Golden Age of Travel: Egypt

A short drive from your hotel are the Pyramids of Giza, last surviving wonder of the ancient world. Millennia after their construction, the Pyramids retain the power to amaze and inspire, in their workmanship, accuracy of measurement and sheer scale – the Pyramid of Khufu, comprising two million colossal blocks of stone, was the tallest man-made structure in the world for nearly 4,000 years. Nearby, the mighty Sphinx looks on, its inscrutable nature perfectly in keeping with intense speculation about its age. After lunch visit to the new Grand Egyptian Museum*, where the world’s most extensive exhibitions in pharaonic artefacts can be seen. Among the many treasures on display are the solid gold mask of Tutankhamun, and the Narmer Palette, thought to depict the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt. The new museum is also home to King Khufu's Solar Boat. 

*if the GEM is not open we will instead visit the Museum of Antiquities in Tharir Square, Cairo.

Hotel: Marriott Mena House Hotel, Giza

Amongst other interesting features, the necropolis of Saqqara presents a fascinating timeline of pyramid development, with the so called ‘Step Pyramid’ revealing techniques which would eventually be perfected on a massive scale at Giza. After lunch we proceed to Memphis, the first capital of Ancient Egypt. Its scattered ruins now comprise an open-air museum, and particularly impressive is a huge statue of Ramses II.

Hotel: Marriott Mena House Hotel, Giza

A short flight from Cairo this morning takes us to Luxor, site of the famous city of Thebes, capital of the Egyptian Empire at the height of its power, prestige and architectural flair. The number and preservation of ancient monuments here is unparalleled anywhere in the world. We arrive in time for lunch and an afternoon visit to the excellent Luxor Museum, home to a well-chosen and engagingly displayed collection of local masterworks including statues, tablets and jewellery, before settling in at the Sofitel Winter Palace Hotel, a Nile-side oasis of colonial charm where Howard Carter announced the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb.

Hotel: Sofitel Winter Palace, Luxor

Luxor’s West Bank is so astonishingly rich in ancient wonders that we will spend the best part of two days exploring it. Whilst the precise order of visits is subject to change, today it is planned to view the silent sentinels known as the Colossi of Memnon, explore Howard Carter’s House – the property used by the archaeologist during his search for the tomb of Tutankhamun and eventual discovery – and descend into a selection of tombs in the Valley of the Kings necropolis. Tutankhamun’s Tomb is an essential visit in this centenary year, but rather small and plain compared to others we see, which are richly and colourfully decorated with hieroglyphs.

Hotel: Sofitel Winter Palace, Luxor

A second day of West Bank exploration includes the Valley of the Queens, where the wives of the pharaohs were laid to rest in splendid surroundings, and the graceful Temple of Hatshepsut, one of a handful of female rulers of Ancient Egypt. We also visit the mortuary temple of Ramses II, the Ramesseum, whose fallen statues reputedly inspired Shelley’s great sonnet Ozymandias. Later in the afternoon we board the luxurious Nile cruise vessel, the MS Misr, which will be our home for the next four nights, but tonight it remains berthed in Luxor.

Our Nile cruise programme begins with further appreciation of Luxor’s ancient wonders, visiting the imposing Luxor Temple, which has been in almost continuous use as a place of worship for more than 3,000 years, and the awe-inspiring temple complex of Karnak, the largest ancient religious site in the world, comprising immense pylons and obelisks, tranquil lakes and a mesmerising Hypostyle Hall of 134 soaring columns set out perfectly geometrically and adorned with exquisite hieroglyphs, some of which retain the original rich colouration. In the evening we set sail along the river.

The atmospheric Temple of Horus at Edfu, one of the best-preserved temples of Ancient Egypt, dates to the Ptolemaic period, around 100BC. Its finely decorated pylons, chambers, antechambers and hypostyle halls all merit appreciation and, uniquely, in places its roof is still intact. Look out for the ancient Nilometer, which measured the level of the river’s waters and helped predict the year’s harvest. In the afternoon we sail on to the enthralling Greco-Roman twin temple of Kom Ombo, dedicated to the falcon-headed Horus and Sobek, the crocodile god.

The Temple of Philae, ancient centre of the cult of Isis, beguiles visitors not least for its idyllic island setting. A UNESCO rescue project in the 1960s rescued the temple from flood waters created by the construction of the Aswan High Dam and it was moved, block-by-block to its current location. This visit marks our arrival in the Nubian city of Aswan, and this afternoon we wander the 7-acre Botanical Gardens that cover Kitchener’s Island, home to hundreds of species of trees and flowering plants and alive with birdsong.

We disembark our cruise vessel, but there is still more to see in the area, so we check-in to the Sofitel Legend Old Cataract Hotel, another very special colonial-era hotel, notable for its association with Agatha Christie, who wrote Death on the Nile during a stay here. This morning we visit the Aswan High Dam, an impressive engineering achievement, albeit one which threatened ancient wonders with submersion; and the Unfinished Obelisk, which would have been the largest in history had it not been abandoned. The afternoon is at leisure to enjoy the facilities of the hotel or explore laid-back Aswan independently.

Hotel: Sofitel Legend Old Cataract Hotel

An air excursion takes us to the far south of Egypt and the temples of Abu Simbel. Similar to Philae, but even more challenging in scale and complexity, these temples were the focus of UNESCO’s audacious rescue bid. They would have been forever lost beneath the waters of Lake Nasser were it not for the amazing salvage work, dismantling and rebuilding stone by stone 60 metres up the cliff. Thank goodness they managed it, as we now have the chance to marvel at two of the most glorious monuments of history. The Temple of Ramses II is a fitting tribute to that pharaoh’s power and ambition, iconic for its four 20m-high statues, but impressive too in its many halls and chapels. The smaller Temple of Hathor is another rock-hewn masterpiece. On our return to Aswan the afternoon is yours to relax, before farewell cocktails and dinner.

Hotel: Sofitel Legend Old Cataract Hotel

We bid farewell to the Old Cataract Hotel and transfer to Aswan airport for our flight home via Cairo.