Best of Egypt Tour: Giza Pyramids and Coptic Cairo in Two Days

Day 1

At 8:30 am you will be picked up from your hotel in either Cairo or Giza by your tour guide to start your full-day tour visiting the Giza Pyramids, Cheops, Chephren and Mykerinos. After seeing the famous pyramids and getting lots of photos, visit the Valley Temple. The place where the priests mummified the dead body of King Chephren owner of the second pyramid at Giza Plateau. This is the place where you can have a close-up look at the Sphinx, the legendary guardian that stands by the huge funeral complex with its lion body and the head of King Chephren.

continue your day tour to Saqqara, located only 16.7 miles (27 kilometers) southwest from Cairo. Visit the Step Pyramid, built for King Djoser, it is considered an important part in the process of the pyramid evolution, which were made from the simple mastaba to its widely known form. Then continue your day tour to Memphis, the ancient capital of Egypt, where the colossal statue of Ramses II and the great Alabaster Sphinx date back to 3100 B.C. Your tour finishes with drop off at your hotel.

Day 2

At 8:30 am you will be picked up from your hotel in either Cairo or Giza by your tour guide

Leave your Cairo or Giza hotel by minivan and start your 3-hour tour. If you have any particular areas of interest, let your private guide know. Your commentary and itinerary can be tailored to your wishes. Head into Coptic Cairo, an area also known as Old Cairo. This colorful quarter is the original home of the Coptic Christians, one of the world’s oldest Christian denominations. Stop to see the Hanging Church, aka St Virgin Mary’s Church. Built in the 7th century, this old church takes its name from its location: sited above a gateway in the old Roman fortress. Admire the courtyard and interiorwith its screens, marble pulpit and icons, and hear about its long history. Next, after a visit to the Monastery and Church of St George, an early 20th-century church that is the only round church in Egypt, call at Abu Serga, a 5th-century Coptic church. View the 24 interior columns and 12th-century icons on the walls, and learn how the church stands where the holy family is thought to have stayed during their flight into Egypt from Israel’s King Herod. Then, take a look at the Ben Ezra Synagogue, once a Christian church, before finishing your tour at the Coptic Museum, located in one of Coptic Cairo’s oldest areas. See some of the 16,000 ancient artifacts on display, including precious icons and books that illustrate the history of Egypt’s Coptic community. Before your tour ends, take the opportunity to visit a papyrus institute to see artisans paint on this natural material, and perhaps purchase some artworks. Your 3-hour tour then ends with a hotel drop-off.