Grand Egyptian Museum, Pyramids & Sphinx Day Tour with Lunch Cairo

The Grand Egyptian Museum on the Giza Plateau

The Grand Egyptian Museum stands about two kilometres from the pyramids and opened fully to visitors in November 2025. It is the largest museum in the world devoted to a single civilisation, with around 100,000 artefacts. You enter past a hanging obelisk of Ramesses II into an atrium where his colossal granite statue, about 11 metres tall, greets every visitor.

From there the Grand Staircase climbs six storeys between kings, queens and gods, ending at a window framing the pyramids. A Grand Egyptian Museum guided tour makes sense of this huge space: our Egyptologist chooses a clear route so you see the masterpieces without fatigue. Plan on around two to three hours inside; opening hours change by season and on special days.

The Tutankhamun Galleries and the Khufu Boat

For the first time since Howard Carter opened the tomb in 1922, all of Tutankhamun's treasures are shown together, more than 5,000 objects from the boy king's burial. You see his golden mask, gilded shrines, chariots, jewellery, sandals and even the everyday objects he was buried with, arranged to tell the story of his life, death and afterlife.

Nearby, a dedicated hall holds the cedar boat of Khufu, around 4,500 years old and more than 40 metres long, found in a pit beside the Great Pyramid. Is the Grand Egyptian Museum worth visiting if you have seen the old museum? Yes: the Tutankhamun galleries alone justify a Grand Egyptian Museum tour, and the setting next to the pyramids is unmatched.

The Pyramids of Giza

After lunch you reach the Giza plateau, the last surviving wonder of the ancient world. The Great Pyramid of Khufu, built around 2560 BC from over two million limestone blocks, rose to nearly 147 metres. Beside it stand the pyramid of Khafre, which still keeps some of its smooth casing at the top, and the smaller pyramid of Menkaure with its queens' pyramids.

Our guide explains how the pyramids were built and who worked on them, then takes you to the panoramic viewpoint where the three great pyramids line up for the classic photo. A Pyramids of Giza tour with an Egyptologist is the easiest way to avoid touts and queues. Entering the Great Pyramid itself requires a separate ticket bought on site.

The Great Sphinx and the Valley Temple

The final stop is the Great Sphinx, carved from the bedrock of the plateau with the body of a lion and the head of a king, most likely Khafre. At about 73 metres long and 20 metres high, it is the largest monolithic statue of the ancient world, and it faces east to greet the rising sun.

You approach it through the Valley Temple of Khafre, built from huge granite blocks, where the king's body was likely prepared before burial. From the terrace you get the famous view of the Sphinx with the pyramids behind. Late afternoon is the best time to visit the Sphinx for softer light, and a perfect end to your Giza day.