This 14 day Egypt Christmas tour puts the whole country into one holiday: the Pyramids of Giza and the Grand Egyptian Museum, Coptic and Islamic Cairo, a day trip to Alexandria on the Mediterranean, the older pyramids of Saqqara and Dahshur, a 3-night Nile cruise from Aswan to Luxor, and four nights at an all-inclusive hotel in Hurghada on the Red Sea. You travel in a small group of no more than 16, with licensed Egyptologist guides at every site, domestic flights and 32 meals included, from $2,905 per person.
Depending on the day you arrive, Christmas Day falls on the Nile, on the beach in Hurghada or in Cairo. Tell us your dates and we will show you exactly where you will be on 25 December before you book.
Most Egypt tours show you the Great Pyramids of Giza and move on. This one gives a whole day to the places where pyramid building began. At Saqqara you see the Step Pyramid of Djoser, the oldest large stone building in the world; at Dahshur, the Bent Pyramid and the Red Pyramid, built by Khufu’s father Sneferu as his architects learned how to make a true, smooth-sided pyramid; and at Memphis, the first capital of united Egypt, the colossal statue of Ramesses II. Seen together with Giza, they tell the whole story of how the pyramids were invented.
The rest of the tour then follows the full route of our longer Christmas holidays: Alexandria on the Mediterranean, three nights on the Nile from Aswan to Luxor, and four all-inclusive nights in Hurghada, which leaves you three whole days on the Red Sea to rest over Christmas. In December, Hurghada has sunny days in the low 20s °C and a sea still warm enough to swim and snorkel, and you can book a reef trip through our Hurghada day tours.
If you would rather skip the extra pyramid day, the 13 day Egypt Christmas tour follows the same route without it.
Welcome to Egypt. Our representative meets you inside the arrivals terminal at Cairo Airport with a signboard and assists you with your visa and passport formalities (the visa on arrival costs US$30 per person). You are then driven to your hotel for check-in, and the rest of the day is free.
Meals Plan: No Meals Included
After breakfast your Egyptologist guide takes you to the Giza Plateau. You stand before the Great Pyramid of Khufu, built around 4,500 years ago and the only survivor of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and see the pyramids of Khafre and Menkaure from the panoramic viewpoint. Below the plateau you visit the Great Sphinx and Khafre’s Valley Temple, built of huge granite blocks.
After lunch you continue to the Grand Egyptian Museum, a short drive from the pyramids. A colossal statue of Ramesses II greets you in the atrium, the Grand Staircase climbs past royal statues, and the Tutankhamun galleries show the boy king’s complete burial treasure together for the first time, from his golden throne to his chariots and jewellery.
Meals Plan: Breakfast & Lunch
Today is for Cairo’s Christian and Islamic heritage. In Coptic Cairo, inside the walls of the Roman fortress of Babylon, you visit the Hanging Church, built over the fortress gatehouse; the Church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus (Abu Serga), where tradition says the Holy Family rested on their flight into Egypt; and the Ben Ezra Synagogue.
You then drive up to the Saladin Citadel, founded in 1176 to defend the city against the Crusaders, and visit the Alabaster Mosque of Muhammad Ali, with wide views over Cairo. After lunch you finish in Khan el-Khalili, the city’s historic bazaar, with time to browse the lanes of spices, lanterns and silver and stop for mint tea.
Meals Plan: Breakfast & Lunch
An early start takes you north, about three hours by road, to Alexandria, founded by Alexander the Great in 331 BC. You visit the Catacombs of Kom el-Shoqafa, underground tombs that mix Egyptian, Greek and Roman styles; Pompey’s Pillar, a granite column about 27 metres high on the site of the ancient Serapeum; and the Citadel of Qaitbay, built in the 15th century where the famous Pharos lighthouse once stood.
After lunch at a local restaurant you see the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, the modern library that recalls the great Library of Alexandria, before driving back to Cairo.
Meals Plan: Breakfast & Lunch
Today you travel back to the beginning of the pyramid age, south of Cairo. At Memphis, the first capital of united Egypt, an open-air museum holds the colossal limestone statue of Ramesses II, which you look down on from a gallery, and the great alabaster sphinx. At Saqqara you visit the Step Pyramid of Djoser, designed by the architect Imhotep about 4,700 years ago and the oldest large stone building in the world, and the tombs of nobles decorated with lively scenes of farming, fishing and offerings.
