Alexandria & Cairo Pilgrimage

Today explore the impressive site of Giza; constructed in appx 2690 BC, the Pyramids of Mycerinus, Chefren & the Great Pyramid of Cheops, are the only survivors of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Face the mystical Sphinx, reputedly used as target practice by Napoleon’s troops. Continue to the ancient capital of Memphis and visit the Step Pyramids of Sakkara – the oldest surviving Egyptian pyramid.  

Dinner tonight is at your hotel.

Optional: This evening attend the inspiring Sound & Light Show at the Pyramids.

Note: The new Grand Egyptian Museum may open sometime in 2021. it is located near the Pyramids. A key focus is on the boy king Tutankhamun. When opened it will be the largest Museum in the world, the construction alone has cost over US 1 billion.

This could be added into the program in place of Memphis and Sakkara, subject to the Museum being open.

When Christ was an infant, the Holy Family found haven in Egypt for nearly four years, following a prophecy from Hosea who foresaw the flight from Bethlehem, where there was no safe place for the Christ child to lay his head.
After breakfast, travel north to visit Deir Abu Maqar then continue to Wadi El Natrun.  Of the 50 original Christian monasteries that once thrived at the edge of the Western Desert, only four remain, and the Wadi El Natrun monasteries are still an important place of pilgrimage for Egypt’s Coptic Christians.
Visit Deir al-Baramus, the oldest of the monasteries, which is surrounded by high fortifications that once sheltered the monks against desert raids by Berbers and Bedouins. Explore the sanctuary, keep, and refectories, where you’ll find colorful frescoes that date back to medieval times. Continue to Deir Anba Bishoi, a monastery with exquisite art and architecture that houses the remains of several important Coptic saints. Visit the churches contained within the monastery walls. In the afternoon visit Deir El Suryani then stop for lunch at a local restaurant. In the afternoon, tour Wadi El Natrun’s two remaining Coptic monasteries, Deir Abu Maqar and Deir El-Suryani.   Continue to Alexandria, your base for two nights. Dinner is included tonight at your hotel.  

It was in Alexandria, that St Mark introduced Christianity to Egypt. Coptic Christians believe he arrived in the city around AD 42 and stayed for about seven years. He is considered the founder of the church in Alexandria and the first Bishop of Alexandria.   According to tradition St Mark was arrested during a festival and martyred. It is believed his was buried under the church he founded and that his body was later was removed by Venetian merchants.

Today visit St Mark’s Coptic Cathedral, the first Christian church in the African continent. Later visit Pompey’s Pillar, which is the largest Roman column, in Alexandria, Egypt this red Aswan granite standing some 90 feet high, with a circumference of 27 feet, the pillar was erected in honor of the Emperor Diocletian. Continue to The Library of Alexandria, which is shaped like a massive, partly hidden, tilted disc rising up from the Mediterranean, the Bibliotheca was inaugurated in 2002 as a resurrection of the ancient Great Library of Alexandria, which had formed the cornerstone of ancient intellectual life.   The museum comprises more than 1800 archaeological pieces that narrate the Pharaonic, Greek, Roman, Coptic, Islamic, and modern history of Egypt. Continue to the Catacombs of Kom El Shoqafa

Alexandria was called the Paris of the Antiquity, with the Catacombs of Kom El Shoqafa, part of the Necropolis of the City of the Dead, originally built as a tomb for a single family, but later expanded into a large burial site.   These tombs were tunneled into bedrock at the time of the Antonine emperors in the 2nd century AD for a single wealthy family still practicing the ancient religion. Although the funerary motifs are purely ancient Egyptian, the architects and artists were schooled in the Greco-Roman style.

Dinner tonight is included at your hotel.

This morning return to Cairo. Option to extend your program today to fly to Upper Egypt and embark on a Nile Cruise. This afternoon visit the Egyptian Museum, based in central Cairo.

Dinner tonight is included at your hotel.

Today visit Old Cairo’s Coptic Churches, including the Hanging Church. Walk along the path of the Church of St. Sergius, where Christ and family walked and hid in the cave. Then visit the Monastery of St. George, where St. George was chained, continue to St. Mercurio (Abu Seifein) & Santa Barbara. Visit the Coptic Museum founded in 1910 by Marcus Simaika Pasha. It is the most recently-built of Cairo's major museums and is home to one of the richest collections of Coptic Christian art in the world, featuring antiquities of the Coptic period (300-1000 AD). Around 16,000 pieces are displayed in the museum, arranged where possible in a chronological order.

Optional visit to the Ben Ezra Synagogue, located in Cairo center, which was built by chief rabbi in Jerusalem Abraham Ben Ezra in the late 9th century within the walls of the Fortress of Babylon (as Old Cairo was known in ancient times). The basilica-style temple is home to a Jewish heritage library, which includes a Torah on gazelle skin dating back to the fifth century BC and an "Atlas of Moses" manuscript. The synagogue is known principally for its storeroom, or Geniza, which housed a rich store of political, economic, and social books and manuscripts about the condition of Jews under Arab rule in Egypt in the Middle Ages or visit the Church of the Virgin Mary, where the Holy family departed to visit Upper Egypt.

Dinner tonight is included at your hotel.

Today transfer to the Airport for your departure flight.

• Meet and assistance on arrival, inside immigration
• Egyptian visa on arrival. (Offer valid for US/UK/NZ/Canadian/Australian passport holders, with 6 months validity after departure date). Other nationalities upon application
• Private licensed Egyptologist, ex Cairo
• Return Airport to hotel transfers
• All touring and transfers in Air-conditioned transportation
• Accommodation in Deluxe hotels in Cairo & Alexandria
• Daily buffet breakfasts at hotel
• Evening dinners at Cairo and Alexandria hotels
• Activities & entrance fees as per the itinerary

• Visits to Coptic Christian sites as specified

• A bottle of water in the tour vehicle each day

• Comprehensive Travel Notes as provided by Innovative Travel

• International Airfares
• Travel Insurance (compulsory)
• Personal Expenses
• Porterage
• Tipping/gratuities (please refer to tour notes for a recommended guideline)
• Extra hotel charges (minibar or any other services)
• Meals not specified
• Optional Sightseeing or activities not mentioned in the itinerary
• Departure taxes (if applicable)
• Port taxes and fuel surcharges (if applicable)
• Local tourism tax (if applicable)
• Early checkin/late checkout
• Any other services not clearly mentioned in the inclusions above