- Four full-day Cairo tours start at the Giza pyramids, then go to Saqqara and Memphis, the Egyptian Museum, the Grand Egyptian Museum or both museums.
- The Tutankhamun galleries are at the Grand Egyptian Museum, 6.8 km from the Sphinx, about 11 min without traffic.
- In Luxor, the both-banks tour visits the Valley of the Kings, Hatshepsut Temple, Karnak and Luxor Temple in one day.
- 44 tours list an English-speaking Egyptologist guide, and lunch is included on 30 tours.
- From a Red Sea resort, Cairo is a day by plane; domestic flights are not included in the tour price.
Start with a day at the Giza pyramids and the Sphinx in Cairo, with a museum the same day. If your trip goes south, add both banks of Luxor in one day and the High Dam and Philae in Aswan. Our four full-day Cairo tours that start at the pyramids differ in what follows them: Saqqara and Memphis, the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir, the Grand Egyptian Museum, or both museums.
Cairo: which Giza tour first
All four are private, with an English-speaking Egyptologist, a guide trained in ancient Egyptian history, and lunch at a local restaurant. Each begins with the Giza pyramids and the Sphinx, and the first three also stop at the Valley Temple. The table shows where they part ways.
| Pyramids, Memphis and Saqqara | Giza pyramids and the Egyptian Museum | Grand Egyptian Museum and the pyramids | Pyramids and both museums | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| After lunch | Saqqara, with the Step Pyramid of Djoser, then the Memphis open-air museum | The Egyptian Museum in Tahrir | The Grand Egyptian Museum | The Egyptian Museum in Tahrir, after the Grand Egyptian Museum before lunch |
| Drive from the Sphinx | 18.3 km to Saqqara, about 27 min without traffic | 20.4 km, about 20 min without traffic | 6.8 km, about 11 min without traffic | 6.8 km to the Grand Egyptian Museum, about 11 min without traffic |
| Tutankhamun galleries | No | No: they are at the Grand Egyptian Museum | Yes | Yes |
| Optional, not included | Inside the Great Pyramid; a camel ride for an extra fee | Inside the Great Pyramid | Inside the Great Pyramid | Inside the Great Pyramid |
| Shopping stop | Optional, at Khan El Khalili or near the pyramids | Optional, at Khan El Khalili or near the pyramids | Optional, at Khan El Khalili or near the pyramids | None listed |
If Tutankhamun is the reason you came, take the Grand Egyptian Museum and pyramids tour or Pyramids and both museums, since the Tutankhamun galleries are at the Grand Egyptian Museum, not in Tahrir. If you want more pyramids, Saqqara has the Step Pyramid of Djoser, built by the architect Imhotep. Egyptian Museum or Grand Egyptian Museum? compares the two museums. With less time, the Giza pyramids and the Sphinx, half day covers the pyramids, a panoramic viewpoint, the Sphinx and the Valley Temple, and the Grand Egyptian Museum also has a half day of its own with a guide.
Where you stay changes the first drive
The Giza pyramids are 1.8 km from a hotel near the pyramids, about 4 min without traffic; 16.5 km from Downtown or Zamalek, about 20 min without traffic; and 45.3 km from New Cairo, about 42 min without traffic.
Luxor: both banks in one day
The both-banks tour starts on the West Bank: the Colossi of Memnon, 14.9 km from your hotel, about 18 min without traffic, then Hatshepsut Temple and the Valley of the Kings. After an alabaster workshop and lunch, it goes on to Karnak, 13.4 km from the valley, about 22 min without traffic, and ends at Luxor Temple. Tutankhamun's tomb ticket is optional and not included. With two days in Luxor, the West Bank tour, which adds Medinet Habu and Deir el-Medina, and the East Bank tour, a morning, split the same ground; how to split a Luxor day compares them.
