We recently had a long layover in Cairo on our way back home from the Middle East. Having always dreamed of visiting the pyramids, we were excited to make the most of our layover and see as much as we could of Cairo in one day.
With just one day in Cairo, we were able to see the Pyramids of Giza, walk along the Nile, and eat some delicious local food. It was a quick taste of this busy, chaotic but fascinating city, and left us yearning to come back for more. If you also find yourself with a one day layover in Cairo, check out all our tips and itinerary below so that you too can make the most of Cairo in one day!
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Cairo in One Day – What you need to know
Is Cairo worth visiting during a long layover?
Yes! Definitely. Just make sure you factor in travel time with traffic to and from Cairo Airport. If you have a long layover (I’d say at least 8 hours to be safe), it’s the perfect opportunity to explore the Great Pyramids of Giza.
We originally had an overnight 20 hour layover and we were planning to visit the pyramids during the morning before heading to the airport. However, we changed our flight so that we would have one full day in Cairo and be able to check out the Nile and downtown as well. It was well worth it.
What to wear in Egypt
When deciding what to wear in Egypt you will want to consider the weather during the time you are visiting. Dress for the heat during the day, but remember that if you are visiting during the winter months, the evenings can get chilly.
Since Egypt is predominantly a Muslim country, the locals dress modestly and more conservatively. However, I noticed Egyptian women were not dressed as conservatively as women in other predominantly Muslim countries we’ve been to, such as the UAE.
While we did see many tourists showing lots of skin, especially at the pyramids, you will likely attract more attention from the locals this way. I prefer to try to blend in a bit more when we travel, so I stuck with keeping my shoulders, knees, and cleavage covered. However, I didn’t feel the need to cover to my wrists, ankles and neck as I have done in other more conservative Muslim countries.
Do I need to cover my hair in Egypt as a woman?
No, you don’t. I noticed even the local women didn’t all cover their hair, which was different from what we experienced in Oman or UAE, for example.
Arriving at Cairo Airport
I’ve got to be honest – arriving at Cairo Airport was not my favourite experience. It felt chaotic as soon as we got off the plane, and we already felt we had to be on-guard after exiting immigration. Please follow our tips below so you know what to expect!
Visa on Arrival Process
While you can apply for an e-visa online ahead of time, we chose to just get a visa on arrival. The process did not go so smoothly for us, nor other travelers in the airport, because we did not pay attention to/were confused about some important details.
Here is what I wish we had known:
- You need to obtain your visa BEFORE lining up at the immigration desks.
- You need to purchase your visa at the “bank” counter, a window located on the right BEFORE the immigration desks. We walked past this counter as it wasn’t entirely clear to us that this was the counter to get our visas at. We lined up and waited at immigration, and were ultimately turned back around, and had to go line up at the bank/visa counter first.
- The visa counter ONLY accepts CASH. It is $25 USD for a 30-day tourist visa. They do not accept cards, so many people were turned away and directed to the ATM. We did not have enough US cash on us, but luckily we had some Egyptian Pounds as well. They fortunately allowed us to pay with a combination of USD and Egyptian pounds.
- The ATMs by the visa desk are SLOW. Like, painfully slow. They were so ancient and slow that everyone kept thinking the machines ate their cards and took their money, because it takes so long for it to dispense the cash and give you your card back.
- Once you have your visa, proceed to the immigration desks where they will place it in your passport and stamp it.
Exiting the Airport
After immigration, you will find yourself in a large, busy arrivals hall. If you have checked baggage, this is where you’ll pick it up. It was very crowded, but since we had carry-on luggage only, we proceeded to the exit. We figured we’d be able to get out of there quickly, but nope.
You need to line up to exit, and the lines were long and not orderly! At the end of the line, you will need to put your luggage through the scanners and have your passports checked again.
Once you exit the airport, be prepared for the onslaught of “Taxi? Taxi! Hello, where are you going? Hello, come with me. I’ll give you good price.”
