Are you interested in visiting the Egyptian pyramids? If so, our recent experience with the Pyramids of Giza and Cairo 1-day tour may be useful. We had so many fun adventures on this day trip that it feels we were there for at least a week. We learned all about the incredible treasure (and “curse”) of Tutankhamun’s tomb, saw a bunch of mummies and various incredible statues, climbed one of the pyramids and had a crazy horse ride which we still can’t forget about.
Okay, let me start from the very beginning.
This spring, I was vacationing in Egypt with my little daughter Elizabeth. We were staying in the resort town Sharm el Sheikh to take advantage of the great Red Sea beaches and do a lot of snorkeling. Although we were enjoying the rich fauna of the Red Sea, we thought it would be nice to also take a trip to Cairo and Giza and see the famous Egyptian pyramids.
While Sharm el Sheikh is situated rather far away from the pyramids, it is still possible to take a day trip there. Most of the people visiting Sharm el Sheikh do that, especially if this is their first time in Egypt.
How do you get to the Pyramids of Giza from Sharm el Sheikh?
There are two main ways to get to the Pyramids of Giza from Sharm el Sheikh: by bus or by airplane. I presume you can rent a car, but it’s a long journey and I would definitely recommend going either by bus or plane. My suggestion is to book your tour through the hotel, a local travel agency or online. From what I hear, Pyramids of Giza tours are rather standard, so you will likely be getting the same thing no matter where you buy it from.
Important: keep in mind that you might need a visa to go see the pyramids. Sharm el Sheikh is visa free for many nationalities, but Cairo is not. Check in advance what the requirements are for your nationality. If a visa is needed, get it at the airport when you land. It’s a very simple process and visa on arrival costs only $25.
The trip by bus takes about 5-6 hours each way, depending on traffic, which makes your journey quite long. The flight is rather short (45 minutes), however, the planes usually leave very early in the morning and come back late at night. Essentially, you won’t be winning much in terms of overall time.
Well, regardless of what way of transport you choose, it’s very, very, very much worth it. It’s an experience of a lifetime.
Beginning of our trip
We got picked up from the Jaz Belvedere hotel at 4:30 am on a Friday morning. We ordered breakfast to take with us at the hotel the night before. They provided some sandwiches, water, juice and fruits which came very handy. We did not get any food on the trip till lunchtime.
The local driver took us to the airport together with two other families (both incidentally from Azerbaijan). From there, we took a short flight at 6:30 am to Cairo via Petroleum Air Services (a local airline). The flight was rather easy and we landed in Cairo 45 minutes later. Our guide picked us up at the airport and took us to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.
Egyptian Museum in Cairo
The museum only opens the grounds at 8:30 am, so we needed to wait a bit together with hundreds of other tourists before we were let in. Then we waited till 9 am to go into the actual museum because this is when it starts work. The museum is very crowded and it’s not easy to move around and take pictures.
Luckily, they are currently building a new museum, so hopefully the experience will be enhanced going forward. All the artifacts will be moved to the new building.
When you get to the museum, get ready to see many impressive statues and statuettes of various pharaohs, chariots, chests, pieces of jewelry, chairs, vases and other impressive artifacts. It’s cool to realize that these objects are thousands of years old, yet, they are so sophisticated and beautifully made. I never stop being amazed at human capabilities…
We also found it quite interesting to see the mummies, including those of various animals, like cats, dogs and others. My daughter had been looking forward to this for a long time. Now she can tell kids at her school that she saw real mummies! Some serious bragging rights.
The Treasure of Tutankhamun
The main highlight of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo is the collection of Tutankhamun’s (or more simply, King Tut’s) treasures. This is the section on the second floor which is the most visited by tourists. Expect a crowd there similar to the one which you find near Mona Lisa in Paris.
You will see a lot of cool stuff, like the famous golden mask, golden coffins and various jewels from King Tut’s tomb. A lot of these things are very famous and you’ve probably seen them on TV and on internet, as well as in history textbooks. Importantly, you cannot take take pictures at this exhibit. In all other sections of the museum, you can take pictures and videos. Some people tried to sneak in photos at the King Tut’s exhibit, but I’m not sure it was a good idea.
If you’d like to know a bit of history of Tutankhamun, I’ve got some interesting facts for you.
