11-Day Cairo, Nile Cruise, Hurghada & Alexandria Tour

When you land at Cairo International Airport, a representative is waiting with your name on a sign. A private air-conditioned vehicle takes you to your hotel, so the first hour in one of the world's busiest cities is handled for you: no taxi lines, no fare negotiations, no navigation.

The rest of the day is unplanned on purpose. Rest, shower, unpack, and let the jet lag ease, because tomorrow starts the touring. If you arrive early and want a short outing, the hotel concierge or your guide can recommend something close by and low-key.

Your guide confirms tomorrow's pickup time, either at the airport or with a short welcome call in the evening. Two small tips for your first night: drink bottled water rather than tap water, and keep some small Egyptian pound notes on hand for tips and minor purchases over the coming days. No meals are included today, so dinner is wherever you like, at the hotel or nearby.

After breakfast you drive to the Giza Plateau, where the pyramids of Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure have stood for some 4,500 years. Your Egyptologist explains the building methods and the religious ideas behind them, from the ramps and copper tools to the belief that a king's body had to be protected for his spirit to live on. You then walk to the Great Sphinx, a lion's body with a king's head, carved directly from the bedrock.

From Giza it is a short drive to the Grand Egyptian Museum, a vast museum dedicated to a single civilization. Here the Tutankhamun collection is displayed together: the gold mask, the nested shrines, the chariots, and thousands of smaller objects found in his tomb. Your guide leads you up the Grand Staircase, where dozens of royal statues line the way, and through the King Tut galleries.

Lunch is at a local restaurant, and you are back at your hotel by evening. Pack tonight: tomorrow starts with an early flight.

An early pickup takes you to Cairo Airport for the morning flight to Aswan. Your Aswan guide meets you and starts at the High Dam, the 20th-century project that ended the Nile's annual flood and created Lake Nasser, one of the largest artificial lakes in the world. From the top, you see the river on one side and the reservoir stretching south toward Sudan on the other.

A short motorboat ride then brings you to the Temple of Philae, devoted to the goddess Isis. When dam waters threatened it, a UNESCO-led campaign moved the temple stone by stone to higher ground on a neighboring island. Its colonnades, its reliefs of Isis and Horus, and its setting on the water make it one of the most graceful temples in Egypt.

After lunch you transfer to the dock and board your Nile cruise ship. Settle into your cabin, then spend the rest of the afternoon on deck as the late sun lights up the granite islands and feluccas of Aswan. Dinner is served on board.

After breakfast the ship sails north and arrives at Kom Ombo in the late morning or early afternoon. Its temple, built mainly under the Ptolemies, is a double temple: one half belongs to Sobek, the crocodile god, the other to Horus, and each has its own gate, halls, and sanctuary set side by side. Your guide points out the reliefs of medical tools and the calendar carved into the walls, along with the deep stone well used to measure the Nile's level.

The temple grounds also hold the Crocodile Museum, where mummified crocodiles, once kept and worshipped here, are displayed alongside statues of Sobek.

You reboard for lunch as the ship continues toward Edfu. The afternoon is free, and the sun deck is the place to be: from there you watch fishermen casting nets, cattle grazing at the water's edge, and villages framed by palms and desert cliffs. Dinner is served on board in the evening, and the ship stays overnight at Edfu.

After breakfast you go ashore and take a short horse-drawn carriage or tuk-tuk ride (the carriage is not included) to the Temple of Edfu. Dedicated to the falcon god Horus and completed in the first century BC, it is one of the best-preserved temples in Egypt, still roofed in places, with a huge pylon and a dim inner sanctuary that show how a temple worked as a building. A granite falcon wearing the double crown guards the entrance.

You return to the ship for lunch as it sails on to Luxor, typically arriving in the afternoon or evening. Depending on the arrival time, you may visit Luxor Temple after dark, when floodlights pick out its columns and statues against the night sky. The temple sits on the corniche in the heart of the city; at its gate stand colossal figures of Ramesses II and a single obelisk, whose twin now stands in Paris.

Dinner is served on board, and the ship spends the night moored in Luxor.

After breakfast you check out of the ship and cross to the West Bank, the necropolis of ancient Thebes. In the Valley of the Kings, the New Kingdom pharaohs were buried in tombs cut deep into the hills, their walls painted with gods, stars, and texts for the journey through the underworld. Your ticket typically covers three tombs; Tutankhamun's tomb needs a separate ticket that is not included.