Tip: Take out some cash at the ATM inside the airport in case you need it for taxi fare or tips. We found we needed to use cash a lot as credit cards weren’t widely accepted and it wasn’t always easy to find an ATM. We took out 1000 EGP at the airport, and then took out some more at our hotel.
How to get from Cairo Airport to Pyramids
The Giza Pyramids are located about 45km from Cairo Airport, which should take around an hour to get to by car. However, traffic is BAD in Cairo and it could take you significantly longer if you get stuck in it. If you arrive late at night, as we did, or early in the morning, traffic won’t be an issue.
Taxi vs Uber
Take a taxi from the airport to the pyramids on your Cairo layover to save time and hassle. Normally I would suggest taking an Uber, which we tried to do. However, we had such a bad experience that next time I would just go for a taxi, and suggest you do the same!
First of all, as soon as you walk out of the terminal, you will have people approaching you trying to get you to go with them. As soon as they see the Uber app on your phone, they will tell you Uber is not allowed to pick you up at the airport or that the pick up location is too far away. We tried ignoring them and just continued to walk away, but they were relentless. They followed us and would not stop talking.
Our Uber experience:
We were told by the first Uber driver to meet him by B5. Eventually we found the B5 sign down some stairs in a dark parking lot, all while being shouted at by other drivers trying to convince us otherwise. The parking lot was packed and chaotic. We were not able to locate our driver so he cancelled the trip on us, which incurred us a cancellation fee!
We tried again and again, and kept having drivers cancel on us after waiting for 20 minutes each. After wasting over an hour in this dark, chaotic parking lot, fending off relentless men trying to get us to go in their cars, we headed back up to the arrivals hall.
One of the men who had initially tried to get us to go with him, laughed at us and said “I told you so”. He offered to take us to Giza for 800 EGP. This was outrageous, as the Uber price for the same trip was only 250 EGP. We walked away from him and continued towards the taxi stand.
Our Taxi experience:
The taxi quoted us 600 EGP for the trip, which we managed to negotiate down to 500 EGP (all while the original driver was right up in our ear trying to persuade us to go with him). By this point, we had spent almost two hours at the airport and it was past 11pm. We were tired and just wanted to get to our hotel. It was not worth haggling over what is equivalent to $5-10 Canadian Dollars.
Once in the taxi, the driver was friendly and pleasant, and we made it to our hotel safely. In hindsight, I wish we had just gone directly to the taxi stand and taken it to the hotel to save ourselves the hassle.
How to get around Cairo in one day
Other than from the airport, Uber is your best bet for getting around Cairo on a layover. We used Uber to travel between Giza and Cairo, and then Cairo back to the airport. It was super cheap. For example, our ride from our Giza hotel to our downtown Cairo hotel cost only 95 EGP, which is less than $5!
The only issue you may encounter is that many of the drivers don’t speak English. If they have any trouble finding you, it becomes hard to communicate. We had this issue at our Giza hotel since the hotel is gated, but the hotel staff called the driver for us and sorted it out.
Where to stay for one day in Cairo
If you have an overnight layover and are wanting to see the pyramids, I suggest staying as close to the pyramids as possible. Book a hotel in Giza. However, if you happen to have two nights on your Cairo layover like we did, then consider staying a night in downtown Cairo as well.
High End: St. Regis Cairo
If you’ve always wanted to stay at a St. Regis but found them too expensive, now is your chance! The St. Regis Cairo is one of the most affordable St. Regis’ in the world and is incredibly luxurious.
We chose to stay here on our second night and were blown away. It was the fanciest hotel we’ve ever stayed at and we wished we had more time to take it all in! The location is perfect, right in front of the Nile, and it makes a good base for exploring downtown.
Our room was large, service was exceptional, and the buffet breakfast was one of the best we’ve ever had!
Mid-Range: Marriott Mena House
This is the PERFECT place to stay if you only have one day in Cairo. Its location can’t be beat. You are only a five minute walk from the Giza Pyramids!
