Cairo, Alexandria and a Nile Cruise

Day 1 London, Cairo
Titan’s VIP Home Departure Service® transports you from your front door to London Heathrow Airport in time for a direct, scheduled EgyptAir flight to Cairo. Upon arrival, we transfer to the Swiss Inn Pyramids Hotel, our base for four nights.

Day 2 Cairo – Giza
15 minutes’ drive from our hotel are the extraordinary Pyramids of Giza, last surviving wonder of the ancient world, more than 4,500 years after their completion. Mystery still surrounds the pyramids’ exact purpose, construction methods and the baffl ing accuracy of measurement, alignment and workmanship that they demonstrate. Our Egyptologist guide will explain what is known as we admire the ‘Great Pyramid’ of Khufu, comprising some two million colossal blocks of stone, the Pyramid of Khafre and the third, smaller Pyramid of Khephren. Nearby, the majestic Sphinx looks enigmatically on.

Day 3 Cairo
At leisure in Cairo, with the opportunity to join one of the locally guided optional excursions to the Egyptian Museum and Citadel.

Day 4 Alexandria
A full day excursion from Cairo reveals the treasures of Alexandria, Egypt’s attractive Mediterranean port city founded by Alexander the Great and the power base of Cleopatra, whose royal palace now lies submerged in the bay. This was also the location of the legendary Pharos Lighthouse, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, and the now lost Library of Alexandria, the largest in the ancient world, whose fame is refl ected in the hi-tech, 21st century Bibliotheca Alexandria. We make stops at Pompey’s Pillar and the Roman amphitheatre, and enjoy some free time to wander the lively Corniche.

Day 5 Cairo – Luxor
We transfer to the airport for a domestic flight to Luxor, transferring upon arrival to our comfortable Presidential Nile cruise vessel.

Day 6 Luxor
At the ‘open-air museum’ of Luxor the number and preservation of ancient monuments is unparalleled anywhere in the world. This is the site of the famous city of Thebes, capital of Egypt at the height of the empire’s influence. We head out to explore the West Bank, beginning at the awe-inspiring Valley of the Kings, where pharaohs were buried from the 16th to the 11th century BC. Our guide introduces a few of the most impressive tombs and you may also choose to enter the plainer, ‘cursed’ Tomb of Tutankhamun (extra charge). We visit also the Valley of the Queens, the impressive mortuary temple of Hatshepsut and the Colossi of Memnon, before returning to the ship.

Day 7 Luxor – Cruising the Nile
This morning we visit two astonishing temples on the East Bank of the Nile – Luxor Temple and Karnak Temple. Karnak in particular is absolutely awe-inspiring; the largest ancient religious site in the world, a complex of immense pylons and obelisks, tranquil lakes and sanctuaries and the Hypostyle Hall, where 134 soaring columns, each with a diameter of more than 3m, are arranged in perfect geometric rows, all covered in exquisite hieroglyphs. There can be few more serene and romantic ways of passing time than gliding down the Nile on a river cruiser. This afternoon we set sail for Edfu.

Day 8 Cruising the Nile – Aswan
We stop today at the fascinating Greco-Roman double-temple of Kom Ombo, dedicated to the falcon-headed Horus and Sobek, the crocodile god. We return to the ship, making ready to set sail southwards to Aswan.

Day 9 Aswan (Abu Simbel optional)
A day of relaxation aboard our vessel, with the opportunity to explore the laid-back Nubian city of Aswan independently or join our optional excursion to the far south of Egypt, and the temples of Abu Simbel. These represent not only two of the most celebrated and glorious monuments of history, but also a uniquely audacious international rescue mission. The Temple of Ramses II, in particular, well exhibits that great pharaoh’s power and ambition, with four 30m-high statues and several vast halls and chapels carved from the solid rock. And yet, it was nearly lost. When this temple, and the smaller Temple of Hathor, were threatened by the flooding of Lake Nasser (by the Aswan High Dam), the Egyptian authorities appealed to UNESCO for assistance. During a remarkable four-year salvage operation (1964-68), the temples were dismantled and reconstructed stone-by-stone 60m up the sandstone cliff.

Day 10 Aswan – Cruising the Nile
Today pays tribute to feats of architectural engineering ancient and modern, with visits to the 111m-high Aswan High Dam, and the Temple of Philae, perhaps Egypt’s most beguiling and beautiful, not least for its setting on an island in the river. This afternoon we visit the attractive 2,000-year old Temple of Horus at Edfu.

Day 11 Cruising the Nile – Luxor
Today we begin the return journey along the Nile to Luxor, where the remainder of our final afternoon is at leisure.

Day 12 Luxor – London
We bid a fond farewell to our cruise vessel and transfer to Luxor Airport in time for an EgyptAir flight via Cairo to London Heathrow, where members of our airport team greet you and show you to your VIP Home Departure vehicle, waiting to take you home.

Titan Travel have a reputation for innovative and enthralling escorted holiday itineraries, and through the guidance of their founding principles, “quality, service and value” which have remained unchanged since the 1970′s, their expertise and experience are second to none.

Titan Travel strive to ensure that aspect of their holidays whispers quality, before you fly, you get to appreciate a comfortable, chauffeur-driven transfer from your front door to the airport with our peerless VIP Home Departure Service, check-in assistance and complimentary porterage. All international flights are with world-renowned scheduled airlines and cruises with acclaimed operators. Touring holidays are expertly designed by the product team to present a comprehensive, imaginative introduction to the destination of choice yet still offer plenty of time for relaxation. The services of a tour manager or cruise manager are included throughout. When you return to the UK, you are met in the arrivals hall of the airport and shown to your VIP Home Departure Service vehicle, waiting to return you to your front door.

Our Opinion
“Titan Travel’s guiding principles of customer service, quality of product and value for money are undoubtedly a contributing factor to them being voted, on many occasions, the UK’s best tour operator.”