5-Day Egypt Classic Vacation to Cairo and Luxor

Your guide is waiting at Cairo International Airport with a sign with your name on it. From there, an Aten Tours representative takes over: private air-conditioned car to your hotel, help getting checked in, and a full walkthrough of the next five days, pickup times, the order you'll see things in, and any optional extras you're curious about. After that, the rest of the day is free to rest. A welcome drink is waiting for you, and you'll spend the night in Cairo before an early start at Giza tomorrow.

Stay over in Cairo.

Welcome Drink

Your Egyptologist guide picks you up early to beat the day's heat at Giza. You'll get close to the Great Pyramid, originally 147 meters tall, and hear how it was actually built, then see the Khafre and Menkaure pyramids, raised by Khufu's two successors. The Great Sphinx has watched over this plateau for 4,500 years; a camel ride around it is there if you want it, optional either way. From Giza, it's on to Saqqara for Djoser's Step Pyramid, the oldest pyramid ever built, and the Tomb of Teti, where the wall paintings still hold their color after 4,000 years. Lunch is at a local restaurant, then Memphis, Egypt's first capital, where a fallen alabaster sphinx and a colossus of Ramses II sit among the ruins. You're back in Cairo for the night.

Meal: Breakfast, Lunch

Breakfast is early today: pickup is around 3:30 AM for the flight from Cairo to Luxor. An Aten Tours representative meets you on arrival, and the day goes straight into the West Bank. At the Valley of the Kings, your guide explains why the tombs sit inside the mountains at all, after generations of tomb robbers, pharaohs stopped building pyramids and started hiding their burials in rock-cut chambers instead. Next is the Colossi of Memnon, then the Temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari, built directly into the cliffs.Covering both riverbanks in a single day is ambitious. What makes it work is having your own guide and vehicle waiting at each stop, instead of syncing with a group's schedule. After checking into your hotel and a short break, you'll cross to the East Bank for Karnak Temple, expanded over two thousand years for the god Amun-Ra, and close the day at Luxor Temple, which changes completely once it's lit at night.

Overnight in Luxor

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

After breakfast, you fly back to Cairo, and the day starts right from the airport. First stop is the Grand Egyptian Museum, the new home for Tutankhamun's full collection: over 5,000 pieces on display together for the first time since his tomb was discovered. Plan on spending real time here; it's not a quick walk-through. From there, it's on to the Citadel of Saladin, a medieval fortress built on high ground, with the Mohamed Ali Mosque inside and Islamic Cairo's rooftops spread out below the walls. From there, it's back to the hotel to rest up before tomorrow's departure

Check into the hotel and overnight in Cairo.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Your last breakfast is at the hotel, with check-out by 12:00 PM. Your tour leader picks you up at whatever time your flight requires and stays with you through the airport formalities, so this last leg is handled the same way the whole trip was.

Meals: Breakfast