We stayed here on our first night in Cairo and it was the best decision. Our room had a lovely view of the pyramids, and in the morning, we enjoyed a tasty buffet breakfast all while admiring the breathtaking pyramid views.
After breakfast, we walked right over to the pyramids in less than five minutes! No need to worry about Ubers or taxis. It was incredibly convenient.
Budget: Giza Pyramids View Inn
If you dream of waking up to a pyramid view, but are on a budget, the Giza Pyramids View Inn is a great choice. It’s located in front of one of the pyramid entrances and only a five minute walk to the Sphinx. Breakfast is also included!
Cairo in One Day – Basics You Need To Know
Do I need a guide for the pyramids?
No, you do not need a guide. However, a lot of people will recommend you hire one. This is because touring the pyramids with a guide will keep the touts away for the most part. The touts at the pyramids are plentiful and relentless. When you talk to people who have been to the pyramids, usually their number one complaint is the harassment they experience from the touts (more on that below).
If you’re well-travelled, have experienced dealing with touts before and know how to ignore them, you should be fine touring the pyramids on your own if you wish. We decided to go without a guide because 1, we’re good at saying no to touts and have learned how to ignore them, and 2, we wanted to go as early as possible to the pyramids and go at a quicker pace to see as much as possible on our Cairo layover.
On the other hand, if you go without a guide then you won’t be learning all the details and history as you tour around. You could of course buy a guide book ahead of time and read up on everything you will be seeing. It depends on your preferences.
What to wear to the pyramids
Honestly, from what we observed, you can wear whatever you want to the pyramids. It’s all about what you feel comfortable with. There are so many tourists there wearing just about anything. The locals seem used to seeing all the exposed skin. However, you will want to protect yourself from the sun. Wear sunscreen for sure, and if you can’t take the heat, make sure to wear a hat, sunglasses, and maybe even bring an umbrella for shade.
We visited in October and the temperature was a high of 27 Celsius, but it felt even hotter than that mid-day. Wanting to not stick out too much to try to prevent extra attention and harassment (more on this below), I wore a linen romper (sleeveless, with capri-length pants) with a thin cotton button-down long-sleeve shirt overtop. My knees, shoulders, and elbows were covered.
Even though this is more covered up than I normally dress in these temperatures, I surprisingly felt cooler wearing the cotton shirt overtop. It was breathable and airy, and protected my skin from the sun so I did not feel as hot.
Ryan wore a white cotton t-shirt and khaki shorts, and the heat bothered him more than it did me with more layers.
Most importantly, wear comfortable shoes!! I wore my Nike Frees, which are very lightweight and comfortable for walking. It is very dusty and rocky, so I recommend closed-toe shoes that you don’t mind getting dirty. You will be surprised just how many kilometres you end up walking at the pyramids. We clocked a total of 18 kilometres!
Harassment and scams at the pyramids
When researching what to see in Cairo in one day, one thing that kept coming up in blogs and YouTube videos was how awful the harassment and scams were at the pyramids. This worried us a bit and we were not looking forward to it. However, after experiencing this type of thing elsewhere in the world (Marrakech comes to mind), we felt we could handle it by knowing to prepare for it and which scams to look out for.
Was it that bad? No. Did we get harassed? A little, but not as much as we were prepared for. Did we get scammed? No.
What did we experience?
- People asking where we are from, trying to make conversation and convince us to use their services. When we’d politely say no and keep walking, they would say “Hey, stop, wait. I’m talking to you,” and keep following us. We continued to walk away, and they’d eventually give up.
- Men trying to get us to ride their camels or horse. Some quoted us ridiculously high prices, while others quoted us only $5. We were wary of these super cheap prices as we heard others had been scammed and taken out to the desert, only to be told the $5 was only for the ride out, and they needed to pay more to get back.
