Day itinerary
Start your private day trip with a hotel pickup in Cairo or Giza, and travel by air-conditioned minivan to the Giza Plateau. Head to the site with your Egyptologist guide and marvel at the pyramids. Take snaps and listen as your guide explains how these monumental tombs were built in around 2,500 BC for three pharaohs. Get free time to explore inside one of the pyramids independently (an additional cost)—your guide is not permitted to accompany you inside the pyramids. It is also a great idea to take a camel ride (additional cost) to see the phenomenally spectacular view of all the 9 pyramids standing together in the middle of the vast desert and absorb the sweeping views over central Cairo. See the enigmatic Sphinx, and perhaps complete your visit with entry to the Solar Boat Museum (additional cost), home to the Nile boat of Khufu, the pharaoh for whom the largest Giza pyramid was built. Gaze in awe at the wooden boat, and learn how its remnants were discovered and reassembled by archaeologists and skillful carpenters.
Next, make the short drive to Sakkara, the home of Egypt’s oldest pyramid, constructed in around 2,650 BC. Admire this incredible, stepped structure as you learn how it was built for the Pharaoh Zoser, and enjoy time to explore leisurely. Then, continue to Memphis, Egypt’s first and most ancient capital and administrative center until around 2,200 BC. View the UNESCO-listed sculptures and ruins in its outdoor museum, and behold the star turn: a spectacularly large, fallen statue of Ramses II.
During your day’s excursion, break for lunch (an additional cost) and visit a papyrus institute to see the ancient craft of papyrus painting in action. Watch the artisans at work and perhaps buy some of the delicate artworks.
Your day trip finishes with a drop-off back at your Cairo or Giza hotel.