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Tourist watching the sunset over the three Great Pyramids of Giza Cairo Egypt landmark view

Vast, multi-level main reading room inside the modern Alexandria Library (Bibliotheca Alexandrina).

Saqqara-Egypt-A-blonde-Haired-Woman-Stands-In-Front-of-The-Oldest-Standing-Step-Pyramid-in-Egypt -Tripidays-Egypt-Tour

The magnificent Citadel of Salah Al Din in Cairo, home to the iconic Mosque of Muhammad Ali Pasha.

The Great Pyramid of Giza with the Sphinx.

A tourist kneeling next to a saddled camel, with the backdrop of the Pyramids of Giza during a Camel Ride Through the Desert, highlighting the classic Egyptian desert experience.

A camel decorated with colorful blankets resting on sandy landscape, with the majestic Giza Pyramids.

A man leads camels and a horsecart across the golden sand in front of the colossal All Giza Pyramids under a bright blue sky at sunset, with the Giza skyline visible in the distance.

Great Sphinx of Giza and ancient Egyptian pyramids towering under a bright blue sky in the historic Giza Necropolis.

A Girl poses in the desert with her hand near her lips, appearing to Kiss the small Sphinx statue at Giza, with a large pyramid in the background.

Tourists look marveling at the Great Sphinx and Pyramid during their Egypt Tours experience

The large, tiered structure of the Saqqara Step Pyramid Of Pharaoh Djoser, partially under restoration scaffolding, visible in the desert of Saqqara, Egypt, with surrounding complex ruins in the foreground.

The ancient Step Pyramid of Djoser at Saqqara in Cairo, with a wooden walkway leading towards it across a sandy desert landscape.

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Tourists walking toward the massive Red Pyramid of Dahshur, a remarkable ancient Egyptian monument in the desert.

The distinct and imposing Bent Pyramid, a fascinating ancient Egyptian monument in the historic Dahshur necropolis.

Tourists viewing the colossal statue in the stunning, sunlit atrium of the new Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza.

A towering Pharaonic statue inside the Grand Egyptian Museum, standing before a modern, abstract gold and bronze architectural element in the museum's vast hall.

A high-angle interior shot Inside Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM), featuring towering ancient statues and papyrus columns on a grand staircase leading to upper floors in the modern Giza Museum complex.

A high-angle interior shot inside GEM (The Grand Egyptian Museum, Giza), showing multiple tiers of sleek, modern display areas, stairs, and a central column of light with various ancient stone statues.

A row of illuminated ancient Egyptian statues on pedestals inside the modern Grand Egyptian Museum New Giza Museum, highlighting the contrast between ancient artifacts and contemporary architecture.

The colossal statue of Ramses II inside the magnificent Grand Egyptian Museum near Giza

A group of ancient seated stone statues, including a large figure flanked by smaller ones, are displayed in a modern, light-filled hall of the Monuments inside Grand Egyptian Museum Giza GEM.

Tourists gathering outside the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

The large, pinkish-orange facade and main entrance of the Egyptian Museum building, with a sphinx statue and water feature in the foreground in Cairo, Egypt.

The exterior of the Egyptian Museum building in Cairo.

A row of large, dark Ancient Egyptian Statues in a hallway in the Cairo Egyptian Museum, Egypt, featuring a prominent black granite sphinx statue in the foreground.

A wide shot of the Citadel of Salah El Din, Cairo, showing the prominent Mosque of Muhammad Ali with its domed roof and twin minarets, towering above the surrounding stone walls and a courtyard filled with tourists.

The majestic Mosque of Mohamed Ali within the historic Citadel of Salah El Din, a prominent landmark in Cairo.

The large, sunlit Courtyard of Mosque of Muhammad Ali inside the Citadel in Cairo, featuring the elaborate central ablutions fountain and surrounding arched porticos.

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A couple of tourists smiling at the camera in front of the Mosque of Muhammad Ali Pasha at the Citadel of Cairo.

The richly decorated interior of the Inside Al-Rifai Mosque Cairo, showing the tombs of the royal family, ornate marble walls, and plush carpets.

