The Gift of the Nile | Christmas in Egypt

Evening flight and arrival in Cairo with the first light (05:50).

Our local partner takes care of the visa and formalities. And then, straight to the heart of it: the Giza plateau, Khufu, Khafre, Menkaure, the desert panorama point and the Sphinx, waiting for 4,500 years. After lunch, the Grand Egyptian Museum: the Grand Staircase, the Tutankhamun galleries. Early in the afternoon, check-in at the hotel and rest — we have earned it.

In the Coptic quarter, the Greek Orthodox church of St George and the Hanging Church, in lanes that smell of incense.

At the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization, the Royal Mummies Hall — the Pharaohs themselves, face to face. In the afternoon we climb to the Citadel of Saladin and the Mosque of Muhammad Ali, with Cairo spread out at our feet, and we stay as long as it takes to watch the city change colour. The evening is free: Zamalek, the Nile island of galleries and cafés, begins right outside our hotel door. Khan el-Khalili bazaar we keep deliberately for the end — we will live it on our last night, lit up.

Full-day excursion to Alexandria. Three hours on the road, two millennia of Greek memory.

The Catacombs of Kom el-Shoqafa, where pharaonic and Greco-Roman symbols merge underground, Pompey's Pillar, a stop at the Qaitbay fortress, built on the site of the ancient Lighthouse. A seafood lunch overlooking the Eastern Harbour; in the afternoon the Library of Alexandria and a stop on Lepsius Street, at Cavafy's house-museum. Return to Cairo in the evening.

We wake very early. The flight to Aswan leaves with the first light — the only hard hour of the journey.

Our breakfast travels with us, packed by the hotel. We land in the Nile's most languid city before it has properly woken and go straight into the programme, with the sun still low and the monuments empty: the High Dam that changed Egypt's fate, the Unfinished Obelisk in the Pharaohs' quarries, and the Temple of Isis at Philae. We reach the island by boat. Boarding the cruise ship before noon, lunch on board, and an afternoon of our own on deck as the feluccas drift slowly by. Dinner on board: the first night on the river.

A day of two temples on the river: the double temple of Sobek and Horus at Kom Ombo, and the Temple of Horus at Edfu, the best preserved in Egypt.

For the most determined, an optional dawn excursion to Abu Simbel (€100): the two temples of Ramesses II, carved into the rock above Lake Nasser. At Kom Ombo the Crocodile Museum awaits us too. In the evening, Christmas Eve: a festive gala dinner, with the river flowing dark and us in the middle of it.

Christmas on the Nile. The most leisurely day of the journey.

Sailing through the Esna lock, breakfast and lunch on deck with the banks changing like a moving painting. In the afternoon, arrival in Luxor, ancient Thebes, and a visit to Luxor Temple as the lights come on — perhaps its finest hour. In the evening, optionally, the Sound & Light show at Karnak (€50). Dinner on board, moored at the city's quay.

The great day of ancient Thebes: Valley of the Kings, Hatshepsut, Karnak — and in the evening, the Red Sea.

At dawn, optionally, a hot-air balloon over the West Bank (€100), the valley turning pink in the first light. Disembarkation and guided tour: the Valley of the Kings with three burial chambers, the Temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari, the Colossi of Memnon and, before we leave, the grand finale: the hypostyle hall of Karnak with its 134 columns. Departure for the Red Sea via Qena and Safaga (approx. 4.5 hours). Arrival in Hurghada, check-in at the resort and dinner.

December here means 24 degrees, sunshine and one of the clearest seas on the planet.

A free day, with the all inclusive running from breakfast to the last glass. For those who won't sit on a sunbed: an optional cruise to Orange Bay with lunch and snorkelling (€60), or a desert jeep safari with sunset, dinner and traditional show (€60). Further experiences are available locally (diving, submarine, dolphins) — details from our escort.

A morning for one last swim and breakfast overlooking the sea; check-out by 12:00 and transfer to Hurghada airport.

We fly back to Cairo — and keep the evening for the finale we owed the city: Khan el-Khalili, the 14th-century bazaar, just as the lanterns come on. Spices, copper, perfumes, the last bargaining in the alleys. Transfer to the airport and flight to Athens (arrival 01:25). We return just before the year turns, with all of Egypt in our luggage.