Discover Egypt

International flights are not included but may be available on request. 

• Sightseeing tours as detailed in the itinerary
• Services of a local Egyptologist guide for all the sightseeing tours

We are committed to being a small group operator, as we feel this gives everyone in the group the best chance to get to know their fellow travellers and to hear and make the most of their guide. There’s no point in us providing great guides if you’ve got to peer over 30-40 shoulders to see them! So, we won’t ever put you in a 50-seater coach with 49 other people and just one guide. Instead, we set our Egypt small-group departures to have a maximum of 18 travellers.

Shoestring tours have a maximum group size of 26. On dedicated Nile Cruise tours you may join larger boat groups for the sightseeing trips, though a supplement is always available for a private Egyptologist guide for these tours (requires advance booking).

Specialist escorted tours and workshops may have different group sizes - please download the Tour Notes for details.

In Egypt we provide fully trained, local English-speaking graduate Egyptologist guides to run your tour and escort you during all of the sightseeing in Cairo and the Nile Valley. We also have permanent local reps in all the main towns/cities and Red Sea resorts who are also at your service, and will be handling all the practical arrangements for the tour. We use local Bedouin guides for tours through the desert.

On some departures we may use one guide in Cairo, and a second guide if you are travelling between Aswan and Luxor.

At Encounters Travel we only use local Egyptian guides and reps. We feel this gives you the best experience of the country and the sites you are seeing. Please check our website for more details and profiles of some of our most famous Egyptian guides.

Optional experiences are available on this tour for an additional cost.

Hot air balloon in Luxor - This popular optional tour starts early in the morning so that you experience the sunrise over the Valleys of the Kings & Queens, temples and desert. We endeavour to use the earliest flights of the day as they are timed to fit with the rising sun, this means that times may vary. You get around 1 hour in the air.

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Alexandria day trip - Alexandria is about 2.5 hours north of Cairo on the Mediterranean coast of Egypt. This city is the second largest in Egypt and this full day tour will include the Roman amphitheatre with its twelve semi-circular marble tiers, the Catacombs of Kom al-Shoqafa which is the largest Roman cemetery in Alexandria, Pompey's Pillar, Fort Qaitbey (from outside), the famous modern library before returning to Cairo. If time allows you can tour inside Fort Qaitbey (entrance fee extra) and we may also visit the Montazah Palace gardens. Lunch at a seafood restaurant is included.

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Abu Simbel overland - The temples built by Ramses II at Abu Simbel are one of Egypt's highlights, and have a fascinating story behind them to go with their impressive size. When Lake Nasser was flooded, the final water level was going to submerge several temples, the most important of which being Abu Simbel. The temple was therefore dismantled completely and rebuilt further up the hillside where it sits today. The temple stands today as a testament to Ramses II and the great building prowess of the ancient Egyptians, as well as to modern engineering. We depart Aswan early in the morning to join an escorted convoy which departs Aswan at around 04.30. This gets us to Abu Simbel to see the temples in the light of the rising sun, and we then have a guided tour with one of our Egyptologists and some free time before we drive back to Aswan (approx. 3 hours drive each way, with around 2 hours at the temples). All transfers, guide, and entrance fees are included. The tour itinerary is designed so you will not miss any other activities if you choose this option. Note - we choose the overland route to get to Abu Simbel as the flight times there are unreliable and the journey using the flight is much more segmented (you get more rest on the coach), not to mention it is much more expensive to fly.

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Cairo city tour - This half day guided tour of Cairo tour begins with Islamic areas including the Citadel of Saladdin, boasting the famous Alabaster Mosque of Mohammed Ali. Then we head onto the Coptic area of Cairo where the Romans constructed the fortress of Babylon. The church of St. Mary was built over the ruins of two towers of the fortress whilst it is more commonly known as the Hanging Church next stop is St. Sergius which is said to be the resting place of the Holy Family. The tour finishes at the Khan-el-Khalili bazaar.

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Internal flights upgrade - This option provides an upgrade from the overnight sleeper train to an internal flight with Egypt Air for the journeys from Cairo/Aswan and Luxor/Cairo. Two extra nights in the hotel are included in place of the overnight train. Breakfasts are included in the hotel but you will miss the on board dinner included on the sleeper train. Flight times vary and are subject to availability. Single room supplements apply.

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Single room supplement - This tour is based on twin-share accommodation, with single bookers paired up with another traveller of the same sex in the group. If the final group make-up means that no room share is available, you will need to pay this supplement. Room shares are arranged in order of booking. However, if you would like to guarantee yourself a single room throughout the tour, then please add this option to your booking.

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Saqqara, Dashour & Memphis - This half day guided tour on the outskirts of Cairo tour provides more insight into the history and evolution of pyramid building, and of the Egyptian civilisation. Our tours are based in the area of ancient Memphis, a former capital of Egypt. First we'll visit Saqqara, a huge desert necropolis which was built for the kings and nobles of the Old Kingdom. Here we see Zoser's 'step' pyramid and the adjacent Imhotep museum where we learn more about Memphis and the history of the region. Next we head to Dashour to see one of the next attempts at pyramid building. Dashour's moniker of the 'bent pyramid' shows they still had a bit to learn, but this is a fascinating site and the pyramid still has much of its original limestone cladding. We'll then return you to your hotel.

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Upgrade from felucca to hotel in Aswan - Although our overnight felucca journey is an amazing experience and often a highlight of the tour, the basic overnight accommodation is not for everyone. This upgrade is designed for those who would like a little more comfort in place of the overnight felucca sailboat trip, where you sleep on the deck of the boat. You may choose to sail on the felucca for a couple of hours with the main group, and have lunch and dinner on the boat and then get transferred back to your hotel in Aswan in the evening. Or you can remain in Aswan for the whole afternoon to look around the markets and Corniche independently, and not do any sailing at all, as you prefer (no meals are included if you remain in Aswan). Your night in Aswan will be spent in a 5-star hotel. The next morning we will transfer you to rejoin the group after they leave the felucca, and the rest of your tour will continue as normal from there on. Prices shown are based on travelling in low season (April to September) and staying in a shared twin/double room.

• Single room supplement (if a same-sex room share not available)
• Visa fees (US$25 available on arrival for most nationalities)
• Meals not indicated in the itinerary
• Entrance fees to sites visited (allow approx. US$122)
• Tipping kitty (allow US$70)
• Drinks, snacks and other personal expenses (e.g. laundry)
• Tour guide tips
• Hotel gala dinners (if charged by the hotels on 24 & 31 Dec, see Tour notes)
• Single Room Supplement (applicable when a same sex room share cannot be arranged - contact us for details)
• Any other items not mentioned above

• A/C minibus, sleeper train, felucca sailboat
• 24-hour airport arrival & departure transfer service

Our trips feature a mix of different transport options. We want you to feel like you’re really experiencing the country you're travelling through, but at the same time we want you to finish journeys refreshed enough to enjoy the next stage of the tour. In Egypt we do not use any public tourist buses or overnight coach journeys as we know that people don't sleep on board and end up very tired for the following few days. All the vehicles we use are air-conditioned, many are fitted with speed limiters, and all are inspected and checked daily. Some 4WD vehicles used on desert safaris may not always have air conditioning where they are only used for short periods.

For the overnight train journey between Cairo and Aswan this tour uses the overnight sleeper train. You will have a private lockable twin cabin on board which holds two large seats and fold down beds which the carriage steward will make up for you in the evening. Sheets, blanket & pillows are provided. The cabin also contains a wash basin and storage cupboard. An airline tray-style evening meal and breakfast are provided. The Cairo-Aswan journey takes around 12 hours.