Ancient World tours

Site Summary - Lower Egypt Giza Pyramids, Sakkara, Cairo Museum, Ibn Tulun, Sultan Hassan, Mohammed Ali, Tanis, Bubastis, Alexandria, National Museum, Kom el Shuqafa, the Serapeum, Anfushi.  Site Summary - Upper Egypt Luxor Temple and Museum, Valley of the Kings, Western Valley, Valley of the Nobles, Temple of Seti I, Ramesseum, Medinet Habu, Karnak, Abydos, Denderah, Deir el Bahri, Asassif Tombs, Deir el Medina, Esna, Edfu, Kom Ombo, Kubbet el Hawa, Elephantine, Unfinished Obelisk, High Dam, Philae, Abu Simbel (optional).

Day 1 – Sat 11th Sept 2010 - London to Cairo

We fly London to Cairo and take our private transfer to the Movenpick hotel at Giza for four nights on a room and breakfast basis.

Day 2 – Sun 12th Sept -

Horizons of Eternity

We start our exploration of Egypt at Sakkara, greatest of the Egyptian necropoli. We start with an orientation at the lovely new Imhotep Museum before ascending the main plateau. Here we find not only the oldest stone building in the world, the Pyramid of Djoser, but also later Old Kingdom pyramids with Pyramid Texts and tombs of the highest standard. Lunch is at the lovely Sakkara Palm Club and then we head towards the last remaining wonder of the ancient world, the Pyramid of Khufu at Giza. We will explore the plateau and its main features, such as the mortuary temple of Khafre and the causeway that leads down to the enigmatic sphinx. (BL)

Day 3 – Mon 13th Sep - House of Treasures

This morning we head into Old Cairo with its mosques and ornate gateways – a journey back into the world of the thousand and one nights. We start with what many architects consider to be one of the finest buildings in the world, the 9th century Ibn Tulun Mosque. We follow this with the lovely Sultan Hassan mosque with its charming fountain before we ascend to the citadel of Saladin and the mosque of Mohammed Ali with its spectacular views. Lunch is onboard a floating Nile Cruiser and then we head to the Warehouse of Treasure. The Egyptian Museum is crammed full of so many treasures that it’s hard to know where to start. We will certainly cover the Amarna Room, the Tutankhamun treasures and the Tanis Treasures too but there is so much to see. Our guide will take us on a chronological journey lasting around 3,000 years and there will be time for exploration and perhaps an optional visit to the mummy room. (BL)

Day 4 – Tue 14th Sept - The Delta

Few people venture out into the delta – and certainly no travel companies – because few know what they are looking at when they get there! We start with ‘Bubastis of the Cats’. This site was a cult centre for the worship of the goddess Bastet and also a capital for the pharaohs of the 22nd ‘Bubastite’ Dynasty. We move on to Tanis – site of temples and tombs from the 21st Dynasty. Many of the blocks here bear earlier inscriptions but only because they were re-used to build this huge site. There are controversial tombs here too which appear to throw doubt on received wisdom. We return to Cairo for a relaxing evening at the hotel. (BL)

Day 5 – Weds 15th Sept - City of Alexander

This morning we strike out on the north western desert highway to Egypt’s lovely coastal city of Alexandria. Looking somewhat French Mediterranean, this lovely town is a favourite for Egyptians as well as Westerners. We check into the Cecil hotel, the address in Alex, for two nights on a bed and breakfast basis. Once refreshed, we leave for the superb National Museum of Alexandria – a model of what a good museum should be where fine exemplary pieces are beautifully lit. You can explore the cafes and restaurants of the corniche and dream of Forster and Cavafy. Overnight Alex. (BL)

Day 6 – Thur 16th Sept - Ancient Alexandria

We start our exploration of pharaonic Alexandria at Kom el Shuqafa, Greco Roman catacombs which exhibit some extraordinary flamboyant styles – fusions of pharaonic, Roman and Greek cultures. Next we visit the remains of the Serapaeum, centre of worship to Serapis, thought to have contained an Apis Bull burial. We take a look at the famous ‘Pompey’s Pillar’ before moving on to Anfushi where five beautiful Greek tombs boast interesting painted reliefs and unusual theological themes. We overnight at the Cecil hotel. (B)

Day 7 – Fri 17th Sept - To Ancient Thebes

An early start today as we drive to Cairo to board our internal flight down to Luxor.  We check into our hotel, the superb Old Winter Palace, our home for the next five nights. We are staying in the Garden Pavilion located close to the swimming pool. The afternoon is at leisure. In the early evening we will walk to the Luxor Museum – another fine example of excellent pieces beautifully lit, including perhaps the finest piece of sculpture in history – the statue of Thutmose III. (B)

Day 8 - Sat 18th Sept - The West Bank

These days, people take the coach from their hotel and cross the river by the new bridge. AWT prefers the more romantic route, by launch across the misty early morning waters of the Nile. We have a very full day today – and a very rewarding one at that. We start at the Valley of the Kings where we will select three of the tombs open that day to represent the various phases of architecture of the New Kingdom. For a feeling of what the Valley of the Kings was like in the 1920’s we explore the Western Valley and the fascinating tomb of Ay. We end our morning with an excursion to some of the Nobles tombs, including the wonderful tomb of Ramose which contains some particularly fine reliefs. Lunch is at the Africa restaurant and is followed by an excursion first to the mortuary temple of Seti I. This often neglected site is worth seeing if only because it belongs to perhaps the greatest pharaoh of the New Kingdom. We follow this with the temple of the most prolific builder of the 19th Dynasty, Ramesses II. This magnificent building, with its fine reliefs, was the inspiration for Shelley’s Ozymandias. We end our day at Medinet Habu, most complete of all the mortuary temples and still highly coloured in parts. We take our private launch back to the splendours of the Old Winter Palace. (BL)

AWT is an agent of Bales Worldwide Ltd.

