A gem of a Nile cruise which allows you to visit all of the major sites and still have some time left to spend in one of Egypt’s other exciting destinations. It can be booked as part of the Cruise & Stay holiday.
1. Karnak & Luxor
Embarkation before lunch.
Visit the most magnificent of the Nile temples, the stunning Temple of Karnak, constructed over a vast area during a period of some 1300 years. It incorporates three separate temple enclosures and highlights include the Great Hypostyle Hall with its gigantic pillars, and the Sacred Lake. An avenue of Sphinxes links this temple to the Temple of Luxor, the next stop on your itinerary, also dedicated to the triad of the god, Amun, the ‘unseen one’, his wife Mut, goddess of the heavens and their son Khonsu. The reliefs here are remarkably clear, partly due to the fact that it lay buried under sand for thousands of years.
Dinner & Overnight.
Optional Excursion to Sound & Light Show at Karnak Temple.
2. The West Bank
After breakfast leave by coach to visit the West Bank, the land where the sun sets and the place designated as a burial ground by the ancient Egyptians. Visit two or three tombs in the Valley of the Kings and at least two more in the Valley of the Queens and marvel at the intricate murals. The tombs are open according to a system of rotation, to minimise damage caused by visitors, and there is an additional charge for visits to the Tomb of Tutankhamun and Ramses VI. Continue to the Temple of Hatshepsut, the only woman to reign as a Pharaoh, its terraces and colonnades stark against the hillside, and the Colossi of Memnon, a pair of enormous statues, some 18 metres high, which once guarded the mortuary temple of Amenophis III.
Set sail for Edfu.
Lunch & afternoon tea on board.
Dinner on board.
3. Temples of Horus in Edfu & Kom Ombo
After breakfast visit the Temple of Horus in Edfu. Horus was the falcon god, who triumphed over his evil uncle Seth, the story of which is told in the inscriptions and reliefs on the temple walls.
Lunch on board.
Afternoon tea and sail to Kom Ombo to visit the Temple of Kom Ombo shared by the gods Haroeris and the crocodile deity Sobek. Continue to Aswan, Egypt’s southernmost city.
Dinner & Overnight.
4. Aswan & Philae
After breakfast visit the High Dam, the construction of which was finished in 1971, creating Lake Nasser, the world’s largest reservoir. See the ancient granite quarries and the Unfinished Obelisk before continuing to the Island of Philae, with its Temple of Isis, the divine mother of all the gods, set in a stunning location surrounded by water. It was relocated during the building of the High Dam. Lunch on board.
Sail on the Nile in a traditional felucca around Elephantine and Kitchener’s Island.
Afternoon tea and dinner.
5. Abu Simbel
Breakfast followed by disembarkation. Optional excursion to Abu Simbel from £95 per person.
Please note: that this itinerary and the prices for Nile cruise and stay holidays are based on M.S. Nile Premium. All of our boats follow slightly different itineraries but all include visits to the sites listed above.
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THE JEWELS OF THE NILE CRUISE
