2 Days Cairo Tour from Sharm El Sheikh by Plane

On the Giza plateau stand the three main pyramids of the 4th Dynasty, with six smaller queens' pyramids beside them. Your guide takes you around the Great Pyramid of Khufu, then down to the Sphinx and the granite Valley Temple of Khafre, where royal funerals began.

The Grand Egyptian Museum sits right beside the plateau. Pass the Hanging Obelisk at the entrance, meet the colossal Ramses II in the atrium, and climb the grand staircase of royal statues to the galleries where all of Tutankhamun's burial goods are shown together.

Lunch is included at a local restaurant between Giza and Saqqara. Sit down out of the sun, drink plenty of water and ask your guide about the morning, because the afternoon takes you to the site where Egypt's age of pyramid building began.

At Saqqara you see where pyramid building began. Around 2650 BC, the architect Imhotep stacked six stone platforms into a stepped pyramid for King Djoser, the first large building in Egypt made entirely of cut stone. Your guide shows you the enclosure walls and courtyards around it.

Your car takes you to a 5-star hotel in Cairo, where you check in for the night. Dinner is not part of the program, so the evening is yours to eat at the hotel or nearby and rest before a busy second day.

After breakfast you check out and meet your guide. The first stop is the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square, opened in the early 1900s and still packed with statues, coffins, papyri and jewelry. Your guide leads you to the key pieces so the visit stays focused.

Your second lunch is included at a local restaurant in Cairo. Take your time here: the afternoon moves through three different parts of the city, from the hilltop Citadel to Fustat, and ends with a walk through the old bazaar.

Saladin began the Citadel in 1176 on a spur of the Muqattam Hills, and it served as the seat of Egypt's rulers for some seven hundred years. Inside, the Ottoman-style Muhammad Ali Mosque, finished in the 1840s and faced with alabaster, looks out over the whole city.

In Fustat, the oldest Islamic-era part of Cairo, the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization traces Egypt's story from prehistory to modern times. Its Royal Mummies Hall holds the mummies of kings and queens such as Ramses II and Hatshepsut, shown in quiet, dim galleries.

The last stop is Islamic Cairo. Al Muizz Street, the main avenue of the Fatimid city, is lined with mosques and Mamluk monuments, and it runs into Khan El Khalili, the bazaar where you can shop for lanterns, spices and silver, then fly back to Sharm.

Return domestic flights between Sharm El Sheikh and Cairo, one night in a 5-star Cairo hotel with breakfast, two lunches, a private guide and air-conditioned car, all transfers, water and soft drinks, and entrance fees to the sites in Cairo and Giza on the program. Dinner, tips and extras are not included.

Yes. Your guide and car are for your group only. The per-person rate falls as the group gets bigger, because the guide and car cost the same however many people share them. Prices also go up in the cooler months, when flights and Cairo hotels are in higher demand.

You check out of the Cairo hotel after breakfast on day two, and your bag travels with you in the private car until the airport. That is why a small overnight bag works best. Keep valuables and your passport on you, and leave your large suitcase at your hotel in Sharm.

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.