Egypt

Departure from Montreal airport (P.E. Trudeau) on a flight to Cairo.

Note: Arrival at the airport at least 3 hours before departure.

❖ Accommodations: 5-star hotel / Transportation: Air-conditioned vehicle.

• Arrival in Cairo. Meet and greet, followed by transfer to the hotel to check in.

❖ Meals included : Breakfast / Accommodation : 5* Hotel / Transport : Air-conditioned vehicle.

Set out on a day-long tour to explore the famous monuments of Ancient Egypt, located in the capital region:

• Pyramids of Giza: a vast funerary complex housing the tombs of the pharaohs and comprising three great pyramids. The Pyramid of Khufu, the only one of the Seven Wonders of the World to have survived to the present day, is among these imposing remnants of ancient Egypt. It appears that the pyramids were built approximately 4,500 years ago and that their construction was facilitated by the existence of a branch of the Nile River—now dried up—which would have allowed for the transport of stones from nearby quarries. However, the engineering challenges involved in their construction still leave many unanswered questions in the scientific community today.
• The Sphinx, a monument carved from a single block of limestone, stands before the three famous pyramids. It is the largest monolithic sculpture in the world.
• Dahshur, another royal necropolis from the Great Dynasties of Egypt, is home, in particular, to two pyramids built at the behest of King Sneferu. The first, known as the rhomboidal pyramid, and the second, called the Red Pyramid because of the red limestone used in its construction, shared the same ambition and faced the same challenge. However, only the second project was successful and led to the construction of the^first pyramid with smooth sides. The Red Pyramid thus officially became the final resting place of King Sneferu, after which his son Khufu built the largest pyramid in Egypt using the newly acquired construction techniques.
• Saqqara , the ancient necropolis of Egypt where royal tombs and more modest burials stand side by side, provides us with numerous testimonies about the daily life of ancient Egypt.

❖ Meals included: Breakfast, dinner / Accommodation: 5* Hotel / Transport: Air-conditioned vehicle.

A great trip through theEl Fayoum region, a refreshing oasis an hour south of the capital:

• Explore Lake Qârun (Moéris), a very important nature reserve for the region, as well as a body of water that is very popular with fishermen and waterfowl.
• Visit to the Wadi El Rayan Falls, the highest waterfalls in the country, which offer a striking contrast to the arid landscape around them.
• Dinner prepared by villagers, featuring Egyptian specialties.
• Sandboarding on the sandy high plateau—a one-of-a-kind experience!
• A memorable 4×4 ride through the desert.
• Tour of pottery workshops, a regional specialty.

❖ Meals included : Breakfast / Accommodation : 5* Hotel / Transport : Air-conditioned vehicle.

A tour of the capital’s attractions and bustling spots:

• The Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM), a very recently built facility, is the largest museum dedicated to ancient Egypt. Its monumental collection is the culmination of decades of archaeological research focused on the country’s history. Visitors can see everything from colossal statues of pharaohs to the most common household objects of ancient Egypt.
• Khan el Khelili Bazaar, the most famous market in the Middle East, is a bustling place renowned for its many shops selling local products and souvenirs (colorful lamps, fabrics, copperware, jewelry, spices, perfumes, musical instruments, etc.).
• Al Mo’ez Street , an open-air museum, is an unmissable opportunity to immerse yourself in the Islamic world! It is one of the oldest streets in the city and is home to some of the most remarkable Islamic monuments and buildings in the country.

❖ Meals included : Breakfast / Accommodation : 5* Hotel / Transport : Air-conditioned vehicle.

