DAY 1: ARRIVE EGYPT
Our representative will meet you at Cairo International Airport. Then you will be transferred to your hotel by a private air-conditioned vehicle. Tomorrow enjoy your churches tours.
DAY 2: OLD COPTIC CAIRO
Proceed to the famous churches at old Coptic Cairo to see the Hanging Church, where the nave is suspended from the old Babylon fortress; the Church of St. Barbara, the 4th century Church of Abu Serga (St. Sergius & Bacchus), as well as the Jewish Synagogue and Coptic Museum. Back to hotel and overnight in Cairo.
Breakfast
DAY 3: WADI NATROUN
Enjoy an excursion to the Coptic Monasteries in the desert at Wadi Natroun. Notable among them is the Baramus Monastery, which was built at the site where Macarius the Great settled in 340 AD and is still inhabited by monks. Back to hotel and overnight in Cairo.
Breakfast
DAY 4: RED SEA MONASTERIES
Trip to the Coptic Monastery of St. Antony and the Monastery of St. Paul, which lie at the foot of the Red Sea Mountains in the Eastern Desert. St. Anthony was among the founders of Christian monasticism and St. Paul was one of the first hermits. The monasteries, founded in the 4th and 5th centuries, are both still occupied. Back to hotel and overnight in Cairo.
Breakfast
DAY 5: HOLY VIRGIN CHURCH
Visit the Church of the Holy Virgin with its three cupolas on the banks of the Nile at Maadi. Move on to the Monastery of St. Simon (Simeon) the Tanner, dramatically situated in the Mokattam Mountain, on the outskirts of Cairo. St. Simon was a 10th century saint whose faith is said to have moved this mountain. Back to hotel and overnight in Cairo.
Breakfast
DAY 6: ST. MENAS MONASTERY
Trip to the recently built monastery of the celebrated martyr St. Menas at King Maryut, near Alexandria. Built on the site of the 4th century shrine, which was the Lourdes of the ancient world, the site also comprises various excavated churches. Back to hotel and overnight in Cairo.
Breakfast
DAY 7: COPTIC CATHEDRAL
Enjoy an excursion to some of Cairo Coptic Churches: see the 10th century Church of the Holy Virgin in Haret El Roum, the Coptic Cathedral at Abbassia area. Back to hotel and overnight in Cairo.
Breakfast
DAY 8: FINAL DEPARTURE
Breakfast, and transfer to Cairo International Airport for departure.
