Private Tour: Full-Day Trip to Tell-Basta and San el-Hagar in the Nile Delta from Cairo

Your private tour begins at 7am when your guide collects you from your hotel in Cairo or Giza in private, air-conditioned minivan for the 2-hour drive through the Nile's lush and fertile delta to Tell-Basta. You may wish to arrange a breakfast box with your hotel.

Here you'll visit the ruins of the city of Bubastis, a center of worship for the cat goddess Bastet and home to the pharaoh Shoshenq. Discover the remains of the city's grand temple, dedicated to Bastet and originally surrounded by canals and gardens, and learn about the cemeteries where thousands of sacred, mummified cats are believed to be buried.

Hop back in the van for the 2-hour drive to San el-Hagar, and enjoy a traditional Egyptian lunch at a local restaurant. Here you'll explore the remains of Tanis, which was the capital of Egypt around 3,000 years ago and is the lost city portrayed in Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Learn how archaeologists discovered three pristine pharaonic tombs, full of gold, jewelry, and treasure, and about the expansive mud-brick city that's yet to be excavated, as you admire crumbling temples and mysterious colonnades.

Finally, hop back in the van for the 3-hour journey to Cairo. Traffic depending, you'll be back at your hotel around 7pm.