2027 Egypt 12 Nights Total Solar Eclipse Tour with Nile Cruise Trip

Arrive in Luxor and transfer to the hotel. The remainder of the day is free at leisure before the eclipse day. Overnight in Luxor

A short coach trip from our hotel to the eclipse center line which is close to the longest duration point of the eclipse. Return to hotel after the eclipse for overnight. Overnight in Luxor.
Duration:2 hours, 45 minutes, 55 seconds
Duration of totality: 6 minutes, 20 seconds
Partial begins:2 Aug 2027, 10:22:09
Full begins:2 Aug 2027, 11:42:31
Maximum:2 Aug 2027, 11:45:16
Full ends:2 Aug 2027, 11:48:01
Partial ends:2 Aug 2027, 13:08:04

Start Luxor tour by visiting Luxor Temple, built by the two Pharaohs, Amenhotep III and Ramses II. Ancient Thebes was a center of festivals, and the Temple of Luxor was the setting for the most important-the festival of Opet, designed to merge the ruler’s human and divine aspects. The temple was dedicated to Amun-Ra, whose marriage to Mut was celebrated annually, when the sacred procession moved by boat from Karnak to Luxor Temple.
Proceed Luxor tour to visit Karnak Temple, in ancient Egypt, the power of the God Amun of Thebes gradually increased during the early New Kingdom, and after the short persecution led by Akhenaten, it rose to its apex. In the reign of Ramesses III, more than two thirds of the property owned by the temples belonged to Amun, evidenced by the stupendous buildings at Karnak. Although badly ruined, no site in Egypt is more impressive than Karnak. It is the largest temple complex ever built by man, and represents the combined achievement of many generations of ancient builders. The Temple of Karnak is three main temples, smaller enclosed temples, and several outer temples located about three kilometers North of Luxor. Egypt is situated on 247 acres of land. Karnak is the sites modern name. Its ancient name was Ipet-Isut, meaning “The Most Select (or Sacred) of Places”. This vast complex was built and enlarged over a thirteen-hundred-year period. The three main temples of Mut, Montu and Amun are enclosed by enormous brick walls. Embarkation and lunch on deluxe Flo Tour Nile Cruise. Tonight, you may enjoy an optional Sound & Light Show. Dinner and overnight aboard our cruise in Luxor.

EMBARK THE NILE CRUISE SHIP
Today enjoy a half-day tour of Temple of Dendera – built by Romans and Greeks and dedicated to Hathor, goddess of maternal and family love. The temple complex contains birth houses, a Coptic church, the Hathor Temple, and a Hypostyle Hall. One of the celebrated features of the temple is an astronomical ceiling beautifully decorated with vultures, winged disks, and the union between Hathor and Horus. Paintings on the ceiling also represent the two halves of the sky with its northern and southern constellations, the hours of day and night, the sun and moon, and the symbols of the zodiac. Lunchbox will be provided by the cruise. You’ll return to the ship late afternoon; the rest of the day is free at your leisure. Dinner and entertainment aboard our deluxe cruise ship.

Visit the West Bank, including the Valley of the Kings, with its many tombs chiseled deep into the Cliffside. From the XVIII to the XX Dynasty, the Memphis area and pyramid-style tombs were abandoned in favor of the West Bank of the Nile in Thebes. Several great leaders as well as many less important rulers are buried here, and more tombs are being discovered even today. This is where Howard Carter discovered the treasures of Tutankhamun and was struck “dumb with amazement” when he beheld its “wonderful things” in 1922. Proceed to the Valley of the Queens, the funerary temple of Queen Hatshepsut at Deir El Bahari and the Colossi of Memnon, back to the cruise for lunch, sail to Esna and overnight. Sail to Edfu and visit Edfu Temple, also known as the Temple of Horus, the falcon-god, (237 B.C.) considered the best-preserved temple in Ancient Egypt and the second largest after the Temple of Karnak. Overnight in Edfu

Kom Ombo Temple (the Ptolemaic Temple of Sobek & Haroeris), set dramatically on a hill overlooking a bend in the river. This Greco-Roman style temple (two temples) is unique, as it is Egypt’s only double temple dedicated to both Sobek, the Crocodile God, and Haroeris, the great, winged solar disk. Everything here is doubled and perfectly symmetrical along a central axis-twin entrances, twin courts, and twin colonnades. Sail to Aswan in the afternoon, then you will start your tour to Aswan with a visit to the High Dam, Unfinished Obelisk and Philae Temple, dedicated to Isis and perched majestically on an island. The temple complex dates from the XXVI Dynasty, with additions through the Roman period when the Emperor Hadrian built a pavilion at the water’s edge. Pilgrims would come from all over the Mediterranean to worship Isis here.
Sail around The Botanical Garden by Felucca. Finally, end Aswan tour with by visiting the Papyrus Institute and learn about the centuries-old technique of creating paper from papyrus, the material we can thank for recording so much of Egypt’s ancient history. Overnight in Aswan.

