Cairo Day Trip from Hurghada - Museum, Pyramids & Bazaar

Cairo is roughly 450 kilometers from Hurghada, and doing it in a day means an early start and a late finish. People do it anyway, because the alternative is flying home from a beach holiday in Egypt without having seen the Pyramids.

The Giza Plateau

You start where everyone starts. The Great Pyramid was the tallest structure built by human beings for nearly four thousand years, and standing at the base does something to your sense of scale that pictures cannot. You also visit the Valley Temple beside the Sphinx - a granite hall where the causeway from Khafre's pyramid ends, and one of the best-preserved Old Kingdom buildings anywhere.

The Egyptian Museum

The museum on Tahrir Square holds the largest collection of pharaonic antiquities in the world. Your guide will steer you, because trying to see all of it in one visit is how people end up remembering none of it. Note that the Tutankhamun collection has been progressively moved to the Grand Egyptian Museum near Giza - if the boy king is your priority, tell us when you book and we will point you to the right trip.

Tahrir Square and Khan el-Khalili

Tahrir is a normal working square with a very recent history most visitors know from television. Khan el-Khalili is a market that has operated on the same ground since the 14th century: spices, brass, lamps, textiles and coffee houses down alleys barely wide enough for two people.

Good to know before you book

• This is a long day - budget the full 24 hours including travel, and plan a slow day afterwards.
• A licensed guide and lunch are included. Drinks are not.
• Transfers are included within Cairo; pickup from outside carries a $5 per person supplement.
• Bargaining is normal and expected in Khan el-Khalili. Start well below the asking price and stay friendly - it is a conversation, not a confrontation.
• Some museum halls restrict photography, and separate camera tickets apply in places.
• Dress modestly for the market and comfortably for the heat. Cairo in summer is hotter than the coast, with none of the sea breeze.

$85 per person (regular price $95), including guide, lunch and transfers within Cairo.