Egypt & Morocco Grand Tour

An early breakfast fuels a morning you will never forget as your private guided tour begins on the Giza Plateau. Three great pyramids rise from the desert edge, and you stand before the Great Pyramid of Khufu, the last surviving wonder of the ancient world, its flanks stacked with more than two million limestone blocks. You meet the enigmatic gaze of the Great Sphinx and walk the granite halls of the Valley Temple, where pharaohs were once prepared for eternity. Nearby, the vast Grand Egyptian Museum unveils Tutankhamun's complete golden treasures beneath soaring glass. After lunch you continue to Saqqara, where the Step Pyramid of Djoser, the world's oldest monument in cut stone, marks the very birth of pyramid building. Your Egyptologist guide brings each carving and column to life before you return to Cairo for a restful evening.

• Giza Pyramids Complex — The desert plateau where three colossal pyramids and their satellite tombs have stood for over 4,500 years.
• The Great Pyramid — The Pyramid of Khufu, the last of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World still standing.
• The Great Sphinx — The lion-bodied guardian with a pharaoh's face, carved from a single limestone outcrop.
• The Valley Temple — The remarkably preserved granite temple linked to the pyramid of Khafre.
• The Grand Egyptian Museum — Egypt's spectacular new museum, home to the full Tutankhamun collection beneath a glass atrium.
• Saqqara Step Pyramid — The Step Pyramid of Djoser, the oldest large-scale stone structure on earth.

After breakfast you travel north to Alexandria, the seaside city Alexander the Great founded and Cleopatra once ruled. Your first stop is the Catacombs of Kom El Shoqafa, a haunting subterranean necropolis where Egyptian, Greek and Roman art fuse across three carved levels. Above ground, Pompey's Pillar towers over the ruins of the ancient Serapeum, a lone red-granite column that has watched the centuries pass. On the seafront, the honey-stone Qaitbay Citadel guards the harbour on the very spot where the legendary Lighthouse of Pharos once blazed. Following a lunch of fresh Mediterranean seafood, you explore the strikingly modern Bibliotheca Alexandrina, a soaring reimagining of the ancient world's greatest library. Your private guided tour weaves together the layered history of this coastal jewel before the scenic drive returns you to Cairo for the night.

• Catacombs of Kom El Shoqafa — A three-level Roman-era burial complex where Egyptian and Greco-Roman styles blend underground.
• Pompey's Pillar — A towering red-granite column standing amid the ruins of the ancient Serapeum.
• Qaitbay Citadel — A 15th-century fortress on the harbour, built where the fabled Lighthouse of Alexandria once stood.
• Alexandria Library — The Bibliotheca Alexandrina, a bold modern tribute to antiquity's most famous library.

This morning you transfer to the airport for the short flight south to Aswan, Egypt's most tranquil riverside city, where the Nile flows wide and blue past golden dunes. You begin at the High Dam, the colossal 1960s engineering feat that tamed the river's floods and created Lake Nasser. Nearby, in the ancient granite quarries, the Unfinished Obelisk lies where it cracked, revealing exactly how the pharaohs carved their towering monuments. A short motorboat ride then carries you across the water to the island Temple of Philae, a graceful sanctuary of the goddess Isis, rescued stone by stone from the rising waters. In the afternoon you board your elegant Nile cruise ship, your floating home for the next three nights, and settle in as the sun sinks over the river with dinner served on deck.

• The High Dam — The vast dam that controls the Nile's flood and formed the immense Lake Nasser.
• The Unfinished Obelisk — A giant obelisk abandoned in the granite quarry, revealing ancient stone-carving methods.
• Philae Temple — The island Temple of Isis, relocated to Agilkia Island to save it from flooding.

You wake to breakfast aboard as your Nile cruise glides gently downstream, the timeless riverbank scenery of palm groves, feluccas and grazing water buffalo drifting past your window. By late afternoon the ship moors at Kom Ombo, where a remarkable double temple rises directly beside the Nile. Uniquely symmetrical, it honours two gods at once, the crocodile deity Sobek and the falcon-headed Haroeris, with mirror-image sanctuaries, halls and courtyards. Your private guide points out the astonishing wall reliefs of ancient surgical instruments and the mummified crocodiles displayed in the adjoining museum, once sacred to Sobek. Bathed in the warm glow of sunset, the temple is especially atmospheric at this hour. You return to the ship for a leisurely dinner and continue sailing north, the lights of riverside villages slipping quietly by as Egypt's ancient heartland unfolds around you.