Tour of places of worship in the capital:

• Mohammed Ali Mosque: a major Islamic shrine in Cairo, built in the heart of the Citadel in the^19th-century Ottoman architectural style for Viceroy Mohammed Ali Pasha, considered the father of modern Egypt. It was he who ushered Egypt into the industrial age, making the country one of the world’s leading cotton producers. He was behind the first initiatives to build railroads and dig canals for the transport of goods destined for export. Egypt owes him significant social reforms, notably the country’s first military, medical, and pharmacy schools.
• Al-Rifa’i Mosque: Built between 1869 and 1911, this Neo-Mameluke-style mosque also incorporates some elements of European architecture. Its construction was part of the modernization movement in Cairo at the end of the^19th century. A small pedestrian street separates it from the Sultan Hassan Mosque, built five centuries earlier.
• Sultan Hassan Mosque: built in the^14th century in the pure Mamluk style. Originally, this religious complex also housed a Sunni school.
• Coptic Cairo,a neighborhoodthat reflects the city’s Christian life. The Copts belong to the Church of Alexandria of St. Mark the Evangelist and form one of the oldest Christian communities in the world.

❖ Meals included: Breakfast, lunch, dinner / Accommodations: 4-star hotel / Transportation: Air-conditioned vehicle and internal flights.

• AM: Flight to Hurghada.
  The city and its beaches stretch for nearly 40 km along the Red Sea, making Hurghada the country’s premier beach resort. World-renowned for its clear waters and coral reefs, Hurghada welcomes visitors from all over the world who come to dive and windsurf.
• PM: Guided tour of the city of Hurghada. Visit to the Grand Mosque of Hurghada, the port, and the fish market.

❖ Meals included: Breakfast, lunch, dinner / Accommodation: 4* hotel.

• Free time to enjoy this little paradise on the Red Sea. Beach and optional activities.

❖ Meals included: Breakfast, lunch, dinner / Accommodation: 4* hotel.

• Free time to enjoy this little paradise on the shores of the Red Sea.

❖ Meals included: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner / Accommodations: 5-star cruise / Transportation: Air-conditioned vehicle and boat.

Travel to Luxor and check in on the cruise ship. Set sail to explore the majestic monuments along the banks of the Nile, that legendary river:

• The Karnak Temple, the largest religious complex in the ancient city, consists primarily of temples, chapels, colonnades, and corridors that are magnificently decorated and carved; it is undoubtedly the longest-running construction project in history, as its construction spanned more than 2,000 years.
• The Temple of Luxor , dedicated to the worship of Amun, was integrated into the religious urban landscape of ancient Thebes, as the religious ceremonies performed there echoed those of the great temple of Karnak, located less than 2 km away. The Opet Festival, one of the most lavish festivals of ancient Egypt, was celebrated there. The avenue lined with sphinxes and its grand, harmonious colonnades are highly noteworthy sculptural features.

❖ Meals included: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner / Accommodations and transportation: 5-star cruise + air-conditioned vehicle.

Let’s set out to discover more majestic monuments of ancient Egypt:

• The Valley of the Kings, which stretches along the west bank of the Nile, is a region renowned for housing the tombs of the New Kingdom pharaohs (^{16th–11thcenturies} B.C.) and those of their families. Visit three temples with richly decorated tombs.
• Hatshepsut Temple, an ancient mortuary temple comprising a very well-preserved complex of chapels, galleries, terraces, and porticoes carved from limestone. It is said that the construction of this imposing structure took place over a period of only 15 years.
• The Colossi of Memnon, giant stone sculptures located on the west bank of the Nile, along the road leading to Thebes (the ancient name for Luxor), are the last remaining vestiges of a vast temple that no longerexists.
• Sailing to Edfu.

❖ Meals included: Breakfast, lunch and dinner / Accommodation and transport: 5* cruise.

• The Temple of Edfu, dedicated to the worship of Horus, god of kingship and great protector of the pharaohs. Built under King Ptolemy in the^3rd century B.C. in the Pharaonic style, this temple is the^{second-largest} sanctuary in Egypt after Karnak.
• The Temple of Kom Ombo, dedicatedto the gods Sobek (god of fertility) and Haroëris (benevolent god and protector of Upper Egypt in the^2nd century B.C.). The boat ride to the site offers a truly breathtaking view.

❖ Meals included: Breakfast, lunch and dinner / Accommodation and transport: 5* cruise.

