Things to do in Cairo before or after your Nile cruise

Most Nile trips start or end in Cairo, and the best things to do in Cairo fit neatly into two or three days around the cruise. The Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) at Giza now holds Tutankhamun's treasures, the pyramids sit a short drive away, and Saqqara, the older necropolis to the south, is the half day most first-timers wish they had added. Evenings belong to the river: a dinner cruise with a show, or a felucca (a wooden sailing boat) under the bridges.

This guide gives the official ticket prices, the late openings that save a day, and which bookings are worth making before you fly. Prices are for foreign adults at the gate; students with an ID who are 24 or under pay half at ministry sites, and children under 6 go free.

Best things to do in Cairo: the short list

1. The Grand Egyptian Museum: Tutankhamun's galleries, the Grand Staircase and Khufu's boats, all on one ticket.
2. The Giza pyramids and the Sphinx (EGP 700): first thing in the morning, before the heat and the coaches.
3. Saqqara (EGP 600), with Memphis and Dahshur if you have a full day.
4. The Citadel of Saladin (EGP 550) with the Mosque of Muhammad Ali, then Islamic Cairo and the Khan el-Khalili bazaar.
5. The royal mummies at the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization (NMEC) in Fustat, near Coptic Cairo.
6. The Egyptian Museum on Tahrir Square (EGP 550), still open and still crowded with objects.
7. A night on the Nile: a dinner cruise or a private felucca.

If you only have one day, the classic is the GEM, pyramids and Sphinx tour with lunch (from $97.02, 4.8 from 5,011 reviews): both headline sights at Giza with a guide, lunch and transport sorted.

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Cairo: Grand Egyptian Museum, Pyramids, Sphinx Tour & Lunch

4.8 (5,011)

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From Cairo: Full-Day Guided Tour of Giza Pyramids, Sphinx, Saqqara & Memphis with Entry Tickets, Lunch & Hotel Transfers

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Cairo: Pyramids, Sakkara & Memphis Tour with Lunch

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Cairo: Female-Guided Pyramids, Sphinx & Museum City Tour

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Sharm El Sheikh: One Day Trip to Cairo, Pyramids, Sphinx & GEM by Bus

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Grand Egyptian Museum Skip-the-Line Tickets

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See everything on GetYourGuide →See everything on Headout →See everything on Tiqets →Prices checked on 19 October 2026

Grand Egyptian Museum: tickets and the late opening

The GEM opened to the public on 4 November 2025, and the standard ticket covers the Tutankhamun Galleries, the Main Galleries, the Grand Hall, the Grand Stairs and Khufu's Boats Museum. A foreign adult pays about EGP 1,450 (reduced about EGP 730), according to the Khaleej Times. The museum sells only through its own site, tickets.gem.eg, and says it is not responsible for tickets bought elsewhere, so check the live price there.

Opening hours:

• Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday: galleries 09:00–18:00 (complex 08:30–19:00).
• Wednesday and Saturday: galleries 09:00–21:00 (complex to 22:00). Last entry is an hour before the galleries close.
• In Ramadan the museum has kept shorter hours (09:00–16:00 in 2025); check before you go.

Tickets are dated, timed, single-entry, non-refundable and tied to the name on the booking, so book once your flights are fixed. Children under 6 and visitors with disabilities enter free. No tripods, selfie sticks, drones or flash; bags over 40 × 40 cm go to the cloakroom.

Platforms resell GEM entry (GetYourGuide from $30.34, Headout from $41), but the official site is the channel the museum stands behind. A resale ticket makes sense when it comes with something you want, such as a guide or transport.

Giza pyramids and the Sphinx

The plateau ticket is EGP 700 (student EGP 350), with last entry at 16:00 (official page). Going inside a pyramid, the Great Pyramid included, is a separate ticket with limited daily numbers. Buy it on the official shop or at the site, and buy early in the day in high season.

On the platforms, the plateau ticket alone is from $23 on Headout, while the version that includes access inside the Great Pyramid is from $63. That gap is a fair guide to what the interior adds. If the budget is tight, skip the interior: the plateau ticket shows you the pyramids and the Sphinx from outside, which is what most visitors come for.

Booked tours, by what they do best:

• Private, with a camel ride: the pyramids and Sphinx private tour (from $54, 4.9 from 7,988 reviews) is one of the most-reviewed Cairo tours on GetYourGuide.
• Half day, cheapest: the half-day pyramids and Sphinx tour (from $30) or the group half day (from $41.58).
• Sunrise: the sunrise tour with a camel ride and breakfast (from $66.59) beats both the heat and the crowds.
• With the river: the pyramids and Sphinx tour with a felucca ride (from $59.29) ends on the Nile.

Today the GetYourGuide pyramids-and-felucca tour is cheaper than Tiqets' version ($81); the guide, group size and transfers may differ, so read both "includes" lists.

Saqqara, Memphis and Dahshur

At Saqqara the ticket is EGP 600 (student EGP 300). Memphis's open-air museum and Dahshur cost EGP 200 each (official page). The three sit south of Giza and make a natural full day.

The best-value booking is a day that covers them with transport and a guide: the Pyramids, Saqqara and Memphis tour (from $72.80, 4.7 from 3,711) or Headout's full-day tour with entry tickets, lunch and transfers (from $84). The Headout tour includes the entry tickets in its title, which on this route is worth more than the price gap. Compare the "includes" lines: a tour that excludes fees will cost you EGP 700 + 600 + 200 at the gates.

Egyptian Museum, royal mummies and Old Cairo

The Egyptian Museum on Tahrir Square (EGP 550, last entry 16:00; official page) lost Tutankhamun's treasures to the GEM but is still open, and it fits well into an Old Cairo day with the Citadel. The royal mummies are not here, and not at the GEM either: they are in the Royal Mummies Hall of the NMEC in Fustat.

