Shining Cities

This itinerary includes a tour of Egypt's top sights, a free day for shopping in Cairo's bazaars, a sleeper-train ride up the Nile, a 5-day cruise to the temples along the Nile, and two free nights in Paris-topping it all with a 4 day stay in Jerusalem-all in 14 days, at unbeatable rates. (Extend your stay with extra nights in Jerusalem, Paris, Cairo, Luxor, or in the Red Sea resorts of Hurgada or Sharm El Sheikh--ask us how.)

DAY 1 - Mon - Weekly Departure - Year Round - JFK
Board your comfortable wide body jet at JFK International Airport. Overnight across the Atlantic. Using one of these airlines : British Airways, KLM, Swiss , Lufthansa , Air France, British Airways, yet we keep the right to use any accredited IATA air carrier.

DAY 2- Tue PARIS
Arrival in Paris! Our staff will meet you at the airport and escort you to your hotel, centrally located near the Champs-Elysees. Drop your luggage, grab your Lonely Planet guidebook (we'll give you a copy of the Paris guide at no extra charge), and head out into the City of Light. The rest of the day is yours to enjoy as you please: strolling the boulevards, watching boats on the Seine, shopping in the markets and boutiques, or people-watching in a cozy cafe. 

Day 3 - Wed PARIS (cB)
Come with us on a half-day panoramic motorcoach tour of the city. We'll stop by the Place DE l'Opera, Place de la Concorde, Champs-Elysees, Arch de Triomphe, Trocadero, Eiffel Tower (tickets to the first level), Le Bastille and Notre Dame. Then we'll take a short cruise on the Seine before we let you go to find your own favorite Parisian haunts, led there by your Lonely Planet guidebook.

Day 4 - Thu PARIS TO CAIRO (cB)
After breakfast, we escort you to the airport to catch your nonstop Air France or Egyptair flight to Cairo. During the flight, study your Lonely Planet guidebook to Egypt, which we present to you with our compliments. Upon landing in Cairo, our staff meets you, assists with entry formalities, and whisks you your hotel. Complimentary visa is issued upon arrival for the following nationalities; American, Australian, NZ, EU , Canadian & Japanese, your passport must be valid and in order .

Visa will be issued upon arrival.
As you exit the gate, you will pass through a door or two , down some stairs , then walk for 2-5 minutes , until you pass the duty free shops, at the end of a wide corridor , you will see the security officers. There you will be met by a local representative, who will be holding a sign with the name you prefer to use for the sign .

Our local representative will then take your passport to obtain a stamp from the cashier / bank window and escort you to speak with the passport officer. He will escort you through another last check on your passport as you exit the passport control, into customs area, he will assist you in collecting your luggage and clearing customs . After exiting the terminal, our local representative will escort you (private vehicle) to the hotel

DAY 5 - Fri CAIRO- Sleeper Train (BLD)
Today we show you the greatness of Cairo on a full-day tour: the Egyptian Museum, Pyramids of Giza, the Great Sphinx, the Citadel of Saladin, and Muhammed Ali's splendid Alabaster Mosque. In the evening we escort you to Cairo's railroad station to board your first-class sleeping car for the trip up the Nile, with dinner served onboard as you ride beneath the cloudless Egyptian sky. The Sleeper is a modest 3 star rated, if you prefer to fly please add $ 150 Per person, in which case you spend tonight at your hotel in Cairo , and fly tomorrow to Luxor

DAY 6 - Sat LUXOR & NILE CRUISE (BLD)
Your train arrives in Luxor and we take you to your deluxe Nile cruise vessel. After dropping our bags and freshening up, we set out to see the best first: the gigantic, awesome Great Temple of Karnak and the smaller but still  mammoth Temple of Luxor. After lunch on our cruiser, we cross the Nile to tour the incomparable monuments of ancient Thebes: the Valley of the Kings, the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut in the Valley of the Queens, and the Colossi of Memnon I  the evening, relax on deck as our luxury riverboat casts off and gently cruises upstream to the Esna locks. 

Queen Nefertari's tomb is closed for urgent repairs, so we 'll be touring instead : Ancient Workers Village at Deir El Medineh, as soon as Nefertari is opened again, we will reinstate it in our programs.

The Queen for whom the sun shines : (closed for urgent repairs)
We rise very early in the morning to be able to secure entry to the recently restored tomb of her Majesty Queen Nefertari, wife of the mighty Pharaoh Ramses the Great , limited to the first 100 visitors.
Long before Cleopatra humbled the ruler of Rome, an Egyptian queen held power over the heart and soul of Ramses, Egypt's greatest pharaoh. In the 12th century BC, a brokenhearted Ramses built a grand funerary tomb for Queen Nefertari, "the Beautiful one," in the Valley of the Queens. It's been exquisitely restored with the aid of an American endowment, and is among the rarest sights in all Egypt: the only great tomb ever built by a pharaoh for his late queen. Artistically, it is the closest thing you could ever come to see the original Ancient Egyptian art in all of its glory and finesse.
Because of its fragile nature, only a limited number of visitors are allowed entry each day. We are the only company to include a visit to Nefertari's tomb in our daily program. Because of the limited access we must rise early for our visit, appropriate as Ramses named Nefertari "the one for whom the sun shines."

DAY 7 - Sun EDFU & KOM OMBO (BLD)
Our first stop today is Edfu, home of the best-preserved temple on the Nile. We board horse drawn carriages for the short clip-clop ride through the town to the majestic Temple of Horus. After our visit, we return to our vessel for the leisurely cruise to Kom Ombo, where we dock for the night. 

