Nile Cruise, Cairo and Sharm

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The fascinating Egypt to discover with the classic Nile cruise: a historical journey that lets you get close to the mysteries of a great civilisation, capable of building the gigantic Pyramids, the imposing Luxor, with the temples of Karnak and the Valley of the Queens, or the incomparable Abu Simbel. The cruise lets you enjoy a pleasant stay in a luxurious setting, along the tranquil atmosphere of the Nile, and to visit a different site every day, starting from Luxor and arriving at Aswan in an unforgettable scenery. Absolutely not to be missed is the visit to Abu Simbel (sometimes included, sometimes not), the most imposing site in the whole of Egypt. The tour continues with a visit to the chaotic capital, Cairo, with its Mosques, its traffic, the bazaars, the museums and the unmissable Pyramids.

A fascinating city just waiting to be discovered, a mix of chaos and magic, and you realise its beauty exactly at the moment you have to leave, leaving behind a sense of nostalgia and a great desire to return to spend a few days there with more calm. Worth mentioning in the capital is the Marriott Hotel, an extremely luxurious and historic hotel with period interiors, built to host the English royals on the occasion of the opening of the Suez Canal: one of the most beautiful hotels in the world. To finish, a bit of relaxation in the splendid Red Sea, rich in corals and marine life, the most exotic destination closest to Italy, which lets you discover another fascinating and historic region of Egypt: Sinai. In 1994 the resort of Sharm was in the early stages of its expansion, and outside the main centre, Naama Bay, there were very few luxury resorts.

Coral Bay, one of the best known, was still in the early stages of construction, nothing like the mega resort it later became. Tourism was not yet mass-market and the resort was semi-unknown. Anyone imagining the Sharm coastline as long sandy beaches where you can happily take a pleasant dip in the sea will certainly be disappointed. The coast is mainly rocky, with inlets of coarse desert sand, and in many spots the coral reef begins right at the shore, so you need to access the sea via jetties that allow you to swim beyond the reef; but you just have to put on fins and a mask to discover an incredibly fantastic underwater world.

From Sharm there are interesting excursions to discover the interior with its rocky desert, culminating in Mount Sinai, with the option of climbing it at night to admire the sunrise with a magnificent view over the surrounding desert mountains (over 2000 m and three hours' walk), before returning to the foot of the mountain to visit the Monastery of Saint Catherine. Absolutely not to be missed is the excursion to the Ras Mohamed marine park, a protected area where just a few metres from the shore you can admire one of the best coral reefs in the world, where the sea plunges to over 900 metres a short distance from the shore, where with a bit of luck you can admire Napoleon fish, rays and small sharks with a simple mask.

Program

Day 1: Milan - Luxor Arrival and boarding on the motor vessel.

Day 2: Luxor In the morning, visit to the Valley of the Kings and Queens, the largest necropolis in Egypt, made up of 24 km of temples and tombs. The Valley of the Kings is the legendary place where between 1520 and 1080 BC more than 60 Pharaohs were buried. The best-preserved tombs are those of Tutankhamun, Seti I and Ramesses II. In the Valley of the Queens there are 180 tombs of queens, princesses and princes of the 18th dynasty. The colours of the best-preserved wall paintings are found in the tombs of Queen Nefertari and Queen Thiti. Continue with the visit to the funerary temple of Queen Hatshepsut, built on three levels, and the Colossi of Memnon. In the afternoon, visit to the Temple of Luxor, once connected to that of Karnak by a 2 km avenue lined with grand statues depicting sphinxes.

Then on to the magnificent Temple of Karnak; besides the temple, you will visit the mausoleum dedicated to the god Amun, the great hall with 134 gigantic columns. In the evening, departure for the Nile cruise.

Day 3: Edfu In the morning, disembarkation at Edfu for the visit to the Ptolemaic Temple dedicated to the god Horus. At the end of the visit, the cruise resumes heading for Kom Ombo.

Day 4: Kom Ombo In the morning, visit to the Temple dedicated to two deities: Sobek, the Crocodile God, and Haroeris, the Falcon God. Return on board and continue to Aswan, the southernmost city in Egypt.

Day 5: Aswan. In the morning, visit to the temple of Philae with the sanctuary dedicated to the goddess Isis. The entire archaeological area was sectioned, dismantled and rebuilt, with Italian technical collaboration, on a higher island, saving it from the waters of Lake Nasser which would otherwise have swallowed it after the inauguration of the great dam. Continue to the great Aswan dam, 3.6 km long, built in 1971, behind which Lake Nasser extends for 500 km. In the afternoon, excursion by felucca (or motorboat) along the Nile. In the evening, "Sound and Light" show at the temple of Philae.

Day 5: Abu Simbel In the morning, flight excursion to the great temple of Abu Simbel located 280 km south of Aswan. Ordered to be built by Ramesses II, the Temple has a facade dominated by 4 colossal figures carved directly from the rock. A short distance away is the smaller temple dedicated to his wife Nefertari, also carved from the rock. In 1964 UNESCO promoted an action to save the temples from the waters of Lake Nasser: they were sectioned into large blocks and reassembled on an area 64 metres higher. In the afternoon, flight to Cairo Day 6: Cairo Full day visiting the city of Cairo with the Citadel, the Egyptian Museum, the Khan el Khalili Bazaar and the main mosques.

Day 7: Cairo "In the morning, visit to the Pyramids of Cheops, Chephren and Mykerinos: Incredible, spectacular and fascinating, the pyramids stand imposing, defying the millennia behind them, amid an arid and bare landscape, isolated and far from inhabited centres." Continue with the visit to the most famous monument in Egypt: the Sphinx, with a human head and a lion's body. Finally, visit the step pyramid of Saqqara, then Memphis. In the afternoon, flight to Sharm el Sheikh.

Days 8-14: Sharm el Sheikh It's still a resort unknown to mass tourism. Apart from Naama Bay, an endless stretch of virgin and uninhabited coastline. Only the Coral Bay chain is starting to build a resort of considerable size facing a stretch of absolutely untouched coral reef. This is where we spend our week diving in Allah's aquarium.