Duration: 9 hours
Starts from: Cairo
Group size: Up to 12 guests
Difficulty: Easy

Overview

A nine-hour stopover tour from Cairo airport to the Giza pyramids, the Egyptian Museum and the old Coptic quarter, home to some of Egypt's oldest churches.

This stopover moves through three layers of Cairo's history in one day. Your guide meets you at the airport after passport control and starts at Giza, where the Great Pyramid, its two companions and the Sphinx have stood at the city's edge for some four and a half thousand years.

In the city centre, the Egyptian Museum on Tahrir Square holds room after room of statues, coffins, jewellery and papyri. Your guide steers you to the pieces that matter most; Tutankhamun's treasures, once the museum's star attraction, are now at the Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza.

Last comes Old Cairo, the Coptic quarter, where narrow lanes behind Roman-era walls lead to the Hanging Church, built above a gatehouse of the Babylon fortress, and other early churches that tell the story of Christianity in Egypt. Lunch can be added during the day, and you're back at the airport about nine hours after pickup.

Highlights

The Giza pyramids and the Sphinx
Highlights of the Egyptian Museum
The Hanging Church in Coptic Cairo
Narrow lanes and Roman-era walls in Old Cairo
A guide with you from airport to airport

Itinerary

1
Day 1
Airport → Giza → Egyptian Museum → Old Cairo → Airport
Meet your guide at Cairo airport and drive to the Giza plateau for the pyramids and the Sphinx. Continue to the Egyptian Museum on Tahrir Square, then to the Coptic quarter of Old Cairo and the Hanging Church. Transfer back to the airport, about nine 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 Giza plateau and the Egyptian Museum
Shared small-group tour

Not included

Lunch and drinks (lunch available as an extra)
Entry inside the pyramids (optional tickets)
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
Hat, sunglasses and sunscreen
Clothing that covers shoulders and knees for mosques and churches

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