A 3-day journey to Luxor and Aswan from Marsa Alam

At 04:00 AM you'll be collected from Marsa Alam by a private air-conditioned taxi. Dendera temple : The Temple of Hathor was raised chiefly during the Late Ptolemaic era, under Ptolemy XII and Cleopatra VII, with Roman-period additions following. Though built by a non-native dynasty, its layout matches other classical Egyptian temples, save for the hypostyle hall's front, credited by inscription to Emperor Tiberius. The complex also features scenes of the Ptolemaic rulers — notably a huge relief of Cleopatra VII and her son by Julius Caesar and co-ruler Ptolemy XV (Caesarion), both shown in Egyptian dress making offerings. Hathor's role as healing goddess shows in the sanatorium here, where pilgrims sought her cure through sacred water, priestly ointments, and dream-chambers. At 09:30 the drive continues to Luxor for a visit to Karnak temple: Karnak is the largest ancient religious complex found anywhere on earth — no site in Egypt is more impressive than Karnak . Built up across generations of Pharaohs, Karnak actually comprises three main temples spread across 247 acres. 13:00 lunch at a local restaurant on the west bank. At 14:00 — The Valley of the Kings, final resting place for Egypt's rulers spanning the 18th to 20th dynasties, holding tombs including the great Ramses II and boy-king Tutankhamen. These tombs were richly stocked for the afterlife, and much of their interior decoration survives intact. Visiting the young Pharaoh Tutankhamun's tomb can be added as an optional extra online. 16:00 the Colossi of Memnon : these two enormous stone statues of King Amenhotep III are the sole remnants of a once-complete mortuary temple. Carved from quartzite sandstone quarried near Cairo and transported 700 km to Luxor , the statues rise roughly 18 m above the plain — remnants of what was once the largest complex on the west bank, built under Amenhotep III. Around midday you'll enjoy lunch at a local restaurant in Luxor , then visit the Temple of Karnak — the largest ancient religious site known anywhere:
Overnight stay in Luxor at the Steigenberger Hotel Luxor

An optional add-on — a hot air balloon flight. After breakfast, drive to Aswan from Luxor , roughly 3.30 hours on the road. In Aswan you'll visit: Philae temple — raised to honour the goddess Isis, this was the final temple built in the classical Egyptian style, with construction beginning around 690 BC and standing as one of the last places her cult was practised. The High Dam — a rock-fill dam on Egypt's northern border with Sudan, fed by the Nile, whose reservoir forms Lake Nasser; work began in 1960, finished in 1968, and it was officially opened in 1971. The Unfinished Obelisk : Aswan supplied Ancient Egypt's finest granite for statues, temples, pyramids, and obelisks. The huge unfinished obelisk in the Northern Quarries offers rare insight into how these monuments were carved, though the complete process remains partly a mystery. Three sides of the nearly 42 m shaft were finished apart from the inscriptions; at 1168 tonnes, it would have been the heaviest single stone the Egyptians ever shaped. 12:00 lunch aboard the cruise, then at 16:00 a felucca sail around Elephantine Island with a visit to Lord Kitchener's Island — an optional trip to a Nubian village can also be booked. The Nubian village is among Aswan's highlights and well worth two hours of your time; genuine, colourful, and full of artistic character, it reveals its soul the moment you begin walking through it! Overnight at the Basma Hotel

Pickup at 04:00 AM from your Aswan hotel — we'll arrange a packed breakfast box beforehand. From there, the drive covers 280 km south to Abu Simbel. Abu Simbel temples: carved from the mountainside on the Nile's west bank between 1274 and 1244 BC, the two temples honour Ramses II and Queen Nefertari. The Great Temple was dedicated to Ramses II, Ra-Harakhty, Amun Ra, and Ptah, featuring four colossal statues, while the second honours Queen Nefertari and the goddess Hathor. Both structures were later dismantled stone by stone and rebuilt on higher ground — their preservation stands as one of UNESCO's greatest achievements. Lunch follows at a local restaurant in Aswan, then the drive continues to Marsa Alam , arriving at your hotel around 20:30