Best Luxury Egypt Tours: 15-Day Nile Cruise & Siwa Oasis

Begin at Saqqara with the Step Pyramid of Djoser, the pyramid of Unas with its carved hieroglyphs, the decorated mastaba of Kagemni and the Imhotep Museum. After lunch, return to Giza. Once the plateau closes to visitors, enter the Great Pyramid's Queen's and Subterranean Chambers, normally closed, and step into the Sphinx enclosure to stand between its paws, a rare and quiet moment at the end of the day. Dinner is served at the hotel after a full and memorable day.

A full day at the Grand Egyptian Museum, the largest museum in the world devoted to a single civilisation. Climb the Grand Staircase lined with royal statues and explore the Tutankhamun galleries, where more than five thousand objects from the boy king's tomb are displayed together for the first time. Finish with the 4,500-year-old Khufu Solar Boat, then return to the hotel for a free evening. Lunch is served at the museum, with time to return to your favourite galleries.

Drive north to Alexandria, the city of Alexander the Great and Cleopatra. Visit the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, the Catacombs of Kom el-Shoqafa and the Citadel of Qaitbay on the site of the ancient Lighthouse, with a seafood lunch overlooking the harbour. In the afternoon, continue west along the Mediterranean coast, past El Alamein, to Marsa Matrouh and its white beaches for the night. The total drive is long, so the day is paced with comfortable stops along the coast.

Leave the coast and head south across the Western Desert, a drive of about four hours through open sand and rock. Arrive in Siwa, an oasis of date palms, olive groves and salt lakes close to the Libyan border, where Berber culture and language still survive. Check in to your ecolodge in time to watch the sunset turn the palm groves gold, followed by dinner in the oasis. The lodge is built from local salt rock and palm wood in traditional style.

Visit the Temple of the Oracle of Amun, where Alexander the Great came to be declared son of the god, and the ruins of the mud-brick Shali Fortress. See the tombs cut into the Mountain of the Dead. In the afternoon, a 4x4 drive takes you deep into the dunes of the Great Sand Sea to Bir Wahed, a hot spring among the sand, for a swim and a sunset over the desert.

A slower day in the oasis. Visit Fatnas Island, ringed by palms on the edge of a salt lake, and the Siwa House Museum, which shows traditional oasis life, crafts and jewellery. In the afternoon, float in the turquoise salt pools of Zeitoun, as buoyant as the Dead Sea, and watch the light change over the water. Enjoy a final dinner in Siwa under a sky full of desert stars.

A long but scenic day of travel back to Cairo, crossing the desert to the coast and following the road east towards the capital. Break the journey with lunch along the way. Arrive in the evening at the Four Seasons at The First Residence, overlooking the Nile, for a quiet night before flying south the next morning to the river and the temples of Luxor. The drive takes most of the day, in a private vehicle with comfortable stops.

Fly to Luxor and board MS Le Fayan in time for lunch. In the afternoon, explore Karnak, the largest temple complex ever built, with the Great Hypostyle Hall and its 134 columns, then walk the Avenue of Sphinxes to Luxor Temple as the light softens over the river. Return to the ship for dinner and your first night on the Nile, moored on the East Bank. Your Egyptologist travels with you on board throughout the cruise.

Cross to the West Bank for the Valley of the Kings, entering royal tombs with your guide, their walls painted with scenes of the journey through the afterlife. Visit the Colossi of Memnon and the Temple of Hatshepsut against the cliffs of Deir el-Bahari. Back on board for lunch as the ship sets sail south through the Esna Lock, with afternoon tea on the sun deck and dinner as you moor at Edfu.

Ride by horse-drawn carriage to the Temple of Horus at Edfu, the best preserved temple in Egypt. Sail on to Kom Ombo for its double temple shared by Sobek and Haroeris, and the Crocodile Museum beside it. Spend the afternoon on the sun deck as the ship continues towards Aswan. In the evening, dress in a traditional galabeya for a festive dinner with Egyptian music on board. Lunch is served on board between the two temple visits.

Set off early for Abu Simbel, where Ramses II carved his great temple and a smaller one for Queen Nefertari into the mountainside, moved block by block in the 1960s to escape Lake Nasser. Return to Aswan for lunch on board. In the afternoon, a motorboat carries you through the granite islands of the First Cataract to a Nubian village, where a local family welcomes you for tea. The ship stays moored in Aswan for the night.

Leave the ship after breakfast. Visit the Unfinished Obelisk, still lying in its granite quarry, then take a short boat ride to the island Temple of Philae, dedicated to Isis and rebuilt stone by stone on Agilkia Island. In the afternoon, fly to Cairo and return to the Four Seasons at The First Residence. In the evening, gather with your group for a farewell dinner overlooking the Nile. Your trip concierge will confirm the timings for your final day.

A last full day in Cairo. Visit the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square, home to the great royal statues of the Old Kingdom, then the Citadel of Saladin and its Alabaster Mosque above the old city. Lunch at the Naguib Mahfouz Café, named after Egypt's Nobel Prize winning novelist, before an afternoon in the lanes of Khan el-Khalili, the bazaar of lanterns, spices and silver. The evening is free to enjoy the hotel or the river view.

A private breakfast by the Nile closes one of the best luxury Egypt tours in our collection. Take your time over a final coffee overlooking the river, or a last walk along the Corniche if your flight leaves later in the day. A private transfer then takes you to Cairo International Airport, where our team assists you through check-in. Your trip concierge remains available until you are on board. We hope to welcome you back to Egypt soon.