EGYPT WITHIN : Ancient Egypt Retreat 2026
A 9-day journey through Ancient Egypt to reconnect with yourself
and explore greater harmony between your inner world and the way you live.
The Retreat – at a glance
14th - 22nd November 2026 • 9 days / 8 nights
Giza pyramids • Saqqara • Luxor • Edfu • Aswan & Philae
English & French • Small group
Early Bird CHF 2,700 (approx. £2,460)- available until 30 September 2026 or for the first 4 places, whichever comes first.
Standard CHF 3,000 (approx. £2,735)
Shared room • Private room + CHF 500 (approx. £455)
Reserve with a CHF 500 deposit (approx. £455)
Small group • Minimum 4 participants
Created from years of travelling and facilitating groups in Egypt, supported by a trusted local team.
Prices are charged in Swiss francs (CHF). GBP amounts are shown for guidance only and may vary according to the exchange rate applied by your bank or card provider.
Is This Journey for You?
This journey may speak to you if you:
- feel strongly drawn to Ancient Egypt and want to experience it beyond conventional tourism;
- want to step away from everyday demands and create more space for yourself;
- feel that something in your life is no longer completely in harmony with who you are;
- want to reconnect with what you genuinely feel and what matters to you;
- are drawn to deeper experiences rather than remaining only at the surface;
- want to gain a different perspective on aspects of your life;
- are interested in sensitivity, energy or spirituality but want to explore through your own experience rather than somebody else’s beliefs;
- want meaningful personal exploration without losing the pleasure of travelling through Egypt.
You do not need to arrive with a problem to solve or an important decision to make.
Sometimes stepping outside ordinary life simply gives us enough space to recognise what is already right – and what may need more attention.
No previous experience of yoga, meditation, energy work or retreats is required.
A Journey Towards Harmony
Most of us live between two worlds. There is our inner world – what we feel, need, value, sense and know about ourselves. And there is our outer world – our relationships, work, environment, responsibilities and choices.
Sometimes the two move together. Sometimes they do not.
When there is too much distance between them, we may feel unsettled, disconnected or simply aware that something does not quite fit.
Egypt Within creates space to explore that relationship.
By leaving our familiar environment and entering a very different one, we create the conditions to slow down, become more present and listen differently.
From that place, we can go deeper into ourselves. We can look at things from another perspective. And we can begin to recognise more clearly what genuinely matters. The intention is not permanent calm or perfect balance.
It is to explore how who you are within and the way you actually live can come into greater harmony.
Why Ancient Egypt?
Ancient Egypt is not simply the backdrop for this retreat. Egypt surrounds the whole experience.
Its pyramids, temples, desert landscapes, the Nile, history, architecture, scale and atmosphere take us outside our normal environment and habitual ways of seeing.
For many people, these places can also feel unusually powerful or energetically intense. We do not tell you what you should experience. We do not prescribe what the energy of a temple means.
Instead, we create enough presence and space for you to experience the places for yourself.
What do you notice?
What happens in your body?
What changes emotionally?
What happens to your attention?
What feels familiar, uncomfortable, expansive or completely new?
What comes from your direct experience – and where do expectation, belief or interpretation begin?
Egypt becomes the environment, the journey and the catalyst within which the whole exploration unfolds.
Your Journey Through Ancient Egypt
Cairo, Giza, Saqqara & Dahshur
Begin among the pyramids and some of Egypt’s oldest monumental sites, including the Giza Plateau, the Great Pyramid and the ancient landscapes around Saqqara and Dahshur.
Luxor
Spend several days exploring Ancient Thebes and the West Bank, including extraordinary sites such as Karnak, Hatshepsut’s Temple and the Valley of the Kings.
Edfu
Travel south through the Nile Valley with a visit to the remarkably preserved Temple of Horus at Edfu.
Aswan & Philae
Complete the journey in southern Egypt, surrounded by the landscapes of Aswan, the Nile and the island Temple of Philae.
The precise order may adapt according to local conditions, opening times and what works best for the group.
How We Support the Journey
Presence, Depth and Perspective
At the heart of the retreat is presence — creating enough space to slow down, reconnect with yourself and become more aware of what you are actually experiencing.
From there, the journey invites two complementary movements:
Go Deeper
Listen beneath the surface, reconnect with what you feel and allow what genuinely matters to emerge.