After lunch you continue to Dahshur to see the two great pyramids of Sneferu, father of Khufu: the Bent Pyramid, whose angle changes halfway up, and the Red Pyramid, the first true smooth-sided pyramid, which you can usually enter. Dahshur is far quieter than Giza, and you often have the site almost to yourself.
Meals Plan: Breakfast & Lunch
After breakfast you fly from Cairo to Aswan (about 1 hour 20 minutes), where your guide meets you. You see the High Dam, completed in 1970, which created Lake Nasser; the Unfinished Obelisk, abandoned in its granite quarry when it cracked; and Philae Temple on Agilkia Island, the Temple of Isis that was moved block by block to save it from the rising water. You then board your Nile cruise ship for lunch and spend the afternoon on the sun deck.
Optional tour: Tour to Nubian Village in Aswan
Meals Plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
The morning is free on board, or you can join the optional trip to the temples of Abu Simbel. Around lunchtime the ship sails north to Kom Ombo, where you visit the double temple of Sobek, the crocodile god, and Haroeris (Horus the Elder), with its two sanctuaries side by side, and the Crocodile Museum next door. The ship then sails on to Edfu.
Meals Plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
A horse-drawn carriage takes you to the Temple of Horus at Edfu, built in the Ptolemaic period between 237 and 57 BC and the most complete temple in Egypt, roof and sanctuary still in place. Back on board, the ship sails to Luxor through the lock at Esna.
In Luxor you visit Karnak, the largest religious complex ever built, at around 100 hectares, with its Great Hypostyle Hall of 134 columns, and then Luxor Temple in the heart of the city.
Meals Plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
After breakfast you leave the ship and cross to the Valley of the Kings, where your guide chooses the best three tombs open on the day. You continue to the Temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari: Hatshepsut began as regent for Thutmose III and went on to rule as a crowned king in full pharaonic regalia, with his regnal years still running alongside hers. A last stop at the Colossi of Memnon ends the touring.
After lunch you are driven to Hurghada on the Red Sea, about four hours by road, and check in to your all-inclusive hotel.
Optional tour: Sunrise Hot Air Balloon over Luxor
Meals Plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Your first full day on the Red Sea. Relax at the beach and pool, or book a snorkelling trip, a glass-bottom boat, a submarine ride or a desert safari through our Hurghada day tours.
Meals Plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner (all-inclusive)
A second free day in Hurghada, with meals and drinks at the hotel included. If your dates put Christmas here, many hotels hold festive dinners and events for their guests.
Meals Plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner (all-inclusive)
Your third full day in Hurghada, free to enjoy the sun and the sea before heading back to Cairo.
Meals Plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner (all-inclusive)
After breakfast and lunch at the hotel, you are transferred to Hurghada Airport for the flight to Cairo (about 1 hour). Our representative meets you and takes you to your hotel for your last night in Egypt.
Meals Plan: Breakfast & Lunch
After breakfast you are transferred to Cairo Airport, where our representative helps with check-in for your flight home.
Meals Plan: Breakfast Only
This tour runs every day over the Christmas holidays. The 3-night Nile cruise leaves Aswan on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, so we build your trip around the sailing that fits your arrival: if needed, the Cairo, Alexandria and Hurghada days are reordered so that you board on day 6 or the nearest sailing, and nothing in the itinerary is lost. Send us your arrival date and we will send back your exact day-by-day plan, including where you will be on Christmas Day.
The tour is a small group of no more than 16 travellers. If you would rather travel privately, ask us for a private quote.
All of our Egypt Christmas tours of ten days or more combine Cairo, a Nile cruise and, on most, the Red Sea. This 14 day tour is the only one that adds a full day at Saqqara, Memphis and Dahshur. The 13 day Egypt Christmas tour follows the same route without that day, the 12 day Egypt Christmas itinerary has one night less in Hurghada as well, and the 11 day Cairo, Nile cruise and Hurghada Christmas vacation leaves out Alexandria. The 15 day Egypt Christmas tour package is our longest.