DAY 8 - Mon KOM OMBO & ASWAN (BLD)
We tour the fascinating twin temples of Kom Ombo, one of which is dedicated to Sobek, the sacred Nile crocodile (complete with mummified crocs)! We continue upriver to Aswan, where we board a Felucca (traditional Nile sailboat) for a cruise among the rocky islands in the shadow of the huge Aswan High Dam.

DAY 9 - Tue ASWAN & CAIRO (B)
This morning, we visit the Temple of Philae, raised from the flooding lakebed and moved to a high island when the dam was under construction. We visit Aswan dam, the unfinished Obelisk, and Philae Temple dedictaed to the Ancient Goddess Isis

The Mystery of Isis

Two millennia ago the Mediterranean world was enthralled by the mystery of Isis:

"I, Isis, am all that has been, that is or shall be; no mortal man hath ever seen me unveiled."

Called Aset by the ancient Egyptians, the goddess was a Madonna in the Mediterranean tradition that stretches far, far back to the primitive Mother Goddess from Anatolia, home to some of the oldest human communities on earth.

Isis was the powerful and quick-witted protector of her son Horus, the Sun God. Ancient peoples throughout the Mediterranean regarded Isis and Horus as the perfect Madonna and Child. Another legend says she was also the mother of the fertility god Min who, judging from the depiction of him on temple walls, needed no help from Viagra!

Because of her wisdom and skill at protection, she was admired as a good magician capable of healing the sick and protecting the dead in their journey to the Underworld.

Isis is portrayed regally, as a queen seated on a throne (which may be the meaning of her name), often holding her son Horus as a baby. Other images show her with broad, magnificent gilded wings able to protect the world.

Isis, the great Mother Goddess. Come explore her mystery in timeless Egypt !
Heading back to the airport, we board your return flight to Cairo, and your hotel.

If you wish, come with us on our optional excursion by air to Abu Simbel to see the beautiful Temple of Ramses.

DAY 10 - Wed CAIRO/TEL AVIV (B)
Today, Cairo is yours: shop to your heart's content in Khan el Khalili's labyrinthine bazaars; return to your favorite museums. Late afternoon flight to Tel Aviv & transfer to Jerusalem.

DAY 11-Thu OLD CITY OF JERUSALEM, BETHLEHEM (B
Enter the Old City walking through the reconstructed Jewish Quarter. Visit the newly excavated Cardo and continue to the Western Wall, the only remaining portion of the Second Temple. Walk along the Via Dolorosa to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and through the colorful bazaars. Continue to Bethlehem, birthplace of King David. Visit Rachel's Tomb and the Church of the Nativity. Return to Jerusalem by the end of the day.

DAY 12 - Friday - Jerusalem (B)
Full day on your own in Jerusalem , explore the city as you wish, or ask us for optional tours

DAY 13 - Saturday - Full Day at Leisure in Jerusalem (B) 
Explore Jerusalem as you wish or ask us for available optional tours.

DAY 14 - Sun JFK (B)
Our staff escorts you to the airport for your flight back to JFK. 

Rates are per person in US$:

• Round-trip airfare between JFK, Paris, Cairo and Tel Aviv, in economy class, tax included .
• Domestic air fare in Egypt in economy class, tax included .
• One Way air fare Cairo Tel Aviv in economy class, tax included .
• All transfers in these countries as per itinerary.
• Guided sightseeing according to the itinerary, including all entrance fees.
• Meals as indicated in the itinerary: cB = continental or Israeli breakfast, B = breakfast; L = set-menu lunch; D = set-menu dinner.
• One-way first-class sleeper train ticket from Cairo to Luxor.
• Five-day deluxe Nile cruise including all meals and shore excursions.
• Hotel accommodation as indicated, including all taxes and service charges.
• Complimentary Lonely Planet guidebooks to Paris, Jerusalem and Egypt.

• Complimentary welcome drink upon arrival on board the Nile Cruise.
  
  
• Complimentary welcome fruit basket on board the Nile Cruise.
  
  
• Large bottle of water ( per person ) delivered to you cabin daily while you are on board the Nile Cruise.
  
  
• Tea or coffee an bottled water with each / every meal while you are on board the Nile Cruise.
  
• Complimentary visa for Egypt is issued upon arrival for the following nationalities; American, Australian, NZ, EU , Canadian & Japanese, your passport must be valid and in order .

Sample Deluxe Nile Cruises : Monaco , Monte Carlo , Mojito , Beau Soleil , Florence. Queen of Hansa , Adonis or similar
First Class : Nile Dream , Ruby or Similar

DINING NOTES on board the Nile Cruise
The set-menu meals included in your tour are indicated in the itinerary: B = Breakfast, (or cB, Continental Breakfast), L = Lunch, D = Dinner. On our luxury Nile cruise vessels, our spacious dining rooms accommodate all passengers at one seating, so there is no need to worry about making reservations , one less thing to worry about while you are on the Nile. Enjoy the cosmopolitan atmosphere with several different languages being heard at dinner.

Do we get sea sickness while sailing the Nile ?
This is river sailing, so do not expect any waves , no rough seas ! Your Nile cruises is actually a floating hotel that moves from place to place along the Nile. Actual cruising times are short and pleasant.

[ Up ] [ Pyramids and Prophets ] [ Jerusalem  to the Nile ] [ Kings and Queens ] [ Minarets & Menorahs ] [ Shining Cities ] [ Triangle of Ancient Lands ]

DRESS CODE :

All of our Nile cruise vessels are fully air conditioned. Onboard dress is casual except at dinner, when smart casual is the rule. Lightweight cotton and other natural fiber clothing is best, with swimsuits and sun hats for the sundeck and pool. Bring a light sweater or light jacket for cool mornings and evenings, but most days are warm to hot, with very little rain. Comfortable walking shoes are essential for shore excursions.