Compare with the version Without a Nile Cruise

Here's our own version of the Grand Tour. We'll take you to the walled desert city of Marrakech, and across the sub-Saharan countryside of Morocco by train to fabled Casablanca. You'll journey alongside the Nile from Cairo in your private rail compartment to view the temples of the ancient Pharaohs at Luxor, and live an Indiana Jones adventure at the Nabatean stone city of Petra in Jordan. To conclude it all, you'll ascend to Damascus, the goal of merchants and Crusaders over the centuries. "Grand Tour" is an understatement for this incomparable feast of sights and experiences.

DAY 1 - DEPARTURE FOR MOROCCO - Tuesday - Weekly - Year Round
Take off from New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport on an Air France or British Airways jet, bound for Casablanca via London or Paris . Air France or British Airways service is also available from the West Coast, for a supplement. Please ask us for air fare add-on from other cities in the USA.. Please deduct $ 850 when you handle your own air fare.

DAY 2 - CASABLANCA, MARRAKECH - Wednesday
You'll land at the international airport of fabled Casablanca . After the formalities, you'll board a southbound flight to the magical city of Marrakech. Our local staff will greet you and usher you directly to your accommodations. Welcome mint tea.

DAY 3 - MARRAKECH - Thursday (BLD)
This morning you'll take a private tour of ancient Marrakech by horse-drawn carriage. You'll see the Koutoubia, the landmark mosque of the city, and perhaps you'll note its similarity to its sister tower, the Giralda of Seville, in Spain. You'll continue to the Bahia palace, built in the nineteenth century, with room after stately oriental room of intricate plaster work and finely detailed columns, and sedate hidden gardens. Lunch will be served in a restaurant redolent with local color. In the afternoon, you'll take a walking tour through the labyrinthine souks, the bazaars where goods from near and far have changed hands for centuries. Of course, you'll want to try your hand at bargaining! After our eventful day, dinner will be served at our hotel.

DAY 4 - MARRAKECH - Friday (BD)
Now that you've been introduced to Marrakech, it's time to adventure out on your own! Head for the old city, and always-lively Djemaa El Fna Square, populated by water sellers, magicians, peddlers, politicians, and animal tamers, who carry on an endless flurry of activities straight out of the middle ages. If you have a spare moment, the souks of Marrakech will always keep you entertained. Return to bargain for that carpet or tea service that caught your eye yesterday. Or pass part of the day at a sidewalk café in the new city, where Paris and the Orient come together. Of course, there are many restaurants where you can enjoy the culinary adventure of Morocco's superb cuisine. We also offer optional tours, at an additional fee, to a Berber village, or through the souks. Evening Dinner & show at the famous "Chez Ali" in a small man made oases on the edge of the Sahara & the outskirts of Marrakech.

DAY 5 - BY TRAIN TO CASABLANCA - Saturday (BLD)
It's "all aboard" today as as our local personnel see you to the Marrakech railroad station. You'll roll in comfort toward Casablanca past green fields, fruit-laden orchards, and traditional villages, back dropped by the stunning Atlas Mountains. Our escort provides commentary and answers questions, filling us in on the daily life of Moroccans. Once you detrain, you'll visit the Hassan II Great Mosque, a monument to Moroccan artisanry and architecture, second in size after the Great Mosque of Mecca. Then we'll continue to see modern Casablanca, and on to the traditional souks. After dinner, we'll head for the airport, where we'll board the Royal Air Maroc flight that will take us across the Sahara to Egypt.

DAY 6 - CAIRO - Sunday (aBL)
We land at Cairo airport at dawn. Our local escorts see us through customs and immigration, for American , Western European, Canadian & Japanese citizens, visa will be issued upon arrival at the Airport, your passport must be valid at least for 6 month beyond the date of arrival, and onward through the awakening city to our hotel. We'll have breakfast and take a break to refresh, then head out to see the wonders of this thriving metropolis. First, we'll explore the Egyptian Museum, with its treasures of the ancient pharaohs: mummies, statuary, and precious stones and metals. Travellers have long come to Cairo just to gaze on these sights, but your day includes much more. We'll visit the Citadel of Saladin with its Alabaster Mosque, and view the panorama of Cairo. Then we'll set off for Khan el-Khalili, the labyrinthine bazaar district with its array of spice shops and clothing merchants and purveyors of baskets and brass ware and a thousand other specialties. After lunch at a charming local restaurant, we'll return to our hotel. The rest of the day is yours for exploring on your own. Venture out amid the shops, cafés, peddlers from bygone days, modern-day professionals, and an unforgettable array of sights, sounds, and aromas. Visit Cairo's museums, or try a restaurant frequented by locals.

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 7 - CAIRO - Monday (BL)
After breakfast, we'll motor to the edge of Cairo, where we'll view the mysterious, timeless Sphinx, the awesome Pyramids of Giza, and the Valley Temple. After lunch, we'll continue southward to Dahshour, where still more ancient wonders await. Among the monuments we'll visit is the Great Pyramid of Senfru, the father of Cheops.

