Egypt off the Beaten Track

Meet your guide and discover an off-the-beaten-track Cairo. The sightseeing will be tailored to your interests. We suggest visiting the Islamic Museum, followed by a walk through Islamic Cairo and a koshari lunch at a famed Cairo institution before discovering the splendour of the Abdeen Palace and concluding your day discovering some of Cairo’s old-world Al Baladi bars. Alternatively, you might like to set off on a street food tour through downtown Cairo with a food expert.

Travel from Cairo by express train to Alexandria, where you’ll meet your guide. The Catacombs of Kom El-Shoqafa will be your first stop. Proceed on foot to ‘Pompey’s Pillar’ before visiting the amphitheatre at Kom El Dikka and the Mosque of Nebi Daniel (the site of Alexander’s tomb?). After a late lunch at the Fish Market, visit Qaitbey Fort, where the Pharos once stood, then check in at your historic hotel.

Start your sightseeing at Alexandria’s National Museum which houses many artefacts from the city’s Hellenistic period, then visit the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, an important cultural centre overlooking the city’s ancient harbour. On this afternoon’s walking tour, you’ll visit the Cavafy Museum, stop for coffee at Delices, ride an Alexandrian tram, explore the perfume souq and visit the landmark Morsi Abdul-Abbas Mosque. Complete your day by watching the sunset over Alexandria harbour from the rooftop terrace of a colonial-period hotel.

Complete your Alexandria tour with visits to the Montazah Palace – a glorious mixture of Ottoman and Florentine styles – and the Neo-Baroque-style St. Catherine’s Cathedral, then drive to the El Fayoum oasis via the Desert Road. The late afternoon will be at leisure. Enthusiasts of Egyptology might like to include visits to the sites of Karanis and Qasr Qarun.

A 4WD desert safari today will reveal the stunning scenery and geology that lies just beyond the Fayoum oasis and the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Valley of the Whales (Wadi el Hitan). The Wadi El Rayan Waterfalls – Egypt’s only waterfalls – will be your first stop. Then drive on through the desert to Wadi El Hitan, a strikingly beautiful location where you will see the bones of fossilised whales and an impressive field of ‘mushroom’ rocks. Next, after crossing several ridges of dunes, your desert safari concludes at ‘Magic Lake’ where you might like to take a dip in the deep blue waters. The afternoon will be at leisure to relax at your boutique hotel.

Leaving El Fayoum behind you, drive to Hawara at the neck of the Fayoum oasis to visit the pyramid of the 12th dynasty pharaoh Amenemhet III (c1829-c1799 BC). Modern archaeologists have uncovered what is believed to be the remains of a labyrinth below the sands. The labyrinth was said to be an extraordinary underground complex that could hold the key to mankind’s history. Continue to Beni Hassan to explore the important Middle Kingdom tombs with their depictions of daily and military life that help us understand this period of history. After your visit, drive to your simple hotel in El Minya.

Visit the scant remains of Akhetaten (Tell El Amarna), the short-lived capital built by the ‘heretic’ Pharaoh Akhenaton and abandoned shortly after his death (c.1332 BC). On recrossing the Nile, drive to Ashmunein, the site of ancient Hermopolis and the Temple of Thoth. Then, continue into the desert to Tuna El Gebel and discover the largest cemetery dating from the Graeco-Roman period in Egypt.

Continue south through the picturesque Nile Valley to Abydos, a site associated with the Osiris cult and home to the spectacular temple of Seti 1. The next stop will be at Dendera, where you’ll visit the Temple of Hathor, one of the most complete temples in Egypt. Then, continue to Luxor and check in at your character hotel on the West Bank of the Nile.

Today, you’ll see another side of Luxor’s West Bank as well as some of the famed necropolis’ lesser-known treasures. Start the day with a guided walking or cycle tour through the fertile fields and villages, then visit the abandoned Qurna village – once home to many keen dealers of antiquities. Next, continue to see Howard Carter’s House, then complete the day’s sightseeing at the spectacular Tomb of the Vines.

A day at leisure in Luxor to relax. Should you wish to continue sightseeing, there is a great deal to do and see – we would be delighted to provide several suggestions. A suggestion is to take a morning cookery workshop with a local chef, visiting local markets to buy your ingredients before returning to his kitchen, where you will learn to prepare an Egyptian meal. The Egypt off the Beaten Track tour concludes with a private sunset felucca sailing on the River Nile.

Private transfer to Luxor International Airport, where you will check in for your onward flight.