Importantly, Tutankhamun was not considered a prominent ruler of Ancient Egypt. Far from it. Other pharaohs occupied a much more important place in history. Tutankhamun was a young king who ascended to the throne when he was only between 9 and 12 years old, sometime around 1327 BC. He reigned for several years until passing away at the age of 17 or 18 from a sudden illness. Nobody knows for sure which one, but there is a theory it was malaria or a fractured leg.
So why do we consider Tutankhamun such a world famous pharaoh?
Well, because his tomb was the only one which was discovered with so many incredible artifacts and riches inside!
Other tombs had been raided many years ago, leaving nothing consequential. But not King Tut’s tomb.
After performing fruitless excavations for seven (!) years and spending an equivalent of 4 million euros, Howard Carter (the lead archeologist) and Lord Carnarvon (an English aristocrat and the financial backer of the affair) finally struck gold in the Valley of the Kings.
They almost gave up on the search, but suddenly came across an unknown tomb with seals intact. After opening the tomb, they discovered many amazing things which stunned the world.
This was November of 1922, more than a hundred years ago. Many people were very interested in the excavations taking place in Egypt. There was so much publicity about their incredible discovery that suddenly King Tut became a sensation. And the team of archeologists together with him.
Newspapers and magazines were writing updates about the new artifacts from the tomb. Lots of people came to Luxor to witness this historic moment with their own eyes.
The curse of Tutankahmun
Unfortunately, it wasn’t all sunshine and roses after opening the tomb.
You might have heard about the curse of Tutankhamun. Essentially, after his tomb was discovered, some of the people involved suffered mysterious deaths.
Most notably, lord Carnarvon died shortly after the tomb was opened. The cause of death was a mosquito bite which later became infected. Lord Carnarvon passed away just a few weeks after the incident for reasons of blood poisoning. Well, in all honesty, Lord Carnarvon had plenty of health problems, and even needed to spend winters in Egypt to improve his health. But the timing of his death was still a bit suspicious.
There were several other suspicious deaths. For example, the radiologist who did an X-ray of the mummy died soon after. And Carter’s secretary got murdered.
However, other people who participated in this affair lived long lives, notably Carnarvon’s daughter (she was with the group of archeologists when they opened the tomb). Carter himself lived for over a decade after the discovery and passed away due to lymphoma. While some people tried to attribute this disease to the curse, Carter did not believe in this himself.
All in all, it seems that there was no curse and simply some coincidences.
And what do you think? Is there a curse of Tutankhamun?
Boat Ride along the Nile
After visiting the museum, our guide took us on a short cruise along the Nile. There are various cruises which one can take. Some are quite simple and short. Others are rather long and include dinner and entertainment.
Our ride was nothing spectacular, about 30 minutes, but it was very nice to take a break after the crowded museum. We ate some food from our breakfast boxes (no food was offered on the boat) and just enjoyed the views of Cairo and lovely music playing on the radio.
Tour of the Pyramids of Giza
Around 12 pm we got off the boat and went to get some lunch. We had a good meal at a local restaurant (again, very crowded with tourists), got some local souvenirs at the gift shop next door and then finally headed to the Pyramids of Giza- the main attraction which we so much wanted to see.
It didn’t take us too long to get to Giza. Overall, I must say distances between different points of our trip were quite manageable. We did not get stuck in any traffic jams to speak of.
Our bus stopped near the pyramids and we went in together with our guide who handed tickets to everyone.
Wow, finally, the famous pyramids were right in front of our eyes!
And they were incredibly impressive. It felt like we were in a fairy-tale.
A glimpse of history of Egyptian pyramids
I’m a great fan of history in general, but the history of Ancient Egypt particularly fascinates me. Below I’ve put a few (hopefully not very boring) facts about Egyptian pyramids to give you a bit of perspective.
The Pyramids of Giza are considered one of the wonders of the world. And this is of course not surprising. How could something massive like this be built so many years ago?
The pyramids are essentially massive tombs which were erected for kings and pharaohs of Ancient Egypt between 2600 and 2500 BC, the fourth dynasty of the old kingdom. There are over 100 pyramids (exact number unknown as some of them collapsed due to the passage of time). The most famous one of them is the Great Pyramid of Giza which was built for pharaoh Khufu. Scientists estimate that it took about 20 years and 20,000 laborers to construct the Great Pyramid of Giza.