DAY 8 - LUXOR - Tuesday (aBLD)
We fly to Luxor (or Aswan ) and board your Nile cruiser in time for a delicious lunch.
Complimentary welcome fruit basket awaits you in your cabin. The gigantic Great Temple of Amon at Karnak, and the mighty Temple of Luxor are our goals in the afternoon. We'll return in time for the afternoon tea served on deck. You'll have a chance to explore your ship before dinner.

DAY 9 - LUXOR , EDFU - Wed (BLD)
We tour today as well the magnificent tombs in the Valley of the Kings including Tut-Ank-Amon's tomb and the great temple of Queen Hatshepsut, we stop at the Colossi of Memnon on the way back to our cruise.

Afterward, we'll continue on Luxor's west bank to get a totally different perspective on ancient Egyptian life, at the ancient workers' settlement of Deir el-Medinah. While most of the imposing stone monuments and sites of Egypt honor the lives and after-lives of royalty, Deir el-Medinah gives us unique and surprising insights into the ordinary citizens who constructed and decorated the tombs.

Here we'll see the excavated homes shared by laborers with their domestic animals. These quarters were surprisingly large, with three good-sized rooms, courtyard, kitchen, and even storage cellars. While ancient Egypt might not have been a workers' paradise, we'll see that artisans and builders were highly regarded in their community. We are proud to be the only operator to offer regular visits to this singular ancient settlement in its tour and cruise programs.

We sail in the afternoon we cruise to Esna to go through the locks , and on to Edfu where we dock for the night. In the evening , we'll celebrate in Egyptian style, dressed in galabias, the flowing national costume, a galabya will be delivered to your cabin with our compliments)

DAY 10 - EDFU, KOM OMBO - Thursday (BLD)
We moor in Edfu, climb aboard horse-drawn carriages, and clip-clop through the town to the Temple of Horus, Egypt's best-preserved temple. Re-embarking on our Nile cruiser, we enjoy lunch as we sail further south upriver .
We disembark downstream at Kom Ombo to visit its twin temples of Haroeris, the sun god, and Sobek, the crocodile god, the continue our voyage to Aswan, while we party after dinner with music & dance.

DAY 11 - ASWAN - Friday (BLD)
First we tour Aswan dams, then on to the awesome Aswan dams, and next an ancient granite quarry complete with an unfinished obelisk. Then we go by motor launch to the island temples of Philae.
In the afternoon we enjoy a leisurely sail by graceful felucca on the Nile.

Our farewell dinner this evening is a buffet of Egyptian specialties, followed by a show featuring oriental performers, including of course a belly dancer.

DAY 12 - CAIRO - Saturday (B)
Check out after breakfast , followed by a return flight to Cairo, and your hotel.
In the evening complimentary Dinner is included at a local home:
Meet the locals, you may wish to bring token gifts to exchange with the host family ( T shirt , small souvenirs of your home town):
This evening we'll venture where few ordinary visitors ever tread . . . right into the homes of some of the people of Cairo l! You'll be invited to a family dinner, and while you enjoy wholesome home-cooked specialties, you'll learn about and appreciate the outlook, aspirations, and way of life of your hosts. Be assured, as curious as you may be about your new friends, they're sure to have questions about your own background. Once the ice is broken, you'll enjoy a lively evening, and find that you have more in common than you ever suspected. Of course, you may enjoy dinner in a quiet restaurant with your travel companions, by letting us know your preferences

DAY 13 - AMMAN - Sunday
Our Cairo personnel will see you to the airport, where you'll board a flight for Amman. Upon landing, our Jordan hosts will greet you, assist you with the formalities, for American , Western European , Canadian & Japanese citizens, visa will b issued upon arrival at the Airport, your passport must be valid at least for 6 month beyond the date of arrival, our local rep will escort you to your hotel. You'll have time to get acquainted with this city built on hills, its cafés and shops, and its surprisingly cosmopolitan population of Bedouins, Palestinians, and the descendants of migrants from the Caucasus.

DAY 14 - MADABA, KERAK, PETRA - Monday (BD)
From Amman, we drive south along an ancient caravan route to Madaba, site of a church containing the oldest known map of the Holy Land. At Mount Nebo, we will behold the panoramic view of the Promised Land as seen by Moses in his last moments. Further on, at Kerak, we walk among the ruins of the Crusader castle of Renaud de Chatillon, one of a line that stretched from Aqaba to Turkey. At the end of the day, we reach fabled Petra.

DAY 15 - PETRA - Tuesday (BD)
We'll spend the entire day at Petra, the stunning desert city hewn by the Nabateans from solid cliffs of pink and violet sandstone. Petra was known in the bible as Sela, and rediscovered only in 1812. You'll feel like Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark as you penetrate into the city through a narrow sandstone gorge, the Siq, and wander among the Temple of the Winged Lion, tombs, Roman theater, and the imposing Treasury. Our discoveries complete, we'll savor another evening and overnight in Petra.

