Egypt, the most populous country in the Arab world, claims one of the world’s oldest cultures, descending from an ancient civilization that emerged in the 10th millennium BCE. It is best known as the home of the ancient Egyptian civilization, with its temples, hieroglyphs, mummies, and - visible above all - its pyramids. Less well-known is Egypt's medieval heritage, courtesy of Coptic Christianity and Islam - ancient churches, monasteries and mosques punctuate the Egyptian landscape. Egypt stimulates the imagination of western tourists like few other countries and is probably one of the most popular tourist destinations world-wide.
Highly Recommend!
Re: "Splendours of Egypt" Insight Vacations February 2008This 14-day vacation by Insight was the first time we had used this company. It was broken into 3 basic segments:Cairo (5 days), Luxor (2-3 days), Riverboat cruise (7 Days). For the two of us it was a strenuous but wonderful time.Cairo - This city of 31 million stretched our imagination. It is a third World city, of many different images, from the most modern to one of poverty. We stayed at the Marriot Hotel (worth the trip all by itself); a former palace - described by one word - "opulence". Seven restaurants, a beautiful garden, many of the 2 million Arab millionaires living in Egypt were here.Luxor - A one hour plane ride south of Cairo, this city is quite modern, but also with an ancient flare. This is the site of the Valley of the Kings and the Aswaan Damn of the Nile River, the largest in the World.Riverboat Cruise - We spent 7 days on a leisure cruise of the Nile, visited several Temples and Mosques, as well as a day at the Valley of the Kings.On our final 2 days back in Cairo, we visits the city of Memphis (former Capital of Egypt) and Giza, the site of at least 7 pyramids, as well as the Sphinx.Our final comments: Insight is a first rate company. their itinerary is a little too ambitious for 2 seniors in their mid-80's -- but we would not have missed it, and highly recommend this tour, as an "Insight" into our past civilization.
By Jean & Douglas Rochester trip to Egypt