Egypt. US, UK, and Canadian citizens do not need to obtain a visa for Egypt in advance. Tourist visas are issued upon arrival at Cairo airport. Cost is $25 USD. You can also obtain a visa online (online is not recommended, as there are a number of scam sites).
MAKE NOTE:
Real ID – The Real ID requirement for US domestic flights is scheduled to go into effect May 7, 2025.
ETIAS – At present, it appears that, as of mid-2025, US citizens transferring through Europe will need to apply for a new travel authorization called ETIAS (European Travel Information and Authorization System) to enter most European countries, even if they are only transiting through. This is a new requirement for visa-exempt travelers like Americans. Note that this needs to be done in advance and could take more than 4 days to be issued.
DAY 1 – Friday, December 5, 2025 or January 30, 2026: Arrivals in Cairo.
Hotel: Giza Pyramids hotel night #1. Meal: D.
Welcome to Egypt! A representative will meet you inside Cairo airport holding a yellow All One World sign. He will then bring you to our hotel. People who arrive in time will meet for dinner at our hotel near the Giza Pyramids.
SUGGESTIONS of AFTERNOON/EVENING OPTIONS for DAYS 2, 3, and 4 in the Giza-Cairo area.
You can also add your own. Note that you can also replace one of the group sightseeing days with one or more of these sights.
See more options on the Official Website of the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities HERE.
• ARCHEOLOGICAL SITES: Visit Memphis with its large statue of Ramesses II, an Alabaster Sphinx, and other artifacts
• MUSEUMS: Visit the NMEC (National Museum of Egyptian Civilization), the Egyptian Museum in downtown Cairo, the Coptic Museum, the Museum of Islamic Art, or the GEM (Grand Egyptian Museum). Note that a visit to the GEM is included on the last day of this group tour. However, it is a very large museum and worth a second visit.
• LOCAL CRAFTS: Visit a perfumery to smell the variety of Egyptian perfume oils, a shop where they weave handmade carpets, or a shop specializing in Egyptian cotton products. There are also gold and silver jewelry shops where, in just a few hours, the craftsmen will make jewelry in personalized made-to-order designs.
• DOWNTOWN CAIRO: Go into downtown Cairo for some street-bazaar shopping and dinner at an interesting local restaurant.
• FOOD: Visit restaurants that specialize in certain types of food or are located in special locations, take a street-food tour, or try other local cooking/food options.
• MOSQUES: Visit the Mohamed Ali Mosque and Salah Al-Din Citadel or the Al Rifae and Sultan Hasan Mosques.
• MODERN EGYPT: Visit the 6th of October and Sheikh Zayed area of Giza. These are modern cities built in the desert which now have modern shopping malls and eateries.
• NEW ADMINISTRATIVE CAPITAL (NAC): Visit the buildings under construction in the new city that will replace Cairo as the administrative capital in the future. LINK
• DOWNTIME: Use the afternoon/evening times to do some writing, meditate, catch up on your email, sort your photos from the sightseeing that day, have an afternoon nap, or sit in the rooftop restaurant enjoying the views of the pyramids over a Turkish coffee or cup of tea. The Egyptian people are very friendly and you may enjoy meeting those who work at the hotel and hearing what their lives are like.
• GO OUT FOR A WALK: When you are in the tourist areas of Giza, Egypt, you will be safe, but you will also receive a lot of offers to look at people’s shops, buy what they are selling, etc. Some people don’t like being hassled, but other travelers find these interactions to be adventurous and interesting.
DAY 2 – Saturday, Dec 6, 2025 or Jan 31, 2026: Welcome meeting, Sightseeing: Dashur – Red & Bent Pyramids, Memphis.
Hotel: Giza Pyramids hotel night #2. Meal: BB, L.
After a Welcome Meeting, we begin our sightseeing with a site from Ancient Egypt’s Old Kingdom (2,575-2,150 B.C.). We drive southward through fertile farmlands to the pyramids at Dashur, dated even older than the pyramids at Giza! It is also a chance to begin savoring the riches of Egypt without huge crowds and souvenir sellers.
