Egypt & Jordan Grand Tour: 12-Day Adventure

After breakfast, your private Egyptologist guide leads you onto the Giza Plateau, where the last surviving wonder of the ancient world rises straight from the desert sand. You stand before the Great Pyramid of Khufu, marvelling at limestone blocks stacked with impossible precision more than 4,500 years ago, then walk to the enigmatic Great Sphinx, its lion's body and pharaoh's face guarding the necropolis. Nearby, the Valley Temple reveals the polished granite halls where royal bodies were once prepared for burial. You continue to the Grand Egyptian Museum, the vast new home of Tutankhamun's dazzling treasures, before driving south to Saqqara to admire the Step Pyramid of Djoser, Egypt's earliest monumental stone structure. Throughout the day your guide brings each site vividly to life with history and legend, and a leisurely lunch keeps you refreshed. You return to your Cairo hotel by evening, the desert light still glowing in your memory.

• Giza Pyramids Complex — The plateau of three great pyramids raised for the pharaohs Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure.
• The Great Pyramid — Khufu's monument, the last standing wonder of the ancient world.
• The Great Sphinx — The colossal lion-bodied guardian of the Giza necropolis.
• The Grand Egyptian Museum — The vast modern museum housing Tutankhamun's complete golden collection.
• The Valley Temple — The granite ritual hall linked to Khafre's pyramid.
• Saqqara Step Pyramid — Djoser's Step Pyramid, Egypt's oldest monumental stone building.

This morning you transfer to the airport for a short flight south to Luxor, the open-air museum built upon the ruins of ancient Thebes. On arrival you board your elegant Nile cruise ship, your floating home for the coming nights, and enjoy lunch on board. In the cooler afternoon your guide leads you into the colossal Karnak Temple, a forest of towering columns and obelisks raised by generations of pharaohs over more than two thousand years. You wander the Great Hypostyle Hall, its 134 sandstone pillars soaring overhead, then follow the ancient processional route to Luxor Temple, glowing golden as the sun sets and the evening lights switch on. Back aboard your ship, a full-board dinner awaits as you relax on deck beneath the stars. Tonight you sleep gently moored on the timeless waters of the Nile, the lamplit temples of Luxor reflected in the river.

• Karnak Temple — A vast complex of columned halls, obelisks and sanctuaries built over two millennia.
• Luxor Temple — An elegant riverside temple linked to Karnak by the ancient Avenue of Sphinxes.

After breakfast on board you cross to the West Bank of the Nile, the realm of the dead in ancient Egyptian belief. Your Egyptologist guide leads you into the Valley of the Kings, where pharaohs including Tutankhamun and Ramesses were laid to rest in tombs carved deep into the rock and painted with dazzling scenes of the afterlife. You continue to the dramatic Temple of Hatshepsut, its colonnaded terraces rising against sheer honey-coloured cliffs in tribute to Egypt's most powerful female ruler. On the way back you pause before the Colossi of Memnon, two weathered giants that have watched over the Theban plain for thirty-four centuries. Returning to your Nile cruise for lunch, you settle in as the ship casts off and begins its gentle journey upstream, palm groves and farming villages drifting past your window. Dinner is served on board as you sail serenely toward Edfu.

• Valley of the Kings — The royal burial valley whose rock-cut tombs include that of Tutankhamun.
• Hatshepsut Temple — The terraced mortuary temple of Egypt's celebrated female pharaoh.
• Colossi of Memnon — Two towering statues of Amenhotep III on the Theban plain.

You wake to the rhythm of the river as your Nile cruise glides south. This morning you step ashore at Edfu to explore the Temple of Horus, the best-preserved temple in all of Egypt, its towering pylon and falcon statues almost as crisp as the day they were carved for the sky god. Back on board, you relax over lunch on the sun deck as the ship sails on to Kom Ombo, moored dramatically on a bend in the Nile. In the golden light of late afternoon your guide reveals the unusual double Temple of Kom Ombo, dedicated jointly to the crocodile god Sobek and the falcon-headed Horus, with a fascinating collection of mummified crocodiles nearby. You return to your ship for dinner and evening entertainment, continuing your peaceful journey toward Aswan, Egypt's beautiful southern gateway.

• Edfu Temple — The remarkably intact Temple of Horus, guarded by giant falcon statues.
• Kom Ombo Temple — A rare double temple honouring both Sobek and Horus, beside a crocodile museum.

This morning your Nile cruise reaches Aswan, the most tranquil of Egypt's great river cities, where the desert meets the water in shades of gold and blue. Your private guide takes you first to the High Dam, the colossal twentieth-century feat of engineering that tamed the annual flood and created the vast Lake Nasser. You then visit the Unfinished Obelisk, still lying in its ancient granite quarry, offering a rare window into how these mighty monuments were shaped. By motorboat you cross to the island Temple of Philae, a graceful sanctuary to the goddess Isis that was painstakingly relocated stone by stone to save it from the rising waters. Back aboard your ship you enjoy lunch and a restful afternoon, perhaps taking an optional felucca sail around Elephantine Island. Dinner is served on board, and you spend a final peaceful night moored at Aswan beneath the desert sky.

• The High Dam — The mighty modern dam that created Lake Nasser and controls the Nile's flow.
• The Unfinished Obelisk — A colossal obelisk abandoned in its granite quarry, revealing ancient stone-working.
• Philae Temple — The island temple of Isis, rescued and relocated from the rising waters.

