This 8 day Egypt and Jordan tour spends three nights in Jordan and four in Cairo, and it is the only one of our short combinations that reaches the Mediterranean. Most eight-day Egypt and Jordan itineraries stop at the Pyramids. We add a full day in Alexandria, the city Alexander founded in 331 BC, because it shows the Greek and Roman Egypt that sits between the pharaohs and the Cairo of today.
You start in Jordan. Our representative meets you at Amman’s Queen Alia airport and you drive south to Petra, the Nabataean city cut into rose-coloured sandstone. The next day takes you north through Madaba and up Mount Nebo to the Dead Sea, with the Roman city of Jerash on the way, and the third day is yours to float in water almost ten times saltier than the ocean.
On day four you fly to Cairo. The regional flight is included in the price. You spend a full day on the Giza plateau and in the Grand Egyptian Museum, a day in Old Cairo between the Citadel, the Coptic churches, Ben Ezra Synagogue and Khan el-Khalili, and a day on the coast in Alexandria before you fly home from Cairo.
Like every Egypt and Jordan itinerary we run, this tour is private: your own guide, driver and vehicle in both countries, on the dates you choose. You stay in 4-star hotels in Jordan and 5-star standard hotels in Cairo, and you can book triple, twin or double, or single rooms.
The 7 day Egypt and Jordan tour follows the same Jordan days and the same two Cairo touring days, without Alexandria. The 9 day Egypt and Jordan vacation package drops Alexandria for a three-night Nile cruise from Aswan to Luxor. If you only have time for Jordan, our 4 day Jordan tour covers Petra, Jerash, Mount Nebo and the Dead Sea on its own. All of them are listed on our Egypt and Jordan tours page.
Our representative meets you at Queen Alia International Airport in Amman and you drive south on the Desert Highway to Petra, about three hours. Your guide takes you through the Siq, a narrow gorge more than a kilometre long, to the Treasury, then on past the Street of Facades, the theatre and the Royal Tombs. The Nabataeans carved this city into the sandstone around 2,000 years ago and grew rich controlling the incense and spice caravans of Arabia. If you have the legs for it, the climb of roughly 800 rock-cut steps to the Monastery is worth it. Lunch is at a local restaurant, then you check in to your hotel in Wadi Musa for the first night of your 8 day Egypt and Jordan tour.
Meals: Lunch
After breakfast you drive north to Jerash, ancient Gerasa, one of the best-preserved Roman provincial cities in the world. Walk through Hadrian’s Arch, across the oval plaza and down the colonnaded Cardo, past the temples of Zeus and Artemis. Then head to Madaba and the Greek Orthodox Church of Saint George, whose floor holds a 6th-century mosaic map of the Holy Land with the oldest surviving picture of Jerusalem. Finish on Mount Nebo, where tradition says Moses looked over the Promised Land before he died. On a clear day you can see the Jordan Valley, the Dead Sea and the hills around Jericho. Continue down to your hotel on the Dead Sea.
Meals: Breakfast
A slow day after two busy ones. The Dead Sea lies about 430 metres below sea level, the lowest point on land, and its water is almost ten times saltier than the ocean, so you float without trying. Spend the day between the water, the mineral mud and your hotel’s pools. Keep the water away from your eyes and any small cuts, and rinse off in fresh water when you come out.
Meals: Breakfast
Transfer to Queen Alia International Airport, about an hour from the Dead Sea, for the flight to Cairo, around an hour and a half. Our representative meets you inside the arrivals terminal at Cairo airport with a signboard, helps you with the visa and passport formalities, and your driver takes you to your hotel. The evening is free.
Meals: Breakfast
Your Egyptian guide spends the morning with you on the Giza plateau at the Great Pyramids of Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure and the Great Sphinx. Khufu’s pyramid is the only one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World still standing, and your guide explains how and why it was built. After lunch at a local restaurant, continue to the Grand Egyptian Museum, where the complete Tutankhamun collection is shown together for the first time, then return to your hotel.
Meals: Breakfast and lunch
Start at the Citadel of Saladin, begun in 1176 to defend Cairo against the Crusaders, and the Alabaster Mosque of Muhammad Ali that crowns it. Then cross to Coptic Cairo for the Hanging Church, built over the gate of the Roman fortress of Babylon, and Abu Serga Church, where tradition places the Holy Family’s refuge in Egypt. Next door is Ben Ezra Synagogue, where the Cairo Geniza was found, one of the largest collections of medieval Jewish manuscripts ever discovered. End the day in the lanes of Khan el-Khalili bazaar.
Meals: Breakfast
Drive north to Alexandria, about three hours on the desert road. Go down into the Catacombs of Kom el-Shoqafa, a 2nd-century AD tomb complex on three levels where Egyptian gods appear in Roman dress. See Pompey’s Pillar, a red granite column about 27 metres high raised for the emperor Diocletian on the site of the Serapeum. After lunch, visit the Citadel of Qaitbay, built by Sultan Qaitbay in the 1470s on the site of the ancient Pharos lighthouse, and the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, the modern library that honours the ancient one. Drive back to Cairo for your last night.
Meals: Breakfast and lunch
After breakfast your driver takes you to Cairo airport for your flight home. If you would like more time in either country, we can add nights in Cairo, a Nile cruise or Wadi Rum; see all our Egypt and Jordan tours.
Meals: Breakfast
| Travel season | Triple | Twin | Single |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 May – 30 Sep | $1680 | $1,750 | $2,975 |
| 1 Oct – 17 Dec | $1,750 | $1,855 | $3,155 |
| 18 Dec – 4 Jan | $2,335 | $2,475 | $4,210 |
| 5 Jan – 25 Mar | $1,750 | $1,855 | $3,155 |
| 26 Mar – 10 Apr | $2,100 | $2,250 | $3,825 |
| 11 Apr – 30 Apr | $1,750 | $1,855 | $3,155 |
Jordan 4-star Hotels: Kaya Hotel. Seas Hotel. Corp Amman Hotel. Rival Amman Hotel and more of the similar category.
Cairo 5-star Standard Hotels: Safir Cairo Hotel. Sonesta Hotel. Ramses Hilton Hotel. Cairo Pyramids Hotel. Holiday Inn Citystars and more of the similar category.
