Egypt: Ancient, Authentic, Alive

This trip isn’t just the ancients — it’s Egypt now. Women who run food businesses out of Cairo kitchens. Women who weave along the Nile. Women who bake bread in rural kitchens and pull up a chair for strangers. Our Egyptologist guide is a woman. Our Cairo hotel is women-owned. None of it is staged.

At NextTribe, we believe this stage of life — 45 and beyond — is exactly the moment to say yes to more of it: real encounters, real conversations, a country that reveals itself at the pace of the world’s most storied river. Six of our ten nights are spent aboard the Fatima, a traditional sail-powered dahabiya carrying just 15 guests — the way the Nile was meant to be seen, long before the floating hotel cruise ships took over the river.

You’ll stand at the base of the pyramids at Giza. Fly to Abu Simbel, the temple the world once moved stone by stone to save. Sit in a Nubian woman’s home on Soheil Island and eat the lunch she cooked for you.

This is Cleopatra’s Egypt, and it’s also yours for 10 days—the new Queens of the Nile.

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~ Small groups — women 45+ ~ Solo travelers welcome

~ A women-led journey, ancient and alive ~ Aging boldly since 2017

Egypt alone can feel like a lot to take on. With the NextTribe group, you’ll get access, adventure and security all together. Plus, most of us could never afford to rent out a whole sailboat on our own.

You won’t be the only one. A good number of the women on this trip travel solo. You’ll land among women in exactly the same boat, by design.

A host who’s one of us. Our NextTribe Trip Leader is a warm, worldly woman who will welcome you into the fold. Plus, our Egyptologist is a woman who knows this country inside and out, and who makes sure no one is navigating it alone.

Built-in togetherness—or not. Shared meals, shared excursions—but also freedom to peace out on the deck of the dahabiya.

Rooming made simple. Travel solo with your own room for a single supplement, or let us know and we’ll match you with a roommate from the group.

1. Ancient Monuments, Seen Through a Woman’s Eyes

Egypt’s most iconic sites weren’t built by faceless pharaohs — they were built by a civilization that worshipped powerful female deities. Isis, the goddess of magic and healing, was one of the most revered figures in the ancient world. Our female Egyptologist will make sure you’re seeing all of this with full context — not just as spectacle, but as story.

2. The Dahabiya: The Nile, the Way It Was Meant to Be Seen

Forget the floating apartment buildings you see clogging the river on most Nile cruises. Our home for six nights is the Fatima, a traditional wooden dahabiya — a graceful craft carrying just 15 guests. Think charming sundeck, personal cabins, and the Nile unspooling past you at a pace that actually lets you see it. This is the kind of vessel featured in Agatha Christie’s Death on the Nile. We do it without the death.

3. Pyramids. Pyramids. Pyramids.

Nothing can prepare you for what it feels like to stand in front of the pyramids at Giza. They are preposterous. They are magnificent. We’ll arrange an animal-friendly camel photo with the pyramids as your backdrop — a shot you’ll still be smiling over years from now. Come for the history, stay for the bragging rights.

4. Abu Simbel: The Elusive Monument

Most travelers never make it to Abu Simbel, and that’s their loss. The twin temples are so extraordinary that when the Aswan Dam threatened to submerge them in the 1960s, the entire world pitched in to dismantle and relocate them, block by carved block. Getting there requires a short flight from Aswan.We’ve built it into the itinerary so you don’t miss out on anything.

5. Egypt Beyond the Monuments: The Women You’ll Meet

The guides and drivers will be wonderful. But what will really stay with you are the women who aren’t on any official itinerary. The entrepreneur who built a food business out of a Cairo kitchen. The Nubian woman on Soheil Island who’ll cook you lunch and tell you about her life. The artisans in the weaving workshop who’ve turned a traditional craft into a modern livelihood. You’ll have real conversations with real women — the kind that tend to come up again and again when you’re trying to explain what Egypt was actually like.

Do I need to come with someone? Not at all. Plenty of NextTribe travelers come solo, and because we’re all women of a certain age who still have a curiosity about life, our groups bonds fast

Is Egypt safe for women travelers? Yes. This trip is women-led from top to bottom — our guide, our Cairo hotel, and many of the experiences along the way — and you’re with the group and a guide throughout.

Will I Know Anyone? Probably not going in. Almost certainly yes by day two. It happens on every single trip — that’s not marketing, it’s just what this kind of travel does.

How physically demanding is this trip? Some walking on uneven ground at ancient sites, and boarding the dahabiya requires a bit of mobility, but this isn’t a strenuous trip. Let us know about any concerns and we’ll help you plan around them.

What’s the Fatima actually like? Small and traditional — a wooden, sail-powered dahabiya carrying just 15 guests, with a sundeck and private cabins. Nothing like the big Nile cruise ships.

What’s included? Accommodations (including six nights aboard the Fatima), most meals, ground transportation, guided excursions, and both a NextTribe host and an Egyptologist throughout. Plus a specially curated Enrichment Guide to help you prepare for your trip. International flights are not included.

What if I need to cancel? Full refund up to 90 days out (except for your deposit, which can be applied to a future trip). We highly recommend travel protection insurance, and can point you toward options.

“I’m amazed how on each of my NextTribe trips, a bond is created immediately among a dozen women who have joined for a new experience and an adventure. It never feels as if you’re on a tour, but instead traveling the world with new friends.”

–Sherry T.

“I was totally shocked by how much I enjoyed my trip with this wonderful group of ladies. We all came from various parts of the country and various backgrounds, yet we bonded like old friends. This was my first trip with the group and I will definitely be doing it again!! I’m pretty much a loner but I felt right at home. Truly a great time every minute.”

–Christine B.

Jeannie Ralston visited Egypt in March 2011—during the Arab Spring uprising. She has a long story of how she ended up there on vacation—with her children!—at that moment in history, but you’ll have to wait to hear it over dinner in Cairo.

Despite the distractions in Tahir Square, the family trip to Egypt was remarkable, and she has dreamed of returning when the country isn’t in the middle of a revolution. She and her family followed a very similar schedule—Cairo, Luxor, a cruise down the Nile in a dahabiya, Aswan.

However, she did not get to Abul Simbel, which she is particularly looking forward to seeing. Another important element that’s different on this trip: we’ll be interacting with a lot of Egyptian women—in true NextTribe style.