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Cairo by Van – Pyramids & Museum of Civilization

~23 h (00:00–23:00)Tuesday & ThursdayHistory & culture

The experience

In a small minivan with a French-speaking guide, you cross the desert at night and wake up to Cairo. Walk around the Pyramids of Giza and look the Sphinx in the eye, then visit the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization, home of the royal mummies. A buffet lunch, a stop at a perfume and papyrus workshop, and the long road home full of stories.

Duration~23 h (00:00–23:00)

RunsTuesday & Thursday

Pickup00:00–02:00 Hurghada hotel

PriceFrom €80 · Per person

Children0–4 yrs +€20 · 5–7 yrs 50% off · 8+ adult

About the places you'll visit

The story behind each stop, so you arrive knowing what you're looking at.

Pyramids of GizaOld Kingdom · c. 2600–2500 BC2–3 hours

Three kings of the 4th Dynasty built their pyramids on the desert edge west of the Nile: Khufu, his son Khafre, and Menkaure. The Great Pyramid of Khufu is the only one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World still standing.

The Great Pyramid was about 146 m high when finished and is about 139 m today
Built from roughly 2.3 million stone blocks
It was the tallest human-made structure on Earth for about 3,800 years
Khafre's pyramid still has some of its smooth limestone casing near the top
Small queens’ pyramids stand beside the kings’ pyramids

The Great Sphinxc. 2500 BC · reign of Khafre30–45 minutes

A lion with the head of a king, most likely Khafre, carved from a single ridge of limestone. It guards the way up to his pyramid, next to his granite Valley Temple.

About 73 m long and 20 m high
The largest ancient statue carved from one rock
Sand covered it up to the neck for most of its history
Its nose was already missing centuries before Napoleon reached Egypt

National Museum of Egyptian CivilizationFustat · Royal Mummies Hall since 20212 hours

The museum of Egypt’s whole story, from prehistory to today. Its Royal Mummies Hall holds the kings and queens who were moved here in the televised Pharaohs’ Golden Parade in April 2021.

22 royal mummies were moved here in 2021, among them Ramses II and Hatshepsut
Built in Fustat, the first Arab capital of Egypt
Overlooks the Ain el-Sira lake

Did you know?

How many pyramids are there in Egypt?

Archaeologists have identified between about 118 and 138 pyramids in Egypt, depending on how they count ruined ones. Most stand on the desert edge west of the Nile, from Giza south to Fayoum.

The oldest: the Step Pyramid of Djoser at Saqqara, around 2670 BC
The first true pyramid: the Red Pyramid at Dahshur
The largest: the Great Pyramid of Khufu at Giza
Later pyramids were made of mud brick and have mostly collapsed, like Hawara in Fayoum
After about 1550 BC the kings stopped building pyramids and were buried in hidden tombs in the Valley of the Kings