Contrasts of Arabia, Jordan, Cairo and Alexandria (2024)

Day 1

Welcome to the holy and pilgrimage city of Medina! Transfer to your hotel. We are in an imposing historical destination, one of the two most sacred cities in Islam, a destination, where millions of pilgrims arrive every year and a city prohibited for non-Muslims until very recently. It is in a holy place, respect for its inhabitants and beliefs and wearing an appropriate way of dressing is required.After lunch we will walk around the immense Prophet´s Mosque (Al Masjid an Nabawi), an amazing and luminous mosque with 10 minarets with capacity for a million visitors, built by the prophet himself and the place where he is buried. We will visit the UHUD mountain, an important pilgrimage site, where the prophet´s forces clashed against the troops of Mecca. You can walk along its immense esplanade and climb the mountain, but remember to do so in silence and respecting the hundreds of pilgrims who will surround us any day. In the Quba Mosque, in the year 622, the prophet and his followers laid the first stone of what would be the first mosque in history, although the current building is more recent. From this point we will walk to the nearby garden and well of Ethiq, where the different tribes of the place came out to greet and give water to the Prophet and his companions who had recently arrived in Medina after his persecution in Mecca. We will then have some free time in the city center so you can stroll through its shopping areas or - if you’d like to - visit the Hejaz Railway Museum (in the old Ottoman train station).In the afternoon we will visit the Al Madinah museum about the history of the city. At dusk we will go towards the Al Masjid mosque to feel once again the emotions, when we observe the thousands of people entering at prayer time and admire the illuminations. Dinner included.

Day 2

After breakfast we continue our route. We travel to some of the most beautiful desert regions in the world. In a volcanic area with impressive landscapes we visit KHAYBAR, a historical region. It was a Jewish settlement on the Arabian Peninsula in the 7th century and is famous for the Battle of Khaibar, which took place in 628 AD. during the life of the prophet Muhammad. In this battle Muslim forces led by Muhammad defeated the Jewish tribes. We will see its historic fortress and we will walk through its beautiful oasis (entrance fees included). Among impressive desert landscapes we continue towards one of the most spectacular places in the world, the region and oasis of Al-Ula: an authentic open-air museum surrounded by nature, where there are rock formations, canyons and ravines that compete with the majestic treasures carved by its former inhabitants. Upon arrival we will go to the Elephant Rock, “Jabal Al Fil”, an impressive geomorphological phenomenon, a 52 meter high rock in the shape of an Elephant. Dinner included and accommodation.

Day 3

In the region of Al-Ula we will visit the enclosure of HEGRA (Madain Saleh), declared World Heritage by UNESCO, of Nabataean culture "the Other Petra" amazes us with its tombs excavated in the rock in a desert environment full of mystery. Lunch included. We will have free time to stroll and enjoy its comercial streets, and its magnificent Oasis. In the afternoon we will leave for TABUK. Dinner included.

Day 4

Today we enter a country that until very recently has been closed to tourism. Only 120 km separate us from the border of SAUDI ARABIA (Halat Ammar). In this route we will see landscapes of great beauty in the desert. Border procedures and continuation to TABUK. This region is famous for its export of flowers to Europe. On the way, we will stop at a farm where we will have the opportunity to see various crops of plants and flowers.We visit this city of over half a million inhabitants, active provincial capital and one of the oldest cities in the country. We will go to the old train station, today a museum that preserves the steam engines that connected Damascus with Medina. We will visit the castle whose origin is 3500 years before Christ, and inside it, a museum tells the history of the castle and the city, from the great explorers who visited it, such as Ibn Battuta, to the pilgrims who stopped to drink from the fountains on their way to Mecca or Medina. After the visit, we will enter the Mud House Museum, a recreation of the interior of an adobe house where we will learn what traditional life was like in the past in this type of housing. Subsequently we walk through the active commercial area of the city center.

Day 5

Today we have the most exciting day of the trip: First, we visit the impressive archaeological site of PETRA, which is accessed through a narrow canyon, and discover the temples and tombs excavated on the cliffs in this city that was founded 300 years before Christ. After lunch (included) we leave for the impressive desert of WADI RUM. At the Visitor Centre we board 4x4 vehicles to visit some of the most impressive landscapes. We stop in the town of RUM to visit the ruins of the Nabatean temple. We include a 45-minute camel ride through the desert. We will also visit the Khazali Canyon. In this spectacular place, we will see the engravings that reveal the origins of the Arabic language. Dinner and accommodation included in a desert camp.

