Eleven days: Cairo, a three-night deluxe cruise from Aswan to Luxor and three all-inclusive nights in Hurghada, with private guides.
A representative meets you at Cairo International Airport, sees you through the arrival procedures and escorts you to your 5-star hotel in a private, air-conditioned vehicle.
Out with your private Egyptologist to the Pyramids of Giza, the last surviving member of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. You take in the scale of Cheops, Chephren and Mykerinos and get close to the Great Sphinx, then continue to the Grand Egyptian Museum.
Breakfast, then a transfer to the airport and a flight to Aswan, where your guide takes you to the Temple of Philae, the island sanctuary of the goddess Isis. Afterwards you are transferred to your Nile cruise.
Optional: Nubian village tour
After breakfast the boat sails north to Kom Ombo, a strange and rather wonderful double temple shared between Sobek, the crocodile god, and Horus the Elder. Sailing continues to Edfu and the Temple of Horus, among the best-preserved in the country.
The day starts in the Valley of the Kings, the burial ground of Egypt's most powerful rulers, where you go down into richly painted tombs including those of Ramses. Tutankhamun's tomb can be added separately. The Temple of Hatshepsut follows, and the morning ends at the Colossi of Memnon, two enormous statues that once guarded a mortuary temple now almost entirely gone.
After breakfast and disembarkation you visit Karnak, the largest temple complex in Egypt, walking through its hypostyle hall and past the sacred lake among ruins that successive pharaohs spent centuries adding to. Luxor Temple follows, then a transfer across to Hurghada on the Red Sea.
A full day on the Red Sea — the water here is clear enough to see the reef from the surface. Snorkelling, diving and desert safaris can all be arranged, or you can stay by the pool and do none of it.
Another day at your own pace: sun, a spa session, or fresh seafood at the resort.
Breakfast, then a transfer to Hurghada Airport and the flight to Cairo, where you are taken to your hotel. The rest of the day is free.
Your last full day starts with a guided visit to the Egyptian Museum on Tahrir Square and its thousands of pharaonic objects, then goes up to the Salah El Din Citadel, the medieval fortress that gives the best panorama in Cairo.
A last breakfast, then check out and transfer to Cairo International Airport for your flight home.