Category: Tours

Your Day at a Glance

Morning — Giza Plateau (approx. 8:00 AM – 1:00 PM)

We strongly recommend an 8:00 AM departure — and here’s why: the queues at Giza can be extraordinary, especially during peak season (October–April). Starting early is the single best thing you can do to make the most of your day. Journey Connected reaches out to every group before their tour to confirm preferences and fine-tune the schedule, but early departure is always our recommendation.

Your private, air-conditioned vehicle collects you directly from your Cairo or Giza hotel lobby. From the moment you meet your Egyptologist guide, the day is yours.

Great Pyramid of Khufu: Stand at the foot of humanity’s most extraordinary construction. Built over 4,500 years ago and rising to 146 metres, it is the oldest — and only surviving — of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Your guide brings the history, engineering, and royal significance of this monument to life in a way no audio guide or group tour ever could.

Pyramids of Khafre & Menkaure: Explore the full Giza complex, including the satellite pyramids and the surrounding ancient landscape.

Queen Hetepheres I Pyramid: A highlight often missed on standard tours. This is the tomb of Queen Hetepheres I — the mother of Khufu — and your entry is included in your tour.

Panoramic Photo Viewpoint: Pause at the famous plateau overlook for a sweeping view of all three pyramids together — the photograph you came to Egypt for.

Great Sphinx & Valley Temple: Come face to face with the legendary limestone colossus and walk through the 4,500-year-old Valley Temple, where ancient purification and mummification rites were performed.

Optional add-ons at Giza:

• Camel Ride — a 30–45 minute private ride around the pyramids (+$35/person)
• Quad Bike in the Desert — an exhilarating desert ride with pyramid views (+$35/person)
• Enter the Great Pyramid — descend into the burial chamber of King Khufu (+$45/person)

Add-ons are fully flexible — not every member of your group needs to participate. Mix and match based on who’s interested.

Here’s a breakdown of how a typical tour goes:

Midday — Shopping & Lunch (approx. 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM)

Your tour includes a relaxed stop at local shops where you can browse authentic Egyptian papyrus, perfumes, hand-woven carpets, and souvenirs. These stops are built into your day at no extra charge — but they are entirely optional. If you’d rather skip them and head straight to the museum, just say the word. No pressure, ever.

Lunch is not included in the tour price, but your guide can recommend excellent local restaurants and help arrange a meal that suits your group, including options with pyramid views.

Afternoon — Grand Egyptian Museum (approx. 2:00 PM – 5:00 PM)

Just 2 kilometres from the Giza Plateau sits one of the most significant cultural institutions ever built. The Grand Egyptian Museum — known as the GEM — is the world’s largest archaeological museum, purpose-built to house Egypt’s extraordinary ancient heritage in a state-of-the-art setting.

Tutankhamun Gallery: All 5,000+ artefacts recovered from the boy-king’s tomb are here — including his iconic golden death mask — the most complete royal collection ever assembled and, for many visitors, the highlight of their entire Egypt trip.

Grand Staircase & Atrium: Lined with towering royal statues spanning ancient Egyptian history.

Key Galleries: Your Egyptologist guide curates the experience, focusing on the stories and artefacts that will resonate most with your group — no wandering, no overwhelm.

Hotel Drop-Off (approx. 5:00–5:30 PM): Return to your hotel comfortably, with memories that will last a lifetime.

Optional: Private Nile Boat Ride

End your day on the water with a 45-minute private boat ride on the Nile — a peaceful, beautiful contrast to the day’s ancient wonders. (+$75-$200)

What’s Included

• Private round-trip hotel transportation in an air-conditioned vehicle (Cairo or Giza)
• Expert English-speaking Egyptologist guide for the full day
• Entry to the Giza Plateau complex (Great Pyramid of Khufu exterior, Khafre & Menkaure Pyramids)
• Entry to Queen Hetepheres I Pyramid
• Admission to the Great Sphinx and Valley Temple
• Standard admission to the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM)
• Shopping stops at papyrus, perfume, carpet, and souvenir shops (optional to enter)
• Bottled water throughout the tour
• All taxes and service fees

What’s Not Included

• Lunch (available to arrange locally — your guide will assist)
• Gratuities for your guide and driver — tipping is customary in Egypt and greatly appreciated. A typical tip of $15–$20 USD per person for the day is standard; your guide will distribute between the team.
• Personal purchases and souvenirs
• Optional add-on activities (listed above with pricing)
• Travel insurance (highly recommended — we’re happy to advise)

Why Book Direct with Journey Connected?

When you book directly with us, you’re not going through a third-party platform. You’re working with the people who will actually be on the ground with you — a team that has hand-picked every guide, vetted every vehicle, and built every element of this experience to protect your time, your safety, and your enjoyment.

Our guides do one thing group tours simply cannot: they run interference. From the moment you arrive at Giza, your Egyptologist is actively ensuring you’re not approached, pressured, or hassled — so you can focus entirely on one of the greatest places on earth.

Your Day at a Glance

Morning — Saqqara (approx. 8:00 AM – 11:00 AM)

We recommend an 8:00 AM departure to make the most of the cooler morning hours and to arrive at Saqqara before the day heats up. Journey Connected reaches out to every group before their tour to confirm preferences and fine-tune the schedule — but an early start is always our recommendation.

Your private, air-conditioned vehicle collects you directly from your Cairo or Giza hotel lobby. From the moment you meet your Egyptologist guide, the day is yours.