Day 6

After breakfast, we leave for AQABA, Jordan’s second city, lying on the banks of the Red Sea. We walk through the center before continuing to the border of ISRAEL, EILAT and arrive in this modern and tourist city with its excellent beaches. There’s time to relax, have lunch and stroll around. Are you tempted to have a swim? We then continue towards the EGYPT border, and into Sinai. On the way, there’s chance to take photographs of the Pharaoh’s Island with the powerful fortress of Saladin. Continue to SAINT CATHERINE. Arrival, accommodation and dinner included.FEES: At the border crossing from Jordan to Israel and from Israel to Egypt, every traveler must pay an entry/exit fee for the different countries. Jordan: $15 (exit fees), Israel: $32 (exit fee), Egypt: $45 (entry visa, which is actually $25 visa + $20.Approximate rates and subject to change without prior notice by the authorities of the country.Drones and cameras with a 5,5 mtr zoom are prohibited as well as other types of professional equipment cameras ( Europamundo is not responsiblefor objects that may be seized at borders by the authorities of the countries)IMPORTANT NOTE: Due to exceptional circumstances or due to a small number of participants, it may happen that we will cross directly from Jordan to Egypt by boat, taking the AQABA- TABA FERRY with a duration of just over two hours. During the ferry crossing, there will be no assistance from any guide.

Day 7

At the foot of Mount Sinai, we visit the impressive walled monastery of SAINT CATHERINE. According to tradition, this is where Moses saw “the Burning Bush that burned without being consumed”. The monastery, which is a sacred place for Jews, Christians and Muslims, belongs to the Orthodox Church and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We then continue on through the Sinai Desert’s picturesque landscapes. Lunch included in route. Stop at the WELL OF MOSES, a biblical site that looks like a small oasis. We will leave Sinai through the tunnel under the SUEZ CANAL. Arrival in CAIRO at the end of the afternoon. Accommodation.

Day 8

Full day visit where we explore the famous Pyramids of Cheops, Kefren and Micerinos (tickets to go inside the pyramids are not included), and also the impressive Sphinx, which is sculpted from rock. Visit to the Egyptian Museum with its ancient art and where the treasure of the Lost Tomb of Tutankhamen is kept. Lunch included. Citadel of Saladin and the Alabaster Mosque. We will take a walk through the Coptic neighborhood where we visit the Hanging Church built above a Roman fortress.

Day 9

We leave Cairo, traveling to the WADI NATRUM region, an area known for its Coptic monasteries since thousands of Christians who were fleeing in the fourth century from Roman persecutions, settled in the area. The monasteries, fortified because of the attacks suffered in different historical periods, are places that receive the visit of many pilgrims and will allow us to discover their traditions. Coptic popes are chosen from among the monks of these monasteries. We will visit SAINT MACARIUS, founded in the year 360, where one of its monks will guide us through the enclosure. After that we visit the monastery of ANBA BISHOY, founded in the year 340, we access the fortified tower by a drawbridge. We will visit - also guided by a monk - the church, the refectory and the fortress, where several Coptic Popes are buried. Time to stroll through the lively area and also visit the huge new cathedral. We continue our route to ALEXANDRIA, arrival in this port city with over 5 million inhabitants. Lunch included. We visit this afternoon the great QAITBEY fortress, built in 1480 on a narrow peninsula where the Hellenistic lighthouse was located, which was considered one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. After that, with the bus we travel the cornice, chaotic, noisy, commercial or elegant, depending on the areas. Free time. Accommodation.

Day 10

We continue our visit of ALEXANDRIA, entering the impressive CATACOMBS KOM ASH SHUQQAFA, the largest Roman cemetery in Egypt, surprising the fusion of Pharaonic and Greco-Roman style. From here we will walk with our guide between narrow, commercial and bustling alleys to the COLUMN OF POMPEY, an immense column of 30 meters high that rises on the ruins of a temple. After that, we will stop to photograph externally the new LIBRARY OF ALEXANDRIA, inaugurated in 2002 with a very modern architecture that reminds us that this city, in the third century BC, was one of the greatest centers of knowledge dissemination in ancient times. The Library of Alexandria at that time guarded more than half a million papyrus. Lunch included and continuation of our route to ROSETTA. In this small city, very close to the mouth of one of the tributaries of the Nile, the Rosetta Stone was found, just over a meter high, which was key to deciphering the hieroglyphic writing of the Egyptians since it contains the same text written in hieroglyphics, demotic and ancient Greek. We can see a replica of the Rosetta Stone in the fortress of Rashid, located a short distance away, in a picturesque small village of streets full of local life and with numerous fishing boats of multiple colors on the banks of the Nile.After that we visit Rosetta, a pleasant small town next to the Nile, we will walk through the center seeing (externally) the old Ottoman houses with their brick and wood architecture. We will also include a boat trip on the Nile to admire the views and activity of the fishing boats in the area. We return to CAIRO.- Arrival at the end of the day.NOTE: The fortress of Rashid is not very visited, sometimes it can be closed (in that case we will see it externally and walk through the picturesque village of fishermen and farmers)

Day 11

After breakfast, transfer to the airport and end of our services.