Passage Through Egypt - Nile River Cruise

Arrive in Cairo and check in to the five-star St. Regis, your home for the next four nights.

Arrival Time: Arrive after 3:00 p.m. local time.
Arrival City: Cairo, Egypt

Today, after a morning welcome briefing, start by exploring the premier treasure of Egypt—the Pyramids and Sphinx complex in Giza. Learn how the magnificent Pyramid of Cheops was built from over two million blocks of stone and took tens of thousands of workers over twenty years to build. The infamous Sphinx was carved out of a single massive piece of stone and displays the Pharaoh Chefren’s head on the body of a lion. Privileged access takes you inside the barrier for an up-close experience with the Sphinx.

Go inside the Great Pyramid, following the Grand Gallery’s narrow passageway to the burial chamber of Cheops. Your Egyptologist will narrate with stories and details, bringing the experience to life, while your Lindblad Expeditions-National Geographic Certified Photography Instructor will be on hand to ensure that perfect photos happen.

After lunch, explore the galleries of the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) with expert Egyptologists. Witness the 3,200-year-old statue of Ramses II in the Grand Hall, the Solar Boat and select treasures from the prehistoric to the Greco-Roman period. Enjoy a festive welcome reception at the hotel tonight. Dinner is at your leisure.

Egyptian treasures are legendary, and expertly guided visits to the finest collections are essential for a complete experience. This morning, travel to Saqqara to see the Step Pyramid of the pharaoh Zoser, a revolutionary design that initiated the art of pyramid-building. You'll also see some of Egypt’s most charming wall paintings and reliefs, showing scenes of harvesting, fishing, music-making and dancing, as well as the elaborate and exquisite mastaba of Mereruka, the largest in Saqqara. While not a royal, Mereruka (or Meri) was, among other things, “Chief Justice and Vizier” to Pharaoh Teti of the Sixth Dynasty, wealthy enough to build such a large and colorful tomb for his afterlife.

After lunch, spend time at leisure enjoying the hotel amenities or visit the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization (NMEC), which spans Egypt’s entire history—from prehistoric origins to the present day—covering Pharaonic, Greco-Roman, Coptic, Islamic and modern periods. NMEC is also home to the mummies of 18 kings and 4 queens, including Ramses II, Seti I, and Hatshepsut.

With the guidance of your Egyptologist, who will share narratives and personal experiences, today welcomes exploration of some of Cairo’s most outstanding architecture and monuments to Islam. Atop the Citadel overlooking Cairo sits the commanding Ottoman-era Muhammad Ali Mosque completed in 1848. Its five domes can be seen throughout the city.

After lunch at a local restaurant, explore the Khan el Khalili bazaar, Egypt’s most famous and largest market dating back to the 14th century, for the best taste of Cairo’s vibrant and sometimes frantic pace. You can find anything from filigreed silverwork to semiprecious stones, and other souvenirs.   

Next, stroll the exquisite El Moez Street, which dates back to the 10th century, making it one of the oldest in Cairo. Marvel at the Islamic architecture as you arrive to the Qalawun Complex, comprised of a mausoleum, a madrasa and a hospital—and considered to be among the finest examples of Islamic architecture in Egypt.

Fly via private charter flight to southern Nubia, traversing almost the entire length of Egypt, and the remarkable site of Abu Simbel, on a sun-baked island in the azure waters of Lake Nasser. Two temples are found here; one large, dedicated to Ramses II's victory at Kadesh, and one small, dedicated to his beloved Queen Nefertari. Contructed in the mid 13th century BC, Abu Simbel was excavated from the sand in 1817. The temples were moved piece-by-piece to where it sits today to avoid being lost again, this time not to sand and neglect but to the creation of modern Lake Nasser.

After lunch, reboard our privately-chartered aircraft to Aswan to embark the elegant, privately-chartered Oberoi Philae, our home for the next six nights, in time for dinner. Onboard you will find spacious cabins, warm public areas and a welcoming Egyptian crew offering impeccable service.

