Legendary Empires

Day 1 Cairo, Egypt

Arrive in Cairo and transfer to Oberoi Mena House Hotel. Gather this evening for a welcome dinner and briefing.

Day 2 Cairo / Giza

Our tour begins with an exploration of the
Egyptian Museum’s extensive collection of ancient artifacts, including treasures from King Tutankhamen’s tomb. Continue to Giza, where you will view the impressive Great Pyramid and the Sphinx. Return to your hotel for dinner and overnight.

Day 3 Cairo / Alexandrai / Embark the Odyssey

This morning drive to Alexandria. Visit numerous monuments, including Pompey’s Pillar, the catacombs, amphitheater, and the new Library of Alexandria, opened in 2002. This evening board the Odyssey and settle in before setting sail.

Day 4 At Sea

Enjoy a relaxing and educational day at sea as your lecture series begins.

Day 5 Beirut, Lebanon / Byblos

This morning arrive in Lebanon’s historic capital, Beirut, and depart overland to beautiful Byblos. The city’s history reaches back 7,000 years and offers a panoply of Phoenician, Roman, and Byzantine-era ruins. This seaport, from which the words “Bible” and “book” are derived, once imported papyrus and exported it as scrolls. A highlight is a visit to Byblos Castle, built by Crusaders and enclosing a picturesque walled city of Phoenician monuments.

Day 6 Beirut / Baalbek

Today drive across the fertile Bekáa Valley to Baalbek, one of the most impressive sites of the ancient Roman world. Explore the well-preserved temples of Jupiter, Bacchus, and Venus, surrounded by lovely gardens, as well as the Roman Acropolis, considered to be among the most important ever built.

Day 7 Beirut / At Sea

Often called the “Paris of the Middle East,” a city tour showcases Beirut’s collage of modern and ancient architectural marvels as you drive through the commercial Hamra area and past Martyr’s Square. Also visit the National Museum where artifacts from prehistoric times to the medieval Mamluk period are on display. Browse the colorful market for mementos before returning to the ship for lunch.

Day 8 Port Said, Egypt / Tanis

Disembark in Port Said and depart for Tanis — once capital of Egypt from 1070 to 715 B.C., this is the most important and impressive archaeological site in Egypt’s northern delta. Your historians guide you through the walled city, which is studded with obelisks, statues, and columns, many inscribed with royal rulers’ names, particularly Ramses II.

Day 9 Port Said / Suez Canal Transit

An extraordinary experience awaits you today as your ship slips into a convoy of vessels for the southbound transit of one of the world’s greatest engineering feats: the 101-mile-long Suez Canal. Its completion in 1869 marked the severing of the African and Asian continents, providing a convenient shortcut for ships that formerly made the arduous and lengthy journey around the Cape of Good Hope. Learn the history of the canal and the ancient trade routes that preceded it and your vantage point on deck affords close-up views of the contrasts in landscape—rugged terrain on one side and lush greenery on the other.

Day 10 Sharm el Sheikh / Monastery of St. Catherine

From the coastal town of Sharm el Sheikh ascend nearly 5,000 feet to explore the splendid 6th-century Byzantine Monastery of St. Catherine. The church houses one of the world’s most magnificent collections of gold icons, dating back to the 5th century, and the museum has a sampling of manuscripts second in importance only to those of the Vatican.

Day 11 Sharm el Sheikh

Today board local boats for a cruise to Ras Mohammed, where the Gulf of Aqaba meets the Gulf of Suez. Here enjoy a delightful snorkel experience among some of the world’s best coral reef ecosystems.

Day 12 Aqaba, Jordan / Petra

Disembark this morning in Aqaba, Jordan’s only seaport. A short drive brings us to the superb ruins of Petra, capital of the Nabataean civilization, which flourished between 200 B.C. and A.D. 200. In a dramatic approach enter the Siq, a narrow chasm between 600-foot-high rock walls, which opens into the ancient city. Before you lay spectacular rock-cut tombs, temples, and a theater, each carved from vividly hued, iron-rich sandstone, which earns it the nickname “Rose-Red Petra.” The façade of the treasury, remarkably well-preserved, bears testimony to Petra’s prominence as a wealthy center monopolizing the lucrative trade routes north of the Red Sea. Dinner and overnight at Movenpick Petra Hotel.

Day 13 Petra / Wadi Rum / Aqaba

Drive south to Wadi Rum, the majestic valley made famous by T.E. Lawrence and featured in the epic movie Lawrence of Arabia. For lunch enjoy a sumptuous feast of local specialties, sheltered by Bedouin tents and surrounded by dramatic sandstone formations that tower over the desert floor. This evening return to your ship in Aqaba to overnight pier side.

Day 14 Aqaba / Pharaoh's Island, Egypt

Today board a wooden sailboat for a scenic cruise to nearby Pharaoh’s Island. Go ashore to visit the photogenic 12th-century fortress and have the opportunity to snorkel in the warm turquoise waters. Return to Aqaba where there is time to explore on your own before departing for Safaga.

Day 15 Safaga / Disembark / Luxor

After an early breakfast disembark the Odyssey in Safaga and depart overland to Luxor. After check-in and lunch at your hotel, visit the Luxor Temple, discovered less than a century ago in the heart of the city. Red granite obelisks, the huge Sitting Ramses II colossus, Amenhotep’s colonnade, and a mosque built atop the pharaonic temple are supremely photogenic highlights. Dinner and overnight at the Hilton Luxor.

Days 16-17 Luxor

You will have two full days to explore Luxor’s magnificent ancient splendors. At the enormous complex of Karnak be greeted by Ptolemy III’s impressive gate, still in near-perfect condition, walk among obelisks of staggering height, and along the Avenue of the 1,000 Sphinxes.

Cross the Nile to ancient Thebes, a World Heritage Site, and its Valley of the Kings. Cut deep into the rocky mountainsides and surrounded by the high Gurna Hills are the magnificent tombs of Egypt’s principal pharaohs. Visit the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut, constructed at the top of three massive terraces and continue to the two “singing” statues of King Amenhotep III, which once guarded his namesake temple and the largest temple of Thebes. Also board feluccas, traditional Nile sail boats, for a scenic cruise along this legendary river.

Day 18 Luxor / Cairo

Board your group flight (included in cruise fare) to Cairo this morning and transfer to the Fairmont Hotel for an afternoon at leisure. Attend a festive farewell dinner this evening.

Day 19 Cairo / Return Home

This morning transfer to the airport for your independent flight home.