Next is the Temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari, a set of colonnaded terraces built into the cliffs for one of Egypt's few female pharaohs. A photo stop at the Colossi of Memnon, two weathered seated statues of Amenhotep III that once guarded a vanished temple, finishes the tour.

After lunch at a local restaurant you start the drive of roughly three to four hours across the Eastern Desert to Hurghada. Watch the landscape change from green fields to open desert and jagged mountains, and finally to the sea. You check in to your beach resort with the evening free to unwind after a full day.

After days of temples and early starts, today has nothing on the schedule. Spend it by the pool, on the beach, or simply resting in your room. The Red Sea is famous for clear water and coral reefs close to shore, and even a short swim with a mask can show you colorful fish.

If you want more, the resort concierge can arrange optional activities, booked and paid locally. Snorkeling and diving trips head to the reefs off Hurghada, where hard and soft corals shelter parrotfish, butterflyfish, and sometimes turtles. Boat excursions visit the nearby islands, with pale sand and shallow turquoise water, and a sunset cruise along the coast is a calmer way to spend the evening.

A few practical notes: wear reef-safe sunscreen, cover up during the hottest hours, and drink plenty of water. If you plan to snorkel, a long-sleeved swim shirt protects your back from the sun. Breakfast is included; lunch and dinner are at your own expense.

Another full day is yours. You can repeat yesterday's rhythm of pool and beach, or use it for a longer outing on or near the water.

Popular optional activities, arranged locally and paid separately, include a full-day snorkeling or diving trip to the reefs; a glass-bottom boat tour if you would rather see the coral without getting wet; or a desert safari into the mountains behind Hurghada, ending with a Bedouin-style dinner under the stars. Many visitors split the day, with a morning on the water and an afternoon nap.

If you choose to do nothing, that is a perfectly good plan too. The resort's restaurants, pools, and beach are there for exactly this kind of day, and you have a long road transfer tomorrow. Before you turn in, pack most of your things so the morning check-out is quick. Breakfast is included; lunch and dinner are at your own expense.

After breakfast you check out of your resort and start the road transfer back to Cairo in a private air-conditioned vehicle. The highway follows the coast north for long stretches, with the Red Sea Mountains to one side and the Gulf of Suez to the other, before heading inland across the desert toward the capital.

It is a long journey, so keep water, snacks, and something to read or listen to within reach. You will likely arrive in the evening, depending on traffic.

After you check in to your hotel, the rest of the day is free. If you have energy, you could revisit a favorite Cairo neighborhood, take a walk by the Nile, or do some last-minute shopping for gifts. Otherwise, a quiet dinner and an early night set you up well for tomorrow, which starts early with the drive to Alexandria. Only breakfast is included today.

After an early breakfast you take the desert road north to Alexandria, about two and a half to three hours, arriving mid-morning. Founded by Alexander the Great, the city was the capital of the Ptolemies and home to the great Library and the Lighthouse, one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world.

Your Alexandria guide begins at the Catacombs of Kom el-Shoqafa, a Roman-era tomb complex cut deep into the rock, where Egyptian gods wear Roman dress and Greek columns frame Egyptian scenes. Next is Pompey's Pillar, a red granite column rising above the ruins of the Serapeum temple.

After a seafood lunch at a restaurant overlooking the Mediterranean, you visit the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, a striking modern library that honors the ancient one (entry to the interior exhibitions is extra). The tour ends at the 15th-century Qaitbay Citadel, built on the Lighthouse's site, with wide views along the Corniche. In the early evening you drive back to Cairo, arriving at night to rest before your departure.

Breakfast at your hotel is the last meal included in the trip. Depending on your flight time, you may have a few free hours for a short walk, a final coffee, or packing the souvenirs you gathered along the way, from Aswan spices to Alexandria sweets.

A private driver then takes you to Cairo International Airport for your international flight. Cairo traffic is hard to predict, so your driver allows extra time for congestion and check-in, and you reach the terminal without a rush. Security checks begin at the terminal entrance, so build in a little margin there as well.

Two last reminders: antique-looking souvenirs must be modern replicas, since genuine antiquities cannot be exported, and gratuities for your driver and porters are not included, so keep a few small notes ready. From the pyramids to the Nile, the Red Sea, and the Mediterranean, your trip ends where it began, in Cairo.