ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS

CAIRO TO DAMSCUS

EGYPT-JORDAN-SYRIA

Guaranteed departures with two persons sharing in double rooms.
You may select to join all three tours or only one or two of the countries’ listed tours.
You may add any extension listed to tailor your visit.

EGYPT and The Sinai Desert

8 days / 7 nights

Day 1: Arrive Cairo airport, meet and assist and transfer to your hotel. Overnight Cairo
Day 2: Full day visit to Memphis, the capital of the Ancient Kingdom and Sakkara.  After lunch visit the Pyramids of Giza and the famous Sphinx. Overnight Cairo  (BL)
Day 3: Begin the day with a visit to the Egyptian Museum with its world-famous displays of artifacts of Egyptian civilization, including the treasures of the boy king, Tutankhamen. From the museum continue to the old city of Cairo to visit the Citadel of Salah-el-Din and Mohammed Ali Mosque and the Medieval Bazaar of Khan el-Khalili.
Overnight Cairo (B)
Day 4(Wed & Fri): Transfer to Cairo airport for morning flight to Aswan.  
(Optional visit to Abu Simbel upon arrival.) Transfer to your Nile cruise. After lunch on board sail the Nile in a felucca (an Egyptian sail boat) around Elephantine Island, then visit the High Dam and the Unfinished Obelisk in the granite quarries.
Overnight Aswan. (BLD)
Day 5: Sail to Kom Ombo to visit the Temple shared by the two gods, Sobek and Horus the Elder. Sail to Edfu to visit the Temple of Horus.
Overnight Esna. (BLD)
Day 6: Sail to Luxor. Visit the Temple of Karnak, which records the glory of the Egyptian Pharaohs, and the Temple of Luxor.
Overnight Luxor. (BLD)
Day 7: Disembarkation after breakfast, followed by a visit to the West Bank and the site of the famed Colossi of Memnon. Explore the Valley of the Queens. Enter some of the tombs and visit the beautifully-terraced Temple of Queen Hatshepsut. Transfer to Luxor airport for your flight to Sharm el-Sheikh. Upon arrival continue by car, driving through the Sinai Desert to St. Catherine Monastery.  Afternoon visit of the Monastery and an evening climb to the top of Mt. Sinai for sunset.
Overnight Catherine Plaza – Sinai. (B)
Day 8: Return to Cairo or continue on to Jordan.

EGYPT and JORDAN
11 days / 10 nights
 

Day 1 to Day 7: EGYPT &  SINAI DESERT
        or join the tour in Aqaba.
Day 8: Transfer from St. Catherine to Nuweiba for ferry crossing to Aqaba. Transfer to your hotel.
Overnight Aqaba. (B)
Day 9: This morning, relax and enjoy the Red Sea. Midday transfer to Wadi Rum, also known as the "Valley of the Moon'. A magnificent lunar landscape of pink sands and black mountains. Transfer to Petra.
Overnight  Petra. (B)
Day 10:  Today you will visit Petra, the "Siq", a long winding fissure between two walls of overhanging cliffs, the famous Treasury, the Street of Facades, the Court House and the Amphitheater.
Overnight  Petra. (B)
Day 11: Depart Petra, traveling north to Amman. On the way visit the crusader’s Castle of Kerak. Continue to Madaba, to visit St. George's Cathedral and the mosaic of Jerusalem and to Mt. Nebo, the burial place of Moses perched on a cliff overlooking the Jordan Valley and Dead Sea.
Transfer to hotel in Amman or transfer to airport. (B)

EGYPT, JORDAN and SYRIA
18 days / 17 nights

Day 1 to Day 11: EGYPT & JORDAN
             or join the tour in Damascus.
Day 12:  After a morning City tour of Amman travel north to Damascus. On the way visit Jerash, one of the best-preserved Roman cities. Continue north to cross the border to Syria and transfer to your hotel in Damascus.
Overnight Damascus. (BD)
Day 13:  Full day visit of Damascus including the National Museum, Omeyad Mosque, Azem Palace, Via Recta, Anania's House, Bab Charki & St Paul's Window. 
Overnight Damascus. (BD)
Day 14: Depart Damascus to visit the ancient site of Palmyra including the museum, the temples of Bel, Baal Shamin and Nebo, the Roman Bath, the Tetrapyle, Diocletian's Camp & the Tomb's Valley. 
Overnight Palmyra (BD)
Day 15: Travel north to visit the famous Crusader's castle Crac-des-Chevaliers, continuing north to Hama with its Norias to arrive in Aleppo. Overnight Aleppo (BD)
Day 16: Visit Aleppo city, the museum, the Grand Mosque, the 8km old Bazaar, the Citadel and some caravanserai. In the afternoon visit St. Simeon Byzantine cathedral, considered the largest in the Byzantine Empire.
Overnight Aleppo (BD)
Day 17: Travel south to visit Serjilla, one of the 500 Dead Cities that were built during the 4^th and 7^th century and disappeared around the 9^th century for unknown reasons.  Continue with a visit to Apamea, the antique 1000-columns Hellenistic city. Proceed to the village of Maaloula, where the people still speak Aramaic, and visit St. Sergius chapel.
Overnight Damascus. (BD)
Day 18: Transfer to Damascus Airport. (B) 

TOURS INCLUDE:
     Hotel accommodations with daily breakfast (B)
     Meals: (L) lunch (D) dinner, per itinerary
     Transfers and tours by air-conditioned private vehicles
     English-speaking drivers/guides
     Entrance fees
     Air fare: Cairo – Aswan;  Luxor – Sharm el-Sheikh
     Ferry crossing from Nuweiba to Aqaba

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