Optional Tour – Abu Simbel tour by air or bus early morning: Situated 174 miles Southwest of Aswan, exploring the magnificent monuments carved into solid rock 3,000 years ago. In a monumental feat of modern engineering, these massive temples were moved to their present location when construction of the Aswan High Dam in 1960 created Lake Nasser and flooded their original location. This extraordinary operation to save one of the world’s greatest treasures took years and the efforts of an international team of engineers and archaeologists. The two temples at Abu Simbel were built by Egypt’s great Pharaoh Ramses II (Egypt’s longest-ruling king) as a tribute to the deities and his favorite wife Nefertiti. Four colossal statues, 60 feet high and directly facing the rising sun, are of the Pharaoh himself, with his queen and daughters at his feet. More tremendous statues surround you as you enter the temple. And in the very depths of the temple, Ramses sits in state flanked by the gods to whom the construction is dedicated.

Then we will sail to Aswan to visit the High Dam. Located near Aswan, the world-famous High Dam was an engineering miracle when it was built in the 1960s. It contains 18 times the material used in the Great Pyramid of Cheops. The Dam is 11,811 feet long, 3215 feet thick at the base and 364 feet tall. Today it provides irrigation and electricity for the whole of Egypt and, together with the old Aswan Dam built by the British between 1898 and 1902, 6 km (about 4 miles) down river, wonderful views for visitors. From the top of the two Mile long High Dam you can gaze across Lake Nassar, the huge reservoir created when it was built, to Kalabsha temple in the south and the huge power station to the north.
Proceed to the Unfinished Obelisk, much of the red granite used for ancient temples and colossi came from quarries in the Aswan area. Around these quarries are many inscriptions, many of which describe successful quarrying projects. The Unfinished Obelisk located in the Northern Quarry still lies where a crack was discovered as it was being hewn from the rock. Possibly intended as a companion to the Lateran Obelisk, originally at Karnak but now in Rome, it would have weighed over 2.3 million pounds and would have been the world’s largest piece of stone ever handled. However, a crack in the stone occurred, which caused it to be abandoned. Tools left by its builders have given us much insight into how such work was performed. The site has recently been renovated and equipped with tourist facilities.

DISEMBARK THE CRUISE
After breakfast, check out and transfer to Aswan airport for your flight to Cairo. Upon arrival, transfer to your hotel. Rest of the day is at your leisure!!

Drive to the Giza Plateau, home of Egypt signature attractions, the Great Pyramids, proclaimed by the Greeks to be among the Seven Wonders of the ancient world. The largest among these is the Great Pyramid of Cheops, probably built more than 2,600 years before the time of Christ. Standing 480 feet tall this is the last of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world that still standing. Little is known of Cheops, you’ll also see the inscrutable and mysterious Sphinx, known in Arabic as Abu al-Hol (“the Father of Terror”) and carved almost entirely from one piece of limestone.
After lunch, continue to Memphis. Founded around 3,100 BC, is the legendary city of Menes, the King who united Upper and Lower Egypt. Early on, Memphis was more likely a fortress from which Menes controlled the land and water routes between Upper Egypt and the Delta. Having probably originated in Upper Egypt, from Memphis he could control the conquered people of Lower Egypt. However, by the Third Dynasty, the building at Saqqara suggests that Memphis had become a sizable city.
Proceed to Sakkara is one section of the great necropolis of Memphis, the Old Kingdom capital and the kings of the 1st Dynasty as well as that of the 2nd Dynasty. are mostly buried in this section of the Memphis necropolis. It has been of constant interest to Egyptologists. Three major discoveries have recently been made at Sakkara, including a prime minister tomb, a queen’s pyramid, and the tomb of the son of a dynasty-founding king. Each discovery has a fascinating story, with many adventures for the archaeologists as they revealed the secrets of the past.