- People telling us we were going the wrong way
- People telling us it is too far to walk and insisting we need a ride
- People telling us how to pose for photos/offering to take our photo (which if we had let them, they would then ask us money for)
- Vendors trying to put a head scarf on us and insisting it is a gift (we wouldn’t touch it as we felt they would somehow insist we owe them money afterwards)
- Friendly schoolkids just wanting a picture with us (no scams or harassment with them!)
How to prevent getting scammed and harassed
A lot of the scams we read about revolved around camel rides. We did not want to ride any animals at the pyramids, partly because we’ve already experienced it elsewhere and also felt bad for the animals, but also to avoid the opportunity to get scammed.
If you just can’t stand to walk all around the pyramids in the heat, or if you just need to have that perfect shot of you on a camel with the pyramids in the background, then please negotiate a reasonable price and agree to it BEFORE getting on that camel. Make sure that price includes the return trip and clarify if the price is in Egyptian Pounds or US dollars.
Other than that, just get used to saying “No” or better yet, “La, shukran”, Arabic for “No, thank you.” Then keep walking. Don’t make small talk with them. If they continue as you walk away, just don’t answer their questions or they will continue to follow you. If they do follow you, look them in the eye and give them a stern no. This is what worked for us.
They will definitely test your patience. What helped me was reminding myself that these people are struggling to make a living, COVID took a big toll on tourism, and they are just so desperate. Rather than getting frustrated and mad, I tried to understand, and not let them get to me.
Cairo in One Day – Layover Itinerary
This is the exact itinerary we followed for our one full day in Cairo. We arrived late at night the day before, and stayed at the Marriott Mena House Hotel, which is where this itinerary begins.
6:30am Breakfast with a view
Start the day early so that you can see as much as possible of Cairo in one day. Even if you are not a morning person, waking up to breakfast beneath the pyramids should get you going!
It was absolutely lovely to enjoy a relaxing outdoor breakfast all while admiring the beautiful pyramid view in front of us. The buffet breakfast at Marriott Mena House has a wide variety of options and provides an excellent start to the day. Fill up on breakfast to sustain you for a morning full of exploring.
8:00am Self-guided tour of the pyramids
After breakfast, it’s time to walk over to the pyramids! This was one of my favourite things about staying at Marriott Mena House – the ability to walk over to the pyramids in just five minutes.
Tip: Bring a backpack and pack lots of water and some snacks! You won’t find snack vendors at the pyramids.
Just walk out of the guarded parking lot gate and head to the right, in the direction of the pyramids. Walk up the sidewalk, past the pyramid gates, and you’ll be there before you know it! If anyone tries to stop you, saying you are going the wrong way and need to follow them, ignore them. This is a scam.
Purchasing Tickets
Once you are through the pyramid gates, you will clearly see the ticket office.
Pyramids of Giza Ticket Prices (current as of 2023):
- General Entry: 240 EGP
- Entry into the Great Pyramid (Khufu): 440 EGP (in addition to the general entry ticket)
Once you have your tickets, you will need to go through security. It is much like going through airport security – you put your bags through a scanner and walk through metal detectors. We found it a bit chaotic and unorganized in there.
Tip: Use the bathrooms near the entrance before setting off to explore the massive complex. Bathrooms are only located by the entrances and at the Panorama Zone. This is something we didn’t realize so we had a long walk back to the bathrooms when we needed them. They are located by the bus parking lot, across from the Great Pyramid. The cost is 10 EGP and you pay the attendant before entering. The good thing is the bathrooms are very clean.
8:30am Enter the Great Pyramid
If you’ve entered through the gate by the Marriott Mena House, then your first stop will be the Great Pyramid. This is the oldest and largest of the Pyramids of Giza. If you’ve purchased tickets to go inside the Great Pyramid, we suggest entering now, before the site gets busier with tour buses.
Important to note: Entry is closed from 12-1pm. Make sure to plan your visit around those hours. We tried to enter just after 12pm, not realizing it was closed, and then had to wait. The plus side is that if you enter right at 1pm, you can be at the front of the line while climbing up into the pyramid so it won’t be as crowded.
