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| VANTAGE DELUXE WORLD TRAVEL |
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| Optional Tours |
| Ancient Egypt & the Nile |
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LEARN more… EXPLORE more… DREAM more…
Enrich your vacation with Vantage’s collection of deluxe optional tours,
designed exclusively for our guests
Add a unique dimension to your trip with Vantage’s optional tours. You’ll discover a world beyond the landmarks and gain immeasurable insight into the culture and people of your destination. Here’s why our guests love our optional tours:
- It’s easy! Just reserve online. And during your trip, enjoy convenient door-to-door service and the expert, local knowledge of an English-speaking guide.
- An invaluable experience at an unmatched value. With unique features and competitive pricing, you could never duplicate Vantage’s exclusive optional tours on your own.
- Excellence is our #1 priority. Our local travel planners constantly monitor the quality and pace of our tours. From coaches to guides, we always have your interests and comfort in mind.
Best of all, we take care of all the details for you. Once you’ve reserved your vacation, just visit My Account to purchase your optional tour, lock in your price, and receive immediate confirmation. Then rest easy knowing that your trip is fully planned!
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Sakkara (2007)
Join us on an optional excursion and have lunch in the Giza Pyramids area, then ride 15 miles southward to incredible Sakkara. Sakkara is part of Memphis's massive necropolis, and the burial site of most kings of the 1st and 2nd dynasties. Given its vital role in the earliest years of the Egyptian civilization, Sakkara is a focal point of Egyptological studies, and never seems to stop yielding new discoveries.
Its best-known monument is the Step Pyramid. Dating to the 3rd Dynasty reign of King Djoser, it’s the oldest known pyramid in all Egypt. Its designer, Imhotep, is credited as well for the first royal stone tombs. Equally notable is the Pyramid of Unas, last king of the 5th Dynasty, who adorned his tomb with the “Pyramid Texts”—actually, spells that supposedly would help his majesty ascend to the heavens, then descend to earth. With an Egyptologist guide leading you, you’ll spend an eye-opening afternoon exploring the necropolis.The cost of this optional tour includes lunch.
Cost: $50 per person
Note: This optional tour can only be booked onsite.
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Sound & Light Show (2007)
After you've had dinner on your own, return to Giza for a spectacular Sound & Light show. Nothing compares to seeing the Pyramids and the Sphinx illuminated at night; the visual effects as well as dramatic commentary make for an unforgettable evening.
Cost: $29 per person
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Excursion to Alexandria
Cairo, Egypt, Full-Day Tour, including Lunch
All aboard the train to Alexandria, Egypt’s second largest city and main port, for a full-day optional tour. Founded by Alexander the Great in 331 BC, Alexandria grew to become one of the most important cities of the Roman Empire—rivaling Rome itself in many respects—and a center of agriculture and great learning. Explore the well-preserved ruins of the Roman amphitheater, which in Ptolemaic times was part of a vast pleasure garden known as the Park of Pan. Built between the second and fourth centuries AD, it is the only known Roman theater remaining in Egypt.
Continue on to the Alexandria Library. Alexandria’s ancient library was the most famous in all antiquity, attracting scholars from all over the ancient world; it was here that Euclid discovered geometry, and Eratosthenes measured the earth’s circumference. The library was ultimately destroyed in a fire, and the vast collection of scrolls was lost. The new library honors Alexandria’s scholarly heritage with a museum and planetarium, in addition to its extensive collections.
After lunch at a local restaurant, see the Fort of Qaitbey from the outside. In 1480, the sultan Qaitbey built the fort on the site of the Lighthouse of Alexandria, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. He incorporated debris from the lighthouse into its construction, and aligned the building’s corners with the four points of the compass. During your tour, you’ll also explore the brand-new National Museum, a fascinating repository of artifacts chronicling Egypt’s Hellenistic and Pharaonic past. You’ll enjoy a stroll through the city center before returning to Cairo by motorcoach, arriving in the evening.
Approximate Time: 10 hours
Cost: $125
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Spiritual Cairo (2007)
Join our optional Spiritual Cairo tour and explore some of the early religious monuments of the city. You’ll visit the El Muallaqa, dating to the late fourth and early fifth century. This basilica was named for its location on top of the south gate of the Fortress of Babylon. Muallaqa means “suspended or hanging.” Destroyed in a ninth-century earthquake, the church became the center of the Coptic (or Christian) Church of Egypt from the time it was rebuilt in the eleventh century until the 1 4th century. Make a stop at the Ben Ezra Synagogue, built sometime between the sixth and ninth centuries AD. The temple contains a Jewish Heritage Library, containing documents found here in 1896 that describe the economic and social conditions of Jews under Arab rule as well as descriptions of relations between various Jewish sects.
