Morocco, Egypt & Jordan: Grand 13-Day Tour

After breakfast, your private guided tour of Casablanca begins at the monumental Hassan II Mosque, an architectural triumph that rises partly above the Atlantic, its 210-metre minaret the tallest in the world. Admire the intricate zellige tilework and hand-carved cedar before driving along the Casablanca Corniche, the breezy seafront promenade of the Ain Diab district. Later you continue north to Rabat, Morocco's dignified capital, for lunch and an afternoon of discovery. You stand beneath the unfinished 12th-century Hassan Tower and pay your respects at the marble Mausoleum of Mohammed V. Nearby, the blue-and-white lanes of the Kasbah of the Udayas tumble toward the river, while the ceremonial gates of the Royal Palace of Rabat reveal the seat of the Moroccan monarchy. Tonight you rest in Rabat, your imagination already stirred by the treasures of two very different cities.

• Hassan II Mosque — One of the world's largest mosques, rising partly over the Atlantic with a record-breaking 210-metre minaret.
• Casablanca Corniche — The breezy Ain Diab seafront promenade lined with cafes and open ocean views.
• Hassan Tower — The soaring, never-completed minaret of a 12th-century Almohad mosque in Rabat.
• Mausoleum of Mohammed V — A gleaming white-marble tomb of Morocco's late kings, watched over by royal sentries.
• Kasbah of the Udayas — A picturesque blue-and-white fortified quarter overlooking the Bou Regreg river and the Atlantic.
• Royal Palace of Rabat — The official residence of the Moroccan king, admired from its grand ceremonial gates.

This morning, after breakfast, you leave the Atlantic coast behind and journey south toward the fabled Red City of Marrakech. The road unfurls across rolling plains, olive groves and farmland, with the snow-dusted peaks of the Atlas Mountains rising in the distance as you approach. Your private driver keeps the pace comfortable, pausing wherever you wish to stretch your legs, take photographs, or sample sweet roadside oranges. Reaching Marrakech in the afternoon, you check into your hotel or a traditional riad tucked within the ancient medina walls. The remainder of the day is free to acclimatise at your own rhythm: sip mint tea on a rooftop terrace as the call to prayer drifts over the rooftops, or simply relax before tomorrow's immersion in one of Morocco's most enchanting cities. Marrakech, founded nearly a thousand years ago, rewards the patient traveller with colour, scent and sound at every turn.

A full day of private guided touring reveals the treasures of Marrakech. You begin at the 19th-century Bahia Palace, a masterpiece of Moroccan craftsmanship where painted cedar ceilings, tranquil courtyards and fragrant gardens were designed to be simply the brilliant. Rising above the skyline, the 12th-century Koutoubia Mosque presides over the city with a minaret that served as the model for both Rabat's Hassan Tower and Seville's Giralda. After lunch, you plunge into the labyrinthine Medina and its bustling souks, where artisans hammer brass, weave carpets and stack pyramids of spice and saffron. As dusk falls, the legendary Jemaa el-Fna square comes alive with storytellers, musicians, and sizzling food stalls, a UNESCO-listed spectacle unlike anywhere else on earth. Your guide helps you navigate the maze and haggle with a smile before you return to your riad, senses thoroughly awakened by the rhythm of the Red City.

• Bahia Palace — A 19th-century palace of painted ceilings, serene courtyards and fragrant gardens.
• Koutoubia Mosque — Marrakech's largest mosque, its 12th-century minaret a template for Seville's Giralda.
• Medina & Souk of Marrakesh — A UNESCO-listed maze of artisan workshops and vibrant covered markets.
• Jemaa el-Fna — The legendary main square that comes alive with performers, storytellers and food stalls after dark.

After a leisurely breakfast, you bid farewell to Marrakech and travel back toward Casablanca, where Mohammed V International Airport awaits. Your Travel Joy team assists with check-in for your onward flight to Egypt, and by evening you touch down in Cairo, the vast and vibrant capital that has guarded the Nile for more than a thousand years. A representative meets you at Cairo International Airport, smooths the way through arrival formalities, and transfers you privately to your hotel. Depending on your flight schedule, you may catch a first glimpse of the city's slender minarets and glittering skyline along the way. Tonight, rest and prepare, for tomorrow you come face to face with the last surviving wonder of the ancient world. From the imperial cities of Morocco to the timeless land of the pharaohs, the second act of your grand journey is about to unfold.