Ancient Egyptians considered life after death very important. They believed that after death a person’s soul (“ka”) would live on. After taking a journey to afterlife, those who were judged to have led a good life would live on forever. However, they needed a lot of provisions for their trip. As such, ancient Egyptians were buried with a lot of useful things which they would need in afterlife. These included clothes, weapons, jewels, furniture and even little figures which eventually would turn into the servants. Pharaohs needed especially many things. Hence construction of massive pyramids which could house all that stuff- pharaoh Khufu even had a 45 m boat buried with him!
Body was also considered important for afterlife, so deceased persons were mummified in order to preserve their bodies. Mummification could be done in several ways (the most expensive way for kings, less expensive for the nobility and a much cheaper way for ordinary people).
The Great (Cheops) Pyramid
Returning to our trip, our guide took us to see the world famous Great Pyramid which served as a tomb to pharaoh Khufu (also known as Cheops). This is the largest Egyptian pyramid which was constructed some 4,600 years ago. The height used to be 147 meters, but it’s now 137 meters due to erosion.
We had an opportunity to walk around it, take pictures up front, as well as climb the pyramid (not all the way of course!) You can also buy a separate ticket and go inside, but our guide advised against it. It’s a little pricey and not much to see inside. So we didn’t do it.
Panoramic view of the pyramids
After exploring the Great Pyramid, our guide booked us on a ride in a horse pulled cart to go around and take pictures with a beautiful view of the panorama of the pyramids (Giza Plateau). This cost was $30 per family. Two or three people could fit in.
We approached the cart and looked at the horse briefly. It looked quite cute and innocent.
Does it mean the ride was nice and smooth?
Absolutely not!!
Once we got in the carriage, we quickly discovered that this was not going to be a leisurely ride in New York City which we were thinking about. Far from it.
This was going to be VERY, VERY bumpy. And to make matters worse, the horse was racing with all other horses pulling carts nearby! It was also doing some stuff which reminded me of a moment from my beloved Seinfeld show, when Kramer took Susan’s parents on a ride in the Central Park…
AAAAA! At times we thought we would fall out of the carriage, but we made it okay (after yelling – slow down – many times!) If you want to check out the video of this “fun” ride, have a look here.
Other than the carriage, there is also an opportunity to ride a camel (costs $25), but we thought it would be much more difficult. Although it’s tempting, one cannot walk there. It’s far and very dusty. Supposedly, there is a bus too but we did not see one.
I must say the ride is not easy, but it’s very much worth it and the view is gorgeous. It’s a fun experience (as long as you don’t fall out of the cart, of course!)
The Great Sphinx of Giza
The last stop of our trip was the Great Sphinx of Giza. I must say that this was my favorite sculpture of all we had seen on this trip. The Great Sphinx is one of the most recognizable landmarks in the world. It was almost hard to believe it was real!
This sculpture represents a creature with the body of a lion and head of a human. It was built around 2500 BC and its face is attributed to pharaoh Khafre. It’s 73 meters long and 20 meters high. The Great Sphinx, carved out of a colossal limestone, is the largest monolith statue in the world. Although it is unknown for sure how long it took to create the Great Sphinx, scientist Mark Lehner estimates it took about 3 years.
I am not sure you can see from the picture, but the nose of the statue is missing. There are various opinions about the reason (including possibly due to Napoleon’s campaign in Egypt). The scientists don’t know for sure.
Keep in mind that this is a very crowded place, so don’t expect that it will be easy to take pictures, but you can do it. Just wait a bit and find a good spot. There are also some good gift shops nearby. We bought a few nice statues and postcards there.
The final word
A day trip from Sharm el Sheikh to Cairo and the Pyramids of Giza is not an easy one, but it’s very much worth it. Prepare yourself for an adventure and learning a lot. This a very unique experience and memories about it will stay with your forever (especially of the crazy horse ride if you choose to do it!)
Despite the long journey to get there, your story and photos make this sound very much worthwhile.
Yes, indeed! It’s a very exciting and memorable trip.
Wonderful guide and thanks for all the information – I didn’t know different cities had different visa rules in Egypt.
Yes, indeed. I also found it quite unusual.