See Differently
Step back, explore other perspectives and notice how emotions, beliefs, expectations and environment may influence the way you experience things.
Throughout the retreat, we use simple practices to support this process:
- body awareness and gentle movement;
- breath;
- voice, humming and listening;
- moments of silence and guided presence;
- reflection and journalling;
- coaching and group conversation;
- sensitivity and discernment practices.
The practices adapt to the place, the day and the group.
Sometimes we will explore together.
Sometimes the most valuable thing will simply be to be present in Egypt.
Go deeper. See differently. Bring what matters back into your life.
What Might You Take Home?
The purpose of going inward is not necessarily to remain inward.
Throughout the journey, and particularly towards its end, we create space to notice what the experience may mean for the life waiting for us at home.
You may return with:
More clarity
about what genuinely matters to you.
Greater connection with yourself
and a clearer sense of what you feel, need and value.
A different perspective
on something that previously appeared fixed.
Greater discernment
between what you directly experience and what comes from expectation, emotion, belief or interpretation.
A stronger sense of harmony
between yourself and the choices you make.
Or simply:
A deep experience that continues to unfold after you return.
There is no pressure to leave Egypt with a dramatic decision or transformation.
Sometimes harmony also means recognising what is already right.
Your Facilitators
Vanessa Guilloud
Vanessa has been immersed in yoga and personal development since her teenage years, developing a long-standing interest in self-awareness, presence and the relationship between our inner experience and the way we live.
She spent 10 years as a school teacher before moving professionally into coaching, yoga and sound therapy in 2021. Her background in education brings structure, clarity and an ability to make complex ideas accessible, while her coaching work brings depth, presence and a strong focus on helping people reconnect with themselves and make choices that are more aligned with who they genuinely are.
Vanessa has travelled to Egypt on 17 occasions and has spent the past five years organising retreats there. This has given her substantial first-hand knowledge of the country, its ancient sites and the practical realities of creating and accompanying group journeys in Egypt.
During Egypt Within, Vanessa will particularly support presence, embodiment, movement and inner exploration, creating space to go beneath the surface, listen more deeply and allow what is important to emerge.
Othman Haddad (Otto)
Othman is the founder and Methodology Director of Swiss Sound Therapy, a tutor at The Arthur Findlay College, and has worked professionally with individuals, groups and practitioners since 2012.
Before moving into therapeutic work full-time, he spent more than a decade working in systems engineering and programme management. That background continues to shape his approach today: observe carefully, distinguish what is happening and adapt rather than immediately impose an interpretation.
Alongside his therapeutic work, Othman has trained extensively in mediumship and trance mediumship, developing a strong sensitivity to people, environments and subtler forms of perception. Rather than treating every impression as fact, his approach emphasises grounding and discernment – exploring what is actually being perceived and distinguishing direct experience from emotion, expectation, belief and interpretation.
During the retreat, he will particularly support presence, perception, discernment, sensitivity, breath, voice, listening and integration, helping participants explore their own experience without prescribing what they should feel or believe.
Othman speaks English, French and Arabic and has travelled through Egypt repeatedly with groups, developing long-standing relationships with the local team.
A Trusted Local Team
We are not organising this journey from a distance. We work with a long-standing local team in Egypt with whom we have built trusted relationships over many journeys.
An experienced local guide accompanies us through the principal archaeological sites, providing the historical and archaeological context needed to understand what we are seeing.
Our wider team supports transportation, logistics and practical organisation throughout the journey.
This allows us to combine:
a genuine discovery of Ancient Egypt
with
the space to experience it more personally.
Comfortable, Small-Group Travel
We believe deeper exploration is easier when the practical side of the journey is properly taken care of.
The retreat is designed around:
- carefully selected quality hotels;
- private ground transportation;
- organised domestic travel;
- experienced local support;
- guided archaeological visits;
- a deliberately small group;
- enough flexibility to respond to the people and the journey.
Previous Journeys in Egypt
We have already travelled through Egypt with groups.
Our approach has developed from those journeys: understanding what works, where people need more space, when structure helps and when the best thing is simply to let Egypt speak for itself.
What Is Included?
Your retreat package includes:
- 8 nights’ accommodation in quality hotels;
- shared-room accommodation;
- domestic flights required by the itinerary;
- private transportation within Egypt;
- experienced local guide;
- entrance fees for scheduled archaeological sites;
- boat transportation to Philae where required;
- breakfast and meals specified in the final itinerary;
- all retreat facilitation with Othman and Vanessa;
- local organisation and support throughout the journey.
