Full Day Tour Tanis and Bubastis
Description
The quality of artistic beauty in articulation is essential, beyond the mere accuracy that is ordinarily thought of, visit two often-overlooked archaeological sites on this private Nile Delta day trip from Cairo. Travel into the delta to Tell-Basta’s site of Bubastis, an ancient city dedicated to the cat god, Bastet. Learn about Bubastis’ worship of cats before exploring Tanis's ruins and royal tombs, an ancient capital, at San El-Hagar.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Begin your private tour with a hotel pickup in Cairo or Giza, and travel north through Egypt’s picturesque Nile Delta by private, air-conditioned minivan. Hear how the delta was part of ancient Lower Egypt, and stop first at Tell-Basta, the site of Bubastis, once one of Egypt’s most important ancient cities. On arrival, explore the relics of this once-thriving city with your Egyptologist guide. Hear how Bubastis flourished from around 1292 BC when Egypt’s pharaohs moved their capital to the delta region. View the inscribed pillars and fragments, including the relics of Bubastis’ temple, dedicated to the city’s revered, cat God, Bastet. Imagine how the temple looked in its time and hear about Bubastis’ cat cemeteries, where it’s believed thousands of revered, mummified cats are buried.
Next, you will have your lunch in a good quality restaurant with a set menu of grill chicken/kebab and kofta. Travel further north to San El-Hagar to see the remains of Tanis, a capital of ancient Egypt from around 1075 BC. Stroll around Tanis’ crumbled temples, and see the ruined royal tombs discovered here in the 20th century. Hear how archaeologists excavating the tombs discovered great pharaonic treasures including silver coffins, gold, and jewelry. During your travels, break for an Egyptian lunch at a local restaurant, and after visiting Tanis, finish with a hotel drop-off back in Cairo or Giza.
Highlights
What's included
Pickup Locations & Times
we will pick you up from your selected address in Cairo or Giza
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Wheelchair accessible
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Specialized infant seats are available
- Transportation options are wheelchair accessible
- All areas and surfaces are wheelchair accessible
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
Reviews(4)
Great places little visited, but worth it for those who love Egypt. Tanis a little far away, but you can tell how great she was, fascinating. Great driver and guide.
This full-day private tour from Cairo to Tanis and Bubastis was pure magic – one of the most fascinating and underrated experiences we had in Egypt! If you love history and want to escape the crowds of Giza and Luxor, this is the tour for you. We were picked up from our Cairo hotel at 7:30 AM in a modern, air-conditioned van with plenty of cold water on board. Our guide, Dr. Mona, an actual archaeologist and Egyptologist, was simply outstanding. Her passion and in-depth knowledge turned the day into a private university lecture in the best possible way – she explained everything with clarity, excitement, and even showed us recent discoveries that aren’t in guidebooks yet.
A fantastic tour today! I’ve been to Egypt many times, and this was easily my favorite experience yet. The driver Ahmed was excellent—friendly, professional, and went the extra mile (literally) to make the day outstanding. Everything was perfectly organized by Mr. George, a trained archaeologist who checked in on the tour many times throughout the day and to make arrangements at each location. It’s a great tour for those wanting to get away from all the tourists and see some real history not in a packed museum. Bubastis (Tell Basta) Once the center of worship for the cat goddess Bastet (biblical Pi-Beseth), Bubastis holds scattered ruins from the Middle and Late Kingdoms, including a mudbrick palace of Amenemhat III, Old Kingdom tombs, and massive granite remnants of Bastet’s temple. Much of it was quarried away over time, but the site remains peaceful, atmospheric, and full of history. Tanis (San el-Hagar) Tanis, known in the Bible as Zoan, was Egypt’s “Thebes of the North” and royal capital during the 21st–22nd Dynasties. Its broad ruins—temples, obelisks, and royal tombs such as those of Psusennes I and Shoshenq II—make it one of Egypt’s most impressive yet least-visited sites. Quiet, expansive, and rich with ancient grandeur.
Tell Bastia has a very nice museum. Tanis used to be a great temple, but it is in pieces, gives you different perspective. You can see some details better, since the pieces are up close.
