Cairo in a day from Hurghada: how the day runs

You fly to Cairo and back in one day. Our Hurghada tour collects you at your hotel for the flight to Cairo, then visits the Giza pyramids, the Sphinx and Valley Temple, stops for lunch, and goes on to the Grand Egyptian Museum and Khan El Khalili bazaar before the flight back and the transfer to your hotel. The flights are not included in the tour price.

The day from Hurghada, in order

1. Hotel pickup in Hurghada.
2. Flight from Hurghada to Cairo, not included in the tour price.
3. Pyramids of Giza: the pyramids of Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure on the Giza Plateau.
4. Great Sphinx and Valley Temple, 0.7 km from the pyramids, a few minutes by car.
5. Lunch at a local restaurant near the pyramids; drinks with the meal are not included.
6. Grand Egyptian Museum, 6.8 km from the Sphinx, about 11 min without traffic; entrance is included.
7. Khan El Khalili Bazaar, 20.6 km from the museum, about 23 min without traffic: a walk through the bazaar in historic Cairo with time to browse shops.
8. Flight from Cairo to Hurghada, then the transfer to your hotel.

The tour is private, just your group, with an English-speaking Egyptologist (a specialist in ancient Egypt) as your guide, transfers by private air-conditioned vehicle, and bottled water and soft drinks. Its times are approximate, so check how the day lines up with flight times through our contact page before you book flights.

The museum stop

The Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) is in Giza, near the pyramids. Its standard admission includes the Tutankhamun Galleries, so this is where you see the Tutankhamun treasures, not the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir. GEM tickets are booked online in advance for a timed entry slot, and the entrance fee is part of the tour. Personal photography is allowed except in designated areas of the Tutankhamun Galleries. If you are weighing the two museums, see Egyptian Museum or Grand Egyptian Museum?

How the other by-plane tours differ

From Marsa Alam, the flights leave from Hurghada, not Marsa Alam, so the day also includes the road to Hurghada airport: 281 km from your hotel, about 3 h 23 min without traffic, and 277.1 km back, about 3 h 14 min. Pickup and return at your Marsa Alam hotel are included.

From Sharm El Sheikh, the museum comes first, then the pyramids 4.9 km away (about 9 min without traffic), the Sphinx, lunch, and Khan El Khalili, 21.6 km from the Sphinx (about 23 min without traffic). A felucca ride (a traditional Nile sailboat) can be arranged as an option, not included in the tour price. Entrance inside the Great Pyramid is listed as not included.

From Dahab, the flights also leave from Sharm El Sheikh. In Cairo the drive from the airport to the pyramids is 41.5 km, about 46 min without traffic, and after the museum the tour heads straight back to Cairo airport, 41.4 km away (about 43 min without traffic). On return, the drive from Sharm El Sheikh airport to Dahab is 92.4 km, about 74 min without traffic.

Extra tickets and what to wear

Going inside the Great Pyramid of Khufu is a separate ticket; these tours list it as not included, an optional extra.

Coming from a resort, note UK government travel advice: dress modestly, especially in rural areas, mosques and souqs (traditional markets) such as Khan El Khalili, because resort norms do not apply elsewhere.

If you would rather not fly

Luxor in a day from Hurghada goes by road instead: 289.7 km to Karnak, about 3 h 43 min without traffic, then the Valley of the Kings, Hatshepsut Temple, lunch and the Colossi of Memnon, and 277.5 km back, about 3 h 33 min. The Cairo or Luxor from the Red Sea guide compares the two days.

More days out from the coast are on the Hurghada page.