Arrival at Cairo International Airport, meet & greet and private transfer to your hotel. The rest of the day is yours to rest after the flight.
🏨 4-star hotel, Cairo | Breakfast included
The Giza Plateau: the Great Pyramid, the Sphinx, and the panoramic desert viewpoint over all three pyramids. Afternoon at the Egyptian Museum among the treasures of Tutankhamun.
In the late afternoon we return to the hotel — your room is held for the whole day, so there is time to shower, eat properly and sleep for a few hours before we travel.
At around 23:00 we board our private overnight coach south to Luxor — a journey of roughly 7½ to 8 hours, arriving in the cool of the early morning. Reclining seats, air conditioning, on-board WC, and our own team with you the whole way.
🏨 4-star hotel, Cairo — room held until the evening departure | Breakfast included · overnight coach to Luxor
Arrival in Luxor at around 07:00. We go straight to the hotel, where early check-in is guaranteed — your room is ready, so you can shower and have breakfast before the day begins rather than waiting in a lobby. Then the greatest concentration of monuments on Earth: the vast temple complex of Karnak with its Great Hypostyle Hall, and Luxor Temple in the heart of the town.
Afternoon across to the West Bank for the terraced mortuary temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari, beneath the cliffs.
⭐ ECLIPSE EVE — evening astronomy briefing: the timings, the phases, safe viewing, and exactly what to expect tomorrow.
🏨 4-star hotel, Luxor | Breakfast included
The day. We keep the morning deliberately free — breakfast at leisure, shade, and time to rest. There is no sightseeing before totality on purpose: eclipse day is long and hot, and we would rather you arrive at the viewing site fresh than footsore.
Late morning we take our places at our reserved private viewing site on Luxor's West Bank, away from the crowds, with marquee shade, seating, water and refreshments. The partial phases begin at about 11:40. Totality begins at 13:02 and ends at 13:08 — 6 minutes and 22 seconds of the solar corona above the Theban hills, the longest total solar eclipse of the century. ISO-certified glasses provided; our team talks you through Baily's Beads, the diamond ring and the return of daylight.
Afternoon celebration, then we cross to the corniche and board your Nile cruise ship, moored in Luxor for the night.
🏨 4-star Nile cruise ship, moored in Luxor | Full board
Optional before sunrise: a hot-air balloon over the West Bank, drifting above the Theban necropolis as the light comes up — one of the great flights anywhere in the world.
Then the West Bank properly, and in the cool of the morning: the Colossi of Memnon, the two seated giants that have guarded the plain for 3,400 years; the Valley of the Kings and three royal tombs cut deep into the rock; and Medinet Habu, the mortuary temple of Ramesses III — the best-preserved painted reliefs in Egypt, and blessedly quiet.
Back on board for lunch as the ship casts off and begins the sail south through Esna.
🏨 4-star Nile cruise ship, sailing | Full board
Morning at Edfu — the Temple of Horus, the most completely preserved temple in Egypt, reached by horse-drawn caleche from the mooring.
The ship sails on through the afternoon to Kom Ombo, the unique double temple standing right on the riverbank, dedicated to Sobek the crocodile god and Horus the Elder — best seen in the late afternoon light.
🏨 4-star Nile cruise ship, sailing | Full board
A pre-dawn departure for Abu Simbel: the colossal rock-cut temples of Ramesses II and Nefertari above Lake Nasser, moved stone by stone to save them from the rising water. Return to Aswan around midday.
Afternoon at Philae Temple, the sanctuary of Isis on its island, reached by boat — then on by motorboat to a Nubian village on the west bank for tea, colour and the hospitality the Nubians are known for.
🏨 4-star Nile cruise ship, moored in Aswan | Full board
Breakfast on board, then disembarkation and transfer to Aswan International Airport, where our services end. Most travellers connect through Cairo for their international flight home — we are glad to book that domestic sector for you on request.
