Egypt Nile Valley and Fayoum oasis

A trip exploring the most important archaeological sites along the Nile, with a visit to the Fayoum oasis for a desert experience suitable for everyone.

In Fayoum, we spend the night in a permanent camp on the edge of the dunes, with basic facilities and shared bathrooms. A night beneath the desert sky more than makes up for going without a few comforts for one night.

We stay in fully equipped 4-star hotels. The overnight train from Aswan to Cairo offers twin cabins with a small washbasin and shared toilets outside the cabin. Dinner and breakfast are served aboard.

Highlights of the trip

Cairo
Cairo is the capital of Egypt and the most important city in the country. With almost 20 million inhabitants in the metropolitan area, it is the most populous city in Africa. This is the city that never sleeps. The activity is continuous and the attractions countless.

Cities of the Nile
Aswan and Luxor are the two pearls on the banks of the Nile River, where the ancient rulers erected temples and funeral monuments that have become the heritage of mankind in their own right.

Fayoum Oasis
Fayoum has long been a centre of worship for Sobek, the crocodile god. We begin at Lake Qarun, one of Egypt’s largest and among the world’s oldest natural lakes. Connected to the Nile by a canal, it has lost 90% of its original Neolithic surface area. It is a stopover for many migratory bird species travelling annually between Europe and Africa.

Luxor, west bank

Valley of the Kings
The Valley of the Kings was the necropolis of the New Kingdom pharaohs. From Thutmose I (1500 BC), tombs were dug into the Theban hills on the west bank to deter robbers seeking burial treasures. The burial chambers and corridors, decorated with allegorical frescoes, remain almost intact.

Hatshepsut Temple
In Deir the Bahari and partially excavated on the slopes of the hills, we find the mortuary temple of Queen Hatshepsut; the majestic access on successive terraces rises from the desert plain. In the Paleo-Christian era the temple became a church (Dair el Bahari literally means ‘the northern monastery’); Current excavations continue to expose exquisitely decorated parts and ruins of temples adjacent to the main enclosure.

Colossi of Memnon
The 18-metre colossi are the first figures visitors see on arriving on the Nile’s west bank. They are believed to have guarded Amenhotep’s mortuary temple, later plundered by monarchs for building material and destroyed by successive floods.

Luxor, eastern shore

Temple of Karnak
Karnak covers almost 1 km², a vast complex of temples, chapels and other pharaonic buildings, including shrines dedicated to Amon-Ra, Mut and Khonsu.

Temple of Luxor
Every square metre of this temple holds history. Built around 1,400 BC, it differs from most similar structures in being dedicated to more than one deity and serving as a coronation site for successive pharaohs.

Click for more information about one of our favourite Sahara locations, for its scenery, archaeology and easy access

Western Desert Oases

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