You can spend time inside the Red Pyramid (nearly as large as Giza’s Great Pyramid) and then have the opportunity for an unforgettable walk across the open desert to the Bent Pyramid. The desert is rich with inspiration and the vastness is exhilarating. The Bent Pyramid was a key center of worship during the Middle Kingdom and was much more important than Giza at that time. The Bent pyramid is the only pyramid to retain most of its original casing stones. And, yes! you can now also climb inside the Bent Pyramid!
The Black Pyramid (Middle Kingdom mud brick) can also be seen from here.
After lunch in the Sakkara area, you can return with our bus to our hotel by the Giza Pyramids or choose an afternoon/evening activity, such as a short visit to the nearby archeological site of Memphis.
Red Pyramid
Bent Pyramid
BENT Pyramid
RED Pyramid
MEMPHIS – RAMESSES II
ALABASTER SPHINX
Black Pyramid
Bent Pyramid
DAY 3 – Sunday: Saqqara – Step Pyramid, Unas Pyramid, Old Kingdom Tombs, Teti Pyramid, Imhotep museum..
Hotel: Giza Pyramids hotel night #3. Meals: BB, L
On our way to Saqqara, we drive through the Black Land where the people have farmed the rich Nile silt for thousands of years.
Our sightseeing today is at the Saqqara Complex (also spelled Sakkara). Two treats for our previous travelers is that a passage under the Step Pyramid has been opened, and the famous Pyramid of Unas (with the earliest version of the Pyramid Texts) is now also open, so they are, of course, included in our tour!
Next we visit the sites on the northern side of Sakkara. Here we find the Teti Pyramid and some Old Kingdom tombs with fascinating scenes of the daily life in Ancient Egypt’s Old Kingdom (the ones which are open varies).
Our final visit is to the newly reopened Imhotep Museum. This is a small site-museum (the artifacts were found here at Saqqara) that has a number of interesting pieces to see.
We have lunch at a nearby restaurant before heading back to our hotel. You may also choose one of the many options for other activities or decide to go back to Sakkara to see more tombs and other sights.
UNAS VALLEY TEMPLE
STEP PYRAMID
TETI PYRAMID
UNAS CAUSEWAY
DAY 4 – Monday: Giza Plateau – Great Pyramid, Sphinx, Valley Temple, camel ride (not obligatory), Khafre or Menkaure Pyramid.
Hotel: Giza Pyramids hotel night #4. Meals: BB, L
Today we visit the famous Giza Plateau. You can go inside whichever pyramids are open. Of the three pyramids, two are usually open while one is closed for renovations – dates are not announced in advance. Tickets for entering the individual pyramids are included in your tour package.
We will also see the Great Sphinx & Valley Temple. There are legends of the Sphinx speaking. Does the Sphinx have a message for you? The Valley Temple is built with huge granite blocks that fit together snugly even today, almost 5,000 years later. Some think it is even older than that!
Camel rides for the adventurous (no additional fee). Camel videos HERE.
Also note that the Solar Boat is no longer on the Giza Plateau but has been moved to the new museum (GEM) for restoration.
Tomorrow we will be flying from Cairo to Luxor, so time to get packed up for the flight. However, there is still time for any other other activities you want to fit in here in Giza or Cairo this afternoon and evening.
GRAND GALLERY
Kings Chamber
Camel Ride
Giza Pyramids
GIZA PLATEAU
GREAT SPHINX
MENKAURE PYRAMID
KHAFRE Pyramid
SUGGESTIONS of AFTERNOON/EVENING OPTIONS for DAYS 5, 6, and 7 in the Luxor area.
You can also add your own. Note that you can also replace one of the group sightseeing days with one or more of these sights.
See more options on the Official Website of the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities HERE.
