Egypt – Part 1 (Alexandria and Cairo)
We recently took a “bucket list” trip to Egypt. We knew that since this was a place that may not be easy to navigate (not better, not worse, just different), we chose to book a tour. Since many of you know already our love for Disney, we booked our tour through Adventures by Disney (www.adventuresbydisney.com). We absolutely made the right choice using ABD! They had a plan for everything and when the plan didn’t work out, they had a backup plan…we were truly in the “Disney Bubble” the entire time and had access to things that we would never have had on our own (more about that as we move through our days). But I want to point out that it’s not like going to a Disney Park – for those who are not Disney Adults. What it is however is a high touch, high service, curated trip – that leverages Disney’s size and scope to bring rare opportunities. In fact, many in our group were not Disney fans. And for my husband who hates “tours” it proved to be the right way to do this trip.
So, first of all, getting there was quite a feat in itself…Phoenix to London (about 10 hours) and then London to Cairo (another 5 hours). Once we were there, we settled in a day early to the Nile Ritz Carlton. We had a few hours to have dinner and get to bed as we had booked a tour guide to take us to Alexandria on our first day (which was the true ABD arrival day). One of the best pieces of advice for any trip of this type is to arrive at least a day early to allow for any flight or other issues that may pop up.
Our tour guide and driver picked us up around 7 am for the 2 ½ hour drive from Cairo to Alexandria. The traffic is so insane in Cairo and Alexandria (and even on the empty freeway between the two cities) …people just cross the road wherever they want and wait along the road for a ride in a van to get to their destination…very different from any place that I have ever traveled before! In the 1980’s we all thought walk like an Egyptian was the silly walk in a Bangles video, but what it actually means is to stand in the middle of the road and assume you won’t be run over – or to stroll across 8 lanes of highway traffic at you leisure. One Egyptian told us that its just “the way”.
So, Alexandria was amazing. It is Egypt’s second largest city and located on the Mediterranean. Alexandria definitely has a bit of a Greece feel to it – which makes sense since its literally named after Alexander The Great. You can feel the Greek influence in the food and some of the architecture as well. It is most well-known for the Library of Alexandria, which was the 2nd stop during our day. The “original” library no longer exists but the modern library is truly a site. It is part library and part museum. We could have spent the entire day there but unfortunately only had about an hour to see the overview.
Before the library, we visited the Catacombs of Kom El Shoqafa. The catacombs are an important archaeological site. They are carved down through multiple levels of rock and are more than 115 feet underground. The tombs show a fusion of Egyptian, Greek and Roman culture that is something that Egypt is known for in many of its sites. After the library, we had an amazing lunch (at a Greek restaurant) overlooking the Mediterranean and finished the day at the Citadel of Qaitbey. This is a fortress that was built on the original site of the Lighthouse of Alexandria (my husband says there is a really cool documentary about this.) Then we headed back to Cairo.
On our first true ADB tour day in Cairo, we started with a group breakfast to go over details of the tour. Then we started out at the Grand Egyptian Museum (the GEM) which was just opened in November 2025 after more than 20 years of construction. The GEM holds over 100,000 artifacts. We had an amazing Egyptologist who traveled with us and I will talk much more about her later. But she showed us the highlights including the Statue of Ramses II, Khufu’s Solar Boat, burial mask of King Tut and the Grand Hall and Stairs were just some of the highlights.
We then had exclusive access to two very famous sites in Giza…just the Great Sphinx and the Great Pyramid!! The Great Sphinx is a mythical part-human and part-lion creature that was carved from a single piece of limestone. It is 240 feet long and 66 feet high. You and I have seen it a million times throughout our lives – but it’s just different in person. Because of our ABD access, we were able to go right down next to it, touch it, and walk entirely around it – with just our group and no one else! We then went to the Great Pyramid, which is the largest of the 3 pyramids and the only one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World that is still in existence. And it wasn’t just to see the Great Pyramid up close; we were actually able to climb up the outside and go inside. We then climbed inside by using a steep wooden ramp with crossbars and a handrail (the last part of the climb was almost a crawl through a 40 foot long 3 foot high passage) and visited the King’s Chamber! It was so hot inside, but it is a tomb!! Again, thanks to the special arrangements of ABD, we were literally the only people in the entire Giza complex. Just our group and the security people. It was unbelievable.
On our full 2nd day in Cairo, we then visited the Khan el-Khalili Market that was established in the 14th century. It was truly a market where you had to bargain your price for items! We had lunch in one of the oldest restaurants in the market and were served pigeon…and no I did not try it!
We then went to the Saladin Citadel which again is a fortress and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Part of that visit included the Great Mosque of Muhammad Ali which was built in the 1800’s. The Citadel had an amazing view of Cairo all the way to the pyramids, and we were lucky that it was a very clear day!
Our final stop in Cairo occurred the next morning before we left for the Nile (which will be covered in the next post). The final stop was the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization. We visited the Main Gallery with our Egyptologist which took us through the achievements of the eras of Egyptian civilization from the prehistoric times to the “Popular Heritage”. In addition, we were able to visit the Royal Mummies Gallery which included mummies of the ancient 17 kings and 3 queens of Egypt. We saw the outer coffin of Queen Nefertari and King Thutmose, but most impressive was the Mummy of King Amenhotep, which is one of the very few intact, undisturbed mummies in existence.
Then we were off to Aswan to start our tour of sites along the Nile!
