16-Day Egypt & Sinai Holiday: Nile Cruise & Mount Sinai

Our representative greets you in the arrivals hall at Cairo Airport and takes you to your hotel, around an hour's drive. The day is yours to rest. In the evening a private car collects you for a three-hour cruise on the river, boarding as the light turns golden. You help yourself from a large buffet and watch a live show, then are driven back to the hotel.

You are picked up at your hotel for a day of about eight hours with your Egyptologist. The Giza Plateau, with its pyramids and the Great Sphinx, comes first, and a visit there usually takes four to six hours. You then have lunch with a view of the monuments and spend the afternoon in the Grand Egyptian Museum. Entrance fees, bottled water and an air-conditioned car are included.

This is a calmer day of around six hours, spent among Cairo's mosques and churches. Your private guide takes you to the Sultan Hassan and Al-Rifa'i mosques, then up to Saladin's Citadel and the alabaster Mosque of Muhammad Ali. There is a break for lunch in Old Cairo before you reach the Hanging Church and the Church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus.

A driver and a vehicle with air conditioning are included, as are the fees for the mosques and the Citadel.

After the transfer to Cairo Airport you fly to Aswan, where a driver takes you to the Nile. Sightseeing for the cruise begins at once: you see Philae Temple, the High Dam and the Unfinished Obelisk. You then board your ship, find your cabin and have dinner on board. The Egyptologist guide, the entrance fees and the transport for these visits are part of the cruise sightseeing.

Expect a very early alarm. From the moored ship you travel by road to Abu Simbel, where Ramesses II's two rock temples stand in the first light. It takes up the whole morning, and you return to the ship for lunch. After that the ship leaves its mooring, heading north, and you stop to see the twin temple of Kom Ombo. The guide, entrance fees and transport are included.

The Temple of Horus at Edfu starts the day. Once the ship reaches Luxor, your guide leads you around Luxor Temple and the great complex at Karnak, including its Sacred Lake. There is a lot of ground to cover, mostly on foot over stone. Tonight is your final night on the ship. Fees, guiding and transport are all taken care of.

Once you have had breakfast and left the ship, you cross the river to the West Bank. The Valley of the Kings comes first, with entry to three tombs, then Hatshepsut's mortuary temple at Deir el-Bahari and the Colossi of Memnon. Your guide, the tickets and the transport are included. Later a transfer drops you in downtown Luxor at your hotel.

You set off by private car with an Egyptologist for the Temple of Hathor at Dendera, a half-day outing of about six hours including the drive. Lunch is at a local restaurant. When you are back in Luxor you spend the rest of the day at the Luxor Museum, a quieter way to look at the statues and objects that connect the temples you have already seen.

Today is for travelling. A transfer takes you to Luxor Airport for a flight to Cairo, followed by a second flight to Sharm El Sheikh. The airline sets the times, so we have not planned any sightseeing. On arrival a private car drives you to your hotel, which is where you stay for the following seven nights. Luggage is covered on both flights.

An air-conditioned minibus, shared with other guests, picks you up for Ras Mohammed National Park on the southern tip of Sinai. The excursion runs for about six hours. With an English-speaking guide you snorkel, using the mask and snorkel provided, and see the Magic Lake. A picnic lunch and water are included, as is the national park fee.

Be warned: this is the most demanding day of the holiday, about 17 hours long, and nothing else is planned. You set off during the night and spend roughly three hours climbing Mount Sinai in the dark and the cold, led by a Bedouin guide. The last 750 steps are rock and are taken on foot. After sunrise you descend and have breakfast, then go on to St Catherine's Monastery.

You return late, with little sleep behind you.

After a night on the mountain you are not asked to get up early today. Have breakfast when you like. Later on a minibus collects you for a semi-submarine and glass-bottom boat trip, about three hours in all, of which around 90 minutes are spent looking at the reef. A soft drink and water come with it. The evening is free.

Plan for about 11 hours out in a jeep; it is the only thing on today's schedule. You travel in a shared jeep with a driver and an English-speaking guide, and a Bedouin guide takes you through the Coloured Canyon. You go on to the Blue Hole and into Dahab, where you snorkel with the equipment provided and eat lunch at a restaurant by the sea. The tracks are bumpy, so wear sensible shoes.

Yesterday's trip was long, so today starts late and the morning is free for the pool or the beach. In the late afternoon a minibus takes you on a city tour of about four hours, taking in the Old Market, the Al Sahaba Mosque and SOHO Square. A local guide who speaks English goes with you, and bottled water is supplied.

You share a boat with other guests for a day of about eight hours around Tiran Island. A snorkelling guide looks after the swims, and a mask, snorkel and fins are provided. Lunch is served on board along with soft drinks and water. The marine park fees are included. It makes a fitting final day on the coast before you leave.