Cairo & Fayoum, 4 Days

Arrival in Cairo, welcome at the airport and private transfer to your hotel.

Meals: picnic lunch · dinner at leisure.

After breakfast, a short drive takes you to the Giza Plateau and the great pyramids of Khufu (Cheops), Khafre (Chephren) and Menkaure (Mycerinus), built around 2500 BC. Continue to the Great Sphinx, the lion-bodied guardian whose face is traditionally attributed to Pharaoh Khafre.

In the afternoon, travel south in your private vehicle, through palm groves and irrigation canals, to Saqqara. Here the Step Pyramid of Djoser rises from the sand in six tiers — the oldest monumental stone building on Earth and the first pyramid ever built. Visit the Pyramid of Unas, the first to be inscribed with hieroglyphic texts beneath its star-painted ceiling, and the mastabas of high court officials, whose reliefs of daily life in ancient Egypt still keep their original colours. Overnight in Cairo.

Meals: breakfast at the hotel · picnic lunch · dinner at leisure.

After breakfast, transfer to Fayoum Oasis, about 90 km (two hours) south-west of Cairo. Unlike the desert oases fed by underground springs, such as Siwa, Fayoum is linked to the Nile by the Bahr Yussef canal, which makes it Egypt’s largest cultivated oasis. On arrival, continue by 4×4 into the protected area and the desert.

First stop, Wadi El Rayan: a protected area known for its two lakes joined by waterfalls, vast sand dunes and natural sulphur springs, home to rare wildlife such as the slender-horned gazelle and a favourite spot for sandboarding and swimming.

Second stop, Wadi El Hitan — the Valley of the Whales — a UNESCO World Heritage Site where fossil skeletons around 40 million years old show how whales evolved from land animals into ocean mammals, set in a unique desert landscape.

Lunch with local people in a traditional Bedouin camp, with a freshly grilled barbecue.

In the afternoon, the Magic Lake of Wadi El Rayan, famous for changing colour with the light, framed by golden dunes.

Private transfer back to Cairo (about 90 km, two hours). Overnight in Cairo.

Meals: packed breakfast · lunch in a Bedouin camp · dinner at leisure.

Breakfast and check-out with your luggage.

Morning at the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM), the monumental new museum facing the Giza pyramids behind a striking façade of glass and alabaster. Beyond its countless statues and works of art, the museum presents the complete funerary treasure of Tutankhamun — more than 5,000 objects displayed together for the first time, including the celebrated golden mask of the young pharaoh.

In the afternoon, continue to Islamic Cairo to visit Al-Azhar Mosque and the famous Khan el-Khalili bazaar, whose alleys are lined with workshops and stalls selling cotton, copper, perfumes, leather, silver, gold and antiques.

Transfer to Cairo International Airport or Sphinx Airport for your departure flight.

Meals: breakfast at the hotel · picnic lunch.