Staff meets you in the lobby of your Luxor area hotel at 8AM and you drive upriver to Edfu to visit the famous Temple of Horus. Then heading back downriver (toward Luxor) you stop at El Kab to visit the ruins of the famous Pharaonic era city then continue to Esna to visit the Temple of Khnum and see the famous river locks that all the Nile cruisers pass through. Tour ends about 5PM with the return to your hotel.

TEMPLE OF HORUS: The temple was built during the Ptolemiac era on top of an earlier temple to Horus, which was oriented east-west instead of the current north-south configuration. The oldest part of the temple is the section from the Festival Hall to the Sanctuary; this was begun by Ptolemy III in 237 BC. The Temple was abandoned after the Roman Empire became Christian and paganism was outlawed in 391 AD. It lay buried up to its lintels in sand, with homes built over the top, until it was excavated by Auguste Mariette in the 1860s. The sand protected the monument over the years, leaving it very well preserved today.

EL KAB: The site of el-Kab, known in ancient times as Nekheb, is located 32 km (20 miles) south of Esna on the Nile's west bank. Activity at the site spans the entirety of ancient Egyptian history and beyond, from the Predynastic period to the Coptic era. It was the cult home of Nekhbet, the vulture goddess of Upper Egypt, who was traditionally paired with the cobra goddess of Lower Egypt, Wadjet. The site is littered with remains of temples, settlements, cemeteries, and rock-cut tombs, but the most impressive feature still visible is a massive mud brick town wall, which dates to the 30th Dynasty (380–343 BC). Nekhbet's principal temple at the site is found within a large mud brick enclosure wall containing additional structures, including a New Kingdom temple dedicated to Thoth, the remains of a birth house, and a small temple of Roman date (30 BC–AD 364), as well as a sacred lake. The cliffs at the edge of the site are filled with rock-cut tombs from various periods. The most impressive of these date to the Second Intermediate Period through the early part of the New Kingdom, and include the tomb of Ahmose, son of Ibana, and the tomb of Ahmose Pennekhebt . Both tombs contain important biographical accounts regarding the expulsion of the Hyksos from Egypt by the first king of the dynasty. Further tombs of note are those of Pahery and Renni, which date to the reign of Thutmose III. The decoration inside the tombs is amongst the most beautiful at the site. The tomb of Pahery is especially well-known for its agricultural, boating, and funerary scenes, which include female-mourners. El-Kab was strategically located at the mouth of the Wadi Hellal. The cliffs of this wadi are covered with petroglyphs and inscriptions dating from the prehistoric era through the Late Period, attesting to its importance as a route from the Nile Valley into the Eastern Desert. Located within this wadi is a temple to Hathor and Nekhbet built by Amenhotep III (ca. 1390–1352 BC), as well as a smaller stone chapel erected by Setau, Viceroy of Kush under Ramesses II (ca. 1279–1213 BC), probably dedicated to Re-Horakhty, Hathor, Amun, and Ramesses II. Both temples were restored during the Ptolemaic Period.

TEMPLE OF KHNUM: The Temple of Khnum, dedicated to the ram-headed god of the annual flood, is in the center of the modern town of Esna. Due to the accumulation of silt in the area, it is now about 9 meters below street level. The hypostyle hall has well-preserved reliefs that date from the 1st to the 3rd century AD. A series of texts here describe the festivals at Esna and include two hymns to Khnum.

Included: Transfer from your metro Luxor hotel to the sites included in tour program, entry fees to sites included in tour program, Egyptologist fluent in English, Lunch at a local restaurant, bottled water during the tour, taxes and service charges.
NOT including: tips for the driver or guide, anything not specifically mentioned as included.