“METAPHYSICAL EGYPT” – MAIN TOUR

DAY 1 – Thursday, Dec 3, 2026: Arrivals in Cairo. Welcome meeting with dinner.
Hotel: Giza hotel night #1. Meal: D

Welcome to Egypt! A representative will meet you inside Cairo airport and bring you to our hotel. The hotel is in Giza right near the pyramids. YES! You are now in Egypt!!

Those who arrive in time will have dinner together. Our Welcome meeting and orientation will be on Friday morning (next day).

DAY 2 – Friday, Dec 4, 2026: Dashur – Red & Bent Pyramids. Shopping: Egyptian jewelry and stones.
Hotel: Giza hotel night #2. Meal: BB, L.

We begin our sightseeing with sites 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.

We 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.  The Black Pyramid (Middle Kingdom mud brick) can also be seen from here.

After lunch in the Sakkara area, we stop at a jewelry shop so that people can choose some stones or pieces of jewelry that will be imbued with the energies of the temples throughout the tour.

Dinner is on your own this evening at our hotel near the Giza Pyramids.

DAY 3 – Saturday, Dec. 5, 2026: Giza Plateau – Great Pyramid, Sphinx, Valley Temple, camel ride (not obligatory), Khafre or Menkaure Pyramid.
Private Visit inside the Sphinx Enclosure* and a Private Visiit inside the Great Pyramid.* 
Hotel: Giza hotel night #2. Meals: BB, L  

Today we spend a full day on the 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. The exact time of our private visit inside the Great Pyramid (with all 3 chambers open to us – Kings, Queens and subterranean”Pit”) has not yet been determined, but it will either be in the early morning or in the evening when the area is closed to the normal tourists.

We will also see the Great Sphinx & Valley Temple. There are legends of the Sphinx speaking. Does the Sphinx have a message for you? Unlike the other tourists who only see the Great Sphinx from a distance, our group will have special permission to enter the Sphinx enclosure where you will be able to touch the Sphinx and go into the sacred area between the paws! 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.

*Note: We are applying for special government-issued permits which will allow us to have a private visit for our group alone in the Great Pyramid after the other tourists have left for the day or in the early morning before they arrive and a private access inside the Sphinx Enclosure.  We have every reason to believe that we will receive these permissions, as we have on our previous tours.  However, we cannot guarantee this because government policies can change unexpectedly.

Also note that the Solar Boat is no longer on the Giza Plateau but has been moved to the new museum (GEM) for restoration.

DAY 4 – Sunday, Dec 6, 2026: Saqqara: Step Pyramid, Unas Pyramid, Old Kingdom Tombs, Teti Pyramid, Serapeum, Imhotep Museum. Flight from Cairo to Luxor.
Hotel: Luxor Steigenberger Hotel or similar, night #1. Meals: BB, L, D.

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 will be at the Saqqara Complex (also spelled Sakkara) today. A special treat is that a passage under the Step Pyramid has been opened. Here at Saqqara we also visit the Teti Pyramid and some Old Kingdom tombs with fascinating scenes of the daily life in Ancient Egypt’s Old Kingdom and the Serapeum, a place shrouded in mystery. Before leaving we are delighted to see that the Imhotep Museum has now reopened. A perfect way to finish our tour of Saqqara.

Dinner together near Cairo Airport before our departure. Evening flight from Cairo to Luxor.

DAY 5 – Monday, Dec 7, 2026: Karnak Temple Complex with Open Air Museum. Luxor Temple. 
Hotel: Luxor Steigenberger Hotel or similar, night #2. Meals: BB, L  

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. The splendors of the Karnak Temple fill our day today. Luxor was the center of government during the New Kingdom and each Pharaoh wanted to leave something impressive there. The largest temple complex in Egypt, we see multiple temples, obelisks, great gates, the Sacred Lake, and the famous hypostyle hall – unequaled to this day.  

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.

Visiting the Goddess Sekhmet at the nearby Temple of Ptah is a highlight for many of our travelers. Her name is the feminine form of “The Powerful.” She is wise, a healer, and yes, very POWERFUL.

Afternoon is the perfect time to visit the Luxor Temple. Both gently beautiful and full of awesome grandness, 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.

DAY 11 – Sunday, Dec. 13, 2026: Abu Simbel Temples by road. 
Hotel: Nile Cruise #4. Meals: BB, L, D.

Today we have a day-long journey via the desert road to Abu Simbel. After visiting the temples, we will enjoy lunch at a local Nubian Restaurant. 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.  

Tonight is our last night on our Nile Cruise boat. Sometimes there is a party with dancing. 

DAY 12 – Monday, Dec. 15, 2026: Disembark from the cruise boat. Goddess Isis Temple at Philae. Shopping: Aswan Street Bazaar and Spice Shop. Flight from Aswan to Cairo. 
Hotel: Cairo Airport Hotel, #1. Meals: BB, L, D.

Our cruise boat has arrived in Aswan. Some people think of Aswan as the “Jamaica of Egypt.” The local Nubian culture has a more laid-back feel to it and their brightly-colored clothing and painted buildings have a very different feel from the northern parts of Egypt. Aswan has been a trading center for more than 5,000 years. The cataracts here in the Nile mean that trading boats were unable to pass through this area with their goods. So the traders from Africa stopped here and met the traders from the Mediterranean. One of the prized items of trade was exotic spices, so Aswan became renowned for its spice trade. We will visit a spice shop here, which will be a treat for any chefs in our group!

The local street bazaar in Aswan has rows and rows of shops selling all sorts of things – fruits and vegetables, souvenir items, t-shirts and other clothing, applique pillows and quilts, all kinds of things! You will need to bargain for everything, but that is part of what makes it fun.

In the afternoon, we visit the beautiful Goddess Isis Temple at Philae Island. This temple is the last place the Ancient Egyptian religion was practiced here in Egypt and also the last place where hieroglyphs were written. It was officially closed in 537 AD by an order of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian. Like many of the Ancient Egyptian temples, it was later used as a Christian Church.

We fly back to Cairo this evening (or tomorrow morning, depending on the flights) and check into our hotel which is conveniently located right at the Cairo airport for easy arrival this evening and for our departures home on Wednesday.