Fly to Luxor and enjoy lunch on board your luxury ship after check in. Explore the Luxor Temple and the extraordinary Karnak Temple, once connected to Luxor Temple by a two-mile path lined with sphinxes. Next morning, visit Luxor’s West Bank and stand in awe at the necropolis of pharaohs and nobility as you are greeted by the Colossi of Memnon. Visit three very unique tombs on your tour of the Valley of the Kings, where pharaohs of the New Kingdom were interred. Continue to the Valley of the Queens and Nobles and the mortuary temple of Queen Hatshepsut. Lunch is aboard ship and sail to Edfu. M/S SONESTA MOON GODDESS OR SIMILAR.

Take a horse and carriage ride to visit one of the best-preserved temples in Egypt, the Horus Temple in Edfu, which honors the falcon-headed god. Return to the ship and sail to the unique third-century Kom Ombo double temple, dedicated to the crocodile god Sobek and to Horus, and navigate to Aswan. Next morning board a motorized boat to visit the island of Agilkia to see the complex at Philae with its third century B.C. Temple dedicated to the goddess Isis. Then sail to a Nubian Village to learn about their simple lifestyle, culture and traditions. Partake in a henna session, plate your hair into braids, and enjoy lunch inside one of the Nubian houses. M/S SONESTA MOON GODDESS OR SIMILAR.

Fly to Abu Simbel to discover two of the most tremendous monuments of the ancient world at over 100 feet high and guarded by colossal stone figures of Ramses II. Then, fly back to Cairo and connect with your flight to Khartoum where you transfer to your luxury hotel. Next day, head out for a tour of Khartoum. Begin at the National Museum of Sudan, a wonderful repository of relics of the Kush Kingdom as well as two complete temples built by Queen Hatshepsut and Pharaoh Thutmose III. Cross the confluence of the Blue and White Niles on your way to Omdurmanin in time for lunch. Visit Khalifa’s Wax Museum and the local souk. CORINTHIA HOTEL KHARTOUM.

Arise early and head into the expanse of the Western Desert, experiencing the wonderment of 360° vistas along the way. Visit Old Dongola, the capital of the medieval Christian kingdom of Makuria on the east bank of the Nile River. Reach Karima in the late afternoon on the bank of the Nile and near Jebel Barkal, an isolated monolith believed to be the source of kingship for Nubian and Egyptian rulers. NUBIAN REST-HOUSE.

Head into the expanse of the Western Desert and visit Old Dongola, the capital of the medieval Christian kingdom of Makuria. Reach Karima in the late afternoon on the bank of the Nile and near Jebel Barkal, an isolated monolith believed to be the source of kingship for Nubian and Egyptian rulers. Next day, venture out to the foot of Jebal Barkal, a UNESCO World Heritage site and often referred to as “the Mount Olympus of the Nubian kings.” After lunch, travel to the village of El Kurru and the ancient Nubian capital of Napata. The site features a cemetery for Nubian royalty, a pyramid field where 21 kings, along with 52 queens and princesses, were interred. The oldest is that of King Taharqua (690- 664 BCE), which reaches a height of 164 feet. Next day, drive across the Nubian Desert to Tombos to see the statue of King Taharqua lying in the middle of the old granite quarry, and then head to Kerma to see the remains of the old capital of the Kingdom of Kush and the mysterious Defuffa (in Arabic mud brick building). NUBIAN REST-HOUSE.

Cross the Nile and enter the Bayuda Desert. Drive past the simple huts of the nomadic Bisharin, pastoralists who tend camels and domesticated livestock. Take a pontin (ferry) and mingle with locals and their assemblage of goats, camels, and donkeys as you float across the world’s longest river. Next morning, enter the Royal Necropolis of Meroe, its summit adorned with the stone vestiges of Kushite kings, sitting atop yellow dune capped hills, punctuated by the piercing apexes of 40 well-preserved pyramids. Transition to the Royal City, an archeological treasure trove as it marks a point in time where Nubians began to depart from Egyptian influences. As a result, many of the inscriptions are in the Nubian, Meroitic script and not hieroglyphics. Although mentioned in the writings of Herodotus in 430 BCE, Meroe is still an enigma. Meroitic script has yet to be deciphered and much of the site has yet to be excavated. MEROE CAMP.

Visit a market in the town of Shendi and continue to Naga, a collection of ruins dating from the Meroitic Period, and like Meroe, its temples are a showcase of Kushite culture. At a small building called the kiosk, Egyptian, Greek, and Roman stylistic flourishes are present due to Meroe’s status as a center of trade in antiquity. Drive back to Khartoum in the evening and enjoy a farewell dinner. Next morning is at leisure for your last-minute shopping and exploring Khartoum on your own. Later, transfer to the airport for your overnight flight back to the U.S.

Begin your adventure at the White City of Amman, a modern city holding 5,000 years of history. Explore Jerash, the ‘Pompeii of the East’ and its pristine architectural wonders. Visit Madaba, Mt. Nebo and the Crusader Castle at Kerak en route to ancient Petra, carved into the desert’s red sandstone cliffs. Discover soaring temples, elaborate tombs, a Roman theater and one of the most elegant remains of antiquity, Al Khazneh. Relax on the shores of the Dead Sea, the lowest point on land in the world, before flying to Cairo to start your pharaonic adventure!