• The Temple of Philae, dedicated to the worship of Isis, the goddess who protects the hearth, was the last place where this cult was practiced. It was, in fact, the last bastion of the religion of ancient Egypt, which continued to experience sporadic resurgence until the early^5th century CE.
• Aswan High Dam, a hydroelectric dam built on the Nile in the 1960s and considered one of the largest in the world. The project was designed not only to generate electricity for the country, but also to create a water reservoir and provide a means of flood control for agriculture.

❖ Meals included: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner / Accommodations: 5-star hotel / Transportation: air-conditioned vehicle and plane.

Chase in an air-conditioned vehicle heading southwest:

• Discover the Temples of Abu Simbel , architectural jewels carved directly into a rocky cliff. It was Pharaoh Ramses II, himself deified, who instigated this grand construction project through which he wanted to assert his power over the territory and gold resources of Nubia.
• Return trip to Aswan Airport and internal flights to Cairo.

❖ Meals included: Breakfast / Accommodations: 5-star hotel / Transportation: air-conditioned vehicle.

Trip to Alexandria and a tour of the city’s must-see sites:

• Library: A major center of modern culture in Alexandria, the library was inaugurated in 2002 and built near the site of the most famous library of antiquity. Officially trilingual, the current library houses approximately 8 million volumes. It is the largest library in the Mediterranean world.
• Catacombs: Egypt’s largest Roman burial site, featuring tombs, statues, and archaeological artifacts from this period, as well as artifacts dating back to the Pharaonic funerary cult.
• Qaitbay Citadel: An exterior view of this fortress, built in the 15th century on the site of the famous Lighthouse of Alexandria to protect the city from the threat of the Ottoman Empire.

❖ Meals included : Breakfast / Accommodation : 5* Hotel / Transport : Air-conditioned vehicle.

Continuing the exploration of Alexandria:

• A tour of the Royal Jewelry Museum, featuring a collection of necklaces, bracelets, swords, watches, and sets of jewelry made from precious and semiprecious stones that once belonged to past royal families. The building that houses it is a small masterpiece built in the 19th century, at a time when European-influenced architecture prevailed in Egypt’s major cities.
• A tour of St. Mark’s Catholic Cathedral, built on the site where the evangelist St. Mark is said to have founded the Christian church of Alexandria in the 1st century.
• The Abu el-Abbas el-Mursi Mosque is an important Muslim place of worship that was restored in the 18th and 15th centuries, though its origins date back to the early 8th century, to the early days of Islam’s establishment in Egypt.
• Journey to Cairo.

❖ Meals included: Breakfast / Transportation: Air-conditioned vehicle and plane.

• Departure for Cairo Airport and international flight to Montreal.

• Cairo: 5-star CONCORDE EL SALAM Hotel or equivalent
• Hurghada: 4-star FORT ARABESQUE Hotel or equivalent
• Nile: 5* cruise (name of cruise ship to be determined, as cruise departure times vary according to the day of the week)
• Alexandria: 5-star SUNRISE Hotel or equivalent

• International flights
• 2 internal flights: Cairo-Hurghada and Aswan-Cairo
• Shuttles to and from the airports
• Transportation in an air-conditioned vehicle with a professional driver
• All accommodations (4- and 5-star)
• 2 meals a day (on average)
• All activities and admissions to sites shown in red on the program and accompanied by a local guide, except admission to the Wadi El Rayan waterfalls, which costs $10 per passenger.
• Certified French-speaking local guide present with the group at all times, except during the beach stay and the Hurghada-Louxor trip
• Visit the temples of Abu Simbel
• Tour of the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM), dedicated to the ancient period.
• 1 village dinner in the El Fayoum region
• Sandboarding down the El Fayoum plateau
• A 4X4 ride in the desert
• All taxes
• 24/7 Support
• Organization from A to Z

• Visa
• Some meals
• Beverages
• Tips
• Personal Expenses
• Optional activities

• Please note that the itinerary may change at any time for logistical reasons, but that the list of activities and visits on the program is always respected. Please also note that the version of the program appearing on our website takes precedence over any printed version.