2024
Tour itinerary can be seen below.
• Arrive at Khartoum International Airport and transfer to your hotel in the heart of Sudan’s legendary capital city.
• Depending on your arrival time, the day will be spent at leisure, and you will join your tour group in the evening for dinner at a restaurant near the hotel.
• Your tour guide will provide the group with a pre-tour briefing, and you will have an opportunity to meet your fellow travellers over a tasty meal featuring local delicacies, including vegetarian options.
• Early morning departure in an air-conditioned vehicle north from Khartoum to the ancient centre of Naga'a. This complex houses the Meroitic Temple of Amun, the Roman Chapel, and the Lion Temple.
• Proceed to Musawarat as-Sufra, an extensive temple complex where you can see rare depictions of elephants from thousands of years ago.
• After a traditional Sudanese lunch at a nearby oasis, we will continue to the small town of Shendi and eventually to the largest pyramid cemetery in the Nile Valley, the Meroe Pyramids. You will have an opportunity to take a camel ride through these mystical structures.
• Set up camp overnight in front of the Pyramids of Meroe, have dinner, drink coffee and fall asleep under the Milky Way shining brightly above us. If you prefer non-camping accommodations, you may upgrade to a nearby hotel for extra comfort for a small surcharge.
• Wake up early this morning and watch the desert sun rise over the windswept dunes to the east.
• Opportunity to walk alone among the pyramids and take photographs during the morning hours as there are generally no other tourists in the area. Later in the morning, we will join a brief guided tour to learn more about Meroitic history.
• During the afternoon, we will drive to El Damer, crossing the Nile to Umm Tuyur on the west bank and then move into the Bayouda Desert, where we will visit a cemetery containing the pyramids of the 26th Dynasty, including that of Pharaoh Taharqa.
• We then cross the Nile again to visit the Necropolis of el-Kurru and race the sun to Jebel Barkal, where you might catch the beautiful sunset atop this sacred mountain.
• Take a short morning drive to Jebel Barkal, where we will visit the Great Temple of Amun of Napata, which dates back to the 12th century BC. The temple was the most important religious centre of the Kingdom of Kush, and you will see ancient stele and sculptures still standing today.
• Explore other Nubian ruins before making the drive back to Khartoum. We will stop at various points along the way for lunch and snacks, experiencing “truck stop” coffee and tea with locals, and purchasing hand-made gifts from native vendors.
• We will arrive in Khartoum early evening and have dinner at a restaurant near our hotel.
• Take the morning to explore Sudan’s lively capital. You will be within walking distance of many shopping areas, mosques, cultural monuments, and other areas of interest. Your tour guide can provide you with many points of interest in Khartoum.
• Venture across the Nile to Omdurman in the afternoon. You will visit the Souk and then the Hamid el-Nil Cemetery, where groups of Sufis come together each week to hear stories about the prophet and to pray and dance together in an inclusive ceremony open to all faiths. In this once-in-a-lifetime experience, you can observe and participate in this traditional religious ceremony.
• Tour Khartoum, seeing Sudan’s National Museum, the convergence of the Blue and White Nile, the Mahdi’s Tomb and Khalifa's House.
• Spend the early afternoon at the Ethnographic and Republican Palace Museums before heading to the Corinthia Hotel. Known as ‘Gaddafi’s Egg’ because the hotel's construction was funded by Libya’s leader decades ago. The hotel offers panoramic views of Khartoum from the 17th floor, cold refreshments, and a restaurant offering a wide variety of dishes.
• The tour ends around 16:00, and you will be transferred back to the airport for your flight home.
We will issue you an invitation letter to enable you to obtain your Sudan visa from your nearest embassy. Alternatively we can issue a letter of invitation that enables you to pick up your visa on arrival at the airport for an extra cost. We strongly advise you obtain your visa in advance to avoid queues of up to 2 hours at the airport. The visa only takes a couple of days to be issued at the Sudan embassy in London.