Egypt: Cairo and Alexandria

Flight from your hometown to Cairo Airport. *

Welcome.Transfer to the hotel and free time. You will receive information for the start of the circuit in the afternoon, or through the information posters located at the hotel reception.

* The client may choose to take the flight included in the package or buy and book it on their own.

Full day visit in which we include the famous pyramids of Cheops, Chefren and Mycerinus (entrance to the interior of the pyramids not included), as well as the impressive Sphinx sculpted in rock. Visit of the Egyptian Museum with its ancient art and where the treasure from Tutankhamun's tomb is kept. Lunch included. Also included is the Saladin Citadel and the Alabaster Mosque. We will take a walk through the Coptic neighborhood where we see the hanging church built above a Roman fortress.

We leave Cairo, traveling to the region of WADI NATRUM, an area known for its Coptic monasteries since thousands of Christians fleeing Roman persecutions in the 4th century settled in the area. The monasteries, fortified by attacks suffered in different historical periods, are places that are visited by many pilgrims and will allow us to discover their traditions. Coptic popes are chosen from among the monks of these monasteries. We will visit SAN MACARIO, founded in the year 360, where one of its monks will guide us through the grounds. After that we visited the monastery of ANBA BISHOY, founded in the year 340, the fortified tower is accessed by a drawbridge. We will visit - also guided by a monk - the church, the refectory and the fortress, where several Coptic Popes are buried. Time to walk around the lively area and also visit the huge new cathedral.

We continue our route towards ALEJANDRIA, arriving at this port city of more than 5 million inhabitants. Lunch included. This afternoon we visited the great QAITBEY fortress, built in the year 1480 on a narrow peninsula where the Hellenistic lighthouse was located, which was considered one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. After that, with the bus we travel along the cornice, chaotic, noisy, commercial or elegant depending on the areas. Leisure. Accommodation.

We continue our visit to ALEJANDRIA, entering the impressive KOM ASH SHUQQAFA CATACOMBS, the largest Roman cemetery in Egypt, a surprising fusion of the pharaonic and Greco-Roman style. From here we will walk with our guide through narrow, very commercial and bustling streets to the POMPEY'S COLUMN, an immense column 30 meters high rising above the ruins of a temple. After that we will stop to photograph the outside of the new LIBRARY OF ALEXANDRIA, inaugurated in 2002 with a very modern architecture that reminds us that this city, in the 3rd century BC. It was one of the largest centers for the dissemination of knowledge in ancient times. The Library of Alexandria at that time housed more than half a million papyrus rolls. Lunch included and continuation of our route to ROSETTA. In this small city, very close to the mouth of one of the tributaries of the Nile, the Rosetta Stone was found, just over a meter high, which was key to being able to decipher the hieroglyphic writing of the Egyptians since it contains the same text. written in hieroglyphics, demotic and ancient Greek. We will be able to see a replica of the Rosetta Stone in the Rashid fortress, located a short distance away, in a picturesque small town with streets full of local life and with numerous multi-colored fishing boats on the banks of the river. Nile.

After that we visit Rosetta, a pleasant small city next to the Nile, we will walk through the center seeing (exteriorly) the old Ottoman homes with their brick and wood architecture. We will also include a boat ride along the Nile to admire the views and the activity of the fishing boats in the area. We return to CAIRO.- Arrival at the end of the day.

NOTE: The Rashid fortress is very rarely visited, sometimes it can be closed (in In that case we will see it from the outside and we will walk through the picturesque village of fishermen and farmers)