• Kom Ombo Temple — A rare symmetrical double temple on the Nile, dedicated jointly to Sobek and Haroeris.

After breakfast on board, a traditional horse-drawn carriage clip-clops you from the dock through the streets of Edfu to the magnificent Temple of Horus. Dedicated to the falcon-headed sky god, this is the best-preserved temple in all of Egypt, its towering pylon, colonnaded courtyard and shadowy inner sanctuary looking much as they did more than two thousand years ago. Your Egyptologist guide decodes the vivid carvings recounting the mythic battle between Horus and the god Seth, and shows you the great black granite statue of the falcon guarding the entrance. Back aboard your Nile cruise, the afternoon is yours to unwind on the sundeck as the ship sails toward Luxor, perhaps with a swim, a glass of mint tea, or simply the passing panorama of the river. Dinner and a lively onboard evening round out a day steeped in ancient wonder.

• Edfu temple — The Temple of Horus, the most complete and best-preserved temple in Egypt.

Breakfast is served as your cruise reaches Luxor, the peerless open-air museum built on ancient Thebes. Crossing to the West Bank, you descend into the Valley of the Kings, where pharaohs including Tutankhamun were laid to rest in tombs still ablaze with colour. You marvel at the terraced Temple of Hatshepsut, rising in golden tiers against the cliffs, and pause before the towering Colossi of Memnon, two weathered guardians of a vanished temple. After lunch you disembark and cross to the East Bank for the vast Karnak Temple, where the forest of giant columns in the Great Hypostyle Hall dwarfs every visitor who walks among them. Your private guided tour complete, you transfer to Luxor airport for the evening flight back to Cairo, where a comfortable hotel and a good night's rest await after an extraordinary day.

• Valley of the Kings — The royal burial ground where New Kingdom pharaohs, including Tutankhamun, were entombed.
• Hatshepsut Temple — The dramatic terraced mortuary temple of Egypt's most famous female pharaoh at Deir el-Bahari.
• Colossi of Memnon — Two colossal stone statues that once guarded the entrance to a now-lost temple.
• Karnak Temple — A vast temple complex whose Great Hypostyle Hall holds 134 towering columns.

A full day of discovery begins after breakfast at the original Egyptian Museum on Tahrir Square, a treasure house of over 120,000 artefacts where your guide leads you to the finest golden masterpieces of the pharaohs. You then step into Coptic Cairo to visit the Amr Ibn Al Aas Mosque, the first mosque built in Africa, and the beautiful Hanging Church, suspended above a Roman gatehouse. At the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization you stand quietly before the Royal Mummies, gazing on the actual faces of Egypt's greatest kings and queens. After lunch you wander the medieval lane of Al-Muizz Street, lined with glowing minarets and merchant houses, before losing yourself in the bustling Khan El Khalili bazaar, where the scent of spice and the gleam of copper and gold fill every alley. You return to your hotel for the night.

• The Egyptian Museum — The historic Tahrir Square museum housing more than 120,000 pharaonic artefacts.
• Amr Ibn Al Aas Mosque — The first mosque ever built in Egypt and on the African continent.
• The Hanging Church — An ancient Coptic church suspended above the gatehouse of a Roman fortress.
• The National Museum of Egyptian Civilization — Home to the Royal Mummies Hall, displaying the preserved kings and queens of Egypt.
• Al Muizz Street — A living museum of medieval Islamic architecture in the heart of old Cairo.
• Khan El Khalili Bazaar — Cairo's famous centuries-old souk, brimming with spices, copper, jewellery and crafts.

After breakfast and a relaxed morning, you bid farewell to Egypt and transfer to Cairo International Airport for your flight across North Africa to Casablanca, Morocco's cosmopolitan Atlantic gateway. As you cross the continent, the pyramids and the Nile give way to the surf-fringed Moroccan coast, and one great chapter of your journey flows seamlessly into the next. On arrival your private driver and local representative welcome you and transfer you to your hotel, where check-in is handled with ease. The remainder of the day is yours to rest, stroll the palm-lined boulevards, or catch your first taste of the Atlantic breeze along the corniche. Your guide outlines the Moroccan adventure ahead, from imperial cities and blue mountain towns to the golden dunes of the Sahara. Settle in for a comfortable first night in the kingdom of Morocco.

