13-Day Egypt & Turkey Grand Tour

This morning you meet your private Egyptologist guide and drive to the Giza Plateau, where the last surviving wonder of the ancient world rises straight from the desert. You stand before the Great Pyramid of Khufu, tracing four and a half thousand years of history across its colossal limestone blocks, then continue past the pyramids of Khafre and Menkaure. At the Valley Temple you walk the granite passages that once received the pharaoh's body, before coming face to face with the Great Sphinx, its lion's body and royal head guarding the plateau. After lunch you explore the Grand Egyptian Museum, the vast new home of Tutankhamun's complete treasure and thousands of artefacts displayed against a window framing the pyramids themselves. This private guided tour balances Egypt's most iconic monuments with your guide's stories, giving each site real depth.

• Giza Pyramids Complex
• The Great Pyramid — The 4,500-year-old tomb of Khufu, the last standing wonder of the ancient world.
• The Great Sphinx
• The Valley Temple
• The Grand Egyptian Museum — The vast new museum housing Tutankhamun's complete collection.

After breakfast you transfer to the airport for a short flight south to Aswan, Egypt's serene Nubian gateway, where your Nile cruise begins tomorrow. Your guide meets you on arrival and drives first to the High Dam, the modern engineering feat that tamed the river's annual floods and created Lake Nasser. At the ancient granite quarries you examine the Unfinished Obelisk, still lying in the bedrock where a flaw halted the pharaohs' masons, a rare window into how these giants were carved. A short motorboat then carries you across to the island temple of Philae, dedicated to the goddess Isis and rescued stone by stone from the rising waters. By late afternoon you check into your Aswan hotel, settle into your room, and watch feluccas drift past as the sun sets over the Nile. Dinner and your overnight stay are at the hotel tonight, and you board your cruise ship tomorrow after Abu Simbel.

• Aswan High Dam
• The Unfinished Obelisk — An abandoned obelisk in the granite quarries revealing ancient carving techniques.
• Philae Temple — The island temple of the goddess Isis, relocated to save it from Lake Nasser.

Today brings one of Egypt's most breathtaking sights. After an early breakfast you travel south by road toward the Sudanese border to reach Abu Simbel, the pair of colossal temples that Ramses II carved into a Nubian mountainside more than three thousand years ago. Four seated giants, each over twenty metres tall, guard the entrance to the Great Temple, while the smaller temple honours his beloved queen Nefertari. Inside, your private guide leads you through torch-lit halls covered with vivid reliefs of the pharaoh's victories and the gods he served. You also learn the astonishing modern story of how UNESCO cut both temples into blocks and lifted them to higher ground, saving them from Lake Nasser's rising waters. Returning to Aswan, you board your Nile cruise ship, settle into your cabin and enjoy a relaxed afternoon on deck as the feluccas drift past. Tonight is your first night on board, moored in Aswan, and the ship sets sail for Kom Ombo tomorrow morning.

• Abu Simbel Temples — Ramses II's twin rock-cut temples, moved block by block to escape the rising lake.

Your ship leaves Aswan this morning and sails downstream, and the temples come to you. At Kom Ombo you visit an unusual double temple, shared symmetrically between the crocodile god Sobek and the falcon-headed Horus, with a small chamber of mummified crocodiles nearby that once filled the sacred river. You will also spot ancient wall carvings of surgical instruments, evidence of remarkably advanced medicine. Sailing on to Edfu, a horse-drawn carriage carries you to the Temple of Horus, the best-preserved temple in all of Egypt. Its towering pylon, colonnaded courtyard, and shadowed sanctuary feel almost untouched by time, and your Egyptologist decodes the reliefs recounting the eternal battle between order and chaos. Between visits you relax fully aboard your Nile cruise, enjoying lunch on deck and the ever-changing ribbon of green fields, palm groves, and village life along the riverbanks. In the evening the ship continues towards Luxor, and you sleep on board as it sails through the night.

• Kom Ombo Temple — A rare double temple honouring both Sobek the crocodile god and Horus.
• Edfu Temple — The Temple of Horus, the most completely preserved temple in Egypt.