You will need to climb up some steps to get to the entrance, where a man will check your ticket before allowing you inside. Cameras are not allowed, so pack them away. Cell phones are allowed, however.
Is it worth going inside the Great Pyramid?
While some people don’t find it worth it to go in the pyramid, we found it quite interesting! Yes, it is cramped and very hot, so if you’re claustrophobic, don’t even attempt it. The woman in front of us had to exit after two minutes in because she couldn’t handle it.
We were not expecting such a steep climb into the pyramid. We figured it would just be a quick in and out of a cave-like room. However, there were steep, narrow staircases to climb. You will be dripping with sweat by the end of it.
Once you climb through the last staircase, you will enter the King’s Chamber.
It’s just a dark room with an empty sarcophagus. While maybe not the most interesting place, it still feels super cool to know you are deep inside the centre of a pyramid.
Climbing back down is a bit tricky, trying to make it past all the people climbing up. Once it gets busy in there, it definitely feels like a traffic jam on the staircases because they are just so narrow.
Note: If you’d like to purchase some souvenirs, there are vendors hanging out around the Great Pyramid. We found the prices to be quite reasonable and ended up buying a set of postcards for 50 EGP. We were quoted $1 for other items. Just beware of the “forced gift” scam we mentioned earlier.
View the Great Sphinx
After the Great Pyramid, make your way to the famous Great Sphinx. This is a great spot for photos, but it’s also one of the most crowded areas.
Visit the Pyramid of Khafre
After viewing the magnificent Great Sphinx sculpture, walk back up the hill towards the Pyramid of Khafre. This is another very large and impressive pyramid. You really can’t appreciate just how massive these pyramids are until you are standing beneath one.
If you purchased an entry ticket (additional 100 EGP), you may go inside.
Visit the Pyramid of Menkaure
Next up is the smallest of the three main pyramids and the last one to be built: Pyramid of Menkaure.
You are able to enter this pyramid as well, as long as you paid for an entry ticket (100 EGP).
Admire the view from Panorama Point
Head up to Panorama Point for a nice view of all the pyramids.
It is certainly possible to walk up to this point, but the touts will try to convince you otherwise so that you take a camel or horse instead. We ignored them and walked up by ourselves and had no issues.
1:30pm Relax at hotel
After hours of walking around the Giza Pyramids, take a break at the hotel. Grab some lunch, put your feet up and cool down in the shade.
We chose to spend this time relaxing by the pool at the Marriott Mena House.
4:00pm Head Downtown
After a few hours of relaxing, take an Uber to downtown Cairo. The journey only cost us 95 EGP and took 40 minutes.
Walk along the Nile and Qasr El Nil Bridge
Get dropped off near the infamous Tahrir Square and snap some photos.
Then head across Qasr El Nil Bridge. This bridge is very popular for evening walks, and you get great views up and down the Nile. It’s a popular spot for locals, and gets quite busy in the evenings.
Visit Cairo Tower
Once you reach the end of the bridge, continue walking to the famous Cairo Tower. Atop the 62nd floor, you will have fantastic panoramic views over the Nile and all of Cairo.
The tower is open until 12am (1am during summer). Entry costs 200 EGP.
7:00pm Dinner at Abou Tarek
To complete your one day in Cairo, you’ve got to try Egypt’s national dish. Take an Uber over to Abou Tarek, a very popular restaurant that specializes in koshary.
If you haven’t heard of koshary before, it is an Egyptian staple consisting of macaroni, spaghetti, rice, and lentils, topped with tomato sauce, chickpeas and fried onions. While it may sound odd, it is absolutely delicious!
Abou Tarek is a large, busy restaurant with many floors, but service is very quick. What’s even better? A bowl of koshary will only set you back less than $1 USD!
They also have yummy desserts as well. We tried the rice pudding and om ali.
Map of Cairo in One Day
We hope this itinerary gives you an idea of what’s possible to see in Cairo in one day so that you are able to make the most of your layover!
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