The grand stone facade of the Al-Rifai Mosque, showing its monumental entrance and exterior walls against a blue sky, surrounded by palm trees and a small park.

The richly adorned Qibla wall and Mihrab Inside Sultan Hassan Mosque in Islamic cairo, showing the dramatic vaulted ceiling, intricate colored marble panels, and hanging glass lamps.

The massive exterior, central dome, and minarets of the mosque madrassa of sultan hassan Cairo at sunset, showcasing its Mamluk architectural grandeur.

The interior of the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization (NMEC) with a large circular display featuring illuminated ancient Egyptian symbols and hieroglyphs.

National-Museum-of Egyptian-Civilization-Main-Room-Egypt-Tripidays-Egypt-Tours

An interior view of the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization (NMEC) in Fustat, showing display cases with artifacts, including gold jewelry and a sarcophagus, under modern gallery lighting.

A glass display case in the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization (NMEC) filled with various ancient Egyptian artifacts including wooden chairs, miniature coffins, and small statues.

Tourists viewing an elaborately painted ancient Egyptian sarcophagus at the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in Cairo.

A bronze bust of Khedive Ismail on display within a modern, well-lit gallery of the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization Cairo.

Tourists at the entrance courtyard of the historic Hanging Church in Coptic Cairo.

Grand staircase leading up to the historic facade of The Hanging Church in Coptic Cairo, Egypt.

The ornate interior of St. Sergius and Bacchus Church (Abu Serga Church) in Coptic Cairo.

Interior view of the crypt and altar of the historic Abu Serga Church in Coptic Cairo.

Night view of the historic Al-Muizz Street in Cairo, illuminated by warm street lights and showcasing ancient Islamic architecture.

The sunlit cobblestone street of El Muizz Street Old Cairo, showing medieval Islamic architecture with domes, arched facades, and a towering minaret.

Girl tourist admiring the colorful metal lamps and handcrafted goods in the bustling Khan El Khalili market in Cairo.

A woman strolls through Cairo's lively Khan El Khalili Bazaar, surrounded by vibrant stalls of lamps, textiles, and traditional goods.

A colorful, arched alleyway of the Khan El Khalili Bazaar Cairo Egypt, with shops overflowing with metallic lamps, glass, and ceramic artisan goods.

The elaborately carved doorway inside the Catacombs of Kom el-Shoqafa in Alexandria, featuring Hellenistic and pharaonic decorative elements like serpents and relief portraits.

The dimly lit interior of the Ancient Catacombs of Kom el-Shoqafa, Alexandria, showing an underground circular burial chamber carved into the rock with columns and a small enclosure in the center.

A Tourist stands in the dimly lit, arched underground passage, viewing a chamber Inside Ancient Catacombs of Alexandria, with blue light illuminating the rough-cut stone.

Wide Interior View of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina (The New Library of Alexandria), showing multi-tiered wooden floors, rows of bookshelves, modern sculptures, and vast reading spaces under a unique, sloping canopy ceiling.

High-angle View of the Interior of the Reading Room of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, showing multiple tiers of bookshelves and reading desks under a high, modern, angular ceiling.

A low-angle shot of an Ancient Sphinx statue on a pedestal, with the tall, single column of Pompey Pillar rising behind it against a clear blue sky in Alexandria.

A low-angle shot of a white stone Granite Sphinx statue on a pedestal, positioned next to the taller Pompey's Pillar column in the Serapeum complex in Alexandria, against a bright, cloudy blue sky.

The tall, single Corinthian column of Pompeys Pillar stands next to a limestone sphinx statue amidst the ancient ruins of Alexandria, Egypt.

Tour Details

Duration	12 Days / 11 Nights
Tour Location	Cairo / Giza / Saqqara / Dahshur / Sharm El Sheikh / Alexandria
Tour Type	Daily Tour
Pickup	Cairo Airport

Christmas at the Pyramids, New Year on the Sinai Coast

This Cairo, Alexandria, Sharm el-Sheikh Christmas tour covers 12 days across five destination zones: Giza, Cairo, Sharm El Sheikh, the Sinai Peninsula, and Alexandria, making it Egypt's only dedicated Christmas vacation itinerary timed specifically for December 25–January 5 holiday travel. It pairs pyramid sightseeing on Christmas Day with Red Sea beach time over the New Year period and a Mediterranean coast leg in Alexandria. No Nile cruise is included; the itinerary moves by domestic flight and private road transfer throughout.

