10 Days Cairo Nile Cruise Istanbul Cappadocia Tour

After breakfast, your private guided tour carries you to the Giza Plateau, where the last surviving wonder of the ancient world rises from the desert sands. Stand before the Great Pyramid of Khufu, marvel at the precision of its ancient builders, and feel the timeless gaze of the Great Sphinx as it guards the plateau. Step down to the Valley Temple to trace the granite passages once used in royal purification rituals. You'll then explore the Grand Egyptian Museum, home to Tutankhamun's dazzling treasures and thousands of artefacts displayed beneath its soaring galleries. After lunch, continue to Saqqara to admire the Step Pyramid of Djoser, Egypt's earliest monumental stone structure and the architectural blueprint for every pyramid that followed. Your Egyptologist brings each site vividly to life before you return to Cairo for a restful evening.

• Giza Pyramids Complex — The iconic plateau where three great pyramids and the Sphinx rise from the desert.
• The Great Pyramid — The colossal tomb of Khufu, the last surviving wonder of the ancient world.
• The Great Sphinx — The legendary lion-bodied guardian carved from a single limestone outcrop.
• The Valley Temple — The granite-clad temple linked to the mummification rites of Khafre.
• The Grand Egyptian Museum — The vast new museum showcasing Tutankhamun's complete treasure collection.
• Saqqara Step Pyramid — The Step Pyramid of Djoser, Egypt's oldest monumental stone building.

This morning you fly south to Aswan, Egypt's most serene riverside city, where the Nile flows wide and blue between golden dunes. Your guide leads you to the High Dam, the engineering marvel that tamed the river's annual floods and created the vast expanse of Lake Nasser. At the ancient granite quarries you'll stand beside the Unfinished Obelisk, still lying where it cracked thousands of years ago, revealing how the pharaohs shaped their colossal monuments. A short motorboat ride then carries you to the island Temple of Philae, dedicated to the goddess Isis and rescued stone by stone from the rising waters. In the afternoon you embark on your Nile cruise, settling into your comfortable cabin as the boat prepares to sail. Enjoy a full-board dinner on board tonight beneath a canopy of stars, with the gentle river all around you.

• Aswan The High Dam — The mighty modern dam that created Lake Nasser and controls the Nile's flow.
• The Unfinished Obelisk — A colossal abandoned obelisk revealing ancient stone-carving techniques.
• Philae Temple — The island sanctuary of the goddess Isis, relocated to save it from flooding.

Wake to the gentle motion of your Nile cruise as it glides downstream, with breakfast served while palm-fringed banks and working feluccas drift past your window. Today the river carries you to Kom Ombo, where a remarkable double temple stands right at the water's edge. Unusually, it honours two gods at once, Sobek the crocodile deity of fertility and the Nile, and Horus the Elder, the falcon god of healing. Your private Egyptologist walks you through its perfectly mirrored halls, pointing out reliefs of ancient surgical instruments and a calendar carved into the stone. Don't miss the adjoining collection of mummified crocodiles, once revered here as living gods. Back on board, relax on the sundeck with a cool drink as the timeless Egyptian countryside slips by, with lunch and dinner served in full-board comfort throughout your cruise day.

• Kom Ombo Temple — A rare symmetrical double temple honouring the gods Sobek and Horus.

As your Nile cruise continues its unhurried journey, today's highlight is the Temple of Edfu, the best-preserved temple in all of Egypt and a firm favourite among travellers. A short horse-drawn carriage ride delivers you to its towering entrance pylon, standing much as it did more than two thousand years ago. Dedicated to the falcon god Horus, this sandstone sanctuary lay buried for centuries beneath desert sands, which is precisely why its carvings survive in such crisp, extraordinary detail. Your private guide brings the walls to life, recounting the mythic battle between Horus and Seth and the sacred festivals once celebrated within these courtyards. Returning to the ship, you'll spend a leisurely afternoon sailing towards Luxor, perhaps joining an evening gathering on deck as Egypt's sunset paints the water gold. Full-board dining keeps you well cared for all day.

• Edfu temple — The magnificently preserved Ptolemaic temple dedicated to the falcon god Horus.

Luxor, the ancient city of Thebes, is often called the world's greatest open-air museum, and today you discover exactly why. After disembarking your Nile cruise, you cross to the West Bank and descend into the Valley of the Kings, where pharaohs including Tutankhamun were laid to rest in tombs adorned with vivid, still-colourful scenes of the afterlife. Nearby, the graceful terraces of the Temple of Hatshepsut rise dramatically against sheer limestone cliffs, a monument to Egypt's most powerful female pharaoh. Pause before the towering Colossi of Memnon, two seated statues that have watched over the plain for thirty-four centuries. After lunch, cross to the East Bank for the vast Temple of Karnak, an awe-inspiring forest of giant columns built and expanded across two thousand years. Your private guided tour reveals the fascinating stories carved into every surface.

