Eight days for a family: three nights in Cairo and four on a five-star Nile boat from Luxor to Aswan, starting at Karnak and ending at Abu Simbel.
A representative meets you at Cairo International Airport, handles the arrival formalities and takes the family to your hotel in a private air-conditioned vehicle. The rest of the day is free — the hotel, or a walk nearby.
A private Egyptologist takes you to the Great Pyramids of Giza for Cheops, Chephren and Mykerinos, then the Sphinx and the Valley Temple. A camel ride around the pyramids is included and is generally the part that gets talked about afterwards. The afternoon goes to the Grand Egyptian Museum, where King Tutankhamun's treasures are displayed alongside exhibits built to be handled and walked through. Lunch at a local restaurant in between.
A short morning flight to Luxor, which has more standing antiquity per square mile than anywhere else on earth. Karnak Temple first — towering columns, a sacred lake, and enough space for children to get properly lost in — then Luxor Temple in the afternoon light. You board the boat afterwards.
Breakfast on board, then across the river. In the Valley of the Kings you go down inside the royal tombs themselves; Tutankhamun's own is available on a separate ticket. The Temple of Hatshepsut follows, carved into the cliffside, and then the Colossi of Memnon. Lunch back on board as the boat sails for Edfu.
A horse-drawn carriage from the mooring to the Temple of Horus at Edfu, one of the best-preserved temples in Egypt. Then on to Kom Ombo, an unusual double temple built for Sobek the crocodile god and Horus the Elder, with a mirrored half for each.
The island Temple of Philae, built for the goddess Isis and moved to its present island when the water rose behind the dam. Then the High Dam itself, one of the largest engineering projects Egypt has ever undertaken. Back to the boat for lunch, and the rest of the day is free.
An early start for Abu Simbel, a pair of temples cut into the mountainside by Ramses II — the four seated figures at the entrance are each about as tall as a five-storey building, and the scale registers on everyone regardless of age. A flight to Cairo afterwards and a quiet evening at your hotel.
Breakfast and check-out, then your representative takes you to Cairo International Airport for your flight home.