Arrival in Cairo, Visa formalities and continuation by flight to Luxor. Transfer on board your already booked Dahabiya. Dinner on board or cold plate in the room depending on the arrival time.

After breakfast, departure for the temple complex of Karnak. Perhaps the largest monumental complex ever built, Karnak is the most important site of Pharaonic Egypt. Expanded by successive dynasties, its development continued for over 2000 years and is today a collection of sanctuaries, pylons and obelisks, a true open-air historical archive in stone. Over the years, excavations have revealed the structure of the vast complex. In addition to the colossal temple of Amun, the site covers an area of ​​over 100 hectares and includes an incredible number of buildings that testify to the importance of the city of Thebes. The complex developed over different periods largely by the work of the rulers Hatshepsut, Thutmose III, Seti I and Ramesses II, but the original sanctuary of the Great Temple of Amun was erected even earlier, during the Middle Kingdom, around 1900 BC. The subsequent pharaohs expanded the first nucleus up to the first pylon, the current entrance to the site, dating back to 370 BC. Even in the post-pharaonic age, the Ptolemies, the Romans and the first Christians left their mark here. We will cross the avenue of royal rams that will lead us to the great pylon of Karnak, to continue to the large courtyard that collects various monuments from different Egyptian eras. We will lose ourselves in the great hypostyle hall with 134 columns, the only example of its kind in the world. We will continue through the labyrinth of Karnak to find ourselves in front of the only remaining sacred lake of Ancient Egypt. At the end of the visits, return aboard your Dahabiya for lunch. In the afternoon visit to Medinet Habu, the funerary temple of Ramses III, important not only for its size, architecture and state of conservation, but also because it bears witness to the attempted invasion of the Sea Peoples. At the end visit to the beautiful archaeological Museum of Luxor. Dinner and overnight stay on board.

Morning dedicated to the enigmatic world of the Theban Necropolis: The Colossi of Memnon, originally dedicated to the king Amenhotep III.

(1) The Valley of the Kings, which houses approximately 64 tombs dating back to the New Kingdom. In particular, we will visit, in addition to the 3 tombs included in the ticket, also the tomb of Ramses VI, one of the most beautiful, consisting of a central corridor that leads to an antechamber, which leads to a room with pillars, and, through a second corridor to another antechamber that leads to the sarcophagus room.

(2) The village of artisans with the so-called “noble” tombs, which offers a particularly elegant and refined artistic example. Here it will be interesting to note the difference in the themes addressed in the decorations compared to those of the tombs of the pharaohs. And finally,

(3) The Valley of the Queens with the exclusive Visit the tomb of Nefertari, unless it is closed for restoration work. Here the decoration is truly of an exceptionally high quality and almost all the surfaces have bright colors. The tomb was discovered in 1904 by Ernesto Schiaparelli, then director of the Egyptian Museum of Turin. The dark blue ceiling is dotted with yellow stars. At the time of writing this itinerary, the Tomb of Nefertari is closed for restoration. We do not know when it will reopen, therefore, if the Tomb is still closed at the time of the visit, the visit to the Valley of the Queens will be replaced with a visit to the tomb of Seti I, another extraordinary example of refined decoration in the Valley of the Kings. Return on board for lunch.

(4) In the evening, visit the temple of Luxor, which stands in the center of the city on the eastern bank of the Nile. The temple is one of the most fascinating monuments of ancient Egypt, an elegant example of pharaonic architecture. Dedicated to Amun and the fertility rite, the temple was built by Amenhotep III, (Amenophis III, the “Sun King” of the XVIII Dynasty) whose long reign represented the height of power and prestige of ancient Egypt. The road leading to the temple, lined with two rows of sphinxes, is called the Avenue of Sphinxes and once reached Karnak, 3 km further north. Walking around the area, among the modern buildings of Luxor, you can find traces of this processional road with some fragments of statues still intact. Arriving at the temple, you will first notice the main pylon in front of the entrance, decorated with scenes of the victory of Ramses II over the Hittites, in the battle of Qadesh. In front of the pylon there were originally six colossal statues of Ramses II and two obelisks. In the 19th century one of the obelisks was moved to Paris in the Place de la Concorde, a gift to the French people by the then Egyptian viceroy Mohammed Ali. Dinner and overnight on board

