EGYPT & JORDAN

Morning visit to the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities which includes the world’s largest collection of Pharaonic artifacts and the treasures of Tutankhamen’s tomb. Then, drive to Old Cairo to visit Al Moallaka Church (Hanging Church) and Ben Ezra Synagogue. Visit the Great Pyramids of Giza and the enigmatic Sphinx. (B,L)

Morning flight to Aswan. Upon arrival you will be escorted to your cruise ship where you will spend the next 3 nights. Accommodations on board will consist of an outside cabin with private facilities. You will visit the High Dam, the Granite Quarries with the Unfinished Obelisk and the Temple of Isis at Philae. View Kitchener’s Island Botanical Garden and the Agha Khan Mausoleum by felucca. After lunch, sail to Kom Ombo where you will visit the Ptolemaic Temple of Sobek and Haroeris. Then sail to Edfu. (B,L,D)

Travel by horse-drawn carriage to the Temple of Horus, the falcon god, considered the best-preserved temple in Ancient Egypt and the second largest after the Temple of Karnak. Sail to Esna, passing through the Esna Lock, and continue sailing towards Luxor. (B,L,D)

Visit the West Bank necropolis including the Valley of the Kings, the Funerary Temple of Queen Hatshepsut at Deir El Bahari and the Colossi of Memnon. This evening you may enjoy an optional sound and light show at Karnak Temple. (B,L,D)

After breakfast, visit Karnak and Luxor Temples, a centuries-old city of pylons, hypostyle halls, colossal statues, shrines and obelisks. Disembark and transfer to the airport for your flight to Cairo. Upon arrival in Cairo, you will be met and escorted to your hotel. (B)

After breakfast, depart for Jordan. Arrival at Amman Airport for meet & assist by our airport representative through customs and formalities. Transfer to Amman Hotel for dinner and overnight. (B,D)

This morning, enjoy a scenic drive along the King’s Highway to visit Madaba, the City of Mosaics. The oldest mosaic map of the Holy Land exists on the floor of Saint George’s Church, and the city features many famous mosaics that exist in both public and private buildings. Visit Mount Nebo, the alleged burial site of Moses, overlooking the Jordan Valley and the Dead Sea, where Franciscans built a simple structure that protects a 4th and 6th Century Byzantine church. Continue to Kerak for a photo stop before proceeding to Shobak Castle. Built in 1115, it was the first of many fortifications built by King Baldwin I of Jerusalem to guard the road from Egypt to Damascus. It successfully resisted a number of sieges until it fell to Saladin’s troops in 1189. Dinner and overnight at Petra Hotel. (B,D)

After breakfast, you will begin your full day visit of Petra; a city carved into the rose-red Sharah Mountains by the Nabateans and lost to civilization until rediscovered in 1812 by the Swiss explorer, John Lewis Burkhardt. Walk through the Siq, a narrow and winding fissure between the cliffs, to reach the Treasury, the Roman Theater, the Courts, Qasr Bint Pharaoun, the Temple of the Winged Lion and other breathtaking monuments. Dinner and overnight at Petra Hotel. (B,D)

This morning, you will have a short drive to Little Petra, where you will walk through the 8,000-year-old excavated stone-age villages of Beidah and Basta, wander among the ruins of settlements of the biblical Edomites, and explore the sprawling remains of the Roman legionary fortress at Udruh. Continue to Wadi Rum, where the movie “Lawrence of Arabia” was filmed. Here you will enjoy a 2-hour Jeep tour to view the desert and its awe-inspiring moon-like landscape. Drive back to Amman via the desert highway for dinner and overnight. (B,D)

After breakfast, you will be transferred from your hotel to Amman Airport for departure, with the assistance of our airport representatives through customs and formalities. (B)