DEPARTURE DATE Saturday 11th September 2010 TOUR CODE AWCE110910     Basic Tour Price: £2,573 Single Supplement: £331 Luxor Balloon: £100 Optional Abu Simbel: £154 Land Only Discount: -£240    Book tour

Day 9 - Sun 19th Sept - Mighty Karnak

Karnak is almost deserted at opening time – except, that is, for AWT travellers! We often have this wonderful temple, the world’s largest, to ourselves for the first hour and we take full advantage of that hour. We will catch the early morning light at the rear of the temple and at the sacred lake where wonderful pictures can be taken. Then, we will return to the central area as the sun light creeps up the majestic obelisks. Then we begin our tour proper, examining all the major features of the temple of Amun, as well as some less well-known nooks and crannies. We will have tickets to the open air museum where the White Kiosk of Senusret awaits – a truly fine piece. You can return to the hotel with the coach or stay for the rest of the day at Karnak to explore further – the rest of the day is at leisure until this evening when we will stroll to the lovely Luxor Temple at sunset and view the site as the floodlights come on. (B). 

Day 10 – Mon 20th Sept - Abydos – Birthplace of the World

Well, of course, there are many versions of the Egyptian creation myth but there is no doubt that Abydos held a mystical fascination for pharaohs from the earliest times. We will be concentrating on the magnificent temple built by Seti I – with the finest reliefs in Egypt carved into its walls. Here we also find the King List which was once thought to be authoritative but has been revealed as an edited version of the ‘acceptable’ kings of Egypt. A short walk across the desert and we enter the smaller temple of Ramesses II. Here wonderful coloured reliefs survive. Lunch boxes are provided today. We begin our journey back to Luxor and en route we stop at the lovely Ptolemaic temple of Denderah. The columns and ceilings here have recently been cleaned revealing some astonishing detail. (BL)

Day 11 - Tue 21st Sept - West Bank Revisited

This morning, anybody who has booked an optional balloon flight over the West Bank will be collected from the hotel and whisked away for their flight. The remainder of the group will once again cross the Nile by motor launch to meet with the intrepid balloonists for some more fascinating sites. We start at the Mortuary temple of Hatshepsut and see the famous ‘Punt Reliefs’ as well as the grand tiers and the beautiful Hathor Chapel.
We take the short journey now to the tombs at Asassif. The most important tomb here is Pabasa which is from the Saite Period, late in to Egypt’s pharaonic history.
We journey back towards the river now but head into the desert a short way to Deir el-Medina. Here are the remains of the village for the workmen who constructed the Valley of the Kings. There is a small Ptolemaic temple here as well as several ‘jewel box’ tombs for some of the workmen themselves. These are beautifully decorated and are some of the finest surviving tombs in Egypt. We return to the East Bank on our private motor launch for a well earned rest. (B)

Day 12 – Weds 22nd Sept - To Nubia

Today we head south into Nubia and the delightful town of Aswan. En route we will be stopping at the small Ptolemaic temple of Esna – of which only the hypostyle hall remains. Our next site, Edfu, is very different as this is the most complete temple in Egypt. Here, we get a sense of what a working temple must once have been like. There are lively reliefs here too showing the everlasting battle between Horus and Seth. We have provided a lunch box today. We head now to the temple of Sobek and Horus the Elder on the banks the Nile at Kom Ombo. This temple is famous not only for its mummified crocodiles but also for the array of medical instruments depicted in the reliefs here. We finish our journey in Aswan and cross the river to the Island of Elephantine and the comforts of the Movenpick, our hotel for the next three nights. (BL)

Day 13 - Thur 23rd Sept - Aswan Sites

Aswan is many people’s favourite town in all Egypt. Built on the granite of the 1st cataract, its collection of islands, temples and tombs are a delight. To avoid the heat of the day, we start our exploration of Aswan with a short motor launch ride to Kubbet el Hawa and the tombs of the Nomarchs – Old and Middle Kingdom governors of this region. These tombs afford a wonderful view of the river and town. Next we return to the island of Elephantine itself, a very ancient religious site, where we see temples and ruins and a small archaeological museum.
After lunch we board our coach and visit the Unfinished Obelisk – an ambitious excavation indeed – before heading to a wonder of the modern age, the Aswan High Dam. Our afternoon is completed by a motor launch taking us to the isolated island of Agilikia and the temple of Isis – the last temple in Egypt to be used for the ancient religion. (B)

Day 14 - Fri 24th Sept - Abu Simbel

Those who are taking the short flight to Abu Simbel will do so this morning to enjoy the spectacular sight of the two temples of Ramesses II commanding the gateway to the south. Now perched high on the banks of Lake Nasser, these extraordinary structures never fail to impress. After lunch, the entire group will indulge in a little felucca sailing around the islands of Aswan before disembarking for a trip to the lovely Nubian Museum. (B)

Day 15 - Sat 25th Sept - Homeward Bound

We take our private transfer to Aswan Airport for our connection to Cairo and on to London. (B).

Expert: Lucia Gahlin's charm and enthusiasm for Egypt is justifiably famous. Bringing sites to life with well chosen words and information, travelling with Lucia is always a pleasure. This tour promises to be a highlight of 2010.