the Royal's Cruise in dahabiya on the Nile

This unique experience will start in Cairo, Zamalek district (close to the famous Tahrir Square) and will end after a journey of 15 nights/16 days in the city of Aswan.

The limited number of people is 18 per boat, with more participants we will sail with two boats. 
The modern comfortable sailingboats, with a large deck and lounges will guarantee  a peaceful, intimate and serene trip. For a tailormade itinerary for your group please send us your request via the 'Contact Info & Booking' page 

Day 1: Transfer from Cairo airport to the boat. Welcome and check in to the cabins. Day at liesure.

Dinner and overnight on board.


Day 2: Departure in private minibus with AC to visit  Islamic Cairo:

The impressive Citadel of Saladin is a beautiful building on a hill overlooking the old city of Cairo. A fortified complex was built in the twelfth century by King Saladin and his brother,  King El- Addel  to protect Cairo. The Citadel is one of the 'must to do' visits in Cairo

Discover the Ibn Tulun mosque, one of the finest of Cairo, with its famous spiral minaret.

In the afternoon the Cairo Museum : With more than 100,000 objects in 107 rooms, the Egyptian Museum offers many hours of exploration . You can see the treasures of ancient Egypt including priceless ancient royal tombs , the most popular of Tutankhamun. The Egyptian Museum is located near Tahrir Square . It was built during the reign of Khedive Abbas Helmi II in 1897, and opened on November 15 , 1902. On the ground floor you can admire the colossal statues , the first stage in turn contains small statues , jewelry and the fabulous treasures of Tutankhamun.
Dinner and overnight on board. 

Day 3: Visit of Dahshur , more quiet and less visited than Giza but nevertheless you will see some impressive examples of pyramids. The gigantic structures , such as the Red Pyramid and the Bent Pyramid , to get a better understanding of the architectural evolution in the pyramid-building in Egypt.

A few kilometers from Dahshur , you will find Saqqara, which was once the cemetery , also known as the Step Pyramid . The pyramid of Djoser is an integral part of this huge burial site dating back to the First Dynasty of ancient Egypt.

The pyramids of Giza, the Great Pyramid of Cheops which currently remains as the only one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Throughout their history, they have fired the imagination of man with much speculation as to their origin and purpose.

dinner and overnight on board.

 

 


Day 4 : We sail towards the bridge to a place called Minya in Upper Egypt, because of its location which is almost at the border crossing of Upper and Lower Egypt. It is a center for the manufacturing of soap, perfume and sugar processing . El Minya, today the provincial capital, with a cotton industry and an important trading and administrative center, was once home to the Greeks and Egyptian cotton barons.
Meals and overnight in Minya .

 Day 5: Visit the tombs of Beni Hassan and the famous city Akhetaten which means " horizon of Aton " and the temple of Aten , Akhenatens palace, his wife Nefertiti and their son Tutankhaton, (in that period the name of Tutankhamun), and the dignitaries graves. 

Meals and overnight on board.

 

Day 6: Sail towards Assiut and passage of the lock. Assiut is a major city in Upper Egypt on the western bank of the Nile. The city has a population of about 400,000 habitants. Due to its location in the center of a vast fertile plain, it was the starting point of the caravan routes leading to the oasis. She was also the largest slave-market of Egypt. Today, thanks to the High Dam on the Nile, it is an important crossing point.

Day 7: Just across the river from Sohag on the east bank of the Nile, is the town of Akhmim which is known as Khent-Menu by the Egyptians and Panopolis by the Greeks . Panopolis was named after the chief god of the city, Min, who was Pan for the Greeks and the god of fertility and the master of the desert between the Nile and the Red Sea.
Traditional the village is known for its manufacture of fabrics but also carpets.
Meals and overnight on board

Day 8 : Sailing towards Dendérah.

Day 9 : Whith its now cleaned ceilings, the Dendera Temple will let you discover how the ancien Egypians used color in the temples. A guaranteed wonder. 

The anciens site of Abydos is historically very interesting, it is particulary the oldest place of pilgrimage of ancien Egypt. The beauty of the polychrome ( many colours ) from most rooms and chapels of the temple are simply stunning.

Meals and overnight on board.

