Luxury Egypt & Jordan: Cairo, Petra & Wadi Rum

Arrive in Cairo and settle into one of the city’s leading luxury hotels before beginning with the sight that has drawn travelers to Egypt for centuries: the Pyramids of Giza.

Explore the plateau privately with an expert Egyptologist, taking time over the Great Pyramid, the Sphinx, and the wider landscape rather than treating Giza as a quick photo stop. Follow this with Cairo’s great collections of ancient Egyptian art, ideally with specialist guiding that can bring some structure to an enormous amount of history.

There should also be time to experience Cairo away from the pharaohs. Islamic Cairo, historic palaces, galleries, and a long dinner beside the Nile give a much better sense of the capital as a living city rather than simply the gateway to ancient Egypt.

Continue to Luxor, where the sheer concentration of ancient sites makes this one of the most extraordinary stops in Egypt.

Spend time on the East Bank exploring Karnak and Luxor Temple before crossing the Nile to the West Bank. Here, the Valley of the Kings holds the tombs of Egypt’s New Kingdom pharaohs, while the Valley of the Queens, the Temple of Hatshepsut, and the Colossi of Memnon reveal a completely different side of ancient Thebes.

A specialist Egyptologist is particularly valuable in Luxor. Instead of trying to enter every available tomb, we would focus on a smaller selection chosen for their decoration, historical importance, and current access. The source itinerary specifically includes the Valley of the Kings, Tutankhamun’s tomb, Nefertari’s tomb, Hatshepsut’s temple, and the Colossi of Memnon.

Jordan begins in Amman, a capital where Roman ruins, contemporary restaurants, old neighborhoods, and modern Middle Eastern life sit side by side.

Explore with a private local guide, beginning at the Citadel above the city. Its layers include the Temple of Hercules, Byzantine remains, and the Umayyad Palace, with wide views across Amman’s hills. From there, head down into the city for markets, cafés, local food, and a more informal look at everyday Jordan.

With two nights here, there is also scope to explore beyond the capital, depending on your interests, before continuing south toward Petra.

Leave Petra behind and travel into Wadi Rum, where sandstone cliffs and red desert replace carved cities and ancient temples.

Explore the landscape privately by 4×4 with a local Bedouin guide, heading away from the most visited areas to natural arches, canyons, rock formations, and open desert. The scale becomes clearest later in the day, when the sun drops and the sandstone shifts through shades of gold, rust, and deep red.

Spend the night in a carefully chosen desert camp, with proper comfort but enough simplicity to let Wadi Rum remain the focus. Dinner under the stars and the silence after dark are as important as the daytime exploring. The source journey similarly builds this stop around Bedouin culture and a night in the desert.