EL CAMINO SMALL GROUP TRIP
Unforgettable Egypt Itinerary
Come along as we dive deep into the rich culture of Egypt where 8,000 years of history reveals new secrets at every turn.
Day 1
Arrive: !مرحبا بكم في القاهرة, pronounced, Marhaban bikum fi al qahira! Welcome to Cairo! Be whisked away from the airport to our accommodations for the next few nights. Along the way; take it in. Cairo, originally founded in ancient Egypt as sister cities, Memphis and Heliopolis, grew quickly along the shores of the Nile Delta. Later, the cities of Fustat and al-Qahirah found refuge along the Delta, and over time, the four combined to form Cairo, “the city with a thousand minarets”. With 21+ million residents, the hustle and bustle is unlike anything else. This megacity is known as “the Hollywood of the Middle East” and has been recognized as a cultural icon for centuries. Even today, Cairo continues to enchant the globe time and time again. Now it’s your turn to feel the magic.
Our accommodations are nestled on a quiet, shady street of Cairo in the Maadi neighborhood along the eastern shores of the Nile. With a pool, surrounded by guava, lemon, mango, olive, and palm trees—it’s a perfect respite from city life.
Evening: Tonight, we gather for a welcome feast to eat like Pharaohs. We dine on professionally curated dishes by both chefs and food archaeologists. Ingredients depicted on temple walls and the latest and greatest in Egyptian culinary achievement will stretch across the table.
Meals included: Dinner
Day 2
Morning: After breakfast at the hotel, grab comfortable walking shoes, sunscreen, and sun hats. We’re venturing to the Giza Plateau, home to the last remaining wonder of the ancient world—the Great Pyramid. Built roughly around 2500 B.C.E., the Great Pyramid was the world's tallest structure until 1887 C.E. when the Eiffel Tower was completed in Paris. Few sites anywhere in the world cast a shadow as large as the Great Pyramid. In that shadow, there are always secret nooks and crannies to explore.
Afternoon: Everyone has a strong reaction to the Giza Plateau. It’s impactful, and a conversation starter. Chat your thoughts away over traditional Egyptian dips and breads like hummus, labneh, a creamy, strained yogurt, or ful nabed made from fava beans, lemon, olive oil, and onion. Aside from the communal bread tearing to get to the wonderful dips, lunch will overlook the Giza Plateau and all the unknowns surrounding it.
Evening: Free time begins after lunch. You have the option to return to the hotel to relax, or use the time to tap your Eat, Play, Shop guide for some of our must-do recommendations. Our local hosts can point you in the right direction for dinner, or check out one of the hidden gems in your guide. We highly recommend making a reservation at one of the lively local spots we’ve highlighted in the Zamalek neighborhood, where you can try traditional Egyptian dips, flavorful fish sayidia, or shrimp tagine.
Meals included: Breakfast and Lunch
Day 3
Morning: Take your time this morning. We aren’t getting started until around 2 pm for a culinary walking tour, so save your appetite! In the meantime, chill at the pool, shop, or head out for some more exploring. If you like, your host can help you to organize a visit to Khan el-Khalili market or to the Egyptian Museum. The EMC is the oldest archaeological museum in the Middle East, housing over 170,000 artifacts, including the solid gold mask of King Tut, the Menkaure Triad, and countless other historically-rich treasures.
Afternoon: Grab those walking shoes again to visit the best of the typical Egyptian street food spots that locals adore, and remain largely unknown to outsiders. Typical dishes like Koshary, Egypt’s “unofficial-official” dish might make an appearance. While Koshary is true, savory goodness, what Egyptians really like is their sweets. We'll sample Basbousa and Egyptian Goulash (not to be confused with Goulash from Eastern Europe) and many other delicious wonders that will add another layer of understanding to local traditions.
Evening: Use this time however you see fit. Whatever you’re into—exploring more markets, or checking out Egypt’s fashion scene—we’ve got you covered with our favorite recs. Cairo is home to some heavy hitters like Aya and Monaz of Okhtein who have become handbag favorites for Beyonce. Farida Temraz has been labeled the best female designer in both Fashion Week Paris and New York in 2016 and 2017, respectively. Mohammed Kojak was one of the youngest contestants ever in Project Runway history and is still renowned for drama and the utilization of interesting textiles. And those designers are just the tip of the iceberg in Cairo. Our Eat, Play, Shop guide will point you in the right direction for the established and the up-and-comers to check out.
Meals included: Breakfast and Culinary Walk
Day 4
Morning: This morning we're heading to Ibn Tulun Mosque, one of the oldest standing mosques in Egypt, where you will learn more about Islam before proceeding to a museum next door, a 17th-century house known for its labyrinth of rooms filled with objet d'art and inspiration for your next interior design project.
Afternoon: Prior to our flight to Aswan, enjoy a packed lunch prepared by a local organization that provides migrant, refugee, and Egyptian women vocational training through sustainable food production, cooking, and catering. Their cuisine routinely ends up on the tables of Ambassadors and embassies and has become popular with the general public, so dig in.
Then we’re off to Aswan! Laying on the eastern riverbank of the Nile, Aswan is an ancient trading city built on the southern frontier of the Arab and Mediterranean-influenced northern Egypt, and the Nubian, southern Egypt. With sand dunes tiptoeing from the banks into the Nile river waters and ancient temples sprawled across a network of granite islands, this “frontier” town is known by Egyptians as the most beautiful city in the south and is labeled by UNESCO as a Creative City for crafts and folk art.