You wake on board in Luxor, the ancient city of Thebes and the world's greatest open-air museum. Crossing to the West Bank, you descend into the Valley of the Kings, where pharaohs including Tutankhamun were buried in richly painted rock-cut tombs hidden deep in the hills. Nearby rises the Temple of Hatshepsut, its clean colonnaded terraces set dramatically against sheer desert cliffs, a monument to Egypt's most powerful female pharaoh. You pause at the Colossi of Memnon, two weathered stone giants that have guarded the plain for millennia. After lunch you return to the East Bank for the immense Temple of Karnak, wandering its forest of towering columns in the Great Hypostyle Hall. Throughout this private guided tour your Egyptologist brings Thebes vividly back to life before you return to your ship for a final evening and your third night on board, moored in Luxor.

• Valley of the Kings — The royal necropolis where pharaohs including Tutankhamun were laid to rest.
• Hatshepsut Temple
• Colossi of Memnon
• Karnak Temple — A vast temple complex famed for its Great Hypostyle Hall of giant columns.

After a last breakfast on board you disembark and fly back to Cairo for a day tracing the city's layered history. You begin with a stroll down Al Muizz Street, one of the oldest thoroughfares in the Islamic world, lined with mosques, madrasas, and merchants' houses. The atmosphere builds in the labyrinth of Khan El Khalili bazaar, where you can sip mint tea and browse spices, lanterns, and handmade silver. Finally you visit Coptic Cairo and the Hanging Church, suspended above a Roman gate and among the oldest churches in Egypt. Your private guide weaves Islamic and Christian Cairo into one unforgettable day before you check into your hotel for the night.

• Al Muizz Street — A medieval avenue lined with historic mosques and merchants' houses.
• Khan El Khalili Bazaar
• The Hanging Church — One of Egypt's oldest churches, suspended over a Roman gatehouse in Coptic Cairo.

Today you say a fond farewell to Egypt and continue your grand tour to Turkey. After breakfast and a relaxed morning, your Travel Joy representative transfers you to Cairo International Airport in good time for your flight to Istanbul, the storied city where Europe and Asia meet across the Bosphorus. On arrival you clear formalities and are welcomed by our local Turkish team, who escort you to your centrally located hotel. The remainder of the day is yours to unwind and adjust to a new country. You might take an evening walk along the waterfront, sample your first Turkish meze and freshly brewed tea, or simply rest after travelling. Istanbul's minarets and domes glow at dusk, hinting at the wealth of sights waiting for you tomorrow. Your guide confirms the morning schedule so you can begin exploring the city fully refreshed.

A full private guided tour reveals the heart of imperial Istanbul today. You begin at Hagia Sophia, the vast domed masterpiece that served in turn as a Byzantine cathedral and an Ottoman mosque, its golden mosaics still glinting overhead. A short walk brings you to the Blue Mosque, famous for its cascade of half-domes and the thousands of blue Iznik tiles that give it its name, facing Hagia Sophia across a peaceful garden. In between lies the Hippodrome, the ancient chariot-racing arena where obelisks brought from Egypt still stand. After lunch you tour Topkapi Palace, the opulent seat of Ottoman sultans, taking in its courtyards, harem, and dazzling treasury overlooking the Bosphorus. You end amid the colour and clamour of the Grand Bazaar, one of the world's oldest covered markets, before returning to your hotel for the evening.

• Hagia Sophia — A monumental domed church-turned-mosque, an icon of Byzantine architecture.
• The Blue Mosque — An Ottoman mosque named for the blue Iznik tiles lining its interior.
• The Hippodrome
• Topkapi Palace — The lavish palace of the Ottoman sultans overlooking the Bosphorus.
• The Grand Bazaar

An early flight carries you to Cappadocia, a surreal region of the Anatolian highlands where wind and water have sculpted the volcanic rock into fairy chimneys, hidden valleys, and cave dwellings. You climb to Uchisar Castle, a towering rock citadel honeycombed with tunnels that offers sweeping views across the lunar landscape. At the Göreme Open-Air Museum you explore rock-cut Byzantine churches whose frescoes have survived for a thousand years. In Avanos, a town famous for its red clay, you watch a potter shape a vessel on a traditional wheel just as artisans have for generations. The afternoon takes you through Pasabag, with its clustered mushroom-shaped pinnacles, and the imaginative rock forms of Devrent Valley. If you wish, your guide can arrange an optional dawn hot-air balloon flight for tomorrow. Tonight you rest in a characterful cave hotel carved into the hillside.

