Pyramids and the museum

Yes plenty of time to do both IME – the pyramids are just stare at them see how massive they are and then leave

Would be tempted to see if you can book before going as you will need to be wiling to haggle for hours with any taxi driver etc when there.

Tower of babylon if you care about st george and Mosque of Mohammed Ali if you want something a bit different-

Cost about £5 uk pounds for a taxi driver after 3 hours haggling – paying before hand probably about £50 but possibly worth it for the lack of hassle

I would avoid a souk[ market] personally as the hassle* you will get will be huge and you wont buy anything

PS dont try and cross the road at the museum – this will make sense once you have been 😉

* not danger just everyone approaching you to get you into their stall and tbh its pretty easy to get lost /disorientate din them

When I went about ten years ago, we got a cab from our hotel. The cab driver took us to some backstreet perfume shop were the owner had a couple of camels and some street urchins to take you around the pyramids. We were guided to a gated entrance about 1km from the pyramids were there were armed guards at the gate and a very tense situation unfolding between them and a group of locals trying to get through with tourists.
We side stepped the chaos and entered through another gate further down the wall. The tour of the pyramids was pleasant enough, but on the way back to the shop, our street urchin guides stopped in a back street and demanded money from us. The whole situation was nerve racking to say the least, and we were glad to get back to our hotel that day.

Worth seeing, not sure on the need to go inside and should take an hour or two.

He is not wrong hence why I suggested pre booking and taking the hit on price

Hotel will be able to arrange car and tour of the pyramids for you.

Two things I recall were how much litter / vandalism there was and how small the Sphinx is – it’s absolutely tiny!

I toured them by Camel – got such a sore arse from the thing…..

I also went super early (7am IIRC) to get there before a meeting. Was nice and quiet with not many tourists…

[url=https://flic.kr/p/4S4BE4]Tacky tourist shot[/url] by Ben Freeman, on Flickr

[url=https://flic.kr/p/4S8Lh5]Tiny Sphinx[/url] by Ben Freeman, on Flickr

Look at Tripadvisor on that one.

Do they still have that show with the donkey and the rubber ring?

See the pyramids from the North of the city, if you go through the western part you have to climb mountains of refuse and it’ll stay in your mind forever.
Worth the taxi fare alone, go early, bite on something hard whilst the taxi driver imitates Hanni Mikola doing donuts around camels on the WRC.
Eat local, don’t eat salad, eat fish not meat, rice boiled in a bag not in Nile excrement.
Don’t wash until you leave.

It’s a busy place, wait until nighttime and climb somewhere high to see the lights and expanse of a city in the desert.. it’s quite stunning.

Can you go in the pyramids? I believe you could once not sure about now. Numbers were very limited and not for you if you’re at all claustrophobic. And there’s n’t anything to see anyway.

Can you climb them? Not any more. The blocks they’re made out of are larger than you think and are made of sandstone which means they’re easily damaged. The Egyptian antiquities people are keen on keeping them intact so no climbing.

I’d add trying to get to the Citadel if you can. Awesome medieval fortification and mosques, quite high above the city so views across the city and out toward the pyramids

The Giza plateau is an amazing site. Most these “must see” places get a bit ruined by all the people seeing them and this is no exception but its so good it’s still worth it. If you can avoid the peak coach tour time its much better. Even if its is busy its a huge site and there are some smaller tombs dotted around. Wander away from the crowds if you can. When I went many years ago there was a very unofficial looking chap letting us into some of the tombs for baksheesh.

I liked the city. Many happy days wandering around it. Did a nice walk along the river to the Coptic christian area. Lots of nice architecture on the way from roman to art deco. Its busy and bustling and crossing roads and taxi rides are an experience but they do have rules, but they are different to ours.

I was there 30 years ago and you couldn’t walk up them (pyramids) then. Driving through the centre of Cairo has to be seen to be believed! 😯 Crazy noisy place, which takes a bit of getting used to as its a massive assault on the senses!

Well luckily alcohol is still allowed in Egypt so you could just stay in your hotel and get sh*tfaced. At least you won’t have to worry about making it back to their airport in time for your flight, which is what always spoils any leisure time I have on business trips.

(Disclaimer: this was a long time ago, most definitely not like this now)

Parents lived in Cairo when I was little. My abiding memories:

The place stinks, has way too much traffic, too many people, and is filthy. But strangely, all of this in a good way (India, take notes please)

The people are super nice

It smells of wee inside the great pyramids

The Citadel is awesome, we went on a school trip there, the mosque was amazing and there are secret rooms and everything

The zoo stinks but they keep the big cats on edge

The sailing boats on the Nile are good for an outing

I would second this, camels stink.