Memories of Egypt with the Red Sea – Senior Special

Fly to Luxor. Our representative meets you at the airport, helps with the entry formalities and drives you to your Nile ship. Settle into your cabin, have dinner on board and, if you still have energy, step out on deck: the temples on the East Bank are floodlit after dark.

An early start on the West Bank, before the heat. Your guide takes you into three tombs in the Valley of the Kings, where the colours on the walls still look freshly painted, then on to the terraced temple of Queen Hatshepsut and the two Colossi of Memnon. After lunch on board, cross to the East Bank for Karnak, a sanctuary built and rebuilt over two thousand years, and the Temple of Luxor. The ship then sets sail south towards Esna.

Optional: a hot-air balloon flight over the West Bank at sunrise.

A horse-drawn carriage takes you to the Temple of Horus at Edfu, the most complete temple in Egypt, with its roof and pylon still standing. Lunch while sailing past palm groves and mud-brick villages, then a sunset visit to Kom Ombo, the double temple of Sobek and Haroeris, and its small museum of mummified crocodiles. The ship continues to Aswan.

Morning visit to the High Dam, which created Lake Nasser, and the Unfinished Obelisk still lying in its granite quarry. A motorboat then takes you to the island temple of Philae, dedicated to Isis and moved stone by stone to save it from the rising waters. The afternoon is free; we recommend a felucca sail around Elephantine Island and the Aga Khan Mausoleum.

Disembark in Aswan and travel north to Luxor by train (or by road, depending on schedules), a journey of around three hours along the river. Free afternoon and night in Luxor, at a hotel or on board a moored ship.

After breakfast in Luxor, a road transfer takes you across the Eastern Desert to Hurghada. Check-in at your all-inclusive resort and first swim in the Red Sea.

A day with nothing to do but enjoy the resort, the beach and the water. The reefs off Hurghada are among the most accessible in the world; snorkelling trips to the Giftun Islands or a glass-bottom boat are easy to arrange locally.

A day with nothing to do but enjoy the resort, the beach and the water. The reefs off Hurghada are among the most accessible in the world; snorkelling trips to the Giftun Islands or a glass-bottom boat are easy to arrange locally.

Transfer to Hurghada airport for the short flight to Cairo. Our team meets you on arrival and takes you to your hotel.

The day you have been waiting for. Your guide takes you to the plateau of Giza to see the pyramids of Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure up close, then to the panoramic viewpoint where all three line up against the desert. Finish at the Great Sphinx and the Valley Temple of Khafre. Afternoon free.

Optional: entry inside a pyramid (extra ticket) or an afternoon at Saqqara and Memphis.

A day in the old city. Start at the Citadel of Saladin and the alabaster mosque of Muhammad Ali, with views across the minarets. Continue to Coptic Cairo, home of the Hanging Church and the Ben Ezra Synagogue, and finish in the lanes of Khan el-Khalili, where coppersmiths and spice sellers have traded since the 14th century.

Breakfast and, depending on your flight time, a last coffee in the city. Transfer to Cairo airport with assistance for your flight home.