• ARCHEOLOGICAL SITES – TOMBS: Visit tombs in the Valley of the Nobles, Valley of the Queens, Valley of the Workers, El Assasif and Pabasa tombs (near Hatshepsut’s Temple). The Valley of the Kings is included in the group tour, but you might want to visit it twice to see more of the tombs there. Examples: the very large tomb of Seti 1 or the Tomb of Ay (which takes a long time to get to).
• ARCHEOLOGICAL SITES – TEMPLES: Early morning visits to Luxor Temple or Karnak Temple (visits to these temples are also included in the group tour), Medinet Habu Temple, Ramesseum Temple, Hathor Temple at Deir El Medina, Seti 1 Temple (on Luxor’s West Bank), a full-day trip to Abydos or Dendera Temples. You may also want to go back to Karnak Temple after our group visit for another visit with the Goddess Sekhmet or to check out the Temple of Khonsu.
• AVENUE OF THE SPHINXES and TEMPLE of MUT: Hike along the Avenue of Sphinxes that stretches from Karnak Temple to Luxor Temple (1.7 miles). Along the way you can see the Temple of the Goddess Mut. A good day to do this is the day we visit Karnak.
EVENING TEMPLE VISITS: The Luxor Temple is lit up in the evening. This is lovely to see, but it also means it is absolutely mobbed with tourists at this time. We will do our visit at this temple earlier in the day when there will be very few people there. However, you might like to go back in the evening to experience it with the special lighting. There is also a Sound & Light Show at the Karnak Temple (very low-tech).
• MUSEUMS: Visit Luxor Museum, or the Museum of Mummification.
• BALLOON RIDES: Something Luxor is famous for is the early-morning balloon rides on the West Bank. The balloons go up each morning (weather permitting) before sunrise so that people get to experience the sunrise while in the air. The balloons travel over the archeological sites as well as the local villages and farms.
• LOCAL KIDS: A visit with a group of local kids from a village on the West Bank of Luxor is included in your group tour, but is not mandatory. The kids will teach you to count from 1-5 in Arabic and we give them purses with school supplies and candy before playing games and just generally having fun with them. They are all ages and this is a high point for many of our travelers.
• LOCAL CRAFTS: Visit a shop where they carve copies of the antiquities found here – from alabaster and other stones – or a shop where people are weaving cotton scarves. There are also gold and silver jewelry shops where, in just a few hours, the craftsmen will make jewelry in personalized made-to-order designs. There is a fascinating carpet/rug shop in the old market which is like a journey back to the Arabian nights. The Luxor street bazaar has many small shops with all sorts of items geared toward tourists.
• LUXOR CITY TOUR (East Bank): Take a one-hour horse-drawn carriage ride through the streets where the local people do their shopping. You can even stop along the way if you see something you simply must have!
• FOOD: Visit restaurants that specialize in certain types of food or try other local cooking/food options.
• DOWNTIME: Use the afternoon/evening times to do some writing, meditate, sort your photos from the sightseeing that day, have an afternoon nap, catch up on your email, or sit in the rooftop restaurant enjoying the views over a Turkish coffee or cup of tea. The Egyptian people are very friendly and you may enjoy meeting those who work at the hotel and hearing what their lives are like.
• GO OUT FOR A WALK: A short walk from our hotel on the West Bank is a fruit & vegetable stand, a bank, and lots of small shops. You might like to check out what is for sale in the local grocery store (it’s tiny). There is also fresh bread for sale right there on the street. It’s still hot, right out of the oven!
DAY 5 – Tuesday: Check out of our hotel. Flight from Cairo to Luxor. Luxor Temple.
Hotel: Luxor West Bank hotel, night #1. Meals: BB, L
We leave our Giza hotel this morning and head back to the Cairo Airport. Luxor is just a one-hour flight from Cairo, so we arrive mid-morning. Welcome to Luxor!
Luxor has been a tourist attraction from long before the New Testament era. The Greeks looked to Egypt as the place of great wisdom and were enthralled by the temple ruins they found there. Our first visit here is to the Luxor Temple. It exudes a sacredness and beauty that fades when the large crowds come later in the afternoon and evening. This temple was the “Bride of Karnak” during the annual Apet festival. There is an Avenue of Sphinxes that connects Luxor Temple with Karnak Temple and it is one of the newly opened attractions! You may have seen the extravagant ceremony that was broadcast recently when it opened. Youtube video.
