A theatrical Nile sailing

Immersive, access-all-areas experiences

Alongside our network of contacts, we’ve crafted the ultimate journey through the greatest civilisation our world has ever known – Ancient Egypt.

Expect off-limits access to its great tombs, exclusive beach dining setups and theatrical experiences custom-made for your group, exploring temples after dark with actor-led narratives personalised to your group.

Throughout, you’ll sail past green floodplains and island ruins aboard the Nile’s most luxurious river ship, as your personal Egyptologist brings it all to life.

Indeed, everything is tailored to your interests, whether it’s a family dinner held in a privatised temple or friends soaring in paramotors over the pyramids.

All media taken on Cookson Adventures trips

The Cookson team organises experiences inaccessible to other visitors

March 2021

Immersive experiences

We’ll design theatrical events, tailored to your private group, using actors, directors and special access to Egypt’s iconic sites. That could simply be an Agatha Christie murder mystery or a full-blown day in the 1920s with Howard Carter – the celebrated British archaeologist. With private, after-dark access to one of Ancient Egypt’s great temples, you’ll work together through the catacombs with personalised roles, decoding secret messages to uncover the mystery. It’s all heightened with musical performances and a private campfire dining concept in the temple’s shadow.

Exclusive entry

After hours at the Egyptian Museum with a conservator. Privatising millenia-old temples at Kom Ombo. And, heading where the public can’t go – between the feet of the Sphinx and into the very tombs at the Valley of the Kings. We can ensure special access, exclusive to your group and away from the crowds.

Ultra-luxury dahabiya

We’ll put you aboard the Nile’s most lavish yacht, exclusive to your group. Watch river life play out with a cocktail in the top-deck plunge pool, indulge with private-chef dining in the al-fresco restaurant and relax in an expansive, designer lounge. Then, retire to the elegant accommodation. All of which feature everything from full-width picture windows to marble bathrooms and original artwork. On land, you might want to stay in the very room that Agatha Christie wrote Murder on the Nile, gazing out over felucca sailboats in that 19th-century grand dame – the Old Cataract Hotel.

Aerial adventures

For an adrenaline thrill, take to the skies in paramotors to soar over the Great Pyramids. Or, take things easier with a sunrise hot air balloon ride over the Nile’s floodplains, admiring the great temples from above.

Special setups

Stop off at secret beaches for elaborate, silver-service dinners by the bonfire, complete with an Egyptian band or party entertainment. Enjoy private-chef dining in the shadows of a privatised Egyptian tomb, exclusively opened after hours for your group. Or, simply enjoy a lunch overlooking the pyramids at a top restaurant.

Uniquely personalised experiences

We’ll ensure that everything is tailored to your tastes. That might be kayaking out to secret islands in the Nile. An Egyptian cooking masterclass from one of the country’s top chefs. Or, a specialist historian focusing on an area of your interest that they’ve literally written the book on.

Sailing the Nile on an ultra-luxurious private charter, spend afternoons watching river life play out in front of you as you wind through the desert and admire verdant fields in the utmost comfort. And, along the way, you’ll stop at Egypt’s great wonders.

Cairo: We’ll open up the Arab city’s biggest city for you. Yes, there are the highlights – unlocking the tombs of the Great Pyramids and touring the Grand Egyptian Museum after hours – but there’s also plenty of the unique. Wander the medieval fortifications and Arabic towers of Old Cairo before shopping vibrant souq markets with a top local chef, before an Egyptian culinary masterclass.

Luxor: As Ancient Egypt’s crown jewel, Luxor is home to the world’s largest temple complex – Karnak. And, alongside this lost city’s treasure trove of sanctuaries, obelisks and halls, we can see you cycle through the Nile’s fertile floodplains and traditional villages before going where the general public can’t in the Valley of Kings – into the tombs themselves after dark.

Our sample immersive experience

Kom Ombo & Silsila: We can organise an exclusive, night-time visit to 2,000-year-old Kom Ombo’s twin temples – a vision of grand columns, friezes and chambers. And for some river-side viewing, Silsila’s ancient rock temple walls line surprisingly green riverbanks.

Edfu & El Kab: Edfu is home to the largest and best-preserved Pharaonic temple in Egypt, where stern walls, intricate carvings and great colonnades date to the 3rd century BC. You can then head back further in time to 3,000 BC with the rock-cut tombs, temples and monastery walls at El Kab – a desert-clad canyon settlement.

Esna – Although first begun by the Egyptians, Esna’s 2,000-year-old Temple of Khnum was iterated on by the Romans, mixing in great halls to its spectacularly well-preserved carvings. Buried almost three storeys beneath the ground, it’s a subterranean jewel.

Aswan: The iconic black granite of Egypt’s southern frontier is evident across Aswan’s ruined sculptures and temples. Prime among them is Abu Simbel, home to everything from Ptolemaic chapels to temples and pyramids. Then, take kayaks out to appreciate the region’s beautiful river-side verdure – prime among it is the Gardens on The Nile, an island oasis built by Lord Kitchener in the late 19th century.