Not Included
- international flights to and from Egypt;
- travel insurance;
- visa costs where applicable;
- personal purchases;
- optional activities outside the programme;
- personal gratuities unless otherwise specified.
Dates & Investment
14–22 November 2026
(9 days / 8 nights)
Early Bird
CHF 2,700 per person (approx. £2,460)
Available until 30 September 2026 or for the first 4 places, whichever comes first.
Standard Price
CHF 3,000 per person (approx. £2,735)
Based on shared accommodation.
Private Room
+ CHF 500 (approx. £455)
A CHF 500 deposit is required to reserve your place.
The deposit forms part of the total retreat price and is non-refundable if you decide to cancel your booking.
The remaining balance is due 6 weeks before departure.
Bookings made after the balance-payment deadline require payment of the full retreat price at the time of booking.
All payments are charged in Swiss francs (CHF). GBP amounts are indicative only and may vary according to exchange rates and conversion charges.
Minimum Group
The retreat requires a minimum of 4 participants to operate.
The group will remain intentionally small, with approximately 4–10 participants.
Once the minimum number has been reached, we will confirm that the journey is officially going ahead.
If we cancel because the minimum group size has not been reached, all payments made to us, including your deposit, will be refunded in full.
We recommend waiting for this confirmation before purchasing non-refundable international flights.
Frequently Asked Questions
It may have a spiritual dimension if that is meaningful to you, but there is no belief system you are expected to follow.
We encourage direct experience, curiosity and personal discernment rather than predetermined interpretations.
Yes.
Exploring how we perceive and respond to the atmosphere and energy of different places can be part of the journey.
We do not tell participants what they should feel or claim that everyone will experience the same thing.
No.
Gentle yoga and movement may be used to help participants reconnect with the body and become more present, but yoga is a supporting practice rather than the focus of the retreat.
No.
Othman may use humming, voice, listening and simple sound-based practices where they support the experience.
He will not be travelling with gongs or running conventional sound baths.
No.
You do not need previous experience of meditation, yoga, voice work, energy work or retreats.
Yes.
An experienced local guide accompanies the group and provides historical and archaeological explanations throughout the journey.
You are coming both to discover Egypt and experience it differently.
We are not promising permanent balance or a life without difficulty.
Harmony, in the context of this retreat, means developing a clearer relationship between your inner experience – what you feel, value and need – and the way you live through your relationships, environment, work and choices.
The retreat is bilingual in English and French.
The group will remain intentionally small.
We expect approximately 6–10 participants.
Yes, subject to availability.
The private-room supplement is CHF 500.
No.
Participants arrange their own international flights to and from Egypt.
Domestic travel required by the retreat itinerary is included.
There will be walking, stairs, heat and visits inside ancient structures, including some confined or steep spaces.
Detailed practical information will be provided before booking so you can decide whether the journey is appropriate for you.
Your place is secured with a CHF 500 deposit, which is deducted from the total price of the retreat.
The remaining balance is due 6 weeks before departure.
The deposit is non-refundable if you decide to cancel your booking.
However, the retreat requires a minimum of four participants to operate. If we cancel because the minimum group size has not been reached, all payments you have made to us, including your deposit, will be refunded in full.
The retreat is confirmed once we have reached the minimum group of four participants.
We will notify participants as soon as the minimum has been reached.
Until then, we recommend choosing flexible or refundable international flights, or waiting for our confirmation before booking a non-refundable fare.
The remaining retreat balance is due 6 weeks before departure.
Bookings made after this date require payment of the full retreat price at the time of booking.
All retreat prices and payments are charged in Swiss francs (CHF)
For convenience, we display an approximate equivalent in British pounds on this page. The sterling amount is indicative only and will vary according to the exchange rate and any conversion charges applied by your bank or card provider.
Egypt Within
Ancient Egypt surrounds the journey.
Presence opens the space.
Greater harmony is the invitation.
Nine days to step outside everyday life and experience some of Ancient Egypt’s most extraordinary places.
To become more present.
To go deeper.
To see differently.
And to explore what you want to bring back into the life you return to.
14–22 November 2026 • 9 days / 8 nights
English & French • Small group
Early Bird – CHF 2,700
approx. £2,460
