Steigenberger Pyramids

Classic Egypt

Classic Express + 3 more + 3 more

Big-name ancient highlights and a classic Nile cruise

8 days

from £2,810 pp

including flights

Highlights of Egypt

Classic Cruise + 3 more + 3 more

Culture in Cairo, cruising the Nile and relaxation by the Red Sea

11 days

from £3,415 pp

including flights

Impressions of the Desert

Off-the-beaten-track Adventure + 1 more + 2 more

Visit one of the Western Desert’s most fascinating oases on a circular itinerary.

10 days

from £4,560 pp

including flights

Egypt's Modern History

Off-the-beaten-track Cruise + 2 more + 3 more

A delightful introduction to the fascinating events that have shaped Egypt since Biblical times

10 days

from £3,915 pp

including flights

Family-Friendly Egypt

Family Beach + 1 more + 2 more

A journey through Egypt’s best bits, designed for all the family.

12 days

from £3,650 pp

including flights

Simply Egypt

Express Beach + 2 more + 3 more

Cairo's iconic sights paired with pure Red Sea relaxation.

11 days

from £3,520 pp

including flights

Quirky excursions

View all excursions in Egypt

Old Cairo

A tour of Old Cairo provides the chance to see some of the relatively little known but fascinating Christian and Jewish heritage of the city. The Copts (Coptic Christians), thrust into the limelight in 2012 with the election of their new pope, are an ancient Christian church whose language is the only descendent of the language of the Pharaohs. The Hanging Church is one of their most impressive constructions, built over a Roman gatehouse, with the nave situated directly over a passageway. As well as the dramatic setting, the interior holds an assortment of treasures, from ancient icons to delicate frescoes and impressive marble columns. The nearby Coptic Museum is home to many important artefacts, some 15,000 of which are on display and help to unveil the story behind this little-known Christian church. You can also see the Ben Ezra Synagogue, believed to be built on the spot where Moses was found in the bulrushes, a reminder that Egypt has a surprisingly prominent role in both Jewish and Christian history.

Women of Egypt Food & Shopping tour

This specialist tour celebrates diversity through culinary exploration and shopping, offering a unique experience that focuses on the remarkable women behind Downtown Cairo's vibrant food scene. Through curated stops at female-owned restaurants, the tour highlights the personal and professional journeys of culinary trailblazers from diverse ethnic, religious, and cultural backgrounds. The experience also extends beyond food, inviting you to discover female-owned local brands that showcase Egyptian culture and traditions while contributing to the economic empowerment of women and preserving Egypt's rich cultural legacy. This half-day tour significantly enhances your understanding of Egypt, taking you beyond its past and into its future.

Saqqara & the Step Pyramid of Djoser

Saqqara is an instructive place to visit, especially to gain an understanding of the development of the burial rituals and monuments of the pharaohs of Ancient Egypt. Around the site are numerous mastabas: single-storey structures with flat roofs and sloping sides which were built over one or more burial chambers cut into the bed rock. Inside these mastabas you’ll find beautiful painted scenes and hieroglyphics that echo but predate those found in the tombs of the Valley of the Kings in Luxor. As the pharaohs became wealthier and more grandiose, they began to stack layers of decreasing size onto their mastabas, a style that culminated with the Step Pyramid of Djoser, an impressive structure with an interesting attendant funerary temple. The logical development of the pyramid continued from Djoser’s Step Pyramid and reached its apogee with the Great Pyramid at nearby Giza. In addition to providing context to the development of tombs and pyramids, Saqqara fascinatingly combines large-scale monuments with smaller gems, like the tomb paintings.

Unguided Walking tour of Cairo Mosques

For those eager to get inside some of the city’s mosques, there is an easy route that we would recommend in combination with a visit to the Citadel. The unguided walk starts at a square called Midan Salah Al-Din just below the western side of the Citadel. The square is actually a 15 minute walk from the Citadel despite being a stone’s throw away, as you have to wind down the eastern side so a short taxi ride may be recommended if you’re coming from the Citadel itself. To the north-west of Midan Salah Al-Din are the mosques of Sultan Hassan and Rifa’i, similar in outward appearance although almost 600 years separates the two buildings. An often overlooked mosque in the same square is that of Mahmoud Pasha, certainly smaller than its immediate neighbours but still worthy of exploration since it bears the evocative ablaq style of alternating hues of stone on its exterior walls. Walking west from Midan Salah Al-Din along Sharia As-Salbiyya, your eventual destination should be the Mosque of Ibn Tulun however a couple of notable distractions reveal themselves along the way. The first is the twin legacy of the Khanqa (a hostel for monks) and Madrassa left by Amir Shaykhu. The two buildings lie on opposing sides of the street yet have almost identical outward facades and courtyard style interiors. In theory all but a handful of mosques in Egypt are open to tourists and non-Muslims for free. Avoid visiting on a Friday or known holy-day, and it is realistic to pay a small “bakhsheesh” to the guardian who will let you in, and look after your shoes whilst you explore.