Cairo Stopover Tour: Pyramids, Museums & Bazaar

The plateau holds the three main pyramids of Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure, plus smaller queens' pyramids. Khufu's Great Pyramid, finished around 2560 BC, stayed the tallest building on earth for nearly four thousand years. Your guide explains how it was built and where to stand for the best views.

The Sphinx, carved from the bedrock and generally linked to King Khafre, lies beside the causeway to his pyramid. Next to it stands the Valley Temple, built of huge granite blocks, where the king's funeral rites are thought to have begun. Between the Sphinx's paws is the Dream Stele of Thutmose IV.

A short drive from the pyramids, the Grand Egyptian Museum is the largest museum devoted to a single civilization. On a layover you focus on the essentials: the colossal Ramses II, the Grand Staircase lined with royal statues, and the galleries where Tutankhamun's treasures are shown together.

Lunch is included at a restaurant looking out on the pyramids or the Nile. It is the only real sit-down break of the day, and a good moment to tell your guide what matters most to you in the afternoon, so the remaining time goes where you want it.

Opened in 1902, the museum on Tahrir Square is the older home of Egypt's antiquities and still holds thousands of objects, from Old Kingdom statues to the gold of the royal tombs at Tanis. With limited time, your guide takes a short route through its strongest rooms.

Laid out under the Fatimids in the 10th century, Al Muizz Street runs through the heart of Historic Cairo, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1979. You walk past mosques, madrasas and public fountains from the Fatimid, Ayyubid and Mamluk eras, many of them carefully restored.

The bazaar grew around a merchants' inn built in the late 14th century and is still a working market. Browse for spices, brass lamps, perfume bottles and silver, and keep in mind that whatever you buy has to fit your airline's baggage allowance.

Your driver takes you straight back to Cairo International Airport for your departure. The guide, car, lunch, bottled water and entrance fees are already covered, so your Egypt entry visa and any extras you choose are the only costs left to plan for.

A private Egyptologist guide, a private air-conditioned car, airport pickup and return, entrance fees to the sites in the program, lunch at a local restaurant, bottled water and all service charges and taxes. Your Egypt entry visa is not included, and neither are extras outside the program.

Yes. The guide and car are for your group only. The per-person price is lower for larger groups, because the cost of the car and guide is shared among more people, and it changes a little by season. Prices start from {price} per person.

To leave the airport you enter Egypt, so in most cases you need to meet the same entry rules as any visitor. Those rules depend on your nationality and can change, so check them with official sources or your airline before you fly. The visa is not included in our price.

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.