Departure for Esna. To visit the monuments of this region the best solution is to sail along the Nile, admiring the lush banks of the river, bordered by palm groves and plantations. The Dahabeya offers us the opportunity to reach the most famous sites at less crowded times and also to visit the smaller ones where the large cruise ships cannot dock. We will stop in Esna where we will visit the Ptolemaic temple dedicated to the God Khnum, the ram-headed god, who created men from clay by shaping them with his potter’s wheel. The temple is buried in the center of the city, in a huge pit 10 m deep below the level of the main road. The roof is still intact and is at the level of the foundations of the surrounding houses. Careful restoration has brought to light the incredible colors of the columns and ceiling. At the end of the visit, stroll through the characteristic local market. Return on board for lunch. In the afternoon, continuation of the navigation to Edfu. Dinner on board the dababeya.

In Edfu, we will visit the Great Temple of Horus. The temple is certainly one of the most impressive monuments that stand on the banks of the Nile between Luxor and Aswan. It remained buried under sand and mud for almost two millennia, appearing today as the largest and best-preserved Ptolemaic temple in Egypt. Built in the Greco-Roman era, it has classical features typical of Egyptian architecture. Its visit is therefore useful to see how Egyptian temples appeared in their original structure. The Temple of Horus is particularly interesting for Egyptologists as it is inspired by the most ancient pharaonic structures. To access the temple you must necessarily pass through a not very interesting tourist bazaar. Two elegant statues of Horus in black granite flank the entrance to the pylon, which leads to a large colonnade and the first hypostyle hall.

Return on board for lunch. Quiet afternoon sailing to Aswan.

In the afternoon, stop in a village on the banks of the Nile to discover rural life, traditions and local activities. Dinner on board.

About 50 km before Aswan, surrounded by sugar cane plantations, is Kom Ombo, built on the site of the ancient city of Pa-Sebek, the seat of Sobek, the center of the cult of the crocodile god. The traces of the old city have vanished, along with the crocodiles, extinct due to their intensive hunting. However, a magnificent temple overlooking the Nile remains. The temple is post-pharaonic, from the same period as those of Esna and Edfu. It was completed in the Roman period, probably on the foundations of an earlier structure. The entrance pylon was added later by the Roman emperor Augustus, around 30 BC. Its purpose is unusual, aimed at two deities, Sobek the crocodile god, and Horus the Elder, the falcon god. It has a double sanctuary, in a symmetrical architecture where each half is dedicated to its own god. The original entrance pylon has been completely eroded by the Nile. The internal structure of the temple is very similar to that of Esna. From the front court, unfortunately badly damaged, two doors lead to the hypostyle hall, with eight columns with lotus-shaped capitals, decorated with scenes relating to Horus on the left wall and Sobek on the right, where we also find the Chapel of Hathor, dedicated to the goddess consort of Horus. A small adjacent museum displays a collection of crocodile mummies. The site also features a large well and a basin used to breed sacred crocodiles as well as the famous, perfectly preserved Nilometer.

Lunch on board and continuation of navigation to Aswan. Dinner on board.

In the morning visit to Philae, which can only be accessed by small motorboats that are located on site. We will visit the temple called the pearl of the Nile where pilgrims and warriors passed to venerate the figure of Isis. To see the temple, forty years ago, the boats of visitors headed to the island of Philae, where the temple complex was originally built in the Ptolemaic era. After the construction of the Aswan Dam, the level of the Nile rose, completely submerging the temple for six months of the year. Through the clear water of the river it was possible to see the submerged courtyards and columns. In the late 1970s, when the threat arose of continuous flooding of the island throughout the year, the temples were dismantled block by block and rebuilt above the water level on the nearby island of Agilkia, remodeled to resemble as much as possible the submerged island of Philae.

Lunch on board. In the afternoon, stroll through the streets of the city center and stop for tea at the iconic Old Cataract hotel. Dinner on board.

After breakfast, transfer to the airport and departure with flight to Cairo.

Note: For technical-operational reasons, the itinerary may be modified by the guide on site if deemed necessary and in the interest of the group.