Tour of the Islamic empires in Cairo and ancient Egypt on the Nile River

Browse through the itinerary of the tour of Egypt, you can choose between 3 nights tour of Ciaro or 7 nights tour that includes Ciaro and a cruise on the river Nile.

Day 1

Visit to Saladin Citadel, Alabaster Mosque of Mohammed Ali Pacha,

The Citadel of Cairo or Citadel of Saladin is a medieval Islamic-era fortification in Cairo, Egypt, built by Salah ad-Din and further developed by subsequent Egyptian rulers. It was the seat of government in Egypt and the residence of its rulers for nearly 700 years from the 13th to the 19th century.

Khan el-Khalili is a famous bazaar and souq in the historic center of Cairo, Egypt. Established as a center of trade in the Mamluk era and named for one of its several historic caravanserais, the bazaar district has since become one of Cairo’s main attractions for tourists and Egyptians alike.

Al-Azhar Mosque (359 – 361 AH) / (970 – 972 CE), is the most important in Egypt and the most famous in the Muslim world. It has been a mosque and a university for more than a thousand years now. It was established for the purpose of spreading the Shiite Doctrine when Egypt was conquered by Jawhar Aṣ-Ṣiqilli, the army leader of Al-Mu‛izzulidīn Allah, the first Fatimid Caliph in Egypt.

Currently, Al-Azhar teaches Islam according to the Sunni Doctrine. After founding the city of Cairo, Aṣ-Ṣiqilli started building Al-Azhar Mosque and completed it. The first Friday Prayer was held in it on the 7th of Ramadan 361 AH /972 CE. It is thus the first mosque to be established in the city of Cairo and the oldest Fatimid monument existing in Egypt.

During that period, Al-Azhar mosque has yet become the favorite place for the Egyptian public and the most appropriate for them to receive knowledge and understand religion. It also became the center of the largest gathering of the scholars of Egypt and began to teach some secular disciplines, such as philosophy and logic for the first time.

Ibn Qalaoun mausoleum & compound, Sabils & madrassas. This is considered to be the first example of a Mamluk architectural complex including a number of different buildings. The complex comprises a mausoleum, a madrasa, a mosque, and a hospital. It was erected on the site of part of the Fatimid Eastern Palace. The madrasa taught the four Sunni schools of fiqh (jurisprudence) and medicine; practical medicine was taught in the hospital. It was established on the model of Bimaristan Nur al-Din in Damascus, where Qalawun was treated and cured before his rise to power.

The Mosque of al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah is the fourth oldest mosque in Egypt and the second largest after the Mosque of ibn Tulun. The construction of the mosque was begun by al-Hakim’s father, the Fatimid Caliph al-Aziz bi Allah in 380 AH/990 AD, but he died before its completion, leaving his son to finish it in 403 AH/1013 AD. The mosque is located at the end of al-Muizz Street in al-Gamaliya district, near Bab al-Futuh.

The main entrance lies on the western facade of the mosque and is monumental in size and design. It is one of the oldest architectural examples of projecting entrances and was influenced by the great Mosque of Mahdiya in Tunis.

Al-Muizz Street is named after the Fatimid Caliph, al-Muizz li-Din Allah (341–365 AH / 953–975 AD), who first founded this street. He is also the founder of the Fatimid caliphates in Egypt since he ruled Egypt in (358-365AH\ 969-975AD). Today, it is the largest open-air museum for Islamic monuments in the world, and a unique heritage site that was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1979. The street has borne many names over the centuries, and in 1937 it came to be known as al-Muizz in honour of the founder of Cairo.

The historical street stretches between two of the gates of Cairo’s old city walls, from Bab al-Futuh in the north to Bab Zuwayla in the south, passing along many of the significant and uniquely preserved ancient alleys and streets.

Twenty-nine monuments dotting the length of al-Muizz allow visitors to experience Islamic Egypt from the 10th to 19th centuries, starting from the Fatimid Period in Egypt (358–567 AH / 969–1171 AD) to the Muhammad Ali Dynasty (1220–1372 AH/ 1805–1953 AD).  Today, markets, vendors, and local crafts stores line up along al-Muizz ​street, adding to the charm of this historic street.

Bab al-Futuh (Gate of Conquests) is one of the gates in the northern wall of Fatimid Cairo. It opens onto the historic al-Muizz Street, which leads to Bab Zuwayla. It was built by the vizier and commander-in-chief, Badr al-Jamali, during the reign of the Fatimid Caliph al-Mustansir Billah in 480 AH/1087 AD. Bab al-Nasr and Bab al-Futuh along with Bab Zuwayla (485 AH/1092 AD) are among the rare examples of military architecture in the Islamic world prior to the Crusades.

Day 3

Visit the Grand Egyptian Museum – GEM, Bab El Fetouh, El Muizz Street, EL Hakim Mosque, Nasser Khesro compound, Ibn Qalaoun mausoleum & compound, Sabils & madrassas as well as local life, Azhar Mosque, Khan El Khalili Bazar, El Hussein Mosque, El Fishawi Café.

The Grand Egyptian Museum is the largest museum in the world dedicated to one civilization.

The pyramids of Giza and the Great Sphinx are among the most popular tourist destinations in the world. Each of these spectacular structures served as the final resting place of a king of the 4th Dynasty (c.2613–2494 BC). The Great Pyramid of Giza was built for king Khufu (c.2589–2566 BC), and the other two for Khafre and Menkaure, his son and grandson. Khufu’s pyramid is both the oldest and largest of the three, and the first building to exceed it in height would not be built for another 3,800 years!