The Citadel of Saladin (EGP 550, student EGP 275) includes the Mosque of Muhammad Ali on the same ticket. From there it is a short ride into Islamic Cairo and the Khan el-Khalili bazaar, which is free to walk. In mosques, women cover their hair and everyone removes their shoes; covered shoulders and knees are respectful everywhere religious.

Good ways to do it:

• The Egyptian Museum, Citadel and Old Cairo guided tour (from $35.96, 4.7 from 911) packs all three into one day.
• The Citadel, Old Cairo and Khan el-Khalili private tour (from $76.50) is the private version.
• The Old Cairo walking tour with street food (from $43, 4.7 from 1,510) suits anyone who would rather eat their way through the old city.
• The markets and Khan el-Khalili shopping tour (from $30.69) helps if haggling stresses you out.

Things to do in Cairo at night: Nile dinner cruise and felucca

Cairo's Nile dinner cruises are the city's classic night out: about two hours on the river with dinner, a belly dancer, a tanoura (whirling-skirt) dancer and a live band. The same few boats are resold by many agencies, so compare by boat name, not by listing title. Drinks, even water, cost extra on the big boats. Our Cairo dinner cruise guide goes through every boat.

• Nile Maxim boards in Zamalek in front of the Cairo Marriott, at 20:00 daily. It has one level for up to 240 guests and serves a set menu with a salad bar, so a window table matters.
• Nile Crystal boards at 7 Nile Corniche in Maadi, serves an open buffet and has an upper deck. It runs a sunset sitting around 18:00 plus later ones; times shift with the season.
• Nile Pharaohs boards on the Giza bank, with an Egyptian-oriental buffet and two sittings: 20:00–22:00 and 22:30–00:30.

The same boat costs very different amounts depending on where you book it:

Today Headout is cheapest for Nile Maxim ($70), Tiqets is close ($75) and GetYourGuide's listing costs $122.55 with the lowest rating of the named boats. Headout prices this boat per group in its system, so read the label before you pay. Pickup is usually 45–90 minutes before departure, and outlying districts and the airport cost extra.

The GEM and a dinner cruise in one evening is sold as a combo too:

Headout's combo ($70.30, 1,155 reviews) is far cheaper than Tiqets' version with transfers ($110, no reviews yet); the boat depends on the variant you choose.

Felucca: Cairo feluccas are hired per boat for one or two hours from the Corniche in Garden City and downtown (by the Qasr el-Nil Bridge), Zamalek, Maadi and the Giza bank. Downtown sails pass Cairo Tower and Gezira island. A pre-booked private ride costs from about $14–25 per boat; the private felucca with dinner (from $46, soft drinks only, no show) is the quiet alternative to the big boats. See our Cairo felucca guide. Cairo's sunset falls around 17:00 in winter and about 20:00 in midsummer, so time a sunset sail by the month.

Things to do in Cairo with kids

• Free under 6 at the GEM and at ministry sites; teenagers with a student card pay half if 24 or under.
• A camel ride at Giza is the obvious hit; the private pyramids tour with a camel ride arranges it without the haggling.
• The GEM's Tutankhamun galleries and Khufu's boats are the easiest museum visit for children: big, new and on one ticket.
• A daytime felucca is a calm hour on the water; ask for life jackets and never let children swim in the Nile (schistosomiasis).
• Evening dinner cruises start at 18:00–20:00 and include a belly-dance show; the early Nile Crystal sitting suits younger children best.
• Heat: Cairo is milder than Luxor, but from May to September keep outdoor sites to the morning.

Cairo to Luxor: joining the Nile cruise

There is no regular river cruise from Cairo to Luxor. Almost all "from Cairo" cruise packages, such as the 4-day cruise from Cairo with a balloon flight (from $1,300), fly you to Luxor or Aswan to join a 3- or 4-night ship. Flights take about an hour to Luxor and about an hour and a quarter to Aswan (EgyptAir, Air Cairo, Nile Air).

The overland alternative is the Abela sleeper train from Giza: evening departures around 20:00–22:00, arriving in Luxor around 05:00–08:00 and Aswan about 3–3.5 hours later. Giza to Aswan costs US$157.50 in a single cabin or US$115.50 per person in a double (abelatrains.com). Train 86 reaches Luxor at 06:10, in good time for a noon embarkation.

The one real Cairo river cruise is Mövenpick's Darakum: 14 nights Cairo → Aswan, 12 nights back, between mid-February and mid-November, with no long cruises in June–August or December–January. All the details are on our Nile cruise from Cairo page, and multi-day Egypt tours with a cruise bundle Cairo, flights and the ship together. For the river end, see things to do in Luxor and things to do in Aswan.

How many days in Cairo, and when to go

Plan two full days as a minimum: the GEM and Giza on one day, then Saqqara or Old Cairo with the Citadel on the other, and a dinner cruise one evening. A third day lets you add Dahshur, the NMEC mummies and a slow afternoon in Khan el-Khalili.

Cairo is 4–6 °C cooler than Luxor and Aswan by day: January averages about 19 °C, midsummer about 35 °C, and it is the only stop on a Nile trip where it rains at all (about 11 rain days a year, mostly November to April). Our when-to-go guide covers seasons and holidays.

In Ramadan, sites keep shorter hours (the official shop lists last entry at Giza at 15:30 and the Egyptian Museum at 15:00) and dusk traffic is heavy. Dinner boats may change sitting times or the show, so check with the seller. Cairo and Giza are outside all FCDO warning areas; the tourist police number is 126. Drones are illegal without Ministry of Defence permission.

Cairo questions