This morning your private guided tour of Casablanca centres on the breathtaking Hassan II Mosque, one of the largest in the world, its 210-metre minaret soaring above the Atlantic and part of its floor built out over the sea. You take in the elegant sweep of the Casablanca Corniche before travelling to Rabat, Morocco's stately capital. Here the unfinished Hassan Tower stands amid a field of broken columns, beside the exquisite Mausoleum of Mohammed V, where robed guards keep silent watch. You wander the blue-and-white lanes of the Kasbah of the Udayas, perched above the river mouth, and admire the ceremonial gates of the Royal Palace of Rabat. Your guide illuminates Morocco's royal and Andalusian heritage at every turn. After a Moroccan lunch you settle into your Rabat hotel for the evening, the day's grandeur still lingering.

• Hassan II Mosque — A vast oceanfront mosque with the world's tallest minaret, partly built over the Atlantic.
• Casablanca Corniche — The city's breezy seaside promenade of cafes, beaches and Atlantic views.
• Hassan Tower — The incomplete minaret of a 12th-century mosque, ringed by rows of unfinished columns.
• Mausoleum of Mohammed V — An ornate royal tomb of white marble honouring the late king and his sons.
• Kasbah of the Udayas — A picturesque blue-and-white walled quarter overlooking the Bou Regreg river.
• Royal Palace of Rabat — The official residence of the king, framed by grand ceremonial gates and courtyards.

After breakfast you journey north into the Rif Mountains to Chefchaouen, the enchanting blue pearl of Morocco. Few places feel so dreamlike, as entire streets, staircases, doorways and walls are washed in a hundred shades of blue, tumbling down the hillside beneath the peaks. You lose yourself happily in the medina's winding lanes, where artisans sell hand-woven wool blankets and local goat's cheese, and every corner frames a photograph. At the heart of the old town lies Outa el Hammam Square, shaded by trees and overlooked by the red-walled Kasbah and the grand mosque, an inviting place to pause over a glass of sweet mint tea and watch daily life unfold. After a relaxed lunch amid the blue backstreets, the rest of the day is yours to soak up the town's serene, unhurried spirit. You overnight in Chefchaouen.

• Chefchaouen City — Morocco's famous blue-washed mountain town, a maze of cobalt lanes in the Rif.
• Outa el Hammam Square — The lively central plaza beneath the Kasbah and the town's great mosque.

Following breakfast you travel to Fez, Morocco's spiritual and intellectual heart and its oldest imperial city. Plunging into the labyrinth of Fes el-Bali, the world's largest car-free medieval quarter, your local guide leads you past the venerable Al-Qarawiyyin, founded in 859 and regarded as the oldest continuously operating university on earth. You admire the dazzling cedar and zellij tilework of the Bou Inania Madrasa, glimpse the sacred mausoleum of Moulay Idriss, and pause at the finely carved Nejjarine Fountain amid the woodworkers' souk. The unforgettable Chouara Tanneries reveal an age-old craft of stone vats and natural dyes, best surveyed from a leather-shop terrace with a sprig of mint to hand. Every twisting alley brims with the sounds and scents of a living medieval city. Your private guided tour immerses you in a thousand years of history before you overnight in Fez.

• Al-Qarawiyyin University — Founded in 859, widely considered the oldest continually operating university in the world.
• Bou Inania Madrasa — A 14th-century Islamic college celebrated for its intricate carved cedar and tilework.
• Chouara Tanneries — The medieval leather tanneries where hides are still dyed in stone vats by hand.
• Nejjarine Fountain — An ornately tiled fountain beside the carpenters' square and woodcraft museum.
• Fes el-Bali — The vast walled old medina, the largest car-free urban area in the world.
• Moulay Idriss Mausoleum — The revered shrine of the city's founder, a major site of pilgrimage.

Today is one of Morocco's great road journeys as you cross the Middle and High Atlas Mountains toward the Sahara. Leaving Fez after breakfast, you climb to the alpine town of Ifrane with its neat chalets, then wind through the cedar forests of Azrou, where troops of Barbary macaques often gather by the road. The landscape shifts dramatically from green mountain slopes to the ochre plateaus around Midelt before following the lush palm ribbon of the Ziz Valley, thousands of date palms threading between red canyon walls. As the day mellows, the first golden dunes of Erg Chebbi rise on the horizon near Merzouga. Here you may trade your vehicle for a camel and ride into the sands to a comfortable desert camp, arriving in time to watch the sun melt into an endless ocean of dunes. Dinner is served beneath a vast canopy of stars.