Step Pyramid of Djoser: This is where it all began. Built around 2670 BC by the architect Imhotep for Pharaoh Djoser, the Step Pyramid is not only the oldest pyramid in Egypt — it is the oldest large-scale stone structure in the entire world. Standing here, your guide will walk you through the revolutionary leap this building represented: the moment ancient Egyptians moved from mudbrick mastabas to monumental stone construction and set the course for everything that followed. The surrounding complex — including the colonnaded entrance, courtyards, and surrounding tombs — is vast, and this is a site that rewards the time a private tour allows.

Imhotep Museum: Located within the Saqqara complex, this excellent museum houses artifacts discovered at the site — a fascinating companion to what you’ll see outside.

Midday — Memphis & Lunch (approx. 11:00 AM – 1:30 PM)

Memphis Open-Air Museum: Before Luxor, before Alexandria, there was Memphis — the first capital of unified ancient Egypt, founded around 3100 BC. At its height, Memphis was one of the largest and most powerful cities in the world. Today, its open-air museum preserves some of the most striking monuments of the ancient world.

Colossal Statue of Ramses II: One of the most impressive royal statues in Egypt — a massive limestone figure of one of ancient Egypt’s greatest pharaohs, displayed horizontally in its own dedicated museum hall. The scale is extraordinary.

Alabaster Sphinx of Memphis: Often overlooked in favor of the Great Sphinx at Giza, the Alabaster Sphinx of Memphis is a beautifully preserved and deeply impressive monument in its own right — and without the crowds.

Your tour includes a relaxed stop at local shops where you can browse authentic Egyptian papyrus, perfumes, hand-woven carpets, and souvenirs. These stops are built into your day at no extra charge — but they are entirely optional. If you’d rather skip them, just say the word. No pressure, ever.

Lunch is not included in the tour price, but your guide will recommend excellent local options and can help arrange a meal that suits your group.

Afternoon — Dahshur Pyramids (approx. 1:30 PM – 4:30 PM)

Dahshur is where ancient Egyptian architects figured out how to build the Great Pyramid. Located about 40 kilometres south of Cairo, this royal necropolis is one of the least visited major archaeological sites in Egypt — which means you’ll often have these extraordinary monuments almost entirely to yourselves.

Bent Pyramid of King Sneferu: Built between 2613 and 2589 BC, the Bent Pyramid is one of the most fascinating structures in all of Egypt. Partway through construction, the angle of the pyramid’s sides was dramatically reduced — creating its distinctive double-angled profile. Scholars believe this was a deliberate correction after structural concerns arose. The result is a monument that tells the story of ancient Egyptian engineering in real time.

Red Pyramid of King Sneferu: Built immediately after the Bent Pyramid, the Red Pyramid is the first successfully completed true smooth-sided pyramid in history — the direct architectural predecessor to the Great Pyramid of Giza. Named for the reddish hue of its limestone, you can enter the interior passages and burial chambers, an experience that is far less crowded and in many ways more intimate than entering at Giza.

Optional add-ons at Dahshur:

• Quad Bike in the Desert — an exhilarating 45-minute desert ride with sweeping pyramid views (+$35/person)
• Camel Ride in the Desert — a classic 30–45 minute desert camel ride (+$35/person)

Add-ons are fully flexible — not every member of your group needs to participate. Mix and match based on who’s interested.

Hotel Drop-Off (approx. 4:30–5:00 PM): Return to your hotel comfortably, with a genuine sense of having seen ancient Egypt from a perspective most visitors never experience.

Optional: Private Nile Boat Ride

End your day on the water with a relaxing 45-minute private boat ride on the Nile — a peaceful and beautiful contrast to the day’s ancient wonders.

• 1–2 people: $75
• 3–8 people: $100
• 9–18 people: $175

Optional: Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM)

Want to extend your day? Add a visit to the Grand Egyptian Museum — the world’s largest archaeological museum, home to the complete treasures of Tutankhamun and over 100,000 artifacts from ancient Egypt. Please note that the GEM sits outside the natural route of this tour, so additional travel time is required to reach it — this is reflected in the pricing. Given the length of the day, GEM visits on this tour are approximately 2 hours, giving you a curated highlights experience with your Egyptologist guide rather than a full exploration. For a deeper GEM visit, we recommend pairing it with our Giza Pyramids & Grand Egyptian Museum day tour instead. (+$75/person)

What’s Included

• Private round-trip hotel transportation in an air-conditioned vehicle (Cairo or Giza)
• Expert English-speaking Egyptologist guide for the full day
• Entry to the Saqqara complex including the Step Pyramid of Djoser
• Entry to the Dahshur complex including the Bent Pyramid and Red Pyramid
• Entry to the Memphis Open-Air Museum
• Shopping stops at papyrus, perfume, carpet, and souvenir shops (optional to enter)
• Bottled water throughout the tour
• All taxes and service fees

What’s Not Included

• Lunch (available to arrange locally — your guide will assist)
• Gratuities for your guide and driver — tipping is customary in Egypt and greatly appreciated. A typical tip of $10–$20 USD per person for the day is standard; your guide will distribute between the team.
• Personal purchases and souvenirs
• Optional add-on activities (listed above with pricing)
• Travel insurance (highly recommended — we’re happy to advise)

Why Book Direct with Journey Connected?

When you book directly with us, you’re not going through a third-party platform. You’re working with the people who will actually be on the ground with you — a team that has hand-picked every guide, vetted every vehicle, and built every element of this experience to protect your time, your safety, and your enjoyment.

Our guides do one thing group tours simply cannot: they run interference. From the moment you step out of the vehicle at your first site, your Egyptologist is actively ensuring you’re not approached, pressured, or hassled — so you can focus entirely on some of the most extraordinary places on earth.