Today you meet the icons of ancient Egypt. Your private Egyptologist guide leads you onto the Giza Plateau, where the Great Pyramid of Khufu, the sole surviving wonder of the ancient world, has stood for some 4,500 years. You circle its colossal limestone blocks, gaze up at its neighbours, and come face to face with the enigmatic Great Sphinx, guardian of the plateau, before exploring the granite halls of the Valley Temple. After lunch, you step into the future of Egyptology at the Grand Egyptian Museum, the largest archaeological museum on earth, home to Tutankhamun's complete golden treasures. The day closes at Saqqara, where the Step Pyramid of Djoser, the world's oldest stone monument, designed by the genius Imhotep, rises in stacked terraces above the desert. Tonight you return to Cairo, humbled by five millennia of human ambition on this unforgettable private guided tour.

• Giza Pyramids Complex — The legendary plateau of three great pyramids raised for the Fourth Dynasty pharaohs.
• The Great Pyramid — The 4,500-year-old tomb of Khufu, the only surviving wonder of the ancient world.
• The Great Sphinx — The colossal lion-bodied, human-faced guardian carved from a single limestone ridge.
• The Valley Temple — The granite-lined mortuary temple of Khafre beside the Sphinx enclosure.
• The Grand Egyptian Museum — The world's largest archaeological museum, home to Tutankhamun's complete treasures.
• Saqqara Step Pyramid — The Step Pyramid of Djoser, the oldest monumental stone structure on earth.

An early morning flight carries you south to Luxor, the peerless open-air museum built upon ancient Thebes. On the east bank you enter the staggering Karnak Temple, the largest religious complex ever raised, where a forest of 134 towering columns fills the Great Hypostyle Hall and successive pharaohs added pylons, obelisks and sanctuaries to honour the god Amun-Ra across some two thousand years. Your private guided tour brings the hieroglyphs and sacred lake vividly to life. After lunch and time to rest through the afternoon heat, you return as the sun sets for the magical spectacle of Luxor Temple by night, when golden floodlights wash over the colonnade of Amenhotep III and the avenue of sphinxes, casting long shadows across the courtyards. It is a serene, atmospheric finale to your first day among the temples of Upper Egypt, and a memory that lingers long after.

• Karnak Temple — The largest religious complex ever built, with a hypostyle hall of 134 giant columns.
• Luxor Temple by Night — An elegant riverside temple beautifully floodlit after dark, linked to Karnak by an avenue of sphinxes.

Crossing to the west bank of the Nile, the realm of the setting sun and the ancient dead, you venture into the Valley of the Kings, where pharaohs of the New Kingdom were laid to rest in tombs cut deep into the desert cliffs. Descending painted corridors still ablaze with colour, you marvel at the vivid scenes meant to guide kings such as Ramses and Tutankhamun into the afterlife. Next rises the extraordinary Temple of Hatshepsut, its colonnaded terraces set dramatically against a sheer amber cliff, a monument to Egypt's most powerful female pharaoh. Before returning, you pause beside the towering Colossi of Memnon, two weathered giants of Amenhotep III that have kept silent watch over the Theban plain for 3,400 years. Your Egyptologist enriches every stop with stories of gods, kings and rediscovery. Tonight you rest once more in Luxor, steeped in the grandeur of the pharaohs.

• The Valley of the Kings — The royal necropolis of the New Kingdom, hiding richly painted rock-cut tombs of the pharaohs.
• Hatshepsut Temple — The striking terraced mortuary temple of Egypt's greatest female pharaoh, set against amber cliffs.
• Colossi of Memnon — Two towering seated statues of Amenhotep III guarding the Theban plain for over three millennia.

A short flight returns you to Cairo for a rich day tracing the many layers of Egyptian civilisation. You begin at the historic Egyptian Museum on Tahrir Square, whose galleries brim with tens of thousands of antiquities gathered over more than a century. In old Coptic Cairo you visit the beloved Hanging Church, suspended above a Roman gatehouse, and the venerable Amr Ibn Al-Aas Mosque, the first mosque ever built on the African continent. At the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization you stand quietly before the Royal Mummies in their purpose-built hall. Then you wander medieval Al-Muizz Street, an open-air gallery of Fatimid and Mamluk architecture, before losing yourself in the aromatic alleys of the Khan El-Khalili bazaar, haggling for lanterns, spices and silver. Your private guide weaves Pharaonic, Christian and Islamic Cairo into one seamless, unforgettable narrative before you return to your hotel for the night.