DAY 16 - WADI RUM, AMMAN - Wednesday (BD)
It's a day of desert adventure, as we board four-wheel-drive vehicles for an expedition to Wadi Rum, the "Valley of the Moon," where Lawrence of Arabia organized the Arab Revolt against the Ottomans during World War I. As you pass Bedouin encampments, you'll believe that nothing has changed in the intervening years. Our day of adventure concludes in Amman.

DAY 17 - JERASH, BOSRA & DAMASCUS - Thursday (cBLD)
We travel overland today to Jerash, among the best-preserved cities of the Romans, and walk among its colonnaded temples and theaters. We then cross the border into Syria to visit Bosra, a Roman City with a 15,000- seat amphitheater, before continuing to our next destination: Damascus.

DAY 18 - DAMASCUS - Friday (cBLD)
Our tour of Damascus includes the National Museum, the Old Bazaar, Omayyad Mosque, Azem Palace, Via Recta, the House of Anania, the Eastern Gate (Bab ash-Sharqi) in the walls of the Roman City, and St. Paul's Window. If there's time left over, the merchants of the city will be pleased to welcome you with a cup of tea, to ask after your family, and to negotiate a purchase, if you're interested.

DAY 19 - PALMYRA - Saturday (cBLD)
We leave Damascus today and visit Palmyra. The many sites of this ancient city include the museum, the temples of Bel, Baal Shamin and Nebo, the Roman baths, the Tetrapylon, Diocletian's Camp, and the Valley of the Tombs. It'll take us all day to see it all, so we spend the night here.

DAY 20 - MAALOULA - Damascus- Sunday (cBLD)
Today we follow in the footsteps of Biblical peoples, visiting , visit the village of Maaloula, where the inhabitants still speak Aramaic, the very language spoken by Jesus. We'll visit the St. Sergius chapel, then continue to Damascus, and your hotel .

DAY 21 - RETURN HOME Saturday (cB)
Our staff escorts you to Damascus International Airport for your return flight.

RATES are per person in USD:

Holiday supplement:
For departures during the weeks of Easter, Christmas, and New Year's, please add a supplement of 15 percent to the above rates.

Airfare Supplement: $350 for traveling : May - Sep
(This supplement doesn't apply when you handle your own air fare.

West cost special add on (Subject to availability):
$350 for most west coast cities , on board Lufthansa , British Airways or Air France.

Prices include:

• International air fare from New York City , in economy class to Amman via Casablanca, and back to New York from Damascus , including tax.
  
  Please deduct $ 850 when you handle your own air fare.
  
  Add on air from : SFO /LAX , SEA or SAN Diego : $350 roundtrip  . Tax included
  Add on from HNL : $ 550 roundtrip .Tax included
  
  For May - Sep : Air fare supplement of: $350 will apply.
  This supplement doesn't apply when you handle your own air fare.
  
  
• Nile Cruise as per itinerary , including all shore excursions, and entrance fees
  Bottled water ( one per person) delivered to your Nile Cruise cabin daily while you are on board the cruise.
  Tea or coffee & bottled water with every & each meal while on board the Nile cruise.
  Complimentary fruit basket upon arrival on board the Nile Cruise.
  Welcome drink served upon arrival on board your Nile Cruise.
  
• Domestic air fare within Egypt, and Morocco as per itinerary , in economy class , including tax.
  
  
  
• All ground transportation as described in itinerary, including first-class seating on day train from Marrakech to Casablanca, tax and service charges.
  
  
• Hotel accommodations including tax and service at fine deluxe ,first-class ,or tourist -class hotels as selected.
  
  
• Meals as specified from pre-set menu (B = continental breakfast, aB = full American or buffet breakfast, L = lunch, D = dinner).
  
  
• Sightseeing with guide and entrance fees as indicated .
  
  
• Visa fee for Jordan , Syria & Egypt. (Valid only for : American, EU , Canadian & Japanese citizens), your passports should be valid at least for 6 month beyond the date of your arrival. Israel & Morocco do not require visa for these listed nationalities. For other nationalities, please contact the consulates or visa service in your home country.
  Please note that if you have an Israeli stamp/visa in your passport, then you'll not get the Syrian visa, best to get in this case a new passport
  
  
  
  
• Jordanian departure tax.

Our hotels include the following, as available, similar hotels may be substituted:

Recommendations and conditions:

1. In some cases, groups in Syria will be guided in both English and French, though we try to arrange English-only coaches. Guide service in Jordan is in English. Of course, if you prefer another language, we will do our best to accommodate your wishes. Please inform us of them when you reserve your place(s) on the tour.

2. Every effort is made to adhere to the planned itinerary, however, for reasons beyond our control, it may be necessary to change routings, sequence of visits, and departure times.

Extend your stay and enjoy a spa or Turkish Hamam Package