Splendors of Egypt (with 10

Arrive in the heart of Egyptian contemporary culture and the gateway to the land’s ancient wonders.

After a relaxing morning, tour the Giza Plateau, the location of the pyramids of Mycerinus, Chefren and the Great Pyramid of Cheops — the only survivor of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Continue to the Solar Boat Museum, which houses Cheops’ funerary boat, and the Great Sphinx, guardian of the royal tombs. Tonight, meet fellow guests at an A&K-hosted welcome dinner.

Drive to Memphis to visit the the Alabaster Sphinx, which dates back to the 18th Dynasty, and the enormous statue of Ramses II. Continue to Sakkara, the vast necropolis of ancient Memphis. There are hundreds of tombs and 14 pyramids, including the famous Step Pyramid, the world’s oldest stone structure. After lunch, see pyramids with atypical shapes in Dahshur.

Early this morning, board your luxurious Nile cruiser for the first leg of your 10-day cruise: a relaxing journey toward Beni Suef, a famous agricultural center.

Enjoy scenic views of villages and daily life, relax by the pool or visit the ship’s library as you cruise south to Beni Hassan.

See some ancient rock-cut tombs that date back to the Middle Kingdom. Painted scenes inside depict the daily lives of the rulers and their families in the provincial community. However, some of the more interesting are those of battles and wrestlers.

Explore the ruins of Tuna el-Gebel, featuring monuments dedicated to King Akhenaten and Queen Nefertiti. Catacombs were dug under the necropolis and used to store thousands of sacred mummies of falcons, baboons and ibises. Enjoy lunch onboard while sailing to Assiut.

Cross the Assiut Barrage, designed by the man who built the Aswan Dam. Spend today relaxing on board as you sail to Sohag.

Cross the Sohag Bridge before visiting the Red and White Monasteries, two of the best preserved monasteries from late ancient Egypt. They are a rare and exquisite sight, named for the materials used to build them. The White Monastery is primarily made of white limestone and its smaller version, the Red Monastery, was built using a reddish brick. They hold important sculptures and paintings from the fifth through the fourteenth centuries. Visit Abydos, once the center of a holy city dedicated to Osiris, “Lord of the Netherworld,” and the burial place for pre-dynastic kings and pharaohs dating back to the fourth millennium BC.

Visit the Ptolemaic Temple of Goddess Hathor in Denderah, complete with a massive stone roof, dark chambers, underground passages and towering columns inscribed with hieroglyphs. Later, your Egyptologist takes you on a guided tour of the graceful Temple of Luxor, dedicated to the god Amun. An official of Luxor ‘s antiquities department presents an overview of the latest archaeological discoveries in the region.

Discover Luxor’s west bank: the Necropolis of Thebes, the burial ground of the great pharaohs of the New Kingdom. Visit the famous Valley of the Kings, containing 64 tombs. Continue to the terraced funerary temple of Queen Hatshepsut, Egypt’s first female pharaoh, and make a photo stop at the fabled Colossi of Memnon. These enormous statues were renowned for making a mysterious “singing” noise at dawn. Later today, explore the awe-inspiring Temple of Karnak, a huge complex 2,000 years in the making, where nearly all of the pharaohs wished to record their names and deeds for posterity. Walk within the great Hypostyle Hall, an open chamber of stone columns covering a larger area than Notre Dame Cathedral. Dress in traditional galabeyyas for tonight’s Egyptian night costume party on board. Enjoy a lavish buffet of Egyptian specialties, followed by traditional folkloric entertainment and a whirling dervish.

In Edfu, visit the Temple of Horus, a wellpreserved structure that makes it easy to imagine what temple worship in ancient Egypt was like. Return to ‘Nile Adventurer’ in time for lunch. You may want to take part in a cooking lesson hosted by your on-board chef. Early this evening, see the lovely Greco-Roman temple dedicated to Haroeris, the sun god, and Sobek, the crocodile god.

Embark on a short boat ride to view the exquisite Temple of Philae on the island of Agilika. Proceed to the granite quarries that supplied the ancient Egyptians with most of the hard stone used to build the pyramids and temples. Next, view the 1,200-ton Unfinished Obelisk, a testament to the incredible skills of ancient Egypt’s stonemasons. Later, visit Aswan’s High Dam, the world’s largest rock-filled dam, and gaze down at the huge lake created to control the floodwaters of the Nile. Gather on board for a gala farewell dinner.

Board a short flight to Abu Simbel, site of the magnificent temple of Ramses II. This vast structure and its monuments were disassembled, transported piece by piece and reassembled to save the site from being flooded by the waters of the Aswan High Dam. Afterward, fly to Cairo, where the remainder of your day is at leisure.

Visit the world-famous Egyptian Museum of Antiquities for an introduction to the different periods of ancient Egypt and the individual artistic and architectural styles of each. See the magnificent treasures of Tutankhamun (including his unforgettable funerary mask) and the fascinating Mummy Room, which houses the remains of a number of kings and queens of Ancient Egypt. After lunch, explore Islamic Cairo, with stops at the Mosque and Madrasa of Sultan Hassan. Built in AD 1356, it is one of the largest in the Islamic world and among the finest examples of early Mamluk architecture. Afterward, embark on a walking tour through the impressive Khan el-Khalili bazaar, where everything from silks to spices can be had — for the right price. This evening, join your fellow guests for a special farewell dinner.

Board your international flight.