Cairo Tour from Luxor
Hotel Pickup
We'll pick you up early from your hotel in Luxor and drive you to Luxor domestic airport, from where you'll fly to Egypt's capital city Cairo. Waiting for you at Cairo airport will be your highly trained and friendly tour guide, eager to show you he's home town and he's passion - the ancient sights of Cairo.
Cairo Tour to the Great Pyramid of Giza
Also known as the Pyramid of Khufu or the Pyramid of Cheops, the Great Pyramid is the oldest and largest of the Pyramids of Giza. Composed of over 2.3 million blocks of granite weighing 25-80 tonnes each, the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World and the only one that still remains largely intact, the Great Pyramid never fails to astound and amaze. Built over a 20 year period, the Great Pyramid initially stood at 146 meters, making it the tallest man-made structure in the world for over 3,800 years.
Our highly-trained Egyptologist tour guide will be able to give you any information you need on the Pyramids including supposed construction methods (nobody really knows for sure), materials used, labour used and why the pyramids were built.
There are three known chambers inside the Great Pyramid, the lowest was cut into the bedrock beneath the pyramid, with the Kings chamber and Queens chamber higher up in the structure. The Great Pyramid of Giza is the only pyramid in Egypt known to contacin both ascending and descending passages.
The main part of the Giza complex is a set of buildign that include two mortuary temples, three smaller pyramids for Khufu's wives, an even smaller pyramid, a raised causeway connecting the two temples and smaller tombs for nobles.
Visit the Sphinx on our Cairo Sightseeing Tour from Luxor
Translated as "Ther Terrifying One" but more commonly referred to as the Sphinx, this limestone statue of a mythical creature with a lions body and human head stands on the west bank of the Nile in Giza.
Believed to have been built by the ancient Egyptians of the Old Kingdon during the reign of Pharoh Khafra around 2558 BC (the Pharoh who built the second pyramid), this amazing statue stands 20m high and 73 meters long and is the oldest known monumental sculpture in the world.
Throughout Egyptian history the Sphinz has been reveared with ancient Egyptians looking up at it with "divinity", and even to today it remains shrouded in mystery, with basic information like when it was built and by whom still debated. There are even theories of Kings being buried in it!
The Sphix is an awesome sight and rich in history, over its lifetime being buried in sand for hundreds of years and then dug back out. There are also stories of Napoleon's soldiers shooting cannonballs at the great Sphinx and breaking off it's nose.
Khafre's Tremples
At the base of Khafre's pyramid, the second tallest of the Pyramids of Giza, lies Khafres temple complex. These have remained in much better condition that other temples in the area and is the best example for us to explore. Built from megalithic blocks, weighing up to 400 tonnes each, this beautiful temple houses five storage chambers, an entrance hall, a columned court and an inner sanctuary to explore.
The interior of the temple has been remarkably well preserved and the temple of Giza are an amazing sight that have to be seen.
Lunch on the Nile
After exploring Cairo Museum we'll have a delicious buffet lunch at a restaurant alongside the famous River Nile, the lifeblood of Cairo.
Egyptian Museum Tour
Inside this massive and world-famous museum you'll find the most important pieces of Egyptian history including Pharaonic antiques and the treasure of Egypt's best known King, Tutankhamen. This massive museum in Tahir Square was established in 1902 and includes seven floors filled with fascinating artifacts such as two statues of King Tutankhamen made of cedar wood and covered in fine gold, a statue of King Akhenaton, Ushabtis statues that belonged to the Nubian kings, a mummy of a child and a small plychrome glass vase.
During the Egyptian revolution of 2011the museum was broken into and two mummies were destroyed as well as around 50 objects being lost and several damaged. Since then 25 of those objects have been successfully recovered.
The Egyptian Museum spans across 2 floors, the ground floor housing numerous objects including papyrus with written Greek, Latin, Arabic and ancient Egyptian, and coins, again not only Egyptian ones but also Greek, Roman and Islamic, highlighting Egypt's rich history. The ground floor also houses large statues, tables and coffins.
On the first floor you'll find artefacts from the final two dynasties of Egypt including items from the tombs of Pharohs Tutmosis III, Thutmosis IV, Amenophis II, Hatshepsut, and the courtier Maiherpri, as well as many artefacts from the Valley of the Kings, in particular the material from the intact tombs of Tutankhamen and Psusennes I. Two special rooms contain a number of mummies of kings and other royal family members of the New Kingdom.
The Egyptian Museum of Antiquities is a fascinating place that allows you to see all the antiques that would have been buried in the ancient kings of Egypt's tombs and pyramids as well as some of the mummified kings themselves.
Khan El-Khalili Market
To finish off our tour of Old Cairo we'll visit the biggest market in the Bazaar district, one of the city's main tourist attractions. Originally the site of Saffron Tomb, a burial site of the Fatimid caliphs, the site was the centre of great economic activity in the 14th century despite being ravaged by the Black Death. By the late 15th century the site of Khan El-Khalili market had become the major center of foreign trade, which among many other things included the sale of slaves.
During the reign of Egypt's last important sultan the complex was rebuilt with monumental gates and perpendicular streets resembling the great Ottoman cities where the most precious goods were traded at the time. The most famous sights of the beautiful market are its massive ornate gates and upper stories eith iron grilled windows for the merchants rooms.
Today the market hasnt changed a great deal, except foreign merchants have been replaced by Egyptians geared towards the tourism market. This is a great place so find an authentic and original holiday present for yourself or a loved one.
You'll also come across the market's many shops, coffee-houses, restaurants and street food vendors offering fantastic quality Arabic coffee and shisha.
Fly back to Luxor
Our guided tour of Cairo takes you to one of the most amazing sights in the World - the Great Pyramid of Giza, we'll see inside an ancient unearthed tomb, see the mythical Sphinx, and the bazaars. You'll finally get to see the sights and places we all learnt about at school or watched a program on TV about in a day that you'll always remember, and you'll come back much more interested in Egypt's fascinating history that when you left.
After a fantastic day we'll drive to Cairo airport where you'll fly back to Luxor, and then driven on to your hotel ready for a good night sleep and some amazing memories.