Start your day with a guided tour of the Egyptian Museum you`ll stroll through the halls highlighting each historical period of this ancient land, Marvel at the glittering treasures of King Tutankhamun, unparalleled in their variety, exquisite beauty, and sheer weight in gold. Seeing this treasure of more than 1,700 fabulous items buried with a young and relatively unimportant king, who can even imagine what the tombs of great and long-lived pharaohs must have contained? You may want to enter the Royal Mummies room for an additional fee and view the “sleeping” Kings of ancient Egypt.
After lunch at local restaurant, Proceed to Old Cairo explore some of the early religious monuments of the city. You’ll visit the El Muallaqa Church, dating to the late fourth and early V Century. This basilica was named for its location on top of the south gate of the Fortress of Babylon. Muallaqa means “suspended or hanging.” Destroyed in a ninth-century earthquake, the church became the center of the Coptic (or Christian) Church of Egypt from the time it was rebuilt in the eleventh century until the XIV Century. Make a stop at the Ben Ezra Synagogue, built sometime between the VI-IX Centuries AD. The temple contains a Jewish Heritage Library, containing documents found here in 1896 that describe the economic and social conditions of Jews under Arab rule as well as descriptions of relations between various Jewish sects.

Start your day excursion to Alexandria by private car accompanied by an English-speaking Egyptologist. Visit National Museum, and The Catacombs. The national museum located in a restored palace, it contains about 1,800 artifacts pieces of antiquities that narrate the history of Alexandria throughout ages, Pharaonic, Roman, Coptic and Islamic eras and some modern pieces, Mummies are shown in a special underground chamber (basement). And some of the items found during the archaeological underwater excavations in Alexandria now in the same floor with the Greco roman artifacts. Stop for lunch, and then explore the well-preserved ruins of the Roman amphitheater, which in Ptolemaic times was part of a vast pleasure garden known as the Park of Pan. Built between the II and IV Centuries A.D., it is the only known Roman Theater remaining in Egypt. A modest in size and most of the part of the structure is in ruined condition but still it is an excellent ancient structure of Roman period of Egypt. The theatre also consists of numerous galleries erected crudely. These galleries contain rooms for more spectators along with arrangement of 700-800 marble seats around the stage. The Roman Amphitheatre was discovered in the excavations doing for the site of Paneion or “Park of Pan” in Kom el-Dikkah also known by the name of Hill of Rubble. In the layers of the above the roman street two other archaeological sites were found. These were a Muslim Cemetery and slums. Continue to the Alexandria Library. Alexandria ancient library was the most famous in all antiquity, attracting scholars from all over the ancient world it was here that Euclid discovered geometry, and Eratosthenes measured the earth circumference. The modern Alexandria Library or the Bibliotheca Alexandrina as once called in Ancient Egypt is located on a magnificent site in the Eastern Harbor, facing the sea on the north, and Alexandria University Complex on its southern side. It is very close to the location of the Ancient Library in the Brucheion (the Ancient Royal Quarter), as verified by the 1993 archeological survey. The Bibliotheca Alexandrina was inaugurated in 2003 near the site of the old library. The building consists of 11 levels with a total levels area of 85,405 m2. The librarys main reading area which can accommodate 2000 users occupies 7 levels with a total area of 13,625 m2.The Library has 2 main museums (the manuscript museum and the Antiquities museum) and a Science center of the shape of a sphere and called the Planetarium. Return to Cairo.See the Fort of Qaitbay from the outside. In 1480, the Sultan Qaitbay built the fort on the site of the Lighthouse of Alexandria, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, return to Cairo.

We will start our day with a walking tour of the largest 13th century covered oriental market, the largest traditional shopping bazaar in the world, the Khan el-Khalili Bazaar. In the tiny alleyways, there are hundreds of shops where you can watch gold and coppersmiths, brass makers, and fortunetellers at work. Look also for leather goods and woodwork inlaid with camel bone and mother-of-pearl. Bargaining, Arab-style, is the norm here, and practiced as a national pastime. Drive to the Citadel of Mohamed Ali, also known as the Fortress of Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi), built in 1183 and overlooking the city from the Muqattam Hills. The structure, with its domes and minarets, looks over a number of important buildings, including the Alabaster Mosque. Its domed interior, used by Moslems for daily prayers, is a spectacular sight of twinkling lights and beautiful mosaics. Return to Hotel by noon time and afternoon is free at leisure.

End of the tour and transfer to Cairo International Airport for a flight back home.