Eight days over the turn of the year, with four nights in Cairo, three on a five-star Nile cruise from Aswan to Luxor and a free day in Cairo.
A representative meets you at Cairo International Airport, sees you through the airport formalities and takes you to your hotel in a private air-conditioned vehicle. The evening is free.
A guided morning on the Giza Plateau for the pyramids of Cheops, Chephren and Mykerinos, the Great Sphinx, and the Valley Temple where the funerary rites were performed. The afternoon goes to the Grand Egyptian Museum and the treasures of King Tutankhamun. Lunch at a local restaurant in between, and a quiet evening afterwards.
A short flight south after breakfast. Philae Temple comes first, dedicated to Isis, and the story of how it was cut apart and rebuilt on Agilkia Island is worth hearing on site. Then the Aswan High Dam, which is why the rescue was necessary. You board the boat, lunch on deck as it casts off, and spend the afternoon watching the river.
Breakfast while sailing north to Kom Ombo, a double temple built for Sobek the crocodile god and Horus the Elder, its two halves laid out symmetrically. Then Edfu, and a horse-drawn carriage from the mooring to the Temple of Horus, one of the best-preserved sanctuaries in Egypt and covered throughout in hieroglyphs. Back on board as the boat continues towards Luxor.
The royal necropolis. In the Valley of the Kings the pharaohs were buried with everything they expected to need afterwards, Tutankhamun's tomb among them. The Temple of Queen Hatshepsut follows, then the Colossi of Memnon, the two seated statues of Amenhotep III that are all that remains above ground of his mortuary temple.
Karnak in the morning, the largest temple complex in Egypt, with its columns and its inscriptions. Then Luxor Temple, built around the renewal of kingship rather than the worship of a single god. A transfer to Luxor Airport in the afternoon, a flight to Cairo, and check-in for a free evening.
Nothing scheduled. Khan El Khalili Bazaar is the usual choice, or the mosques of Islamic Cairo, or the hotel. Optional excursions such as a day trip to Alexandria or a Nile dinner cruise can be arranged on request.
Breakfast and check-out, then a representative transfers you to Cairo International Airport for your flight home.