• The Uchisar Castle — A tall rock fortress riddled with tunnels and topped with panoramic views.
• Göreme Open-Air Museum — Rock-cut Byzantine churches preserving thousand-year-old frescoes.
• Avanos
• Pasabag — A valley of dramatic mushroom-shaped fairy chimneys.
• Devrent Valley

Today you fly west to the Aegean coast to walk through Ephesus, one of the best-preserved classical cities anywhere in the Mediterranean. Your guide leads you along marble streets once trodden by Roman citizens, beginning near the site of the Temple of Artemis, an ancient wonder of the world of which only fragments now remain. You pause before the magnificent facade of the Celsus Library, a two-storey masterpiece of columns and statuary, and admire the delicately carved Temple of Hadrian. Colonnaded Harbor Street leads toward the Great Theater, a vast semicircle that once seated some twenty-five thousand spectators and still echoes remarkably. Above the city you visit the House of the Virgin Mary, a peaceful stone chapel believed to be where Mary spent her final years and now a revered place of pilgrimage. You overnight nearby in the seaside town of Kusadasi.

• The Temple of Artemis — The scant remains of one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.
• Celsus Library — Ephesus's iconic two-storey Roman library facade.
• Temple of Hadrian
• Harbor Street
• Theater of Ephesus — A grand amphitheatre that once held around 25,000 spectators.
• House of the Virgin Mary — A hillside chapel revered as Mary's final home and a pilgrimage site.

You travel inland today to one of Turkey's most extraordinary landscapes: the gleaming white travertine terraces of Pamukkale, whose name means cotton castle. Warm mineral-rich springs have layered the hillside with cascading pools of dazzling calcite over thousands of years, and you can wade barefoot through the shallow thermal water. Crowning the ridge lies Hierapolis, a Greco-Roman spa city founded around the sacred springs. With your guide you walk Frontinus Street through the Domitian Gate, explore the sprawling Necropolis with its hundreds of tombs, and stand before the ruins of the Temple of Apollo and the eerie Plutonium, an opening the ancients believed led to the underworld. You also see the grand Roman Baths, the Agora, the early Christian Cathedral, and the beautifully preserved Theater tiered into the hillside. It is a rich final day of your Turkish adventure before an overnight in Pamukkale.

• Pamukkale Travertines — Dazzling white terraces of calcite pools formed by thermal springs.
• Hierapolis — A Greco-Roman spa city built around Pamukkale's sacred hot springs.
• Necropolis of Hierapolis
• Domitian Gate
• Frontinus Street
• Roman Baths of Hierapolis
• Agora of Hierapolis
• Cathedral of Hierapolis
• The Temple of Apollo
• The Theater of Hierapolis
• The Plutonium — A gas-filled cave the ancients believed to be a gateway to the underworld.

Your 13-day Egypt and Turkey grand tour comes to a close today. After a final breakfast you enjoy whatever free time your flight schedule allows, perhaps a last stroll to pick up souvenirs or a quiet coffee overlooking the Turkish countryside. At the appointed hour your Travel Joy representative meets you for a comfortable private transfer to the airport, assisting with check-in for your onward or homeward flight. You leave having journeyed from the pyramids of Giza and the temples of the Nile to the domes of Istanbul, the fairy chimneys of Cappadocia, and the classical ruins of the Aegean, a sweep of two great civilisations and thousands of years of history. We hope these unforgettable memories draw you back to Egypt and the wider region again, and our team wishes you safe and happy travels all the way home.