The tour opens in Cairo with the Great Pyramids of Giza, the Great Sphinx, the Valley Temple of Khafre, and the Grand Egyptian Museum on Day 2, followed by the Egyptian Museum, Saqqara Step Pyramids, and Dahshur's Red and Bent Pyramids on Day 3 before a domestic flight to Sharm El Sheikh. Days 4 through 6 are beach and leisure days in Sharm, with Day 7 dedicated to Saint Catherine Monastery and the Mount Sinai sunrise. Day 8 returns to Cairo for Islamic Cairo: Salah El Din Citadel, the Mosque of Muhammad Ali, Sultan Hassan Mosque, and El Refaay Mosque.

Why Book This Tour

Egypt's only Christmas-timed 12-day itinerary is structured specifically for December 25–January 5 travel
Five destination zones in one trip: Giza, Cairo, Sharm El Sheikh, and Alexandria
Red Sea beach days are built into the schedule to give you genuine leisure time
Perfect mix of history, Red Sea relaxation, and festive holiday travel
Mount Sinai sunrise and Saint Catherine Monastery visit included
11 nights accommodation: 5 Cairo, 5 Sharm El Sheikh, 1 Alexandria
Private Egyptologist guide included throughout all sightseeing tours
Flexible itinerary customisation based on travel dates and group size
24/7 Tripidays support from arrival to departure

Included

Meet and assist service at Cairo Airport upon arrival and departure
All transfers by private air-conditioned vehicles throughout the tour
Private Egyptologist guide during all sightseeing tours
5 nights' accommodation in a Cairo hotel
5 nights accommodation in Sharm El Sheikh hotel
1 night accommodation in the Alexandria hotel
Domestic flights: Cairo to Sharm El Sheikh and Sharm El Sheikh to Cairo
Entrance fees to all sites mentioned in the itinerary
Nile Dinner Cruise experience on Day 1
Meals as mentioned in the itinerary
Complimentary bottled water during touring days
All taxes and service charges included

Excluded

International flights to Egypt
Personal expenses (souvenirs, extra meals, etc.)
Tips for guides and drivers
Travel Insurance
Egypt Entry Visa
Optional Sharm El Sheikh activities, including snorkeling, diving, quad biking, and camel rides

Highlights

Giza Attractions

Pyramids of Giza
Great Sphinx
Valley Temple
Grand Egyptian Museum
Saqqara Step Pyramids
Dahshur Pyramids

Cairo Attractions

The Egyptian Museum
Salah El Din Citadel
El Refaay Mosque
El Sultan Hassan Mosque
Mosque of Muhammad Ali

Cairo Attractions

The National Museum of Egyptian Civilization
The Hanging Church
The Mosque of Amr Ibn
Ben Ezra Synagogue
El Muizz Street
Khan El-Khalili Bazaar

Alexandria Attractions

Catacombs of Kom El Shokafa
Bibliotheca Alexandrina
Pompay Pillar
Qaitbay Citadel

Alexandria Attractions

The Morsi Abu Abbas Mosque
Saint Mark's Church
El Montazah Palace
The Statue of Alexander the Great

Itinerary

Your Tripidays representative meets you at Cairo International Airport and takes care of all transfers and hotel check-in, so the first hours of your 12-day Egypt Christmas vacation require nothing from you except to arrive. The evening begins on the Nile, a dinner cruise as Cairo's winter lights reflect across the water on Christmas Eve or Christmas night, depending on your arrival date.
Nile Dinner Cruise
You'll board a lit felucca-style cruise boat as Cairo spreads out on both banks in the December night. The city looks different from the water, quieter, wider, and lit with a warmth that makes Christmas Eve in Egypt feel like its own kind of celebration.

