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
The best Cairo itinerary groups each day by side of the river. Giza and the Grand Egyptian Museum share one day. The old city and Coptic Cairo share another. Saqqara and Dahshur, south of the city, fill a third. Two days covers the core. Three days in Cairo is the plan most people should take. Below are day-by-day plans for one, two, three and four days, with travel times and where to sleep for each.
The Nile splits Cairo in two, and traffic makes crossing it slow. So the trick is simple. Give each day one part of the city, and put the long drive first, when the roads are clearest.
The west bank holds Giza: the pyramids, the Sphinx and the Grand Egyptian Museum, about two kilometres from the plateau. The east bank holds Downtown, the Egyptian Museum on Tahrir Square, the Citadel, Islamic Cairo and Khan el-Khalili. Coptic Cairo and the mummies museum at Fustat sit to the south. Saqqara, Dahshur and Memphis lie further south again, about 30 kilometres from the centre.
Judge each trip by the hour you set out. Giza to Downtown is about 20 kilometres. That is half an hour early in the morning and up to most of two hours at busy times. Friday morning is the one reliably quiet window.
With one day, spend it all in Giza. Be at the pyramid plateau at opening and give it two to three hours. See the Great Pyramid, the view across all three pyramids, and the Sphinx on the way out.
Then drive the short distance to the Grand Egyptian Museum for the hot middle of the day. Allow three hours at least. The Tutankhamun galleries are the reason to go. Book tickets in advance at tickets.gem.eg, the museum's own site. The galleries open at 9:00 and close at 18:00, or at 21:00 on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
That is a full day. Trying to add Khan el-Khalili or the Citadel means crossing the whole city in evening traffic. Leave them for another trip.
Day one is the Giza day above: the plateau at opening, then the Grand Egyptian Museum.
Day two moves to the east bank. Start at the Citadel, the hilltop fortress Saladin began in 1176, with the Muhammad Ali Mosque inside. Drop down to Islamic Cairo and walk al-Muizz Street in the late afternoon. Finish in Khan el-Khalili as the lights come on.
If the old city appeals less than ancient Egypt, swap day two for the Egyptian Museum on Tahrir and Coptic Cairo. The metro runs from Downtown to the Coptic quarter's gate. Two full days is the honest minimum for Cairo.
Three days covers the pyramids, the old city and the older pyramids to the south without rushing any of them. No day crosses the city twice.
Day one, Giza. The plateau at opening, the Grand Egyptian Museum through the middle of the day, and an early night.
Day two, south of the city. Saqqara in the morning while it is cool, for Djoser's Step Pyramid and the painted tombs of officials around it. Then Dahshur, about 20 minutes further south, for the Bent Pyramid and the Red Pyramid, often near-empty. Back in the city by late afternoon for al-Muizz Street and Khan el-Khalili.
Day three, the south and centre. Coptic Cairo by metro in the morning, which takes two to three hours. Then the National Museum of Egyptian Civilisation at Fustat for the royal mummies, which moved there in 2021. Finish at the Citadel or the Tahrir museum, depending on how much energy you have left.
A fourth day buys slack. Use it for the Egyptian Museum on Tahrir Square, open since 1902, which still holds the Narmer Palette and the treasures of Tanis. Then spend a slow afternoon in Zamalek, the leafy island district with many of the city's good restaurants.
Or use it for Alexandria. The city is about 220 kilometres away, and the fast train takes about two and a half hours. As a day trip that means five to six hours of travel. One night there is the better plan if you have the days.
Five days in Cairo alone is usually one too many, unless you like cities for their own sake. Most people move on to Luxor or a Nile cruise instead.
Sleep on the side of the river you will use most. A one-day or two-day plan heavy on Giza suits a hotel near the plateau. You reach the gate at opening, before the coaches.
For three or four days, Zamalek or Downtown is the better base. They sit close to the old city, the Tahrir museum and the restaurants. The cost is about an hour each way to the Grand Egyptian Museum in normal traffic.
With three or more nights you can split the stay: Giza first, then a central hotel. The move costs one transfer, and every day after it starts on the right side of the river. Heliopolis, near the airport, only makes sense before an early flight.
A car with a driver is the simplest way to do any of these days. It also makes the Saqqara and Dahshur day possible, since there is no useful public transport between the sites.
Ride-hailing apps work well for single trips and remove the fare argument. The metro is cheap and skips the traffic. It stops Downtown, at Coptic Cairo and at Giza, though not at the plateau itself.
Cairo International Airport is about 45 minutes from the centre and an hour from Giza in normal traffic. Plan arrival and departure days as travel days, with nothing big booked.
October to April is the comfortable season. Typical daytime highs are around 19C in January and 24C in November, against 35C in July.
The heat changes the order of the day more than the plan itself. Outdoor sites go first, at opening. Museums take the middle of the day, when the air conditioning matters most. In summer, keep to that order strictly.
Ramadan moves about eleven days earlier each year and changes opening patterns. Check where it falls against your dates before you fix the plan.
We sell the tours of one Egyptian operator, Memphis Tours. Their Cairo Short Break runs five days, from US$935 per person, land only. It groups the days the same way as this page.
One day covers Giza and the Grand Egyptian Museum. One covers the Egyptian Museum, the Citadel and Coptic Cairo. One covers the mummies museum and Khan el-Khalili. A private guide and car collect you each morning, so the hotel district matters less.
To add the south, Cairo and Luxor in five days starts at US$1,480 per person. Cairo, Luxor and a Nile cruise in eight days starts at US$2,135. Both prices are land only.
Two full days is the minimum: one for Giza and the Grand Egyptian Museum, one for the old city or Coptic Cairo. Three days adds Saqqara and Dahshur without cutting anything. That is the plan most people should take.
Day one, Giza at opening and the Grand Egyptian Museum. Day two, Saqqara and Dahshur in the morning, then al-Muizz Street and Khan el-Khalili. Day three, Coptic Cairo, the mummies at Fustat, and the Citadel or the Tahrir museum.
Yes. They are about two kilometres apart. Do the plateau at opening for two to three hours, then the museum through the middle of the day. Allow three hours in the museum. There is no combined ticket, so you buy each one separately.
One day is enough for Giza and the Grand Egyptian Museum, and nothing else. Plan it that way. The old city, Coptic Cairo and Saqqara each need their own day.
Giza for one or two Giza-heavy days. Zamalek or Downtown for three or more days, because the old city and the restaurants are close. With three or more nights, split the stay and do Giza first.
Only with four or more days. Alexandria is about 220 kilometres away, and a day trip means five to six hours of travel. One night there is the better plan.
Yes, with a separate ticket on top of the plateau entry. It is not included on any of the tours we sell. Our page on going inside the Great Pyramid covers what you see and who should skip it.
Read the current Egypt travel advice from the US State Department and the UK FCDO before you book. They update it when things change. Our page on whether Cairo is safe points to both.
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
5 days · Short break
Giza and the Grand Egyptian Museum, then a flight south for one night in Luxor covering both banks, and a flight back. Five days, two cities, both domestic flights in the price and every day guided privately.
from US$1,480 / per person
8 days · Classic Egypt
The route most people take first, at the length it was built for: Giza and the Grand Egyptian Museum, then a flight to Luxor and four nights sailing down to Aswan.
from US$2,135 / per person
