Giza Plateau
Grand Egyptian Museum
The GEM is the world's largest dedicated archaeological museum, opened in stages between 2021 and 2024. The permanent collection spans 24 themed galleries across 92,000 square metres of exhibition space. The Tutankhamun Galleries alone occupy three floors and present all 5,000 artefacts from the tomb — the complete collection displayed in one location for the first time in history. The Children's Museum wing offers interactive exhibits suitable for ages 4 to 14. Entry fees as of April 2026: EGP 1,500 for adults, EGP 750 for students with valid ID, EGP 300 for Egyptian nationals. Tutankhamun galleries add EGP 700. The Solar Boat Museum pavilion is included in the general ticket. Photography is freely permitted in all areas except three marked sections. Opening hours are 09:00–21:00 daily. The GEM bus shuttle runs from the Giza Metro station every 30 minutes from 08:30.
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Downtown Cairo
Egyptian Museum, Tahrir Square
The pink neoclassical building completed in 1902 still houses over 130,000 objects, making it an essential complement to — not replacement for — the GEM. The density of material here is extraordinary: Royal Mummy Room, Jewellery of the Intermediate Periods, and the complete contents of Yuya and Tjuya's tomb are among highlights rarely found in guidebooks. Entry: EGP 450 for adults; Royal Mummy Room is an additional EGP 400. Open daily 09:00–17:00. Timed-entry slots are no longer required as of January 2026. Licensed guides with Tahrir Museum specialisation can be engaged from the official guide station at the east entrance gate.
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Al-Darb al-Ahmar
Museum of Islamic Art
Reopened in 2015 after eight years of post-blast restoration, the Museum of Islamic Art holds one of the world's finest collections of Islamic decorative arts: carved stucco panels, Fatimid rock crystal, Mamluk metalwork, and Ottoman carpets. The building itself — a 1903 neo-Mamluk structure — is as significant as the collection. Entry: EGP 220 adults. Open Tuesday–Sunday 09:00–17:00. Closed Mondays. Dr. Osman's room-by-room notes are available as part of our Discover Cairo membership guide. Photography with a personal camera is included in the entry fee; tripods require a separate EGP 150 permit.
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Old Cairo (Misr al-Qadima)
Coptic Museum
Founded in 1910, the Coptic Museum preserves the world's largest collection of Coptic Christian art and artefacts, from early biblical manuscripts to elaborate liturgical textiles and carved ivories. The museum occupies two wings of a historic building abutting the Babylon Fortress walls. Among its most significant holdings: the Nag Hammadi codices facsimiles, a 3rd-century AD wall painting from a Fayyum church, and the largest collection of Coptic icons outside a functioning church. Entry: EGP 250. Open daily 09:00–17:00 except public holidays.
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Saqqara Necropolis
Saqqara Archaeological Zone
The necropolis of ancient Memphis stretches over 7 kilometres of desert plateau and contains 11 royal pyramids, hundreds of mastaba tombs, and multiple active excavation zones. The Step Pyramid of Djoser — the world's earliest large-scale stone structure, dated to c. 2650 BC — is the centrepiece, but Saqqara's painted Old Kingdom mastabas (Mereruka, Kagemni, Ti, Niankhkhnum and Khnumhotep) offer some of the most vivid daily-life imagery in the ancient world. Entry: EGP 450 general site ticket; individual tomb tickets EGP 100–250. Open 08:00–17:00 daily.
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Giza Plateau
Giza Pyramid Complex
The most visited heritage site in Egypt and one of the most misunderstood. Our guide disentangles the tiered ticketing system: the plateau entry fee (EGP 460), the Great Pyramid interior supplement (EGP 600), the Khafre Pyramid interior (EGP 200), the Sphinx enclosure (included), and the Solar Boat Museum now housed inside the GEM. We document the camel-hire concession points, note where the licensed guides operate versus unlicensed touts, and identify the three viewing platforms offering the full three-pyramid alignment photograph without crossing private property.
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