Meals
Dinner
Your guide picks you up on Christmas morning for the drive to the Giza Plateau — the most distinctive way to spend December 25 on this festive Egyptian holiday. The full day covers the pyramid complex and the Grand Egyptian Museum before returning to the hotel.
The Great Giza Pyramids
Stand at the base on Christmas morning, and you'll understand immediately why no photograph prepares you for the scale. The three pyramids were built across three successive reigns, yet from the plateau they read as a single, deliberate composition.
The Valley Temple
You'll walk through one of the oldest standing stone structures in Egypt, built from massive granite and alabaster blocks with no mortar holding them together. The interior is spare, and the vast absence of decoration is more disorienting than any carved wall would be.
The Sphinx
Your guide will position you at the viewing terrace where the Sphinx faces east, directly into the winter sunrise. At 73 metres long and carved from a single limestone ridge, it is the largest monolithic statue on earth.
Grand Egyptian Museum
Your guide will walk you into the GEM's grand staircase hall, where a 10-metre statue of Ramses II anchors the entire space before you've seen a single exhibit. The museum holds over 100,000 artefacts, including the complete Tutankhamun collection moved here from the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

Meals
Breakfast and Lunch
After breakfast and check out, your guide collects you for a morning in Cairo before the afternoon domestic flight to Sharm El Sheikh, the day that transitions this Cairo, Alexandria, Sharm El Sheikh Christmas tour from ancient monuments to the Red Sea coastline.
The Egyptian Museum
You'll find yourself in a building that holds 120,000 objects across two floors, most without the crowd barriers that characterise newer museums.
Saqqara Step Pyramids
Your guide will walk you into the Saqqara necropolis, where Djoser's Step Pyramid rises in six receding tiers above the desert floor. It predates the Giza pyramids by roughly a century and looks it — rougher, steeper, and more experimental than what came after.
Dahshur Pyramids
Continue to Dahshur to see the Bent Pyramid and Red Pyramid, one of the ancient wonders of Egypt, showcasing the evolution toward the classic smooth-sided pyramid design.

Meals
Breakfast and Lunch
You arrive in Sharm's winter sunshine. December temperatures sit around 23°C, and the day is yours completely. The hotel sits on the Red Sea coast with direct beach access. If you prefer a non-beach Christmas in Egypt option, browse the non-beach Egypt overland option.
Snorkeling Trip (Optional)
Dive into crystal-clear waters and explore vibrant coral reefs filled with colorful fish—one of the best Christmas snorkeling experiences in Egypt.

Meals
Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner
A second free day in Sharm, with optional activities available through your Tripidays guide if you want to get into the water or the desert.
Ras Mohammed National Park (Optional)
Your guide can arrange a snorkeling or diving excursion to Ras Mohammed, where the coral wall at Shark Bay drops to over 800 metres within swimming distance of the surface. The reef here is among the healthiest in the Red Sea visibility regularly exceeds 20 metres in December.

Meals
Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner
Enjoy your free time exploring the city at your own pace. Take a walk along the promenade and visit local shops and markets for souvenirs. Spend your day lounging on pristine beaches or trying thrilling water sports like jet skiing and parasailing. The last full leisure day before the Mount Sinai excursion, if you need optional quad biking or Bedouin desert experiences in the interior Sinai landscape behind the resort strip.

Meals
Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner
An early departure, typically at 2 AM, for the three-hour drive to Mount Sinai. This is the most logistically distinct day of the entire festive Egyptian holiday, and the one most travelers cite afterwards.
Mount Sinai Sunrise Trek
You'll climb 750 steps of rock cut into the mountain in the dark, guided by torchlight and the trail of other hikers ahead of you. The summit sits at 2,285 metres above sea level — cold enough in December that layers are essential and the sunrise over the Sinai Peninsula arrives in a way that no photograph has yet managed to reproduce accurately.
Saint Catherine Monastery
Your guide will walk you through the oldest continuously inhabited Christian monastery in the world, built by Emperor Justinian in 565 AD around the site where Moses is said to have seen the burning bush. The monastery's library holds the second-largest collection of early Christian manuscripts after the Vatican.

