Ancient Egypt Icons

The pyramids, the Valley of the Kings, Abu Simbel, Karnak — Egypt's ancient icons are the reason most people come, and a cultural tour is how you see them without missing the context that makes them extraordinary. The tours below cover the great sites individually and as multi-day journeys, so you can compare guided cultural tours, Nile cruises and full itineraries in one place.

The icon sites

A cultural tour of Egypt centres on a handful of wonders: the Pyramids of Giza and the Grand Egyptian Museum in Cairo; Luxor's Karnak, Luxor Temple and the Valley of the Kings on the west bank; Aswan, Philae and, further south, the twin temples of Abu Simbel. Most also fold in Islamic and Coptic Cairo for the layers that came after the pharaohs.

How to see them

The classic route pairs a few days in Cairo with a Nile cruise between Luxor and Aswan, which reaches most of the southern temples from the water. Guided multi-day tours handle the internal flights, tickets and Egyptologist guides; shorter tours focus on one region.

Guided or independent

A licensed Egyptologist guide is what turns a wall of carvings into a story, and handles the logistics of tickets and transfers. Compare guided cultural tours and full itineraries below.