Join a one day-trip to Cairo, the biggest city in Africa; see its history, feel its culture!
Cairo is just a one hour flight from Sharm el Sheikh and upon arrival, your guide will take you to visit the Citadel and The Egyptian Museum. The museum contains the largest, and most impressive, collections of Pharonic and Roman art and sculptures from the Lower Egypt region. You can also admire the treasures of the famous Tutankhamun, the royal mummy of whom is still resting in his tomb in Luxor.
Then it is lunch time. Lunch will take place at one of the popular restaurants in Cairo.
Finally, the trip goes to The Pyramids. The excitement of your visit will be heightened as soon as you first glimpse the gigantic peaks of the distance on the western horizon. Cheops, Chepren and Mycerinus are right in front of you. You are witnessing the last of the seven wonders of the Ancient World.
Next to this amazing piece of architecture lays The Sphinx, which is a recumbent lion with the head of a man. The body of the lion, the symbol of kingship, represented "power", and the human head symbolized "intelligence".
The Sphinx was carved from natural rock and if you look at the paws, they seem out of proportion with the rest of the body, but it is said that the Sphinx was meant to be viewed from the front at the bottom of the valley.
The siting of the Sphinx against the eastern point of the compass is not a coincidence - it was meant to watch the sun rise, the return of life, each day.
After a day's insight in the unique civilization of the ancient Egyptians and the modern life of Cairo, you might still have time for a peep into the local bazaars, before your return flight to Sharm el Sheikh in the evening.
An excursion to Luxor is a great cultural addition to a holiday in Sharm el Sheikh. It is a full day trip with departure from your hotel early morning. The short flight brings you to Luxor, where your guide is ready to show the best sights of the West -and East Bank.
The West Bank is where the Pharaohs were buried in tombs with all their fortune, in the belief that they would have eternal life. The first part of your sight seeing is "The Colossus of Memnon" - These are two gigantic monolithic statues over 15 meters high, portraying the Pharaoh Amenophis III (XVIII Dynasty).
The road continues to "The Valley of the Kings", which along with the Giza Pyramids, is the most famous place in Egypt. Eleven of the fifteen identified royal tombs are open to the public, the tomb of Tutankhamun is the richest of them all. It was discovered in 1922 by Howard Carter, with the largest sarcophagus, in wood and gold, preserved inside with the royal mummy.
Before crossing the Nile you will visit the impressive Temple of Hatschepsut. She was not a queen like all other queens, she was The Queen and she was the ruler of her country and its people. This explains how her tomb is located in The Valley of kings.
You will move to the East bank and have lunch in the modern Luxor, a city of 60.000 inhabitants. The name Luxor derives from the Arab word el-Uqsor, the plural of el-Qasr, meaning "fortifications", a reference to the two military encampment built in Roman times.
Luxor is tantamount to the ancient city of Thebes, where the most majestic examples of Egyptian religious architecture are manifested in The Temple of Luxor and The Temple of Karnak. These are the last stops before your return to Sharm el Sheikh.
Discover the ancient city of Petra, which is so securely camouflaged by the rugged mountains that it once was lost for one thousand years, hence the name "The lost City".
Petra lies to the north of Aqaba in Jordan, just opposite Sinai. This mysterious city of the Nabateans, isolated in a valley, which in ancient time was forbidden to visitors, is famous for its years and years of resistance to the Roman Empire. But this natural fortress with its valuable trade routes between Arabia and the East was much-coveted and was lost to the persisting Romans in AD 106.
Petra can be reached by plane as a one-day trip, beginning before dawn in Sharm el Sheikh. The trip continues with a two hours' drive from Aqaba to Petra in A/C busses. Upon arrival you will be heading for "The Siq", a narrow curving route between overwhelming sandstone and multiColoured cliffs. The Siq can be crossed by foot or on horseback and the path will lead you to "The rose red city".
You will eyewitness the remains of a unique water system, terra-cotta pipes laid over two thousand years ago, and the marvellous architecture of different kinds carved into the rock. Your guide will lead you through the city, explain and show you how the engraved tombs have survived the earthquakes that meant destruction to most of the free standing buildings in the city. The Treasury is the most famous and well preserved of all the monuments.
After 4 hours of interesting sight seeing, lunch will take place in one of the hotels.
You will return to Sharm el Sheikh in the evening with memories from an extraordinary ancient city, in which Bedouin families still inhabit a few of the tombs.