When you disembark at Cairo you enter a land of amazing contrast, where ancient and modern co-exist side by side. You are in Egypt – Land of the Pharaohs.
The Greek historian Herodotus called Egypt, “The Gift of the Nile,” and along that life-giving river, the ancient Egyptians built their amazing civilization, one they ruled for three millennia.
The river Nile will work its magic on you as it has done for visitors for centuries and millennia. Egypt’s mystical and timeless appeal from the ancient sights of the Pharaohs at Luxor to the Red Sea at Hurghada offers a visitor experiences that is unique as the Nile itself.
CLASSIC EGYPT
The classic tour of Egypt is mostly Pharaonic (Ancient Egypt), though this will also can include some religious and Islamic tours and a variety of side trips
What makes Egypt really special is the ability to mix and match add-on tours. One may come to Egypt for a classical pharaonic tour, but you can add a wonderful beach vacation to the itinerary, or come for scuba diving and even add a Kenya Safari. Many tour operators are set up to provide almost an endless variety of add-ons to their standard tours.
Luxor – Ancient Thebes
Many tours into the sights start after breakfast – so get up early, hire your own guide and beat the crowds.
TUTANKHAMUN – The Egyptian Museum in Cairo contains the most extensive collection of Pharaonic artifacts, but the most important collection is that of the funerary items from the tomb of Tutankhamun.
After the tomb’s discovery in the Valley of the Kings on November 4th 1922 by Howard Carter, much of the contents were transferred to this great museum.
The inner coffin, of three sarcophagi, is made of 450 pounds of solid gold. It is one of the finest examples of the goldsmiths’ work of all time.
These are some of the only treasures from a Pharaonic tomb as all the others were taken by tomb robbers shortly after their completion. As
Tutankhamun is thought to have been murdered at the age of 18, this treasure may have paled to insignificance compared to that of greater Pharaohs!
KARNAK TEMPLE – This vast temple complex just to the north of Luxor, consists of three main areas. The largest of these areas is the temple dedicated to Amon and is the masterpiece of the ancient city of Thebes.
TEMPLE OF HORUS, EDFU – Of all the temples of ancient Egypt, the one at Edfu is the most complete and best preserved. The reason is that the temple had been totally submerged under the desert except for the very top of the pylon entrance.
A small amount of stone had been removed from the exposed part, but when excavated it was found to be in near perfect condition.
VALLEY OF THE KINGS - The secret Valley of the Kings is on the West bank of the Nile at Luxor (Thebes). It was a complex of burial chambers for the Pharaohs from Tutmose I and great pains were taken to ensure the site was kept secret. 
This was generally unsuccessful and the tombs were plundered quite early in their existence. The wall paintings still remains vibrant and brightly coloured to this day.
ABU SIMBEL – 320 kilometres from Aswan is to be found Abu Simbel, the most beautiful and imaginative construction of the greatest and most whimsical pharaoh in Egyptian history. 
The main temple is dedicated in theory to Amon-Ra, Harmakis and Ptah, but in practice it was constructed for the greater glory of its builder – Ramses the Great (Ramses II). Next to it is a smaller temple dedicated to his wife – Queen Nefertari.
The main facade consists of four statues of the pharaoh seated on his throne and represent his advancing age with the youngest to the left as viewed from the front.
Twice a year a ray of sunlight penetrates the front entrance and 65 metres into the temple. This illuminates three of the four statues in the shrine at the end – the fourth, Ptah – the God of darkness – would not be lit!
Ballooning
Your trip to Egypt will be enhanced if you can venture into the air and float over the Nile
Shopping
Egypt is a shoppers paradise where haggling for a bargain is the name of the game. Fine Egyptian carpets, woodcrafts, rugs to cotton products that delight the touch.
You WON”T find any ancient artifacts – those that may be offered will either be fake or stolen.
A Precaution
Egypt’s water supply is not the most hygienic so to avoid the Pharaohs revenge drink bottled water and avoid ice in your drinks!
Egypt is an Islamic country so appropriate dress is recommended and if visiting religious sites, thighs and shoulders should be covered out of respect for local customs.
There also may be restrictions on the consumption of alcohol in restaurants both inside and outside of hotels.
The Tours
With sightseeing. The most common classic tour is usually 10 to 14 days, and generally includes Cairo, Luxor and Aswan, though not particularly in that order. Classical tours can be arranged with, or without a Nile Cruise.
Typically, such a tour will begin in Cairo, as that is the major airport where most tourists enter Egypt. However, tours of the Cairo area are frequently split between the beginning and end of the trip.
For example, a tour might cover the Giza Pyramids (Great Pyramid), as well as Saqqara (Step Pyramid) and even the Egyptian Antiquities museum on the first day of the tour. 
Then, after traveling to Luxor and Aswan and returning to Cairo, tours will often visit the Citadel and Khan el-Khalili market in Islamic Cairo and the churches and Coptic museum in Old Cairo. Of course, the tours may not be in this specific order.
For Aswan further south in Egypt, a day tour is usually sufficient for many, and may include visits to Elephantine Island, St. Simeon’s Monastery, the unfinished Obelisk, the Nubian Museum, the High Dam and Philae Island, though time may not permit most standard tours to visit all of these sites.
However, a frequent addition to the standard classical tour is the temples at Abu Simbel. This will usually add a day to the Aswan tour.
Most tours fly to Abu Simbel and back in one day, leaving some of that time open to expand on the visits to Aswan sites. Other less common tours may bus to Abu Simbel, possibly with a stay in a local hotel there.
If, after Cairo, a tour first ends up in Luxor, the next destination will usually be Aswan, or if Aswan is the first stop, the next destination will usually be Luxor. The most common forms of transport between these two destinations are tour bus or Nile Cruise boat. 
While one may take a train or even fly between the two destinations, this is usually not done due to the antiquity sites such as the temples of Kom Ombo and Edfu, which are located between the two cities.
Adventure and specialty tours are very often combined with a classical pharaonic tour, though they need not be, and in some specific cases, rarely are.
However, some specialty tours are in fact classical tours with a twist. These types of tours very considerably and we cannot probably name every variety possible. However, they include: golfing, fishing expeditions on Lake Nasser and the Nile; nature tours in the Sinai; scuba and diving in the Red Sea.
Egypt Fast Facts
Population
74,033,000
Capital and Population
Cairo; 11,146,000
Area
1,002,000 square kilometers
(386,874 square miles)
Language
Arabic, English, French
Religion
Sunni Muslim, Coptic Christian
Currency
Egyptian pound
Life Expectancy
68
GDP Per Capita
U.S. $4,000
Literacy Percent
58