You rise early, if you wish, to witness sunrise flooding the Erg Chebbi dunes with molten gold, an unforgettable Sahara dawn. After breakfast at camp you explore the desert's human side, visiting the ancient caravan town of Rissani, once the thriving capital of the Tafilalt oasis and a gateway for trans-Saharan trade. Its lively souk, one of Morocco's most authentic, still trades in dates, spices, textiles and livestock much as it has for centuries. You may also meet a family of desert nomads, learn how age-old wells sustain life in the sands, or discover the fossil-rich history of this ancient seabed. As the fierce afternoon heat softens, you return to the dunes for another camel trek across the shifting sands, then settle in to enjoy Berber music, drumming and a hearty tagine dinner beneath the open sky. You overnight again near Merzouga.

• Rissani — A historic Saharan trading town with one of Morocco's most authentic traditional souks.

After a desert breakfast you set out on a spectacular drive along the storied Road of a Thousand Kasbahs. You pass through the dramatic Todra Gorge, its sheer red walls rising hundreds of metres, and follow the rose-scented Dades Valley with its crumbling earthen fortresses. Continuing west you reach Ouarzazate, Morocco's film capital, before arriving at the magnificent Aït Ben Haddou. This fortified ksar of rammed-earth towers, rising in tiers above the Ounila River, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the most iconic sights in all of Morocco, a backdrop to countless famous films. Crossing the little river, you climb its steep alleys and terraces to the old granary at the summit, where sweeping views reward the effort. Your guide recounts its history as a caravan stronghold on the ancient trade route. You overnight beside this timeless earthen citadel.

• Aït Ben Haddou — A UNESCO-listed clay kasbah village and legendary filming location above the Ounila River.

This morning you cross the High Atlas via the dramatic Tizi n'Tichka pass, Morocco's highest road, its switchbacks framing endless mountain vistas, before descending to the red city of Marrakesh. Your private guided tour begins with the exquisite Bahia Palace and its painted cedar ceilings, the soaring minaret of the Koutoubia Mosque, and the tranquil olive groves and pavilion of the Menara Gardens. You stroll the cobalt-blue paths of the Jardin Majorelle and admire Moroccan craftsmanship at the Dar Si Said Museum. After lunch you dive into the labyrinthine Medina and its souks, a riot of lanterns, carpets, leather and spice, before emerging into the legendary Jemaa el-Fna. As dusk falls, this great square erupts with storytellers, musicians, snake charmers and sizzling food stalls, an unforgettable spectacle. You overnight in the pulsing heart of Marrakesh.

• Bahia Palace — A 19th-century palace renowned for its painted ceilings, courtyards and stucco detail.
• Koutoubia Mosque — Marrakesh's largest mosque, crowned by a landmark 12th-century minaret.
• Menara Gardens — Historic olive groves surrounding a reflecting pool and pavilion below the Atlas peaks.
• Majorelle Gardens — A vivid cobalt-blue botanical garden once owned by Yves Saint Laurent.
• Dar Si Said Museum — A museum of Moroccan craftsmanship set in a beautifully decorated riad.
• Medina & Souk of Marrakesh — The walled old city and its maze of markets selling carpets, lanterns and spices.
• Jemaa el-Fna — The famous main square that comes alive each evening with performers and food stalls.

Your grand Egypt and Morocco adventure draws to a close today. After a final Moroccan breakfast, you savour any last moments in Marrakesh, perhaps a quiet cup of mint tea or a stroll past the rose-hued ramparts, before your private driver transfers you to Marrakesh Menara Airport in good time for your onward flight. As you depart, you carry with you the pyramids of Giza, the temples along the Nile, the blue lanes of Chefchaouen and the golden dunes of the Sahara, two extraordinary countries woven into a single unforgettable journey. Your Travel Joy team bids you a warm farewell and safe travels, with the hope of welcoming you back to North Africa before long. Ma'a salama, and thank you for exploring the wonders of Egypt and Morocco with us.