This morning, visit the fine Nubian Museum before lunch onboard. Next is High Tea at the legendary Old Cataract Hotel, from where commanding views of the Nile and Elephantine Island are sure to excite.

The late afternoon takes a different direction as you relax and enjoy a sail on a traditional felucca (or wooden sailboat) as the Nubian crew sing local songs and highlight the beauty of the shallow and jutting rocky cataracts of the Nile in the late afternoon light. A Nubian cultural show onboard Oberoi Philae rounds out the day.

This morning, visit the lovely Temple of Isis on the island of Philae, from which the Oberoi Philae gets its name. Like Abu Simbel, the Temple of Isis would have been lost to the floods caused by the building of the High Dam had it not been painstakingly dismantled, moved, and reconstructed at its present location.

Visit a granite quarry to learn how massive obelisks—tall, four-sided narrow pillars that end in a pyramidal top used as monuments—were carefully cut from solid rock and transported down the Nile.

Enjoy lunch onboard as you sail to Kom Ombo. Set strikingly on a hill overlooking the Nile and dedicated to two gods, hawk-headed Haroeris and crocodile-headed Sobek, the Kom Ombo Temple, built during the Ptolemaic era, is richly decorated and has a hieroglyphic calendar.

Spend the late afternoon and rest of the day enjoying sailing.

After an early morning sail to Esna, walk from the ship to the nearby Temple of Khnum in the town of Esna. This temple has not been fully excavated, and your Egyptologist explains how silt from centuries of the Nile's annual floods buried the temple, which sits about nine meters below river level.  

As you walk back to the ship through Esna, take a moment to talk to locals, share stores and learn about Egyptian small-town life. Next we arrive to Luxor and explore the exquisite Luxor Temple, guarded by massive statues of Ramses II, with magnificent pylons, columns and statues. It has been a place of worship for millennia, as attested to by the mosque that was built atop the site. Luxor Temple is well-lit in the evenings and a wonderful site to visit after sunset. After dinner onboard have an opportunity to enjoy the evening in Luxor.

Please note that we will drive via motorcoaches between Luxor and Dendera Temple if our arrival coincides with low water, and cruise this section of the Nile during high water times.

Start the day enjoying the remote temple of Dendera. Constructed during the time of Roman emperors, hundreds of years of black soot were delicately removed to reveal stunning artwork beneath and reliefs on the temple walls depicting Empress Cleopatra.  

Evening is the ideal time to visit Luxor Museum, which is beautifully lit and home to some of Egypt's finest statuary, including the mummies of Ahmos I and Ramesses I.  

Journey to the West Bank of the Nile and the famed Valley of the Kings, the burial ground for hundreds of years of Egypt's greatest pharaohs. Explore and photograph the tombs of Set I and Tutankhamun. Then visit the Valley of the Queens and the most legendary tomb of them all, that of Nefertari.* Vivid paintings depict the queen's renowned beauty and her journey to the afterlife in exquisite color and quality found nowhere else in Egypt. See the temple of Hatshepsut, dramatically set beneath sandstone cliffs. 

*Note: The tomb of Nefertari is temporarily closed for renovations. In the meantime, we will instead visit the spectacular Ramesseum, the funerary temple of Ramses II.

Disembark Oberoi Philae and visit Karnak Temple. For some 2,000 years, 30 pharaohs added their monuments and shrines to this vast temple, making it the largest religious building ever constructed. The 134 columns of the great hall create a vast forest of stone towering 70 feet high, and the massive obelisk of Queen Hatshepsut shadows the rear of this masterpiece of human ingenuity. The reliefs and carvings created by some of Ancient Egypt's finest artisans are dramatic.  

After lunch, board our privately-chartered aircraft to Cairo and check into the Waldorf Astoria. Gather for your final dinner with the group this evening.

After breakfast, transfer to the airport for flights home.

Departure Time: Anytime.

Departure City: Cairo, Egypt

Itineraries are subject to change.