Nile Felucca Sailing Holiday

Arrive Cairo and check-in at hotel. Cairo is a vibrant, exhilarating, exotic, fascinating and welcoming city. Home to the best Pharaonic, Coptic and Islamic sights in Egypt, this city is where you never know what incredible, half-forgotten monument you might stumble across while wandering around. If you arrive early you may wish to catch your first glimpse of the mighty Nile river, visit the capital's medieval markets by Khan El-Khalili, or walk down the Nile promenade. There are also plenty of cinemas, theatres and modern malls.

Overnight Standard Hotel

Cairo is Africa’s largest capital city and is known as the city of a thousand minarets. Driving to Giza we see the Pyramids and Sphinx, among the most impressive manmade spectacles in the world. The Great Pyramid of Cheops is the largest of the group (originally 145m high with a square base 232m). Second is the Pyramid of Chephren (136m high, width 210m). The complex includes the Sphinx, a crouching lion with a human head carved from solid rock, and the splendid Granite Temple. We also visit the Egyptian Museum which contains the treasure of Tutankhamun. Tonight we board the overnight train to Aswan.

Overnight Basic Train Included meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Arriving around midday, the rest of the day is free in Aswan. Situated on the east bank, Aswan is traditionally regarded as the frontier town of Upper Egypt; it stands just below the first Cataract and is the meeting point of Arab culture with Nubia and black Africa. Aswan’s bazaar area is stuffed with craftwork of a strong Sudanese style. You may want to take an excursion to the Aswan High Dam (built in 1971) and the Granite Quarries from where the pharaohs cut many of their huge obelisks and statues and visit Philae Temple, situated on an island in the Nile.

Overnight Standard Hotel Included meals: Breakfast

Our time in Aswan is free form and there are a number of places worth seeing (all optional to give as much flexibility to your time here as possible). It is possible for your tour leader to organise an excursion by road (or air) from Aswan to the temples of Abu Simbel. Cut into the rock face, these huge structures were raised 61m to save them from inundation by the artificial lake created by the High Dam. The 29m high statues represent Ramses II.

Overnight Standard Hotel Included meals: Breakfast

This morning we suggest a camel trek through the desert to the abandoned Coptic Monastery of St. Simeon. Later we board our feluccas for our voyage, sailing towards Edfu. The leisurely and informal nature of felucca sailing means that no fixed night stops can be given. These depend to a considerable extent on the elements. As we sail, we see the intensive cultivation of the Nile Valley and at intermittent points are small villages which depend upon the river for their livelihood. In general, our evening stops will be by the river bank or at mid-river islands, where we set up a wild camp allowing pleasant early morning swims. We sleep on the deck of the feluccas and the experience of sleeping under the stars more than compensates for the limited facilities. Our crew look after us admirably and are great fun. Our stopping times, however, are extremely variable and we need to take maximum advantage of the northerly winds.

Overnight Basic Felucca Included meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Today we continue upstream, seeing the intensive cultivation of the Nile Valley and small villages which depend upon the river for their livelihood. In the afternoon we aim to reach Kom Ombo. The temple of Kom Ombo is unique in that it is dedicated to two gods, Horus and Sobek. Sobek the crocodile god was much needed at this spot as the river here was noted for crocodiles until early this century.

Overnight Basic Felucca Included meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Today we enjoy another day taking in the scenes of life on the Nile, enjoying a book, chatting with group or crew members and forgetting all about time as we sail down the worlds longest river.

Overnight Basic Felucca Included meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

We sail towards Edfu today, the largest Egyptian temple after Karnak, dating from the time of the Ptolemies (3rd-1st century BC). A falcon-headed god guards the Temple of Horus, which is in almost perfect condition. The temple is unusual in that the roof is still intact. After our road transfer to Luxor we’ll take horse drawn carriages (caleshes) from our hotel to visit the stupendous Temple of Amun at Karnak, the labour of numerous pharaohs. Begun about 2000 BC, the most imposing structures include the 134 pillars of the Hypostyle Hall, carved all over with scenes of the king worshipping Amun.

Overnight Standard Hotel Included meals: Breakfast

This morning, we cross the Nile and travel by bus to visit the extraordinary Temple of Queen Hatshepsut, Egypt’s only female Pharaoh, who usurped the throne from her son, the future Tuthmoses III. The scale of the temple and its magnificent setting are breathtaking, but perhaps even more remarkable are the details - look out for the fine carving of the ‘Expedition to the Land of Punt’. We then take a short bus ride to the Valley of the Kings’ to explore some of the more important sites made famous in 1922 by the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun by Howard Carter. We visit three tombs. This afternoon is free for your own personal exploration, maybe a visit to Luxor Museum, some last minute shopping or even an Optional Donkey Trek over on the West Bank, where you travel through fields and village and end your trip watching the sun set over the Nile.

Overnight Standard Hotel Included meals: Breakfast

Tour ends in Luxor after breakfast.

Included meals: Breakfast