Rising early, you set out for one of the crowning glories of ancient Egypt: the temples of Abu Simbel, near the Sudanese border. Carved into a mountainside by Ramesses II more than three thousand years ago, the Great Temple is guarded by four colossal seated statues of the pharaoh, each over twenty metres tall, while the neighbouring temple honours his beloved queen Nefertari. Your guide explains the astonishing 1960s rescue that saw the entire complex cut into blocks and lifted to higher ground, safe from Lake Nasser. After time to absorb this breathtaking site, you return to Aswan and disembark your Nile cruise, then transfer to the airport for your flight back to Cairo. On arrival you are met and escorted to your hotel, where the evening is yours to relax after an unforgettable journey through Upper Egypt and its ancient temples.

• Abu Simbel Temples — Ramesses II's twin rock temples, relocated in the 1960s to escape Lake Nasser.

With a full day in the capital, your private guided tour delves into the many layers of Cairo's history. You begin at the legendary Egyptian Museum on Tahrir Square, home to a treasure trove of pharaonic antiquities gathered over more than a century. Nearby, the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization traces the country's story from prehistory to the present and shelters the Royal Mummies in their atmospheric hall. You then explore Coptic Cairo and step inside the beautiful Hanging Church, suspended above a Roman fortress gate and central to Egypt's Christian heritage. In the afternoon you stroll down medieval Al-Muizz Street, one of the oldest thoroughfares in the Islamic world, lined with mosques and merchant houses, before losing yourself in the bustling lanes of Khan El Khalili Bazaar. Haggle for spices, silver and lanterns, then sip mint tea in a historic cafe before returning to your hotel.

• The Egyptian Museum — The historic Tahrir Square museum of pharaonic art and antiquities.
• The Hanging Church — Cairo's famous Coptic church suspended above a Roman gatehouse.
• The National Museum of Egyptian Civilization — Home to the Royal Mummies and Egypt's story from prehistory onward.
• Al Muizz Street — A medieval avenue of mosques, palaces and Islamic monuments.
• Khan El Khalili Bazaar — Cairo's atmospheric old market of spices, crafts and cafes.

After breakfast you bid farewell to Egypt and transfer to Cairo International Airport for your flight across the skies to Amman, the hill-crowning capital of Jordan. On arrival your local representative welcomes you and completes your visa and border formalities before a comfortable transfer into the city. Depending on your schedule, you may have time to take in the highlights of Amman, from the Roman ruins and Umayyad palace atop the Citadel to the lively downtown souks and cafes spilling across the hillsides. You check into your hotel and enjoy a restful evening, savouring the shift from the timeless Nile to the ancient trading routes of the Nabataeans. Your guide outlines the Jordanian chapter of your adventure, and you settle in for the night in Amman, ready for the wonders of Madaba, Petra and Wadi Rum still to come.

Today you journey through the biblical heartlands of Jordan. In the town of Madaba you enter St George's Church to see its famous sixth-century mosaic map of the Holy Land, the oldest known cartographic depiction of Jerusalem, pieced together from more than two million coloured stones. You continue to nearby Mount Nebo, the windswept summit where Moses is said to have gazed upon the Promised Land; on a clear day the views stretch across the Jordan Valley to the Dead Sea and beyond. In the afternoon you descend to the shore of the Dead Sea itself, the lowest point on the surface of the Earth, where you float effortlessly in its famously salty, mineral-rich waters and coat your skin in its celebrated therapeutic mud. Refreshed, you drive south along the ancient King's Highway to the town of Wadi Musa, the gateway to Petra, where you spend the night.

• St. George's Church — Home of the sixth-century Madaba mosaic map of the Holy Land.
• Mount Nebo — The hilltop where Moses is said to have viewed the Promised Land.
• The Dead Sea — The Earth's lowest point, famed for its buoyant, mineral-rich waters.

Today you realise a lifelong dream as you enter Petra, the rose-red city carved by the Nabataeans and one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. You walk through the Siq, a narrow gorge winding between soaring rock walls, until it parts to reveal Al-Khazneh, the majestic Treasury, its ornate facade glowing in the morning sun. Your guide leads you deeper into the ancient city, past the towering Royal Tombs cut into the cliffs, the grand Roman-style Theatre hewn from solid rock, and the great temple of Qasr al-Bint at the heart of the valley. After a memorable day among these wonders, you travel on to the desert wilderness of Wadi Rum. As dusk falls over the crimson dunes, you arrive at your Bedouin camp for a traditional dinner and a night beneath a canopy of brilliant desert stars.

• Petra — The Nabataean rock-carved city and one of the New Seven Wonders of the World.
• Al Khazneh Temple — The iconic Treasury facade revealed at the end of the Siq.
• Royal Tombs Of Petra — Monumental tombs cut into the coloured sandstone cliffs.
• Theatre Of Petra — A Roman-style amphitheatre carved directly from the rock.
• Qasr al-Bint — One of Petra's few free-standing temples, at the heart of the city.
• Wadi Rum — The vast red-sand desert of towering sandstone mountains.

You wake to sunrise over the vast red sands of Wadi Rum, the majestic desert immortalised by Lawrence of Arabia and countless films. This morning you set out on a 4x4 jeep safari among the towering sandstone mountains, pausing at a small Nabataean temple that recalls the ancient caravans that once crossed this wilderness. You visit Lawrence's Spring, a hidden waterhole tucked among the rocks, and step into the shaded cleft of Khazali Canyon, where petroglyphs left by early travellers are carved into the stone. After a final taste of Bedouin hospitality and sweet tea, you bid farewell to the desert and transfer to the airport for your onward departure, carrying home the memories of pyramids, Nile temples and the rose-red city. Travel Joy Egypt wishes you a safe journey and hopes to welcome you back to this remarkable corner of the world.

• Nabatean Temple — An ancient desert shrine recalling Wadi Rum's caravan history.
• Lawrence Spring — A hillside waterhole linked to T. E. Lawrence and Bedouin legend.
• Khazali Canyon — A narrow rock cleft carved with ancient Thamudic and Nabataean inscriptions.