Ultimate Egypt Food and Culture Tour

What to expect on this itinerary
Experience a more authentic side to Egypt with nine days of food and culture, from contemporary Cairo to Nubian, Berber and Saharan specialities. With gastronomy as the guide you’ll discover a local side to life, as well as exploring Egypt’s famous antiquity. Expect neighborhood food tours, personal cooking classes, unusual gastronomy, and a deep insight into Egypt, both then and now.
Customizable Itinerary
Luxor – Culture and History
Start your nine-day Egypt food and culture tour in Luxor, where the wonders of past civilizations are juxtaposed with modern riverbank life. Your hotel is on the River Nile and the rooftop provides a view towards the Luxor and Karnak temples. After a private airport transfer you’ll have some free time to refresh at the hotel, before a short wander around the East Bank. Here you’ll find vibrant city life mingling with towering temples, along with small cafes that showcase Nubian cuisine. And it’s in these small cafes that you can really connect with Egypt’s culture as well.
What's Included:
Luxor – Nubian Cooking Class
Luxor – Sailing a Felucca
Aswan – Home-Cooked Island Delicacies
Aswan – Discovering Saharan Cuisine
Cairo – Contemporary Cuisine and Culture
Cairo – Pyramids, Artifacts, and Neighborhoods
Cairo – Dining on History in Cairo
Cairo – Departure
Trip Highlights
- Uncover the secrets of Cairo’s culinary heritage during a day of neighborhood eats in Coptic Cairo and Khan el-Khalili
- Discover Nubian cuisine with a personal cooking class on the Nile riverbank
- Gasp in awe at the scale of Egypt’s historic moments, including the Pyramids of Giza and Luxor Temple
- Experience home-cooked Saharan cuisine during a beautiful evening of sailing and dining in Aswan
- Fly to the Abu Simbel temples and stop at an isolated Saharan community, for an insight into ancient desert cuisine
- Explore contemporary Cairo through its food, with a day of culture and bites in the busting downtown area
- Compare Berber recipes to other styles of Arabic cuisine during your three days in Cairo
- Sail a felucca on the River Nile, explore the Valley of the Kings and marvel at Karnak Temple
Starting Price
$3,600 per person (excluding international flights)
Your Zicasso trip is fully customizable, and this sample itinerary is a starting place for your travel plans. Actual costs are dynamic, and your selection of accommodations and activities, your season of travel, and other such variables will bring this budget guideline up or down. Throughout your planning experience with your Zicasso specialist, your itinerary is designed around your budget. You can book your trip when you are satisfied with every detail. Planning your trip with a Zicasso travel specialist is a free service.
What's Included
The starting price is based on travel during the low season for a minimum of two travelers staying in shared 3-star accommodations. Please inquire for a custom trip quote based on your travel preferences and travel dates.
Verified Traveler Reviews
Based on 39 reviews
Overall, the experience was wonderful—well-designed, professionally executed, and full of memorable moments. We truly loved the journey and appreciate the organizational expertise that went into the planning.
As an FYI for your internal quality control and future planning, I’ve outlined the highlights of our experience along with a few areas for constructive feedback.
Exceptional Highlights
Guiding in Cairo: Our Egyptologist was above excellent. His knowledge, passion, and level of engagement were truly impressive and set a very high bar for the trip.
The cruise on the Nile: The cruise was perfection. From the cleanliness and the quality of the food to the exceptional staff, the experience on board was outstanding.
Logistics: The execution of prompt pick-ups and general organizational flow throughout the trip was seamless.
Points for Consideration
Communication & Administrative Coordination: We experienced significant delays with the travel specialist during the planning phase. Despite adding an extra night for leisure back in August and requesting final confirmation four separate times, the addition was missing from the final documents. This oversight resulted in an unexpected $200 charge per couple during the week of the trip.
Guiding (Luxor to Abu Simbel): In contrast to our experience in Cairo, our guide was a disappointment. He provided very brief introductions before directing us to watch National Geographic videos, often waiting in cafes while we explored the sites ourselves. While he was adequate as a "tour guide," he did not meet the standards of an informative Egyptologist.
Professionalism: Furthermore, the travel specialist contacted us via WhatsApp after the trip to claim our tips were insufficient, stating he should have been tipped for full days rather than the half-days he spent with us. This was quite unprofessional, especially as we had tipped above the standard travel company recommendation for the time provided.
Itinerary Discrepancy: The itinerary included a Nubian Village excursion; however, we were instead taken to a small children's museum near our hotel. This was a significant letdown for our party and did not align with the high-end cultural experience we expected.
We wanted to share these details to help you maintain the high standards the travel company is known for. We had a fantastic time overall and remain very happy with the majority of the experience.
Thank you again for a great trip.
Best regards,
Shannon
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Once again, Zicasso exceeded expectations by recommending this tour company. From my very first interaction with our travel specialist, he listened closely, guided us thoughtfully, and offered excellent suggestions that helped shape an unforgettable family trip to Egypt. I highly recommend the tour company for their personal, top-notch service and outstanding, super-friendly guides.
Our travel specialist and his entire team went above and beyond to ensure our journey was safe, seamless, and completely worry-free. He was always available to answer questions—whether about security concerns (the Middle East war began just weeks before our departure) or arranging a last-minute day trip to Alexandria while we were still in Luxor. We even met via Zoom to finalize our itinerary. He handled every logistical detail, from domestic flights, transfers, and our Nile River cruise to dining recommendations and sightseeing plans.
The itinerary he crafted was perfect, capturing everything we hoped to see and do. He was attentive, flexible, and consistently helpful with suggestions and adjustments along the way.
In Cairo, our Egyptologist and our driver were exceptional—warm, knowledgeable, and so friendly that they quickly felt like family. We learned so much about Ancient Egypt, Alexandria, and the historic sites of Old Cairo. In Luxor and throughout our Nile River cruise, our guide was equally wonderful: attentive, kind, and deeply informative.
Every moment of our trip was enjoyable, comfortable, and safe. We couldn’t have asked for a better experience. Thanks to Zicasso for matching us with this tour company!
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This trip, arranged by Zicasso's travel agent, was by far the most amazing vacation ever! The rich history, explained by our guide in Cairo and Alexandria and our guide in Aswan and Luxor, made all the sights so memorable! Our driver was the best ever!
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Zicasso's tour operator took care of everything. All we had to do was show up. Our tour guides in Cairo and Luxor were great and very knowledgeable. They took very good care of us. I would definitely recommend this company. We saw everything we hoped for in four short days.
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We had a wonderful vacation and a great experience with Zicasso's travel company. From the booking process through our departure, everything was fantastic.
Our greeter met us promptly and guided us through the airline processes for all of our flights in and out of Cairo International Airport. Our guides in Cairo and Luxor were very knowledgeable, had very good personalities, and ensured we learned about Egyptian history and culture. Similarly, our drivers were equally talented, especially our driver in the Cairo traffic.
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