After lunch at a restaurant overlooking the Nile, we cross the river to the West Bank of Luxor where we will be staying for the next three nights. After getting settled in here, you may want to explore the surrounding village a bit or do some more sightseeing at one of the options listed above. In Ancient Egypt, the WEST was the place of endings, just as the sun finishes its cycle in the west each day. For this reason, the majority of tombs, mortuary temples and pyramids are on the West Bank of the Nile River. There are many options here on Luxor’s West Bank, and everything is fairly close together, so that makes it easy. Nothing like the traffic we experienced in Cairo!
LUXOR TEMPLE
SPHINXES Avenue
LUXOR TEMPLE
LUXOR TEMPLE
DAY 6 – Wednesday: Karnak Temple Complex with Open Air Museum (East Bank).
OPTIONAL Early morning Balloon Ride* over the West Bank. The cost of the balloon ride is not included in your tour.
Hotel: Luxor West Bank hotel, night #2. Meals: BB, L
If you don’t mind getting up in the morning before sunrise, you might like to take the optional balloon ride this morning. We cannot guarantee the availability of this, as it is dependent on the weather (wind), but if you would like to try it, you will feel like a drone flying over the West Bank. Another option is to go back to the Luxor Temple in the early morning for a special visit before the other tourists arrive. The temple opens at 6:00am.
The splendors of the famous Karnak Temple fill our morning today. There is so much to see here! Luxor was the center of government during the New Kingdom and each pharaoh wanted to leave something impressive at Karnak. The largest temple complex in Egypt, we see multiple temples, obelisks, great gates, and the famous hypostyle hall – unequaled to this day. We also see the Sacred Lake, the Festival Hall and Botanical Garden of Tutmosis III (a precursor of Napoleon’s later record of the fauna and flora found in Egypt). A visit to the Temple of Ptah where there is a memorable statue of the Goddess Sekhmet is also a highlight for many people
Also at Karnak, we visit the fascinating Open Air Museum where we view the Red Chapel of Hatshepsut and Tutmosis III (Karnak’s original Holy of Holies) and Senwosret’s White Chapel with its finely-carved Middle Kingdom hieroglyphs. These are in raised relief – some of the best to be found anywhere. There is something new each time we visit, as the reconstruction of new pieces is ongoing.
After lunch you may want to head back to the West Bank, but if you are interested in some of the East Bank activities, this afternoon and evening would be a good time to do those – the Luxor street bazaar, the Luxor Museum, gold and silver jewelry shops, or a Luxor City Tour by horse-drawn carriage. Today is a good day for any of these. Tomorrow our sightseeing will be on the West Bank.
KARNAK SPHINXES
KARNAK
KARNAK
BALLOON RIDE
HYPOSTYLE HALL
KARNAK
SEKHMET AT Karnak
White Chapel – Karnak
DAY 7 – Thursday: Hatshepsut’s Deir El Bahari Temple, and the Colossi of Memnon (West Bank).
Option: Visit some Village Kids in the afternoon.
Hotel: Luxor West Bank hotel night #3. Meals: BB, L
People who like getting up early may want to go back to Karnak Temple for a special early-morning visit before the other tourists arrive this morning The temple opens at 6:00am. A taxi can take you from our hotel on the West Bank, wait for you there at the temple, and bring you back for breakfast at 8:00am. If people were not able to do the balloon ride yesterday morning, there is a 2nd chance to do it today.
Today we visit a temple which is on almost every Egypt tour itinerary. Called “The Most Splendid of All” by the ancient Egyptians, Queen Hatshepsut’s Temple, the famous Deir El Bahari, has inspired many, including the founders of modern architecture. It is one of the earliest New Kingdom temples. An outstanding feature is the Hathor Chapel on the second level with its picturesque Hathor columns. The third level has now also been opened to the public.
