By type of trip
Nile Cruises Luxor to Aswan: Routes, Boats and Prices
Classic Egypt Tours: Cairo, Luxor and Aswan Itineraries
Nile Cruise and Red Sea Holidays: Two-Week Egypt Trips
White Desert Tours from Cairo: Oases and Desert Camping
Short Breaks in Egypt: Three and Four Day Cairo Trips
Tailor-made Egypt Tours: Private Trips Built Around You
Cairo · Tahrir Square
The Cairo Museum is the Egyptian Museum on Tahrir Square, in Downtown Cairo. It opened in 1902 and is a separate place from the Grand Egyptian Museum at Giza. Foreign adults pay EGP 550, and it opens daily from 9am to 5pm. Tutankhamun's treasures are now at the GEM. The royal mummies moved to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilisation in 2021. Tahrir still holds the Narmer Palette, the treasures of Tanis and statues of the pyramid builders. This guide covers tickets, what is still there, how long to allow, and which of our tours include it.
Cairo has two big museums of ancient Egypt, and their names get mixed up. The Egyptian Museum is the old one, on Tahrir Square in the city centre. Many people call it the Cairo Museum. The Grand Egyptian Museum, or GEM, is the new one. It stands at Giza, about two kilometres from the pyramids.
The Tahrir building is red and neoclassical. A French architect, Marcel Dourgnon, won the competition to design it in 1895. Khedive Abbas Helmy II opened it in 1902. The Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities calls it the oldest archaeological museum in the Middle East. It also says the museum holds the largest collection of Pharaonic antiquities in the world.
A third museum completes the picture. The National Museum of Egyptian Civilisation, at Fustat in Old Cairo, now holds the royal mummies. Every Cairo trip we sell includes the GEM. Seven of them also spend a morning at Tahrir.
A foreign adult ticket costs EGP 550. Foreign students pay EGP 275. The museum is open every day from 9am to 5pm, and the ticket window closes at 4pm. These are the ministry's figures from egymonuments.gov.eg, checked October 2026.
Ramadan hours are shorter: 9am to 4pm, with the ticket window closing at 3pm. Ramadan moves each year. In 2027 it is expected to run from about 8 February to 9 March, so check the dates in our Ramadan guide if you travel then.
Egyptian ticket prices have changed often in recent years. Check the ministry's page in the week you travel. Arrive by mid-morning if you can. A ticket bought just before the 4pm window closes leaves you one hour inside.
The two collections that drew most visitors to Tahrir have both left. The royal mummies went first. On 3 April 2021, 22 mummies travelled in a procession from the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilisation. The ministry called it the Pharaohs' Golden Parade. The mummies now have a hall of their own at the NMEC.
Tutankhamun's treasures are now at the GEM. Our partner's itineraries visit the GEM for the Tutankhamun collection, on the same day as the pyramids. At Giza the finds from the tomb are shown together. Tahrir only ever showed a selection. Our GEM guide describes that display in detail.
So for Tutankhamun, go to the GEM. For the mummies, go to the NMEC. Come to Tahrir for the rest of ancient Egypt.
A great deal. The ministry's page for the museum, checked October 2026, names its highlights. The Narmer Palette commemorates the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt. Statues of Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure show the three kings who built the pyramids at Giza. If you saw the pyramids the day before, this is where you meet their builders.
The ministry also lists the complete burials of Yuya and Thuya, and the burial of Psusennes I with the treasures of Tanis. Papyri, sarcophagi and jewellery fill many more rooms.
Two more strengths stand out. The museum keeps a large body of Old and Middle Kingdom work, and the sculpture from Amarna. Displays change as objects move between museums. If one piece is your reason for going, ask us to check before you travel.
Yes, if ancient Egypt is the reason for your trip. The museum is quieter than it used to be, and quiet is worth a lot in Cairo. The cases are packed and many labels are old, some of them handwritten. It feels like a Victorian collection. The pleasure here is browsing.
If your interest is general and you have three days in Cairo, one museum is enough. Make it the GEM. It has Tutankhamun, room to see each object, and a clear route through the collection. Save Tahrir for a spare morning or a second trip.
Families with young children and only two days in Cairo can leave it out. Our Cairo with kids guide explains why.
Allow two hours for a focused visit. Give it half a day if you like to browse, because the density is the point.
Go in the morning. All seven of our tours that include it start the day here. Lunch follows, then the Citadel of Saladin and Coptic Cairo in the afternoon. That order works for independent visitors too. The metro stops both Downtown and at Coptic Cairo.
Tahrir Square sits at the heart of Downtown, so Downtown hotels are the closest. Our guide to where to stay in Cairo compares Downtown with Zamalek, Giza and the other districts.
