AIA Tours: land

Absolute Egypt

Tour Dates: January 30- February 16, 2024 in the planning stages (18 days)

Tour Leader(s): Stephen Harvey ,

with 3 nights aboard private 8-cabin dahabiyas (sailboats)

NOTE: This tour is in the planning stages for the January 2024 departure. To be among the first notified when this tour becomes available, please contact us at aia@studytours.org or call 800-748-6262.


This itinerary is carefully crafted to provide the discerning traveler with the finest Egypt tour available. It combines all the best attributes of an in-depth, small-group, all-inclusive, well-paced, luxury trip.

“Our Absolute Egypt tour was outstanding! The tour team…brought ancient Egypt to life. Their knowledge,enthusiasm, hard work and fun spirit brought the joy of learning each day of the trip.”
– Dale, Washington

Highlights:

  • Learn with a distinguished and engaging American scholar plus a wonderful local Egyptologist and an excellent tour manager. This trio has been receiving accolades for many years.
  • Travel with a maximum of just 16 guests plus your trio of leaders.
  • Enjoy the best accommodations, including 12 nights at luxurious, 5-star hotels in Giza, Cairo, Luxor, and Aswan; one night at the best-available hotel in Abydos; and a three-night Nile cruise aboard a comfortable, eight-cabin dahabiya (traditional Nile sail boat).
  • Meet with excavators and conservators, including behind-the-scenes visits, when possible.
  • Discover the preeminent sites of the pharaohs from Cairo to Luxor, Aswan, and Abu Simbel:
    • If it is open, spend two full days exploring the Grand Egyptian Museum that is scheduled to open in 2023.
    • Tour the amazing Giza pyramids and Sphinx as well as Saqqara’s Step Pyramid of Djoser and newly-discovered, closed-to-the-public, Tomb of Wah Ti.
    • Explore the astounding temple complex of Karnak as well as Luxor Temple, plus spectacular royal mortuary temples and tombs in the Valleys of the Kings and Queens, such as those of Seti I and Nefertari.
    • Visit the remarkable Temple of Hathor at Dendara as well as Abydos, one of the oldest and most important cities in ancient Egypt, where Steve Harvey, your AIA lecturer, has been working since 1993.
    • Cruise the Nile from Esna to Aswan aboard an eight-cabin sail boat, away from the convoys of large riverboats, so that we visit remarkable temples without the typical crowds. From the spacious top deck, observe timeless pastoral scenes of feluccas, farmers, herders, and village life.
    • Fly to Abu Simbel to visit the stunning and enormous rock-cut temples of Ramesses II and Nefertari.
  • An optional, eight-day, post-tour extension to Jordan is available.

In short, this is the most exclusive, enjoyable, and fascinating introduction to Egypt available. It is limited to just 16 guests, so I urge you to reserve your space today.


Main Tour Pricing per person (16 nights):

Tour pricing TBA

With fewer than 9 participants, a small group surcharge may be added.
Single room supplement will be charged when requested or required (limited availability).

Optional post tour extension to Jordan
Price per person/Double Occupancy (7 nights):

Tour Pricing TBA

With fewer than 7 participants, a small group surcharge may be added. Single room supplement will be charged when requested or required (limited availability).

To reserve your space using the online form, click here.

For reservations or questions, please email us at aia@studytours.org (and include your full name) or call us toll-free at (800) 748-6262 (toll: 603-756-2884). To reserve your space using the online form, click here.

An image from within the Tomb of Nefertari. Image © R.T. Nielsen

The Sphinx and the Pyramids at Giza. Image © R.T. Nielsen

Feluccas seen along the banks of the Nile. Image © R.T. Nielsen

Seti I, burial chamber. Image © R.T. Nielsen

Luxor Temple. Image © Elsie

Abu Simbel, whose two temples were commissioned by Pharaoh Ramses II in the 13th century B.C. © operator

Itinerary


Tuesday, January 30, 2024: Depart home
Wednesday, January 31: Arrive Cairo, Egypt | Private transfer to hotel in Giza
Thursday, February 1: Giza Plateau | Welcome dinner
Friday, February 2: National Museum of Egyptian Civilization or Grand Egyptian Museum
Saturday, February 3: Saqqara
Monday, February 4: Fly to Sohag | Abydos
Tuesday, February 5: Abydos | Dendara | Luxor
Wednesday, February 6: Karnak | Luxor Temple
Thursday, February 7: Valley of the Kings | Deir el Bahari | Luxor Museum
Friday, February 8: Valley of the Queens | Deir el Medina | Esna | Embarkation
Saturday, February 9: El Kab | Edfu | Sailing the Nile
Sunday, February 10: Gebel el-Silsila | Kom Ombo | Sailing the Nile
Monday, February 11: Aswan | Disembarkation | Philae | Nubia Museum
Tuesday, February 12: Elephantine Island | Aswan
Wednesday, February 13: At leisure in Aswan | Farewell dinner
Thursday, February 14: Fly to Abu Simbel | Fly to Cairo
Friday, February 15: Fly home OR continue on to the extension


Optional Post-Tour Extension to Jordan
February 16-23, 2023 (8 days) with Egyptologist Stephen Harvey

Friday, February 16, 2024: Depart Cairo on group flight to Amman, Jordan | Amman: City tour, Roman theater, ACOR
Saturday, February 17: Qasr al-Kharanah | Qasr Amra | Qasr al-Azraq | Amman
Sunday, February 18: Umm Qais | Jerash | Amman
Tuesday, February 20: Petra
Wednesday, February 21: Little Petra | Beidah | Basta | Wadi Rum Jeep excursion | Aqaba
Thursday, February 22: The Museum at the Lowest Place on Earth | Lot’s Cave | Lunch at a local home | Dead Sea
Friday, February 23: Fly home

View Detailed Itinerary

NOTE: This tour is in the planning stages for the January 2024 departure. To be among the first notified when this tour becomes available, please contact us at aia@studytours.org or call 800-748-6262.


For reservations or questions, please email us at aia@studytours.org (and include your full name) or call us toll-free at (800) 748-6262 (toll: 603-756-2884). To reserve your space using the online form, click here.

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