We will also stop to see the “Colossi of Memnon.” They are actually two huge statues of Amenhotep III which stood at the entrance to a temple that no longer exists. During our first tours of Egypt, there were fields of grain behind these statues. Today it is an active archeological site with new artifacts being discovered on a regular basis.
After lunch (overlooking the Nile again!), we hope to visit some village children. After all our sightseeing, it is a delightful change of pace to spend time with them. Their exuberance and delight in making friends with us is a favorite part of the trip for many. Ruth brings school supplies and candy to share with the kids, and there is always lots of fun and playfulness when we visit.
COLOSSI OF MEMNON
DEIR EL BAHARI
HATHOR CHAPEL
HATSHEPSUT’S TEMPLE
COLOSSI OF MEMNON
VISIT WITH KIDS
YOUNG FRIEND
vILLAGE KIDS
DAY 8 – Friday: Check out of the hotel. Visit the Tombs in the Valley of the Kings. Begin our private dahabiya Nile Cruise, sailing to Esna.
Hotel: Dahabiya Nile Cruise boat, night #1. Meals: BB, L, D
We check out of our West Bank hotel this morning because we are about to begin the Nile Cruise portion of our tour. The river flows from deep in Africa out to the Mediterranean Sea, so it is flowing from south to north. We will be traveling southward and stopping to see temples that were built by the Greek emperors a thousand years later than the New Kingdom temples we have visited here in Luxor.
Before leaving Luxor, we visit one of the most famous archeological sites in the world, the Valley of the Kings – where King Tut’s tomb was found. There are many tombs here, and excavations are still going on, as well as restorations to tombs that have been uncovered for a long time. One never knows which tombs will be open that day, but there will be a variety to choose from. The special ticket for the remarkable Tomb of Ramesses V&VI is included in your tour, in addition to 3 other tombs of your choice. This is the tomb you may have seen with the spectacular scene of the sky goddess Nut arched across the ceiling.
When we finish our visit in the Valley of the Kings, we begin sailing on our private Nile cruise or “Nile yacht.” This size boat is called a “dahabiya” or “dahabeya.” There are just 10 guest cabins, but we have a full staff – cooks to feed us wonderful meals, housekeeping to keep our cabins clean, and all the other staff people who are needed to keep the boat running smoothly. What a luxury! As we begin our journey up the Nile, the landscape begins to slowly drift by as we enjoy our first of many delicious meals on the boat (made just for us)!
Tonight our boat docks near the lock at Esna.
USE FULL SCREEN (bottom right square icon) to watch the video below of the burial chamber of Ramesses V&VI Tomb.
The Ceiling of the Burial Chamber of the Tomb of Ramesses V&VI
kv – RAMESSES v&vi
VALLEY OF THE KINGS
VALLEY OF THE KINGS
Valley of the Kings
Valley of the Kings
KV – Tomb Ceiling
VALLEY OF the Kings
NILE DAHABIYA
DAY 9 – Saturday: Pass through the Esna lock, visit Esna Temple.
Hotel: Dahabiya Nile Cruise boat, night #2. Meals: BB, L, D.
Today we visit our first Greco-Roman temple – those that were built during the time the Greeks ruled Egypt (332 BCE – 30 BCE and afterward). The Kom Ombo, and Philae Temples will also be from this era.
The Temple at Esna was built by Ptolemy III and is dedicated to the god Khnum, as well as the goddesses Neith, Satet, and Menhet. Khnum was the god who created people’s two bodies out of clay on his potter’s wheel — one for the person’s physical body and one for his Ka. They are in the process of cleaning and restoring this temple. An astrological ceiling is being revealed.
Also here at Esna, we will be passing through the lock which regulates the height of the water in the river.
eSNA TEMPLE
ESNA TEMPLE
ESNA TEMPLE
ESNA TEMPLE
NILE
Nile DAHABIYA
NILE
NILE DAHABIYA
DAY 10 – Sunday: Kom Ombo Temple
Option: Silsila Quarries with Horemheb Temple. Included, no additional fee.
