Grand Egyptian Museum Tour from Hurghada

The Grand Egyptian Museum is the largest archaeological museum in the world, and it stands within sight of the Pyramids at Giza. More than 100,000 objects spanning seven thousand years are held here, and the building was designed around them rather than adapted to fit.

The Tutankhamun galleries

This is the reason to come. For the first time since Howard Carter opened the tomb in 1922, the complete collection of over 5,000 objects buried with Tutankhamun is displayed together - the golden mask, the nested coffins, the chariots, the furniture, the sandals, the walking sticks. Seen as one assemblage rather than as scattered highlights, it stops being a set of famous treasures and becomes what it actually was: everything one young king was thought to need for eternity.

The Grand Staircase

Six storeys of monumental statuary arranged so that you climb through Egyptian history as you ascend, ending at a window wall with the Pyramids framed in it. It is one of the most deliberate pieces of museum design anywhere, and it works.

The rest of the museum

Themed galleries run from prehistory to the Greco-Roman period, covering society, kingship and belief. Conservation laboratories are visible to visitors through glass, so you can watch objects actually being worked on. The terrace looks straight out at Giza.

How the day runs

An early departure from Hurghada in a private air-conditioned vehicle with bottled water on board, a professional Egyptologist guide with you throughout, museum entrance tickets included, and lunch at a local restaurant. You return in the evening.

Good to know before you book

• This is a long day - allow around 16 hours in total, and plan a quiet day afterwards.
• Wear comfortable shoes. The museum is enormous and you will walk several kilometers inside it.
• Photography permits for certain galleries, drinks, souvenirs and personal expenses are not included.
• A $5 per person supplement applies from Makadi, Sahl Hasheesh, El Ahyaa, El Gouna and Soma Bay.
• Tell your guide what interests you at the start. Nobody sees this museum properly in one visit, and a good guide will build you a route rather than march you past everything.

$110 per person (regular price $120), including Egyptologist guide, entrance tickets, lunch, water and air-conditioned transport.