Meals
Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner
A morning flight returns you to Cairo, where the afternoon is devoted to Islamic Cairo, the most architecturally concentrated part of this 12-day Cairo, Alexandria, Sharm el Sheikh Christmas tour.
Salah El Din Citadel
You'll enter the medieval fortress that has dominated Cairo's skyline since 1183 AD, built by Saladin on a spur of the Muqattam Hills with a direct sightline to the Giza Plateau.
Muhammad Ali Mosque
Your guide will take you inside the alabaster-clad interior, where the Ottoman dome rises 52 metres above the prayer hall floor. The mosque was completed in 1848 and still contains the tomb of Muhammad Ali Pasha in the entrance vestibule.
El Refaay Mosque
Your guide will point out the royal tombs along the eastern wall, where King Farouk, the last Shah of Iran, and several members of the Egyptian royal family are buried within metres of each other. The building was completed in 1912, directly across from Sultan Hassan, and the two mosques frame one of the best unobstructed views in Cairo.
El Sultan Hassan Mosque
Stand at the base of the entrance portal at 38 metres, it is the tallest Mamluk doorway ever built — and look up before you go in. The interior courtyard is the stillest space in Islamic Cairo, even on busy December afternoons.

Meals
Breakfast and Lunch
An early morning drive from Cairo to Alexandria, roughly three hours along the desert road, brings you to Egypt's Mediterranean city for a full day of sightseeing.
Catacombs of Kom El Shoqafa
You'll descend three levels underground into the largest Roman-era funerary complex in Egypt, where Greek, Roman, and pharaonic decorative traditions appear on the same carved walls within the same burial chamber.
Pompey's Pillar
Your guide will take you to the 30-metre red granite column that has stood on this hill since 297 AD — the tallest ancient monolith in Egypt outside Luxor and Aswan. Two sphinx statues flank the base, relocated here from a temple complex that no longer exists elsewhere in the city.
Qaitbay Citadel
From the outer battlements, you'll look directly out to sea from the same point where the ancient Lighthouse of Alexandria, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, stood until the 14th-century earthquake that brought it down. The citadel was built in 1477 using stones from the lighthouse's collapsed base.
Bibliotheca Alexandria
You'll walk into the modern library built on the site of the ancient Library of Alexandria, its disc-shaped roof tilted toward the Mediterranean at an angle that tracks the sun across the reading room floor throughout the day.

Lunch
Breakfast and Lunch
A second full day in Alexandria covering the city's religious and royal heritage before returning to Cairo in the evening.
Morsi Abu Abbas Mosque
Your guide will walk you through the most ornate mosque in Alexandria, built above the tomb of the 13th-century Moroccan Sufi saint Abu Abbas al-Mursi. The interior combines Andalusian tilework, Ottoman arches, and Mamluk calligraphy in a way that reflects four centuries of continuous renovation.
Saint Mark's Church
You'll stand in the Coptic Orthodox cathedral built on the site where Saint Mark is said to have founded the church of Alexandria in 48 AD, making it one of the oldest Christian foundations anywhere in the world. The current structure dates to 1911, but the crypt beneath it preserves elements of the original site.
El Montazah Palace
Your guide will take you through the royal gardens that run to the sea at the eastern edge of Alexandria, where the Ottoman-Florentine palace built by Khedive Abbas II in 1892 stands at the water's edge. The grounds cover 150 acres and remain one of the few places in Alexandria where the Mediterranean coastline is still as Khedive-era photographs show it.
Statue of Alexander The Great
You'll find the modern bronze statue on the Alexandria Corniche, positioned facing the sea in the direction of the city Alexander founded in 331 BC. It is a reference point rather than an ancient monument, but your guide will use it to frame the full sweep of Alexandrian history from the Ptolemies to the present.