You’ll also explore what may be the largest traditional shopping bazaar in the world, the Khan el-Khalili Bazaar. In the tiny alleyways, there are hundreds of shops where you can watch gold and coppersmiths, brass makers, and fortunetellers at work. Look also for leather goods and woodwork inlaid with camel bone and mother-of-pearl. Bargaining, Arab-style, is the norm here, and practiced as a national pastime.
Then visit The Citadel (the Fortress of Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi), built in 1183 and overlooking the city from the Muqattam Hills. The structure, with its domes and minarets, looks over a number of important buildings, including the Alabaster Mosque. Its domed interior, used by Moslems for daily prayers, is a spectacular sight of twinkling lights and beautiful mosaics.
Cost: $40 per person
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Abu Simbel (2007)
Join us for an optional excursion to Abu Simbel. After an early breakfast, you fly (approximately 40 minutes) south, and spend time exploring the magnificent monuments carved into solid rock 3,000 years ago. In a monumental feat of modern engineering, these massive temples were moved to their present location when construction of the Aswan High Dam in 1960 created Lake Nasser and flooded their original location. This extraordinary operation to save one of the world’s greatest treasures took years and the efforts of an international team of engineers and archaeologists.
The two temples at Abu Simbel were built by Egypt’s great Pharaoh Ramses II (Egypt’s longest-ruling king) as a tribute to the deities and his favorite wife Nefertari. Four colossal statues, 60 feet high and directly facing the rising sun, are of the pharaoh himself, with his queen and daughters at his feet. More tremendous statues surround you as you enter the temple. And in the very depths of the temple, Ramses sits in state flanked by the gods to whom the construction is dedicated.
Originally built into the side of a mountain, the temple is now backed by an artificial mountain built to resemble the original location. The temple was constructed so that the rising sun shone between the statues of Ramses and into the inner recesses of the sanctuary on February 22nd and October 22nd. Modern engineers spent a full year calculating the new placement of the temple to reproduce this miracle. Today, as it has for millennia, the sun’s rays illuminate the holy statues for 20 minutes on those dates each year.
Cost: $199 per person
Please note: This optional tour cannot be purchased on site and must be reserved at least 45 days prior to your departure. The price listed is the U.S. dollar estimate determined at the time of publication and is subject to change, so the sooner you purchase this optional tour, the sooner you secure your space and protect your price against any currency fluctuations. Vantage cannot guarantee the length of your visit at Abu Simbel due to potential delays in flight schedules. For details, call your Vantage Sales Agent.
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Temple of Dendera (2007)
Disembark ship this morning for a half-day visit to the Temple of Dendera built by Romans and Greeks and dedicated to Hathor—goddess of maternal and family love. The temple complex contains birth houses, a Coptic church, the Hathor Temple, and a Hypostyle Hall. One of the celebrated features of the temple is an astronomical ceiling beautifully decorated with vultures, winged disks, and the union between Hathor and Horus. Paintings on the ceiling also represent the two halves of the sky with its northern and southern constellations, the hours of day and night, the sun and moon, and the symbols of the zodiac. You’ll return to the ship in time for lunch.
Cost: $50 per person
Note: This optional tour can only be booked on site.
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Hot Air Balloon Flight
Cairo, Egypt Early Morning Tour
Glide majestically over awe-inspiring villages and monuments that have stood the test of time for many centuries ... see temples and burial grounds of the Pharaohs ... view Luxor, the majestic River Nile, and the Valley of the Kings ... all from an entirely new perspective instilled with the peace and tranquility that only a hot air balloon flight can provide.
As you witness the magnificent landscape bathed in the early morning sunshine, you will most likely agree that Luxor is the world’s greatest open-air museum, and an ideal location for a balloon ride. This enchanting experience may very well be the “height” of your tour!
Tea and coffee will be offered on board the motor launch enroute to the takeoff site. The balloon pilot will do a safety briefing before departure. Each passenger will receive a free souvenir T-shirt and certificate after landing. Flat shoes are recommended, as you will be climbing in and out of the balloon basket, which is approximately four feet high. A hat or head covering is also recommended for sun protection.
Please note: Flights are subject to weather conditions at dawn. Flying directly over a particular sight is not guaranteed. Approximate time of two hours includes the transfer time back and forth, and the flight time. Note: This tour can only operate when weather permits.
Approximate Time: 2 hours
Cost: $149
Note: This optional tour can only be booked on site.
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Note: Please be aware that not all optional
tours may operate on each departure and space may be limited. We
recommend that you purchase tours prior to your departure. Prices are
per person and subject to change. The deadline to sign up is 30 days
prior to departure. If pricing is not listed for a particular tour, it
is not yet available. Booked passengers will be notified when pricing
is available. In some cases, a minimum number of passengers will be
required for the tour to operate. Tour information is subject to change.
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