Hotel: Dahabiya Nile Cruise boat, night #3. Meals: BB, L, D.
This morning we visit the Temple of Horemheb at Silsila, a site not easily accessible and certainly impossible to visit with a large cruise boat. Such a visit is more the way it would have been for Egypt travelers in the past. No vendors hawking their wares, no automobiles or buses. This site is also where many of the huge stones used in building the temples we have seen were quarried. The scale of such an operation is quite striking when one sees where the stones originated.
Late in the day, we visit the Kom Ombo Temple. It’s a special feeling when we approach it, as It sits high on a hill above the Nile and we can see it from the boat. This temple has two parallel entrances, one for each of the deities it honors. Sobek was a crocodile god and Haeoris was an aspect of the hawk-god Horus. The medical instruments carved on the walls long before the Christian Era are easily recognizable to us today. There is also a hieroglyph representing a woman giving birth and an ancient calendar that shows us the seasons, months, and days.
SILSILA
HOREMHEB TEMPLE
SILSILA QUARRY
SILSILA BOAT TIE
KOM OMBO
MEDICAL TOOLS
GIVING BIRTH
KOM OMBO
DAY 11 – Monday: Philae Isis Temple
Hotel: Dahabiya Nile Cruise boat, night #4. Meals: BB, L.
Our last day of sailing. We have one more day to let the gentle current of the Nile cleanse and tension in our bodies, minds, and souls. Being on the Nile is like time outside of time. Are we in Biblical times? The early 1900’s? Is it really the 21st century? Could that be Agatha Christie I see there writing her next mystery novel? Do memories of earlier times and faces cross your mind? After enjoying our final hours of sailing, we have lunch and dock in Aswan.
This afternoon, we have a beautiful treat. The Philae Isis Temple is on an island near Aswan. This temple was partially submerged when the Low Dam was constructed (1899-1902) by the British. With the construction of the High Dam (1959-1970), it would have been underwater completely. Thankfully, it was moved to higher ground on a neighboring island and its beauty continues to shine.
After our temple visit, there is time for shopping at the Aswan Street Bazaar, if you would like. We still have two more nights sleeping on the boat. Tomorrow there is the opportunity to take a day-long trip to the Temples at Abu Simbel or to stay in Aswan and enjoy some of the options here.
NILE
DAHABIYA CRUISE
NILE Dahabiya
NILE DAHABIYA
PHILAE
HATHOR COLUMNS
PHILAE
ISIS TEMPLE
DAY 12 – Tuesday: Aswan – Hatshepsut’s Unfinished Obelisk and the Nubian Museum.
Other Options: a motorboat ride to Kirchner’s Island Botanical Garden, shopping at the Aswan street bazaar, and/or a spice shop.
Hotel: Dahabiya Nile Cruise boat, night #5. Meals: BB, L, D.
FULL-DAY OPTION: Abu Simbel Temples by road. The cost of the day-long trip to Abu Simbel is not included in your tour.
TRAVELERS NOT GOING to Abu Simbel:
After breakfast, those who do not go to Abu Simbel do some sightseeing in Aswan. We begin with the Unfinished Obelisk of Hatshepsut (in a granite quarry) and then visit the Nubian Museum. This museum has artifacts from Ancient Egypt, but also has an interesting display about the Nubian culture – the people native to this area.
All during Ancient Egypt, Aswan was the center of trade between Africa to the south and the Mediterranean countries to the north. After lunch back on our boat, there is time in the afternoon for shopping in Aswan. You can try your hand at bargaining in the local street bazaar with its multiple small shops and also visit a local Spice Shop.
Or you might prefer to take a motorboat ride around the islands and cataracts in this part of the Nile with a visit to Kirchner’s Island Botanical Garden.
In the evening, it is time to pack up for our departure tomorrow. It’s our last night on the boat and the staff often likes to have a farewell party for us.