 

Day 10: Sailing towards Qena, well known for its manufacturing of pots and bottles for water. The clay for the production was obtained from a valley north of Qena. The pottery  then was transported by boat across the Nile into Egypt. Qena was also known for the trade of grains and dates with Saudi, through Berenice on the Red Sea. The Berenice road was very busy during the Greco-Roman area; it runs through the valley of Wadi Hammamat, famous for its ancient quarries and gold mines. The city also has an Islamic heritage and a famous mosque. Visit a traditional pottery factory.
Meals and overnight on board

Day 11: We sail to Luxor, Part of the ancient city of Thebes, the capital for 1350 years, Luxor is rich in temples, tombs and monuments. 
Today we will explore the famous remains of
the 17th, 18thand 19th dynasties in the history of ancient Egypt. Luxor has always been a tourist destination, the ancient Greeks were already visiting the architectural wonders on both banks. Visit Luxor Temple in the evening. 
Meals and overnight on board

Day 12 : We will visit Karnak which spans over 200 acres. It is a complex of several temples and monuments located near Luxor on the east bank of the Nile. Karnak temple is unique, not only among the Egyptian temples. It is often regarded as the greatest open air museum on the planet.

 
Visit the Valley of the Kings: Located on the west bank of the Nile opposite the city of Luxor, the Valley of the Kings was used as a royal burial place for 500 years from around the sixteenth century BC. At least sixty-three tombs of pharaohs, queens and nobles buried in the Valley of the Kings. Here the tombs are carved into the rock, often embedded in the rock over a long distance, but rarely visible from the surface. The paintings and bas-reliefs on the walls of tombs further illustrate the admirable art of ancient Egypt.

The temple of Hatshepsut : Located on the site of Deir el - Bahari " the northem monastery ", on the left bank of the Nile. This temple is unique in Egypt with its modern design. A part of the temple is carved into the mountain. Created by the architect Senenmut, heir of Imhotep, the temple was dedicated in part to the Ka ( life force ) of Thutmose I , pharaoh of the eighteenth dynasty ( Middle Kingdom ) , the father of Hatshepsut, and the Ka of the King Hatshepsut, confirming her right to royalty althought she was a women.

Medinet Habu : In the southern area of Western Thebes, bordered by crops and the desert, Medinet Habu is primarily the large temple " the House of Millions of years " of Ramses III, the best preserved and most important funerary temple of Thebes. 

Meals and overnight on board.

Day 13 : Sail towards Esna located about 50 kilometers south of Luxor. The Greek name of the city was Latopolis, named after the Nile perch ( Lates niloticus ) sacred to the goddess Neith, patroness of the area. Until the early 20th Century, Esna was an  important stop on the camel- caravan route between Sudan and Cairo and between the Western Desert  oases and the Nile Valley. Visit the temple of Khnum, which is below the level of the house in a pit. Most of the ruins are still unexplored because they are still below the present houses. Near the temple of Khnum on the stone quay along the corniche are carved cartridges of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius. After visiting Khnum temple, we will sail towards Edfu.

Meals and overnight on board.

Day 14: In Edfu we visit the temple of Horus. In terms of size, the Horus temple is second after Karnak, while it's considered the best preserved temple in Egypt together with the temple of Hathor at Dendera. A visit to the Temple of Horus is a true delight and rarely will you find examples of the ancient world as big, and as impressive and intact as this one. This temple of Horus was built during a period of 200 years and was finally completed in the reign of Ptolemy XII, father of the famous Cleopatra, 57 BC. Dedicated to Horus the Egyptian God, it is related to the temple of Dendera because of the supposed marriage between Horus and Hathor, who lived in Dendera and traveled to Edfu every year to be with her husband.

Sail towards the Gebel el-Silsila, ( Gebel = Mountain ) which is the Arabic name of a region including both banks of the Nile. This is the point where the river is at its narrowest, flanked on both sides by majestic hills of sandstone. The deity of the Gebel el - Silsila was the crocodile god Sobek. 

Visit of the  quarries and the  " Speos of Horemheb " ( and we know now its not from him but from the begining of the 18 dynasty untill Tutmose 1 and a part of Tutankhamun, a covered gallery opening into  a small shrine whose bottom is formed by a niche containing seven sitting divine statues, including Horemheb . 

Meals and overnight on board.

Day 15 : Sail towards Kom Ombo and visit the temple dating back to the ptolemaic period, the construction period is somewhere between 200 BC and the biginning of the Christian calendar. Today, the temple of Kom Ombo is an important point of the route along the Nile attracting attention because of its unique architecture.

Meals and overnight on board.

Day 16 : Arrive in Aswan and visit the Temple of Philae. Located upstream of the first cataract, the island of Philaé was for centuries the area of Isis, whose cult remained active until the sixth century AD. In the Ptolemaic area, the great temple of the goddess was one of the most important sanctuaries of Egypt and Nubia.

Transfert to your hotel, train station or the airport according to yours schedule.

 

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les berges du Nil en Haute-Egypte.