Although the three pyramids dominate the plateau, they are in fact surrounded by many other monuments. Every king’s pyramid was just one element albeit the most important of a larger complex that included smaller, subsidiary, queens’ pyramids; an additional one that acted as a second, symbolic, tomb for the king, called a satellite pyramid; mastaba tombs for nobility and other family members; burials of actual and/or symbolic boats; and a pair of temples linked by a richly decorated causeway. One of these temples, called the valley temple, led into the pyramid complex, and was located on or near a body of water where boats could dock. The other, the funerary (or upper) temple, stood near the base of the pyramid.

Day 2

Visit to the Step-pyramid of King Zoser, stop at a local carpet school, Giza Pyramids & the Great Sphinx, Great Sphinx, and the Valley Temple of King Chephren.

The Mosque of Muhammad Ali is located inside the Citadel of Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi (Saladin) in Cairo. It was built by Muhammad Ali Pasha in 1265 AH\ 1848 AD on the site of Mamluk palaces. This mosque is known as the “Alabaster Mosque”, in reference to the marble paneling on its interior and exterior walls. The mosque’s twin minarets are the highest in all of Egypt, each reaching a height of 84 meters.

The mosque was built in the Turkish style that consists of an open court and prayer hall. The prayer hall is a square space that is surmounted by a large central dome surrounded by four semi-domes and four shallow domes in the corners. There are two minbars (pulpits) inside the mosque. The original of the two is made of wood decorated in green. The other was a later addition made of marble. ​

The al-Hussein Mosque, also known as the Mosque of al-Imam al-Husayn and the Mosque of Sayyidna al-Husayn, is a mosque and mausoleum of Husayn ibn Ali, originally built in 1154, and then later reconstructed in 1874

•Fly to Aswan & Start a 3-nights Legendary Nile Cruise Experience.
•Overnight in Aswan (Breakfast – Lunch – Dinner).
•Lunch board, visit Philae Temple dedicated to the cult of goddess Isis, the High Dam, and the granite quarry with its unfinished obelisk.
Enjoy a Traditional Felucca (sailboat) Trip on the mighty River Nile. Get back to the Nile Cruise, Dinner on board, Nubian show on board,

Temple of Isis at Philae built during the reign of Ptolemy II (Egypt’s Greco-Roman Period), is dedicated to Isis, Osiris, and Horus. The temple walls contain scenes from Egyptian mythology of Isis bringing Osiris back to life, giving birth to Horus, and mummifying Osiris after his death.

From early times the island was sacred to the goddess Isis. The complex of structures of the Temple of Isis was completed by Ptolemy II Philadelphus (reigned 285–246 BCE) and his successor, Ptolemy III Euergetes (reigned 246–221 BCE).

Felucca Trip, they are the traditional wooden sailboats used in Egypt.With single sails and no engines, Egyptian feluccas are powered by the wind, zig-zagging back and forth along the Nile.

Day 5

•Kom Ombo Temple Guided Tour.
Enjoy the cruising experience, the scenery of the real Nile Valley, and visits to both Kom Ombo & Edfu temples. Navigate to Kom Ombo.
Visit the Kom Ombo Temple of Sobek as well as the Crocodile Museum Navigate to Edfu
•Edfu Temple Guided Tour
Navigate to Luxor vis Esna Lock Dinner on board, Galabyia party on board.

The temple at Kom Ombo is about 30 miles (48 km) north of Aswan and was built during the Graeco-Roman period (332 BC-AD 395). The temple is unique because it is in fact a double temple, dedicated to Sobek the crocodile god, and Horus the falcon-headed god. The layout combines two temples in one with each side having its own gateways and chapels.

Edfu Temple is one of the most striking and complete of ancient Egyptian temples and is dedicated to the worship of the god Horus. Situated on the western bank of the Nile, its construction began during the reign of Ptolemy III (246–221 BC) in 237 BC, but was completed in the reign of Ptolemy XII (80–51 BC) in 57 BC, 180 years later.

Day 6

•Luxor; West & East Bank Guided Tours.
•West Bank of the Legendary Thebes, Visit Valley of the Kings, where the greatest pharaohs were secretly buried, proceed to Queen Hatshepsut temple, the most powerful queen of the ancient world, and end with the colossi of Memnon. Back to the Cruise around midday, Lunch on board
•Visit Karnak & Luxor temples on the East Bank of Luxor, back to the Nile cruise.

The Valley of the Kings is divided into the East and West Valleys. The eastern is by far the more iconic of the two. The Valley of the Kings includes over sixty tombs and an additional twenty unfinished ones that are little more than pits.

It was part of the ancient city of Thebes and was the burial site of almost all the kings (pharaohs) of the 18th, 19th, and 20th dynasties.

Temple of Hatshepsut (c.1473–1458 BC), the queen who became pharaoh, built a magnificent temple at Deir al-Bahari, on the west back of Luxor. It lies directly across the Nile from Karnak Temple, the main sanctuary of the god Amun.

The temple consists of three levels each of which has a colonnade at its far end. On the uppermost level, an open courtyard lies just beyond the portico. Mummiform statues of Hatshepsut as Osiris, the god of the dead, lean against its pillars.

Day7

•Breakfast on board your Nile Cruise, Fly to Cairo.
•Transfer Aswan Int. Airport, Domestic flight from Aswan to Cairo.

The Karnak Temple Complex, commonly known as Karnak, comprises a vast mix of temples, pylons, chapels, and other buildings near Luxor. The temple of Karnak was known as Ipet-isu—or “most select of places”—by the ancient Egyptians. It is a city of temples built over 2,000 years and dedicated to the Theban triad of Amun, Mut, and Khonsu. This derelict place is still capable of overshadowing many wonders of the modern world and in its day must have been awe-inspiring.

It is the largest religious building ever made, covering about 200 acres (1.5 km by 0.8 km), and was a place of pilgrimage for nearly 2,000 years