Seven of the trips we sell with our partner, Memphis Tours, include the Egyptian Museum on Tahrir. In each one it comes on day 3, the morning after Giza and the GEM. The Cairo days are private, with your own English-speaking guide. Prices are from-prices in US dollars, per person, without international flights.
Cairo only: the Cairo Short Break, 5 days, from US$935. It covers all three museums. The GEM comes on day 2, Tahrir on day 3 and the NMEC mummies hall on day 4.
With a Nile cruise: Cairo and a Nile Cruise, 10 days, from US$2,635. Cairo, Luxor and a Nile Cruise, 12 days, from US$3,160. Cairo, a Nile Cruise and Hurghada, 13 days, from US$2,945. Cairo, Luxor, a Nile Cruise and the White Desert, 14 days, from US$3,815. Cairo, Luxor and a Nile Cruise, 15 days, from US$3,985. The Grand Tour of Egypt, 16 days, from US$3,910. Each of these also visits the NMEC mummies hall later in the trip.
The itineraries list the museum as included sightseeing. They exclude additional entry tickets, such as going inside a pyramid. Ask us to confirm the museum ticket and the audio guide when you book.
Our other Cairo trips, including the 7-, 8-, 9- and 11-day cruise routes, visit the GEM and leave out Tahrir. If you want it on one of those, ask us to add a Cairo morning.
Plan to see Tutankhamun at the GEM in Giza. In October 2020, Egypt's State Information Service reported the minister's plan to move the gold mask from Tahrir to the GEM before it opened. The rest of the tomb's finds are shown together at the GEM. Our tours visit it for the Tutankhamun collection on day 2.
Yes. The ministry's ticket site, egymonuments.com, sells single tickets for its sites. You can also pay at the museum's ticket window on the day, until it closes at 4pm.
Yes. The ministry lists an audio tour for foreign visitors at EGP 75, on top of the entry ticket. It suits a visit on your own. On our tours a guide comes with the day.
Yes. Foreign students pay EGP 275, half the adult price. Carry your student card. The ministry's ticket site sets an age limit of 24 for student single tickets.
The ministry sells the Cairo Pass at the museum's own counter. Its pass document covers Greater Cairo but does not name each site, so confirm at the counter before you pay. Our Luxor Pass and Cairo Pass guide works out when the pass is worth it.
The GEM. It gives you Tutankhamun and a clear overview, and Tahrir then fills in the detail. Our partner's itineraries use the same order: the GEM on day 2, Tahrir on day 3.
Yes. The ministry lists it as open every day from 9am to 5pm, with the ticket window closing at 4pm. In Ramadan it closes at 4pm, and the window at 3pm.
Entry rules, opening hours, security advice and exchange rates all move. Check them at the source, not here.
Written and checked by the Nile Trip Guide editorial team · Last reviewed . Entry rules, prices and opening hours change — check anything critical against the official sources linked on this page.
Plan this trip
A real itinerary with real prices, usually within 24 hours. Nothing is booked and nothing is charged until you say yes.
5 days · Short break
Five days in Cairo and nowhere else: Giza, the Grand Egyptian Museum, the Egyptian Museum, the Citadel, Coptic Cairo and Khan el-Khalili. Four nights in one hotel, and every sightseeing day run privately.
from US$935 / per person
10 days · Classic Egypt
Five nights in Cairo either side of a four-night sail from Luxor to Aswan. The Cairo days are private, just your party and a guide; the sightseeing off the boat is shared with a small group.
from US$2,635 / per person
12 days · Classic Egypt
The standard Cairo-and-cruise route with two extra nights in a Luxor hotel before boarding, which is what buys you the Valley of the Queens, Medinet Habu, the Ramesseum, and a day out to Dendera and Abydos.
from US$3,160 / per person
13 days · Nile & Red Sea
Thirteen days that give the ancient sites a week and then stop moving: Cairo, a flight to Aswan, three nights sailing down to Luxor, and three nights on the Red Sea at Hurghada before flying back for a last day in Cairo.
from US$2,945 / per person
14 days · Desert & oases
Fourteen days that add the Western Desert to the usual route: Cairo, two days of Luxor on land, four nights sailing to Aswan, then a drive west to Bahariya and a night out among the white chalk formations.
from US$3,815 / per person
15 days · Classic Egypt
Fifteen days of the ancient sites without a beach stop: Cairo, two days of Luxor on land, four nights sailing to Aswan, a Nubian village, then back to Cairo for Alexandria, Saqqara and Dahshur.
from US$3,985 / per person
16 days · Classic Egypt
Sixteen days and very little left out: Cairo, a flight to Aswan, three nights sailing down to Luxor, two more days of Luxor on land, three nights on the Red Sea, then back to Cairo for Saqqara and Dahshur.
from US$3,910 / per person