• The Egyptian Museum — The historic Tahrir Square museum brimming with tens of thousands of pharaonic antiquities.
• The Hanging Church — A beloved Coptic church suspended above the towers of a Roman gatehouse.
• Amr Ibn Al Aas Mosque — The first mosque built in Egypt and all of Africa, founded in old Fustat.
• The National Museum of Egyptian Civilization — Home to the Royal Mummies Hall and a sweeping survey of Egyptian history.
• Al Muizz Street — An open-air corridor of Fatimid and Mamluk monuments in medieval Islamic Cairo.
• Khan El Khalili Bazaar — A centuries-old market maze of lanterns, spices, silver and coppersmiths.

After breakfast, your Egyptian chapter draws to a close as you transfer to Cairo International Airport for your flight to Amman, the hospitable capital of the Kingdom of Jordan. On arrival, your Travel Joy representative assists with entry formalities and welcomes you to the third and final country of your grand tour. A private transfer delivers you to your hotel, and the remainder of the day is free to relax or explore at your own pace. Amman is a city of contrasts, where Roman ruins and a hilltop Citadel look down over a lively modern downtown of cafes and markets. Settle in, enjoy a Jordanian feast of mezze and grilled meats if you wish, and rest well. Tomorrow you begin a spectacular overland journey through biblical landscapes, ancient mosaics and the rose-red city that has captivated travellers for two full centuries.

Today you journey through some of Jordan's most storied landscapes on a private guided tour. You first reach Madaba, the celebrated City of Mosaics, to step inside the Greek Orthodox Church of St. George and study its remarkable 6th-century mosaic map of the Holy Land, the oldest surviving cartographic depiction of Jerusalem and the region. A short drive brings you to Mount Nebo, the windswept summit where, according to scripture, Moses gazed upon the Promised Land he would never enter; on a clear day the panorama sweeps across the Jordan Valley to the shimmering Dead Sea. After lunch you descend to the Dead Sea itself, the lowest point on the face of the earth. Here you float effortlessly on the mineral-rich waters and coat your skin in the famous therapeutic black mud before rinsing off. As evening approaches, you continue south toward Petra, ready for the highlight to come.

• St. George's Church — A Greek Orthodox church in Madaba holding the oldest surviving mosaic map of the Holy Land.
• Mount Nebo — The revered summit where Moses is said to have viewed the Promised Land.
• The Dead Sea — The lowest point on earth, where mineral-rich waters let you float effortlessly.

This is the day you have dreamed of. Rising early, you walk through the Siq, a narrow gorge winding for over a kilometre between soaring rose-coloured cliffs, until it parts to reveal Al-Khazneh, the majestic Treasury carved directly into the sandstone by the Nabataeans more than two thousand years ago. Your guide leads you deeper into Petra, past the ornate Royal Tombs glowing gold and crimson, the great Roman-style Theatre hewn from solid rock, and the free-standing temple of Qasr al-Bint. In the afternoon you journey into Wadi Rum, the Valley of the Moon, where russet dunes and towering rock bridges stretch to the horizon. A thrilling 4x4 excursion carries you across the sands to viewpoints made famous by Lawrence of Arabia. Tonight you savour a traditional Bedouin dinner beneath a vast canopy of desert stars, an unforgettable close to your journey.

• Petra — The rose-red Nabataean city carved into desert cliffs, reached through the dramatic Siq gorge.
• Al Khazneh Temple — The iconic Treasury facade sculpted from sheer sandstone, Petra's most celebrated monument.
• Royal Tombs of Petra — A row of grand rock-cut tombs glowing gold and crimson in the sunlight.
• Theatre of Petra — A vast amphitheatre hewn entirely from the living rock by the Nabataeans.
• Qasr al-Bint — One of Petra's few free-standing structures and a principal Nabataean temple.
• Wadi Rum — The vast Valley of the Moon of russet dunes and rock bridges, explored by 4x4.

Your grand 13-day odyssey through Morocco, Egypt and Jordan comes to a gentle close. After breakfast and, if time allows, a final sunrise over the red sands of Wadi Rum, your private vehicle carries you north along the Desert Highway toward Amman. Landscapes of desert plateaus and Bedouin country accompany you one last time before you reach Queen Alia International Airport in good time for your departure flight. Your Travel Joy representative assists with check-in and bids you a warm farewell, mindful of the memories you carry home: the minarets of Casablanca, the souks of Marrakech, the pyramids of Giza, the temples of Luxor and the rose-red silhouette of Petra. We hope this journey across three extraordinary lands has surpassed every expectation, and we look forward to welcoming you back to Egypt and beyond whenever wanderlust calls again.