Departure on a scheduled flight from Milan or Rome to Cairo. Upon arrival, meeting at the airport and assistance with visa formalities. Continuation by flight to Aswan. Upon arrival, transfer on board Eyaru or Nebyt. Dinner or a cold meal served in the cabin and overnight stay.

Breakfast. Early in the morning, at around 6:00 am, departure for the visit to Philae, which can be reached only by small motorboats. We visit the temple known as the “Pearl of the Nile,” which saw the passage of pilgrims and warriors who came to venerate the figure of Isis. To reach the temple, forty years ago, visitors’ boats headed toward the island of Philae, where the temple complex was originally built in the Ptolemaic period. After the construction of the Aswan Dam, the level of the Nile rose, completely submerging the island and the temple for six months each year. Through the clear water of the river it was possible to see the submerged courtyards and columns. At the end of the 1970s, the temples were dismantled block by block and rebuilt above the water level on the nearby island of Agilkia, reshaped to resemble as closely as possible the submerged island of Philae. At the end of the visit, continuation by bus to Abu Simbel (journey of about 3 hours). Destined, them as well, to be permanently submerged by the waters of the Nile, held back by the new Aswan Dam, the temples of Abu Simbel were dismantled and rebuilt piece by piece between 1964 and 1968 about 300 meters from their original location, thanks to an international intervention promoted by UNESCO. The two temples were built by Pharaoh Ramses II: the Great Temple, dedicated to the pharaoh himself, is carved 55 meters into the rock with a façade 35 meters wide where four statues stand representing Ramses II with the queen, the mother and the children at his feet; the Small Temple, dedicated to the goddess Hathor and built in honor of his wife Nefertari, has a façade 12 meters high along which there are four statues of the pharaoh and two of his wife in standing position, with those of the children beside them.

Lunch at a restaurant.

In the afternoon, return to Aswan.

Return on board and dinner.

In the morning, beginning of navigation towards Luxor. The stretch of the Nile between Aswan and Luxor represents the typically African part of Egypt: here the riverbanks are characterized by lush vegetation, while the towns of the region are little developed. This area has represented the southernmost region of Egypt since the time of the pharaohs. Its capital, Aswan, has about one and a half million inhabitants. The First Cataract of Aswan, where the Nile is interrupted by rocks, marked the boundary between ancient Egypt and Nubia, an African kingdom that extended over vast territories upstream from Aswan as far as the present-day city of Khartoum, in Sudan. During periods of power, the Egyptians sent military expeditions southwards and, to mark their territorial conquests, built large temples, such as Abu Simbel. In periods of weakness, instead, it was the Nubians who moved northwards, even founding a new dynasty in Memphis. In later periods, the Greeks and then the Romans attempted to maintain control over this frontier territory and, through an assimilative policy, managed to build a large number of monuments, including the temples of Esna, Edfu and Philae, extraordinary testimonies of the period not only for their architecture but also for their enchanting location. To visit the monuments of this region, the best solution is to sail along the Nile, descending from Aswan to Luxor accompanied by the current, admiring the riverbanks lined with palm groves and plantations. The dahabeya offers us the possibility of reaching the major sites on days with fewer visitors and also of visiting minor ones where large cruise ships cannot dock. Stop in a local village to learn about the traditions and daily life along the banks of the Nile. Continuation of navigation towards Edfu. In Edfu we will visit the Great Temple of Horus. The temple is certainly one of the most evocative monuments 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 period, it has classical features typical of ancient 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 it is necessary to pass through a tourist bazaar of modest interest. Two elegant statues of Horus in black granite flank the entrance to the pylon, which leads to a wide colonnade and the first hypostyle hall.

Lunch and dinner on board.

Breakfast. Continuation of navigation towards Esna. We reach the Ptolemaic temple dedicated to the god Khnum, the ram-headed god, who created men from clay, shaping them on his potter’s wheel. The temple is buried in the center of the city, in an enormous pit 10 meters below the level of the main street. The roof is still intact and stands at the level of the foundations of the surrounding houses. A careful restoration has brought back to light the incredible colors of the columns and the ceiling. At the end of the visit, a walk through the characteristic local market. Continuation of navigation towards Luxor.

