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5 days · Short break
Five days in Cairo: pyramids, museums and Old Cairo
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
- Length
- 5 days
- Pace
- Easy
- Type
- Short break
- Style
- Private
- Where
- Cairo
- From
- from US$935 pp
About this trip
What this 5 day Cairo itinerary is like
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.
This is a short break route through Cairo, run privately unless you pick a group departure. Your guide is a licensed Egyptologist who lives on the route rather than flying in with the group.
Nothing here is fixed. Days can be added, dropped or reordered, and we will tell you honestly which optional sites are worth the extra ticket.
Accommodation and price
Three ways to travel this route
The route is the same in all three. What changes is where you sleep, and on a Nile trip that is most of the difference in price: the boat is the hotel for half the journey. Prices are per person, land only, and exclude international flights.
Standard
US$935
per person, land only
- Cairo
- Flamenco Hotel or similar
- 4 nights, breakfast
Comfort
US$1,200
per person, land only
- Cairo
- Steigenberger Hotel El Tahrir or similar
- 4 nights, breakfast
Luxury
US$1,420
per person, land only
- Cairo
- Four Seasons First Residence or similar
- 4 nights, breakfast
Hotels and boats are the ones our partner books on this route and are named so you know what you are buying. A specific boat can be swapped for an equivalent in the same category when it is dry-docked or full, which is why each one says or similar. You are told which boat you are on before you pay.
Your trip
Day by day
Open any day for the full description. Every day can be changed before anything is booked.
- Day 1
Arrive in Cairo
Met at Cairo International Airport by your tour leader, who takes you to the hotel, sees you through check-in and goes through the itinerary with you to fix pick-up times for each day. Nothing else is scheduled.Read the full day →
Met at Cairo International Airport by your tour leader, who takes you to the hotel, sees you through check-in and goes through the itinerary with you to fix pick-up times for each day. Nothing else is scheduled.
- Day 2
Giza and the Grand Egyptian Museum
The Pyramids and the Sphinx at Giza, with a short camel ride included, then lunch in a local restaurant. The afternoon is the Grand Egyptian Museum: the Tutankhamun treasures are the reason to go, and the building holds enough bazaars and gift shops to lose another hour in.Read the full day →
The Pyramids and the Sphinx at Giza, with a short camel ride included, then lunch in a local restaurant. The afternoon is the Grand Egyptian Museum: the Tutankhamun treasures are the reason to go, and the building holds enough bazaars and gift shops to lose another hour in.
- Day 3
Egyptian Museum, the Citadel and Coptic Cairo
The Egyptian Museum first, then lunch at a local restaurant. Afterwards the Saladin Citadel, including the Mohamed Ali Alabaster Mosque inside it, and Coptic Cairo for the Hanging Church and the Ben Ezra Synagogue.Read the full day →
The Egyptian Museum first, then lunch at a local restaurant. Afterwards the Saladin Citadel, including the Mohamed Ali Alabaster Mosque inside it, and Coptic Cairo for the Hanging Church and the Ben Ezra Synagogue.
- Day 4
Egyptian Civilization Museum and Khan el-Khalili
The National Museum of the Egyptian Civilization, where the mummies hall is the draw, then lunch at a local restaurant. The rest of the afternoon goes on Khan el-Khalili. Expect to be sold things.Read the full day →
The National Museum of the Egyptian Civilization, where the mummies hall is the draw, then lunch at a local restaurant. The rest of the afternoon goes on Khan el-Khalili. Expect to be sold things.
- Day 5
Departure
Breakfast, then the transfer to Cairo International Airport for your flight home.Read the full day →
Breakfast, then the transfer to Cairo International Airport for your flight home.
Want this written up for your dates — travel times, what each day asks of you and where you would sleep? Ask us for the full 5-day plan. We send it before you commit to anything.
Included
What the price covers
- ✓Meet and greet by a representative at the airport
- ✓Guest relations assistance throughout your stay
- ✓All transfers by private air-conditioned vehicle
- ✓Four nights at the hotel of the plan you choose
- ✓All Cairo sightseeing listed in the itinerary, run as private tours
- ✓English-speaking guide on your touring days
- ✓Bottled water in the vehicle
- ✓Meals as listed on each day
- ✓Portage when needed
- ✓All service charges and taxes
Not included
What to budget separately
- —International flights
- —Egypt entry visa
- —Extra meals and beverages
- —Optional tours
- —Tipping
- —Additional entry tickets, such as going inside one of the pyramids
Good to know
Questions about this trip
Are the tours private or a group?+
Private. Every Cairo sightseeing day in this itinerary is run as a private tour, with your own English-speaking guide and an air-conditioned vehicle. You are not sharing the day with strangers, and the pace is yours to set.
Are flights included?+
No. International flights are excluded and you book your own. The trip stays in Cairo for all five days, so no domestic flights are involved either. You are met at Cairo airport on arrival and driven back there on day five.
Which meals are included?+
Breakfast at the hotel every morning, and lunch at a local restaurant on days two, three and four. Dinner is never included, which is no great loss in Cairo, where you will want to eat out anyway. Drinks beyond the bottled water in the vehicle are extra.
What is not included?+
International flights, your Egypt entry visa, extra meals and beverages, optional tours, tipping, and additional entry tickets. That last one catches people out: going inside one of the pyramids is a separate ticket bought on the day, not part of the price.
How much walking is there?+
More than most people expect, and nearly all of it in the open. Giza is a large site on sand, the Citadel sits on a hill, and both museums are long walks indoors. Nothing is technically difficult and the vehicle waits at every stop, but count on several hours on your feet each touring day.
How much should I budget for tipping?+
Tipping is excluded from the price and it is expected rather than optional. Allow US$10–15 per person per day for your guide and about US$5 per person per day for the driver, handed over separately. Carry small notes, because nobody has change.
Is four nights enough for Cairo?+
For the headline sites, yes. This covers Giza, both major museums, the Citadel, Coptic Cairo and Khan el-Khalili, which is most of what people come for. It leaves out Saqqara, Dahshur and Alexandria, so if those matter to you, add days rather than compress what is here.
Official sources
Entry rules, opening hours, security advice and exchange rates all move. Check them at the source, not here.
- Egypt e-visa portal ↗The official government application site. Fees and eligibility change here first.
- UK FCDO travel advice for Egypt ↗It updates continuously, and most UK travel insurance follows it.
- Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities ↗The ministry lists which tombs and temples currently open.
What this trip looks like
Before you travel
What you can hold us to
No middlemen taking a cut
You are quoted by the local company that runs the trip. No booking fee and no surcharge at the airport.
A licensed Egyptologist, every site
Not a tour escort with a flag. Our partner uses guides who have spent twenty years on the same temples.
We say when something is not worth it
Some tickets are. Some are a queue in the heat. We will tell you which before you pay for them.
Private unless it says group
Your guide, your driver, your pace. Group departures are labelled clearly on the card and the page.
Someone answers the phone
Our partner is in Egypt, in Egyptian hours, and you are put in touch with them directly rather than through a chain.
Change it before you commit
Every itinerary is a starting point. Add days, drop sites, reorder — nothing is fixed until you say so.
Pace
How hard is easy?
Short walks on level ground, a few flights of temple steps, and air-conditioned transport between sites. Suitable for most ages.
Plan this trip
Tell us your dates and we will price it
A real itinerary with prices, usually within 24 hours. Nothing is booked and nothing is charged until you say yes.
from US$935 / per person
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5 days · Short break
from US$935 · per person