• Valley of the Kings — The royal necropolis where New Kingdom pharaohs were buried in painted tombs.
• Hatshepsut Temple — The striking terraced mortuary temple of Egypt's great female pharaoh.
• Colossi of Memnon — Two towering stone statues that once guarded a vanished mortuary temple.
• Karnak Temple — A vast temple complex famed for its immense hall of columns.

After a final Egyptian breakfast, you bid farewell to the Nile Valley and transfer to the airport for your flight to Istanbul, the spellbinding city where Europe and Asia meet across the Bosphorus. On arrival, our friendly local representative welcomes you and transfers you to your centrally located hotel. The rest of the day is yours to begin soaking up Istanbul's unique atmosphere, a place where Byzantine domes, Ottoman minarets and buzzing cafe culture blend into one unforgettable skyline. You might stroll to a waterfront terrace to watch ferries crisscross the strait, sip a glass of sweet Turkish tea, or simply rest ahead of tomorrow's sightseeing. Settle in for the night in this legendary city that has served as the capital of great empires for more than fifteen hundred years, and let the anticipation build for the wonders to come.

A full day of discovery awaits in Istanbul's historic Sultanahmet district. Begin at Hagia Sophia, the breathtaking sixth-century masterpiece that has served as cathedral, mosque and museum across its long life, its immense dome seeming to float on shafts of light. Continue to Topkapi Palace, the opulent seat of Ottoman sultans, where jewel-filled treasury chambers and tiled courtyards overlook the Bosphorus. After lunch, step into the Blue Mosque, famed for the twenty thousand hand-painted Iznik tiles that give it its name and its cascade of graceful domes. Walk the Hippodrome, once the chariot-racing heart of Byzantine Constantinople and still marked by ancient obelisks. Finish amid the colour and clamour of the Grand Bazaar, one of the world's oldest covered markets, where thousands of shops brim with carpets, lanterns, spices and treasures to carry home as keepsakes of your journey.

• Hagia Sophia — The awe-inspiring domed monument that shaped a thousand years of architecture.
• Topkapi Palace — The lavish palace and treasury of the Ottoman sultans above the Bosphorus.
• The Blue Mosque — The famed imperial mosque adorned with thousands of blue Iznik tiles.
• The Hippodrome — The ancient public square that hosted Byzantine chariot races.
• The Grand Bazaar — A sprawling historic market of thousands of shops and covered lanes.

Today you fly to Cappadocia, a landscape so surreal it feels sculpted from a dream. Begin at Uchisar Castle, a towering rock citadel honeycombed with tunnels and rewarding you with sweeping views across the valleys below. At the Goreme Open-Air Museum, explore a remarkable cluster of rock-cut churches whose frescoes have glowed with colour since the early Christian era. In the pottery town of Avanos, watch artisans shape clay drawn from the red Kizilirmak river, just as their ancestors have done for generations. After lunch, wander among the extraordinary fairy chimneys of Pasabag, also known as Monks Valley, where wind and water have carved slender spires topped with rocky caps. End the day at Devrent Valley, an open-air gallery of whimsical stone formations that fire the imagination. Cappadocia's otherworldly beauty lingers long after the sun goes down.

• The Uchisar Castle — A lofty natural rock fortress offering panoramic views over Cappadocia.
• Göreme Open-Air Museum — A cluster of rock-hewn churches with vivid Byzantine frescoes.
• Avanos — A riverside town celebrated for its centuries-old pottery tradition.
• Pasabag — The valley of towering, cap-topped fairy chimneys, also called Monks Valley.
• Devrent Valley — An imaginative landscape of naturally sculpted rock figures.

Your unforgettable journey through Egypt and Turkey draws to a close today. After a final leisurely breakfast, you'll savour a few last moments amid Cappadocia's remarkable scenery before our representative transfers you to the airport in good time for your onward flight home. Look back on all you have experienced, from the pyramids of Giza rising out of the desert and the tranquil days aboard your Nile cruise, to the ancient temples of Aswan and Luxor and the enchanting domes and fairy-chimney valleys of Istanbul and Cappadocia. We hope these memories stay with you for a lifetime, and that Travel Joy Egypt has the pleasure of welcoming you back to explore more of this remarkable corner of the world. Safe travels, and until we meet again.