Arrival in the evening.

Lunch and dinner on board.

Breakfast. Visit to the Karnak temple complex. Perhaps the largest temple complex ever built. Karnak is the most important site of pharaonic Egypt. Expanded by successive dynasties, its development continued for over 2,000 years and today it is 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 in different periods largely through the work of the rulers Hatshepsut, Thutmose III, Seti I and Ramses II, but the original sanctuary of the Great Temple of Amun was erected even earlier, during the Middle Kingdom, around 1900 BC. Later pharaohs expanded the original core up to the first pylon; the current entrance to the site dates to 370 BC. Also in the post-pharaonic age, the Ptolemies, the Romans and the early Christians left their marks. We cross the avenue of the royal rams that lead us to the great pylon of Karnak and continue to the great courtyard that gathers monuments from different periods. We admire the great hypostyle hall with its 134 columns, a unique example of its kind. We continue through the labyrinth of Karnak and then find ourselves before the only sacred lake remaining from Ancient Egypt.

This is followed by a visit to Luxor Temple, which stands in the center of the city, also 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 to the fertility rite, the temple was built by Amenhotep III (Amenofi III, the “Sun King” of the 18th Dynasty), whose long reign represented the peak of the power and prestige of ancient Egypt. The road that leads to the temple, lined with two rows of sphinxes, is called the Avenue of the Sphinxes and once extended as far as Karnak, 3 km further north. Walking in the surrounding area, among the modern buildings of Luxor, traces of this processional avenue can still be found, with some statue fragments still intact. Arriving at the temple, the first thing we notice is 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 in Paris to Place de la Concorde, a gift to the French people from the then Egyptian viceroy Mohammed Ali.

Lunch on board.

In the afternoon, visit to the small but very interesting Luxor Museum.

Dinner and overnight on board.

Breakfast. A day dedicated to the enigmatic world of the Theban Necropolis. The Colossi of Memnon, originally dedicated to the ruler Amenhotep III. The Valley of the Kings, which contains about 60 burials dating back to the New Kingdom, including the tomb of Ramses VI, one of the most beautiful, formed by a central corridor leading to an antechamber, which opens into a pillared room and, through a second corridor, to another antechamber that leads to the sarcophagus chamber. We also visit the tomb of Seti I, another example of exceptional decoration. The Workers’ Village with the so-called “Tombs of the Chief Workers,” offering a particularly elegant and refined artistic example. Here it is interesting to note the difference in the themes depicted in the decorations compared to those of the pharaohs’ tombs. Finally, the Valley of the Queens with the exclusive visit to the tomb of Nefertari. Here the decoration is truly of exceptionally high quality and almost all the surfaces display vivid colors. The tomb was discovered in 1904 by the then director of the Egyptian Museum in Turin, Ernesto Schiaparelli. The deep blue ceiling is dotted with yellow stars.

N.B. At the time of drafting this itinerary, the Tomb of Nefertari is closed for restoration. We do not know when it will reopen; therefore, should the Tomb still be closed at the time of the visit, the visit to the Valley of the Queens will be replaced by the beautiful temple of Queen Hatshepsut.
Return on board for lunch. In the afternoon, navigation resumes towards Qena, sailing along a stretch of the Nile generally not frequented by other vessels.

Breakfast. After disembarking at Qena, we depart by bus for the visit to the Temple of Abydos. Abydos is considered the Lord of the temples of ancient Egypt, both from a religious and mythological point of view and from an artistic one; representing the most refined artistic school Egypt ever developed, it is the pilgrimage destination par excellence in ancient Egypt, as it was the cult place of Osiris, king of the dead. At the end of the visit, we return towards Dendera to visit the temple dating to the Ptolemaic and Roman periods, dedicated to one of the most venerated deities of ancient Egypt, namely the goddess of love, beauty, music and poetry, Hathor. Packed lunch during the visits.

Return on board and afternoon snack.

In the afternoon, navigation back to Luxor.

Dinner on board.

After breakfast, transfer to the airport and departure for Cairo. Continuation to Milan or Rome.

For technical and operational reasons, the itinerary may be modified by the local guide if deemed necessary and in the interest of the group