PACKAGE INCLUSIONS |
Roundtrip Air from New York to Cairo.
5 nights in Cairo, at the Belle Epoque
Breakfast Daily.
All transfers within Egypt with local hosting. Transportation provided by air-conditioned motor-coach.
Cairo sightseeing with Egyptologist, including a visit the Egyptian Museum, the Great Pyramids of Giza, and the defending Sphinx (see itinerary!).
Full day sightseeing to Maadi, visit Road 9 where there is a small souk with many small boutiques worth a browse, from gold, silver to copper ware and bookstores. Lunch is included.
Service of an English-speaking Egyptologist during sightseeing.
Airline Fuel Surcharges.
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HOTELS USED |
Cairo, Egypt
Villa Belle Epoque
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Full day sightseeing to Maadi is included at no additional charge. A $125 value!
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OPTIONS FOR YOUR TRIP |
Sound and Light Show in Cairo $40
Dinner Cruise in Cairo $65
Memphis and Sakkara $75
Great Citadel and Mosque $75
Dinner Cruise in Cairo $65
Citadel and Alabaster Mosque (2 hrs) $45
Pyramids at Dashur Red and Bent - ½ day - $55.00
Alexandria w/ Lunch - $145.00
Alexandria w/o Lunch - $125.00
Long Tour Alexandria with Lunch and Café - $225.00
Abu Simbel from Cairo - $350.00
Nile Cruise. Choose from 3, 4 or 7 day cruise - Starting at $399
(Other optional tours may be available. Please ask your Sales Agent.)
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NOT INCLUDED |
Airport fees and taxes of approx $185
Egpyt entry Visa $25
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ITINERARY |
The Villa Belle Epoque is just a short walk from the Maadi district just south of Cairo. On the main street, Road 9, you will find a small souk with many small boutiques worth a browse; from gold, silver to copper ware and bookstores. In addition there are plenty of coffee and tea houses and restaurants as well as the metro station for convenient transport into central Cairo avoiding the traffic of the city.
In an age of mass tourism, elegant accommodations in intimate settings are rare,but not impossible to find. For over a decade, Belle Époque Travel has helped discerning travelers experience Egypt in style, providing personalized hospitality in unforgettable locations. Opened in March 2009, in Cairo’s most lushly landscaped quarter, the boutique hotel ‘Villa Belle Époque’ is an ideal base for exploring an historic city, and a perfect departure point for touring Egypt.
Maadi (sometimes spelled Ma'adi) is the name of one of the first fully excavated predynastic sites in Egypt; and it is the site for the Maadi culture, the Upper Egypt flavor of predynastic history. Located in a suburb of Cairo, Maadi lies on a rocky ridge next to the Nile River floodplain.
This trip will recall travel in days gone by!
DAY 01: - Depart to Egypt today.
DAY 02: - Upon arrival at Cairo International Airport, you will be met and assisted through customs and formalities, then transferred to your hotel. Balance of the day is at leisure. This evening you may enjoy an optional Sound and Light presentation at the Giza Pyramids. Overnight in Cairo.
DAY 03: - Visit the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities, which houses the world's largest collection of artifacts from the era of the pharaohs including some belonging to King Tut. Or tour Old Cairo, where early Judaism and Christianity flourished in Egypt. Visit sites like the Ben Ezra Synagogue, and the Moallaka Church where the Virgin Mary, Joseph, and the baby Jesus took refuge. Spend the afternoon at the Great Pyramids of Giza built for Cheops, Chephren, and Mykerinos, and the defending Sphinx. An optional visit to the Solar Boat Museum can also be made. Overnight in Cairo. (B/L)
DAY 04: - The day is at leisure or choose an optional half day tour to ancient Memphis, the first capital of Upper and Lower Egypt or Sakkara, site of the Step Pyramid of Zoser. Overnight in Cairo. (B)
DAY 05: - Today enjoy a full day visit to the lovely Maadi suburb of Cairo with its many small boutiques. Maadi offers excellent shopping for gold, silver to copper ware, and features charming bookstores. In addition, there are plenty of coffee and tea houses and restaurants.
Long before the modern suburb of Maadi was taken over by Cairo's well-to-do -- some 9,000 years ago, to be exact -- it was inhabited by ancient merchants, who had established a settlement there. The site was excavated by archaeologists over several seasons in the early 20th century, and what is now known as the Maadi museum, a modest one-story structure at the edge of Wadi Digla was originally a 'dig house'; that is to say, it was the resthouse for archaeologists and a repository for artifacts.
Interest in Egypt's predynastic period has been growing worldwide during the last decade, and there is no doubt Egypt is in need of a well-managed museum devoted to the subject; a place offering a comprehensive understanding of Egypt's complex history before the Pharaohs.
To the east of Maadi lie the valleys and mountains that give access to the Red Sea mountains, which, according to Pharaonic history, were the principal 'eastern gates' of Egypt. The Maadi site was a unique settlement and had little in common with the largely rural settlements elsewhere in Egypt. Come see and decide for yourself! There is a movement afoot to preserve Old Maadi. (B/L)
DAY 06: - The day is at leisure. This evening you may enjoy an optional dinner cruise on the Nile around Cairo. Savor Egyptian and continental cuisines, entertained by belly-dancing and folklore music. Overnight in Cairo. (B)
DAY 07: - You will be transferred to Cairo Airport for your return flight. (B)
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