Duration: 6 hours
Starts from: Cairo
Group size: Up to 12 guests
Difficulty: Easy

Overview

A six-hour layover tour from Cairo airport to the Egyptian Museum on Tahrir Square and the hilltop Citadel of Saladin, with its Ottoman-style mosque and city views.

Six hours is just right for two of Cairo's great landmarks without rushing. Your guide meets you at the airport once you're through passport control, and the drive into the city centre takes about an hour, traffic permitting.

At the Egyptian Museum, a pink neoclassical building opened in 1902, your guide picks out the highlights among thousands of statues, coffins, jewellery and papyri. Tutankhamun's treasures are now displayed at the Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza, but the old museum is still the place to grasp the sheer scale of ancient Egyptian craftsmanship under one roof.

From there you head up to the Citadel of Saladin, the fortress that guarded Cairo for centuries. Inside its walls, the Mosque of Muhammad Ali is lined with alabaster, and the terrace beside it looks out across the rooftops and minarets of old Cairo. Lunch can be added before the drive back to the airport.

Highlights

The Egyptian Museum's highlights with your guide
Statues, jewellery and papyri spanning three millennia
The Citadel of Saladin
The alabaster Mosque of Muhammad Ali
Views over the rooftops and minarets of old Cairo

Itinerary

1
Day 1
Airport → Egyptian Museum → Citadel of Saladin → Airport
Meet your guide at Cairo airport and drive about an hour into the city centre. Spend time with your guide in the Egyptian Museum on Tahrir Square, then continue up to the Citadel of Saladin and the Mosque of Muhammad Ali. Transfer back to the airport, about six hours after pickup.

What's included

Pickup and drop-off at Cairo International Airport
Air-conditioned car with driver
Licensed tour guide
Entry tickets to the Egyptian Museum and the Citadel
Shared small-group tour

Not included

Lunch and drinks (lunch available as an extra)
Egyptian visa, if your nationality needs one
Tips for guide and driver

What to bring

Passport, and a visa if your nationality needs one
Comfortable walking shoes
Clothing that covers shoulders and knees for mosques and churches
Hat, sunglasses and sunscreen

Pickup & meeting point

Your guide meets you in the arrivals hall at Cairo International Airport once you've cleared passport control, and brings you back in good time for your onward flight.

Children up to 11 pay the child rate