Evening: Check into our accommodations for the next two nights. Built along the Nile, the location allows us to take in the natural beauty, riverfront breezes, and sunsets of Aswan, named after the Egyptian Goddess, Taweret/Swenett, the great guardian of fertility, or “Mistress of the Horizon”. (She’s the Hippopotamus deity figure you might see on temple walls).
Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner
Day 5
Morning: With an early start, we’re taking a hike to stretch our legs a bit and watch as the Nile and the surrounding desert come to life as we venture south along the reed-filled riverbank. After our 5k hike, we’ll kayak to a Nubian restaurant and eco lodge. Nubia was speculated to be the world’s first (or one of the first) civilizations, and their modern-day descendants go by the same name. They are known and respected for their unparalleled hospitality, which we’ll get to experience as we try traditional and endangered Nubian cuisine. Slow-cooked soups flavored with chilis, coriander, and cumin will likely appear, and no worries—traditional Nubian foods are vegetarian and vegan-friendly, often heavily featuring carrots, okra, peas, spinach, and zucchini. For the epicurious; if you see a paté made from camel liver, mixed with onion and marinated in spices and vinegar—give it a try!
Afternoon: After lunch, we'll hop aboard a motorboat to the “Pearl of the Nile”, Philae Temple. Revered by both ancient Egyptians and Nubians alike as the resting place for the god, Osiris, the Temple was off-limits to the public in ancient times. Birds didn’t fly over it, and fish didn’t swim near it out of respect for the god (according to legend). In recent years, due to hydroelectric development, the temple was dismantled and rebuilt exactly to form its current location, making it both an ancient and modern-day marvel. Fortunately, for us, we can now visit to pay our respects.
Evening: You can’t go to Egypt without a sailing experience to feel like Cleopatra and Marc Antony, and we’ve got one lined up. Our traditional felucca (sailboat) will cruise us at a peaceful and relaxing pace down the Nile to admire the desert sunset where the oranges burn bright, followed by clear, star-filled skies as we enjoy some refreshments.
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch, Drinks
Day 6
Morning: We'll depart Aswan by road with our sights set on Luxor, “the world’s greatest open-air museum”. The east side of the Nile features the modern-day city, one of the longest inhabited in the world, and just across on the western bank is the Necropolis of Thebes, strewn with some of the world’s most impressive ruins and temples, the Valley of the Kings, and the Valley of the Queens. There’s so much to see in a city that the ancient Egyptians named Luxor, literally “The Palaces”— we’ll grab some lunch before we start exploring.
Afternoon: One of the largest religious temple complexes in the world, the Precinct of Amun-Re at Karnak, beckons. Dedicated to the Egyptian sun god, Amun-Ra, thirty pharaohs over the course of a thousand years contributed to the complex. Corridors of sphinxes, pylons, and monuments to pharaohs and gods span across an area of 250,000 square meters. The main temple, dedicated to Amun-Ra covers sixty-one acres, itself (that’s about 23 square New York City blocks).
Evening: Relax and enjoy the hospitality of our new hotel, a stunning oasis where the domes, arches, ceramic fountains, and open-air patios will make you feel like you’re in an Arabian palace. Each room has its own feel with a variety of collectibles and treasures that exude Egyptian elegance, but they all share the cool breeze from the rustling of the wind through the surrounding sugar cane fields. Settle into your room and then head back out to explore the eight-hectare garden or take a dip in the pool.
Meals Included: Breakfast and Lunch
Day 7
Morning: After breakfast, we explore the Valley of the Kings. Tucked away and hidden within the hillsides, 63 tombs (that we know of) were sealed away to protect the Pharaohs within as they slumbered, including the tomb of the legendary King Tutankhamen. The hidden tunnels of tombs are impressive enough, but the original painted hieroglyphics are the true marvel. The paint, while thousands of years old, looks fresh still, as though it were painted yesterday. From the tunnels of King Tut’s tomb, we venture to the Temple of Hatshepsut, one of two known female Pharaohs. An internationally recognized architectural marvel, her temple rises in three great terraces over the desert floor and into the cliffs of Deir al-Bahari. If you’d like to continue your exploration, a visit to Nefertari's tomb can be added on for an additional cost.
Afternoon: We’ll kick back and relax at a local guesthouse where you may just find an archaeologist or two dusting off their clothes. We'll enjoy a lunch of local green or red curry with lentils, alongside other local favorites, on arrival.
Evening: Hop on your bike, and cruise down the west bank of the Nile as the late afternoon golden hour light begins to sweep across the desert. From there, we continue to our final dinner, an intimate and communal gathering overlooking the Nile as the sun dips below the horizon. We'll reminisce while breaking Sun Bread—bread baked from the direct sunlight of the desert and then browned in the oven—and all the dips to go with it.
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner
Day 8
Depart: Say your goodbyes over breakfast before heading to the airport. Leave inspired by the spirit of Egypt’s legacy experienced over the last few days, and return home feeling renewed by the time-locked landscapes and people found in this wondrous place.
Meals included: Breakfast
Pro tip: Based on past travelers feedback and from our own experience, we highly recommend booking an extra night's stay at the hotel we’re staying in Luxor. It truly is a once-in-a-lifetime stay and an extra day is required to make full use of its services, which include a spa, turkish bath facilities, an on-site gallery, and a boutique selling beautiful Egyptian arts and crafts.