Tour Overview
This private day trip takes you south from Cairo to El Minya to see two sites few visitors reach: Tell el-Amarna, the city Akhenaten built for his sun god, the Aten, and the rock-cut tombs of Beni Hassan, where Middle Kingdom governors were buried. It is a long day, with almost four hours of driving to get there, but you have your own Egyptologist guide and private car, and lunch and entrance fees are included.
Tour Highlights
- Walk where Akhenaten built Akhetaten, the capital he founded in the 14th century BC when he turned Egypt toward the worship of one god, the Aten.
- Learn how the Amarna period changed Egyptian art, with more natural, relaxed images of the king, Queen Nefertiti and their daughters under the rays of the sun.
- Climb the path to the Beni Hassan tombs, cut high in the cliffs on the east bank of the Nile, with a wide view over the green valley.
- Study painted scenes of daily life four thousand years ago: farming, hunting, crafts, soldiers, and the famous rows of wrestlers shown hold by hold.
- Cover two very different chapters of Egyptian history in one day, with your own Egyptologist guide, a private car and lunch in El Minya.
Tour Route
Is the Tell el-Amarna and Beni Hassan trip worth it?
Yes, if you have a strong interest in Egyptian history and do not mind a long day in the car. These are among the least visited major sites in Egypt, and they cover two key periods: the Middle Kingdom at Beni Hassan and Akhenaten's religious revolution at Amarna.
It is not the right first trip for most visitors. If you have only a few days in Egypt, the pyramids, the museums and Luxor come first. But if you have seen those and want to understand Egypt beyond the main circuit, a day in El Minya fills in parts of the story that the famous sites leave out.
Who was Akhenaten and why did he build Amarna?
Akhenaten was a pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty who ruled in the mid-14th century BC. He raised the Aten, the disk of the sun, above all other gods and broke with the powerful priests of Amun at Thebes. To make a fresh start, he founded a new capital, Akhetaten, at what is now Tell el-Amarna.
His queen was Nefertiti, famous for her painted bust now in Berlin, and Tutankhamun probably spent his childhood here. After Akhenaten died, the court went back to the old gods and the old capitals, and Amarna was left empty. Later kings tried to erase his name, but the ruins and tombs still preserve the art of his reign.
What can you see in the Beni Hassan tombs?
The tombs belonged to the governors of the local province, the Oryx nome, about 4,000 years ago. Their painted walls are among the best records of everyday life in the Middle Kingdom, showing work, sport, war and family life in rich detail.
- Wrestling scenes: long rows of pairs of wrestlers, each pair in a different hold, almost like a training manual.
- Khnumhotep II: a tomb known for its scene of Asiatic traders arriving in Egypt with their families and animals.
- Fluted columns: some tomb porches have columns that early travelers compared to later Greek Doric architecture.
Day trip or 2-day El Minya tour: which should you choose?
This day trip covers Tell el-Amarna and Beni Hassan with lunch and brings you back to Cairo the same day. The 2-day El Minya tour sees the same two sites at a slower pace, adds Tuna el-Gebel and the tomb of Petosiris, and includes a night in an El Minya hotel.
For something closer to Cairo, the Saqqara, Memphis and Dahshur day trip shows the earliest pyramids and the old capital of the Old Kingdom, with far less time in the car. Our Cairo day tours page lists every other option, from museums to desert safaris.
Tour Itinerary
A very long day: an early start and the drive south, two sites in El Minya, lunch, and the drive back to Cairo.
Your Egyptologist guide and driver meet you at your hotel early in the morning in a deluxe private air-conditioned car. The drive south to El Minya takes almost four hours, following the Nile Valley past farmland and country towns. It is a good time to hear the story of Akhenaten before you reach his city.
Akhenaten left Thebes and the old gods behind and built a new capital on an empty plain on the east bank, dedicated to the Aten, the disk of the sun. After his death the city was abandoned, which is why so much of its plan survived. Your guide explains its temples, palaces and the life of the people who followed the king here.
Beni Hassan holds 39 rock-cut tombs of governors and officials from the 11th and 12th dynasties of the Middle Kingdom. A stepped path leads up the cliff to them. Inside, painted walls show daily life in detail, from farming and fishing to soldiers, wrestlers and foreign traders arriving in Egypt.
Lunch is at a local restaurant in El Minya and is included in the price. After two sites and the long morning drive, it is a welcome break, and a good time to ask your guide about Middle Egypt, a region with far fewer visitors than Luxor or Giza.
After lunch your driver takes you back north to your hotel in Cairo or Giza. It is a long drive, so many people use it to rest. The guide, car, lunch, bottled water and entrance fees are covered, so you only need cash for tips and personal purchases.
What's Included
What the tour price covers, and what to plan for separately.
Paid
★
Your
Own
Frequently Asked Questions
Quick answers about this tour. For anything else, message us on WhatsApp — we reply fast.
The trip starts early in the morning at your hotel in downtown Cairo or the Giza area. Your guide and driver pick you up in a private air-conditioned car and bring you back to the same hotel at the end of the day. Pickup from other areas costs extra; tell us your address when you book.
The price includes hotel pickup and return, an Egyptologist guide, a deluxe private air-conditioned vehicle, entrance fees for the sites in the program, lunch at a local restaurant in El Minya, bottled water in the car, and all service charges and taxes. Tips, optional tours and personal expenses are not included.
It is a private tour: the car and the guide are only for you and the people you book with. Because the cost of the vehicle and guide is shared within your group, the price per person goes down as the group gets bigger. Prices also change by season, from {price} per person.
The drive from Cairo to El Minya takes almost four hours, and the return takes about as long, so most of this day is spent on the road. Bring a book, snacks and something warm for the car. If that feels like too much, the 2-day El Minya tour splits the driving with a night in El Minya.
Yes. Avicon Travel is a Class "A" travel agency licensed by the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism under License No. 1962 and registered since 2010. Our office and team are in Karnak, Luxor, so the guides, drivers and cars on this tour are our own local team, not a booking desk abroad.