Meals
Breakfast and Lunch
Back in Cairo for the final full day, the most layered in terms of religious history, covering Christian, Jewish, and Islamic Cairo in sequence before the evening at Khan El-Khalili.
The Hanging Church
You'll climb the exterior staircase into a church suspended above the gatehouse of the Roman Babylon Fortress, with a nave that appears to float above the stone below. The interior contains 110 icons, some dating to the 8th century, and a carved wooden pulpit supported on 13 columns representing Christ and the Apostles.
Abu Serga Church
Your guide will take you down into the crypt where the Holy Family is said to have sheltered during the flight into Egypt, one of the oldest sites of Christian veneration in the country. The church above dates to the 5th century and is the oldest in Coptic Cairo still in active use.
Ben Ezra Synagogue
Explore one of Egypt’s oldest synagogues, Ben Ezra Synagogue, linked to the story of baby Moses, and marvel at its beautifully restored architecture and rich heritage.
The Mosque of Amr Ibn Al As
Your guide will walk you into the first mosque ever built in Africa, constructed in 642 AD, within a year of the Arab conquest of Egypt. The current structure is a later rebuild, but the footprint and orientation of the original mosque are preserved in the layout of the floor.
The National Museum of Egyptian Civilization
You'll visit the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization, showcasing 7,000 years of Egypt's history. The museum houses artifacts from prehistoric times to the modern era, spanning the Pharaonic, Greco-Roman, Coptic, and Islamic periods. Highlights include the royal mummies of Ramses II and Seti I, offering a vivid link to ancient Egypt.
El Muizz Street
Walk along this historic street, El Muizz Street, lined with magnificent Islamic architecture, and soak in the vibrant atmosphere shaped by over a thousand years of Cairo’s culture.
Khan El-Khalili Bazaar
You'll end the tour in the medieval market that has occupied this site since 1382, where the alleys run deep enough that natural light disappears within a few turns. The last evening of a Christmas holiday in Egypt has a specific texture: here, lantern light, the smell of spices, and the particular noise of a Cairo souk in the December holiday week.

Lunch
Breakfast and Lunch
Start your final day with a relaxed breakfast at the hotel, embracing a tranquil moment before packing and checking out. Your Tripidays representative transfers you to Cairo International Airport for your outbound flight, closing the Cairo, Alexandria, Sharm el Sheikh Christmas tour.

Meals
Breakfast

Notes:

* You can let us know if you'd like to customize your tour itinerary to meet your needs. We value your input and aim to accommodate your requirements.

* Nile Cruise itinerary maybe changed without prior notice due to navigational and security restrictions. The itinerary may change in sequence but not in visits.

Frequently Asked Questions

This tour includes 11 nights of 5-star accommodation (5 nights Cairo, 5 nights Sharm El Sheikh, 1 night Alexandria), two domestic flights, a private Egyptologist guide throughout, entrance fees for all attractions, a Nile Dinner Cruise on Day 1, the Mount Sinai sunrise excursion on Day 7, and all transfers by private air-conditioned vehicle. Meals are provided as specified in the itinerary, and all taxes and service charges are covered.

This is Egypt's only dedicated Christmas vacation itinerary. The opening days are fixed to Christmas Day sightseeing at the Giza Plateau and the Grand Egyptian Museum, and the New Year period falls during the Sharm El Sheikh beach and Sinai leg. No other 12-day Egypt package structures its schedule specifically around the December 25–January 5 travel window in the same way.

The Mount Sinai sunrise trek and Saint Catherine Monastery visit on Day 7 are included as core stops in the itinerary, not optional upgrades. Departure from Sharm El Sheikh is typically around 2 AM for the three-hour drive to the mountain, and the monastery visit follows the summit descent in the morning.

Days 4 through 6 are free leisure days on Sharm's Red Sea coast, with Day 7 dedicated to the Mount Sinai excursion before the Day 8 return flight to Cairo. Optional snorkeling at Ras Mohammed National Park, Sinai desert quad rides, and Bedouin excursions are available through your Tripidays guide during the free days but are not included in the tour price.

Yes, the itinerary is designed for families and couples traveling during the December 25–January 5 holiday window, with private guides, private vehicles, and a pace that balances sightseeing days with free beach time in Sharm El Sheikh. Families wanting a dedicated luxury upgrade can also explore a family luxury holiday in Egypt.