OPTIONAL ABU SIMBEL by road, approx. $200 USD (not included):
Those choosing this option leave early in the morning and begin the day-long trip to Abu Simbel. The Abu Simbel Temples were made famous when the high dam was constructed and they were soon to be submerged under the new lake, Lake Nasser. A UNESCO international effort saved the temples by moving them to higher ground. The two large temples of Abu Simbel (constructed by Ramesses II) were carved into the cliff itself. The smaller temple is for the Goddess Hathor and was dedicated to his queen, Nefertari.
UNFINISHED OBELISK
SPICE SHOP
SPICES
NUBIAN MUSEUM
BOTANICAL GARDEN
BOTANICAL GARDEN
BOTANICAL GARDEN
ASWAN STREET BAZAAR
ABU SIMBEL-RAMESSES II
NEFERTARI TEMPLE
RAMESSES II TEMPLE
RAMESSES II TEMPLE
NEFERTARI HATHOR TEMPLE
NEFERTARI HATHOR TEMPLE
NEFERTARI
RAMESSES II
DAY 13 – Wednesday, Dec 17, 2025 or Feb 11, 2026: Flight Aswan/Cairo. Grand Egyptian Museum, Farewell Dinner, Departures late tonight or tomorrow.
Hotel: Novotel Cairo Airport Hotel or similar, night #1. Meals: BB, D. Lunch is on your own at the GEM.
Leaving our dahabiya boat, we head to the Aswan airport where we take a morning flight from Aswan to Cairo. The flight is about 90 minutes.
Upon our arrival in Cairo, we leave the luggage at our hotel there at the airport and head back to the pyramids area in Giza to visit the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM). Just as the name implies, this will be a world-renowned museum. It is the largest museum in Africa and will also house the largest collection of Egyptian antiquities. It is scheduled to fully open on July 3rd, 2025. The most important exhibit will be the more than 5,000 artifacts from the Tomb of King Tutankhamen.
It’s hard to believe our time has reached an end. We have a final meeting and dinner together before preparing to go our separate ways.
Our hotel is right within the airport perimeter and there is a shuttle every 30 minutes that will take you to whichever terminal you need to leave from. This hotel night is included in your tour, so you can leave late tonight or tomorrow morning.
Farewell Egypt! You will continue to live in our hearts!
Grand EGYPTIAN MUSEUM
Grand EGYPTIAN MUSEUM
KING TUT COLLECTION
GRAND EGYPTIAN MUSEUM
DAY 14 – Thursday, Dec 18, 2025 or Feb 12, 2026: Departures.
Hotel: none. Meal: BB.
If your flight does not leave until the late afternoon or evening, you might like to visit the GEM again or the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization (NMEC) where the royal mummies are now housed. The NMEC is a new, modern museum with everything clearly labeled.
Farewell Egypt! You will continue to live in our hearts!
*Note that there may be changes to the above itinerary due to circumstances beyond our control. However, every effort will be made to maintain this program as it is stated.
PRICES for the December 2025 and Jan 30 – Feb 12, 2026 Tours
BRIEF Itinerary • DAY-BY-DAY Itinerary
14-Day Tour, December 5 – 18, 2025
EARLY BIRD (paid in full by August 1, 2025 by check or bank wire): $5,695 USD in double occupancy
Paid in Full by October 1, 2025 by credit card, check or bank wire: $5,995 USD in double occupancy
Single Rooms: Add $800 to the above prices
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14-Day Tour, January 30 – February 12, 2026
EARLY BIRD (paid in full by Sept 1, 2025 by check or bank wire): $5,695 USD in double occupancy
Paid in Full by October 15, 2025 by credit card, check or bank wire: $5,995 USD in double occupancy
Single Rooms: Add $800 to the above prices
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Registration Form
Prices, Payments, and
Registration Forms
Prices begin at
$3,995 USD pp
6 days/5 nights.
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Visit our original website, 1worldtours.com for information about our previous tours, additional photos of Egypt, our contact information, and more.
