Your beautiful journey begins this evening as you board your overnight flight to Cairo, Egypt. Meals will be served on board.

We arrive in the land of the Pharaohs, Jacob, Joseph and Israel during the famine! Upon arrival at the airport we meet our guide and transfer to our Hotel in Cairo, where we will be staying for the next 3 nights. Once we settle in our hotel, enjoy dinner and start soaking up the atmosphere of this incredible city. Dinner and overnight in Cairo.

Following breakfast we will be touring the wonders of the ancient world, some of which date back to 1000+ years prior to Abraham. We spend time at one of the seven wonders of the world- the pyramids. Cheops, with an original height of 496 feet, is the most colossal pyramid ever built. Today, we will also see the Sphinx and tour the New Grand Egyptian Museum, location of Tutankhamen’s treasures and ancient remains. The museum contains historical artifacts dating back more than 7,000 years. Dinner and overnight in Cairo.

The Paromeos Monastery is dedicated to and named after the Virgin Mary. It is the most northern among the four current monasteries of Scetis, situated around 9 km northeast of the Monastery of Saint Pishoy. It was founded in 335 AD by Saint Macarius the Great. The name Pa-Romeos or that of the Romans may refer to Saints Maximus and Domitius, children of the Roman Emperor Valentinian I, who had their cell at the place of the modern monastery. According to Coptic tradition, the two saints went to Scetes during Saint Macarius the Great, who tried in vain to dissuade them from staying. Nevertheless, they remained and attained perfection before dying at a young age. Saint Macarius the Great consecrated their cell a year after their departure by building a chapel. He told the monks: “Call this place the Cell of the Romans”. Another theory holds that the name refers to the Roman Emperors Arcadius and Honorius, disciples of Saint Arsenius. The latter was a Roman monk who established himself in Scetes, and the two emperors may have visited their teacher in his seclusion, thus giving the monastery its name. Following the monastery’s destruction in 405 AD by the Berbers and the Bedouins, Saint Arsenius returned to rebuild it. However, following a second raid by the Berbers in 410 AD, he retired to Troe, now a neighbourhood of Cairo known as Tura, where he died.Besides Saint Macarius, the Great, and Saint Arsenius, other fourth and fifth centuries saints resided in the Paromeos Monastery. Saint Isidore and Saint Moses the Black inhabited it and were martyred at the raid of 405 AD. Return to Cairo for dinner and overnight.

Following breakfast we will enjoy a short ride to Memphis. Founded around 3,100 BC, Memphis is the legendary city of Menes, the King who united Upper and Lower Egypt. From a Biblical perspective, Memphis is most likely where Abraham lied to Pharaoh about his wife Sarah being his sister and where Joseph served as second in command. While in Memphis we will view a very large and well preserved statue of Ramses II. Next is Sakkara, which is one of the most extensive archaeological sites in Egypt! Sakkara is dominated by the Step Pyramid of King Zoser, dating back to 2700 BC. It is one of the oldest stone structures in the world! Enjoy a stop to see how local Egyptian carpets are made before a short drive to the south finds us in Faiyum, the region created by the divinely inspired wisdom of Joseph. Here you will find ancient storehouses and a man-made lake created by a canal, whose construction was ordered by Joseph. It was this lake that provided irrigation for a desert land and supplied the food needed to survive his prophesied seven year famine. Dinner and overnight in Cairo.

This morning after breakfast we transfer to the airport for short flight to Aswan. Upon arrival , we will visit the High Dam and the phiale temple .Embarkation on board of our 5* ship for lunch. Rest a bit. Late afternoon we will do a felucca ride around the Agha Khan mausoleum. Back to our ship for dinner and overnight.

Following breakfast enjoy sailing to Kom Umbo. Visit the temple dedicated to the two shared Gods. Sailing to Edfu. Lunch and visit to the temple of Edfu. Dinner and overnight.

Following breakfast group will sail towards Luxor. Enjoying the beautiful intact scenery. Arrival Luxor and visit to the temple of Luxor while illuminated. Dinner and overnight in Luxor.

This morning we will disembark and visit the Valley of the Kings (where many ancient pharaohs were buried) and the famous Temple of Hatshepsut, the princess who perhaps pulled baby Moses out of the Nile River. This temple may have been designed by Moses. Flight back to Cairo. Dinner and overnight in Cairo.

Breakfast and drive to the northern part of Egypt, the city of Alexandria, the pearl of the Med. Upon arrival, we will visit the Qait bay fort that witnessed the Egyptian fight against the French expedition with Napoleon back 1798 , continue to the Cata Comb and the Pompey’s pillar. Check-in at hotel. Evening stroll through the city corniche. Dinner and overnight.

Breakfast. Visit to the famous library of Alexandria, then drive to the Greeco-Roman museum with the jewelry museum. Stroll through the Montaza gardens and palaces. Drive back to Cairo for farewell dinner and overnight.

After breakfast transfer to the airport for your return flight home to the USA.

*206 Tours Disclaimer:
Occasionally local religious and national holidays, weather, traffic conditions and other events may necessitate changes in the sequence of events or the missing of certain events/places. Though every effort will be made to follow the itinerary, it should be considered as an indication, rather than a contract of events and places to be visited.