Egypt & Beyond: Multi-Country Tours

What an Egypt and beyond trip is

An Egypt and beyond trip is one itinerary across two countries, planned day by day from your arrival in Cairo to your departure from the second country. Every one of our combined trips starts in Egypt, spends at least two nights in Cairo, and then crosses to Jordan, Morocco, Turkey or the United Arab Emirates with a single flight. None of them flies you back to Egypt at the end: you leave from Amman, Casablanca, Istanbul, Antalya, Dubai or Abu Dhabi, depending on the route.

That shape keeps the trip simple. You unpack in Cairo, see the pyramids and the Grand Egyptian Museum, perhaps add Luxor, Alexandria, the Red Sea or a few nights on the Nile, and then move on once. Someone meets you on arrival in both countries, the transfers named in the program are part of the trip, and the guided visits are set out day by day, so you always know where you sleep and what each day is for.

Four combinations

Egypt and Jordan pairs Cairo with Petra. The seven trips run from 8 to 14 days, enter Petra on foot through the Siq, and most include a night at a desert camp in Wadi Rum. Some add the Dead Sea, Madaba and Mount Nebo, Luxor or a Nile cruise, and all of them end in Amman.

Egypt and Morocco joins the two ends of North Africa. The six trips run from 10 to 16 days, fly from Cairo to Casablanca and spend time in Marrakech, with Fez, the High Atlas, a Sahara night at Merzouga or a Nile cruise on some routes.

Egypt and Turkey links Cairo and Istanbul. The six trips run from 9 to 16 days and can add Cappadocia, Ephesus, Pamukkale, Antalya or a Nile cruise.

Egypt and the United Arab Emirates sets old Cairo against modern Dubai. The six trips run from 7 to 14 days and can add Abu Dhabi, the Red Sea at Hurghada, a Nile cruise or a dahabiya.

Which combination suits you

If ancient sites are what you came for, Jordan is the natural partner: Petra is one flight and a drive from Cairo, and the desert at Wadi Rum adds a night under the mountains. If you love old cities and markets, Morocco lets you set the medinas of Marrakech and Fez beside historic Cairo. Turkey suits travelers who want Byzantine and Ottoman history in Istanbul and, on the longer trips, the landscapes of Cappadocia and Pamukkale. The United Arab Emirates is the contrast trip, with the modern skylines of Dubai and Abu Dhabi after the pyramids, and it has the shortest combined trip, at 7 days. Families have a dedicated trip in Jordan and in the United Arab Emirates.

Cairo comes first

Whichever combination you choose, the first chapter is the same. You land in Cairo and are met at the airport, and your second day is spent with your guide on the Giza Plateau, beside the pyramids of Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure and the Great Sphinx, and in the Grand Egyptian Museum. Most trips then give a full day to historic Cairo, along Al-Muizz Street and into the bazaar of Khan el-Khalili. The family trips replace that day with a gentler program, with breaks, a short walk in a historic quarter and an easy lunch.

Starting in Cairo means the biggest sightseeing days come while you are fresh, and on most routes Cairo is also where the flight to the second country leaves from.

How long a trip you need

The shortest combined trips are a week or a little more. Seven to nine days gives you Cairo plus one city or one region in the second country: Cairo and Dubai, Cairo and Istanbul, or Cairo with Petra and Wadi Rum.

Ten to twelve days lets you add a second chapter. That might be two nights in Luxor or three on the Red Sea in Egypt, or Cappadocia, Ephesus, Fez, the Sahara or Abu Dhabi on the other side.

Thirteen to sixteen days is where the Nile fits comfortably. Eight of our combined trips, between 11 and 16 days long, include three or four nights on the river by cruise ship, or four nights on a dahabiya. Nile sailings run on set days, so for these trips your quote matches your dates to a real departure before anything else is planned.

Flights between the countries

Every combined trip crosses the border by air, and each trip states plainly how that flight is handled. On the Jordan, Morocco and United Arab Emirates trips, the flight from Cairo to Amman, Casablanca or Dubai is not included unless your quote lists it. On the Turkey trips, your quotation states whether the Cairo to Istanbul flight, and any flights inside Turkey, are included. International airfare to Egypt at the start and home from the second country at the end is not included in any of the trips.

Domestic flights inside Egypt, such as Cairo to Luxor or Aswan, are also not included unless your quote lists them. What every trip does include is time: the crossing always gets a travel day of its own, and on all eight Nile trips you spend a hotel night in Cairo after the river, so an international flight is never pressed against a disembarkation.

Visas for two countries

Entry visas are not included in any of our combined trips, for Egypt or for the second country. Because you cross a border, you need to meet the entry rules of both countries, and those rules depend on the passport you travel on. Check the requirements for Egypt and for Jordan, Morocco, Turkey or the United Arab Emirates with official sources before you travel, and allow time for any application.

What is included, and what your quote confirms

Each trip lists exactly what is included. In general that means meet and assist on arrival and on departure, the airport and land transfers described day by day, the hotel nights shown for each city, and the guided visits named in the program. Local guides lead the visits in each country on most trips; on several Nile routes an Egyptologist leads them in Egypt. Meals are those set out in your confirmed quote.

Your quote also confirms the details that vary: the hotels or the category of hotel, the cruise ship or dahabiya and its sailing, the desert camp, and any ticketed extras you want, from pyramid interiors to an observation deck. Gratuities, travel insurance and personal expenses are not included on any trip.

How to request a quote

Choose a combination above and open the trips that interest you. Each trip page shows the day-by-day program, the hotel nights and what is included and excluded. When one looks right, or when you would like to change it, request a quote with your dates and the number of travelers. A planner replies within 24 hours with an itinerary for your dates, the hotels, the meals and the flights your quote includes, so you can compare routes before you decide.