Cairo, the Grand Egyptian Museum and Alexandria, 5 days

Five days, four thousand years

This trip suits a long weekend or a first visit to Egypt without a cruise. It follows history in order, or nearly: the pyramids of the Old Kingdom, the treasure of a New Kingdom pharaoh, the medieval city founded by the Fatimids in 969, then Alexandria, the city of Alexander and the Ptolemies.

The choice of hotel comes down to distance. The Marriott Mena House, a khedive's hunting lodge that became a hotel in 1886, is 760 m from the Pyramid of Khufu and 2.1 km from the Grand Egyptian Museum. The two main visits of the stay are therefore a few minutes from your room, and the 139 Pavilion terrace, facing the plateau, is the place to come back to between outings. Historic Cairo, on the other side of the Nile, does require a proper journey: it is best kept for a late afternoon.

Day 1: arrival in Giza

You arrive through Cairo International Airport, or through Sphinx Airport, west of Giza, which receives direct flights from easyJet, Wizz Air and Edelweiss and is on the right side of the city for the hotel. On the first evening, the heated pool and dinner facing the pyramids are enough. Sightseeing starts early the next day.

Day 2: the pyramids, then the Grand Museum

The outing listed in this idea lasts 6 hours, tickets and meal included, with a guide: the plateau in the morning, the museum in the afternoon.

The plateau. It opens at 07:00 local time; it is best to be there at opening, for the light and the cool. The pyramids of Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure, father, son and grandson, and the Great Sphinx. The plateau ticket does not include the inside of the pyramids, sold separately.

The Grand Egyptian Museum. The GEM was inaugurated on Saturday 1 November 2025 and opened to the public on 4 November. For the first time since the tomb was discovered in 1922, it displays Tutankhamun's treasure in full, more than 5,000 objects. The ticket also covers the Grand Hall, where a colossal statue of Ramses II stands, the Grand Staircase lined with statues, and the Khufu boats museum. Allow up to four hours.

Choosing the museum day

The GEM's hours can decide the order of the stay. The galleries open from 09:00 to 18:00 local time. On Wednesdays and Saturdays they stay open until 21:00. Last entry is one hour before the galleries close.

A stay that includes a Wednesday or a Saturday can therefore split the two visits: the plateau in the morning, a break at the hotel in the hottest hours, then the museum in the evening, with fewer people. During Ramadan, the galleries close at 16:00 local time.

If you visit without the organised outing, tickets are sold on visit-gem.com, the only official sales site, for a specific date and time slot; they are non-refundable. Entry alone costs 1,450 Egyptian pounds (EGP) for a foreign adult, 1,950 EGP with a guided tour in English or Arabic, and 730 EGP for a child or student; it is free under 6. Flash, tripods and selfie sticks are not allowed.

Day 3: Islamic Cairo on foot

The morning is free: a return to the plateau to go inside a pyramid, or a rest by the pool. The walking tour listed in this idea lasts 4 hours, with pick-up at your Giza hotel half an hour before the start. It works well in the late afternoon, when the streets of the Fatimid city come alive.

The route starts at Bab al-Futuh, one of the gates of the medieval walls, built in 1087. You go inside the al-Hakim mosque, then Bayt al-Suhaymi, a 17th-century Ottoman house with its courtyard. Al-Muizz Street, the heart of historic Cairo, then lines up the mosque of Sultan Barquq and the 13th-century Qalawun complex, with its madrasa (Koranic school) and mausoleum. The Khan al-Khalili bazaar and its street stalls are the chance to taste zalabya, syrup-soaked fritters, halabessa, a hot chickpea drink, and koshary, a dish of rice, pasta and chickpeas. The tour ends at the al-Hussein mosque.

Clothing covering shoulders and knees is appropriate for mosques. On Fridays, avoid mosques at the time of the main midday prayer.

Day 4: Alexandria

The road from Giza to Alexandria is about 220 km, a little over 2 hours; it starts on the Giza side, which makes it simpler than the train from Ramses station in central Cairo. The guided tour listed in this idea lasts 7 hours, with pick-up at your Alexandria hotel and a fish lunch by the Mediterranean:

• Qaitbay Fort, built from 1477 to 1479 by the Mamluk sultan Qaitbay on the ruins of the ancient lighthouse;
• the catacombs of Kom el-Shuqafa, a Roman-era underground necropolis whose reliefs blend Egyptian and Graeco-Roman motifs, with the so-called Pompey's Pillar nearby;
• the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, opened in 2002, a circular, tilted building that revives the idea of the ancient library. It is visited with a library guide and is closed on Fridays and Saturdays: on those days the tour goes to the Abu al-Abbas al-Mursi mosque and the corniche instead. Children under 12 visit the Children's Museum instead.

The Alexandria day is therefore best set for a Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday. With a Wednesday or Saturday for the GEM, the calendar falls into place in one go.

In the evening, the corniche links the city's districts; the Four Seasons is at San Stefano, on the sea. From November to April its private beach and beach pool are closed; the heated indoor pool on the 5th floor is open all year.

Day 5: the return

Your flight leaves from Cairo, and the road crosses the urban area to the airport: leaving in the morning suits an afternoon flight. Borg el-Arab airport, 60 km from the hotel, about an hour by road, may be an option if a flight suits. As with all long journeys in Egypt, the drive is made in daylight, with a driver.

When to go

October to April. According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) 1991–2020 normals for Cairo airport, the average maximum is 19 to 21 °C from December to February, with nights around 10 °C in January, 24 to 25 °C in November and March, and 28 to 30 °C in April and October; from June to August it reaches 35 °C. Alexandria is milder and damper: 18 to 20 °C from December to February, with most of the year's rain in winter, 61 mm in January. A jacket and an umbrella are useful there between December and February.

Variations

• An extra night in Cairo. A fourth night, by the Nile, adds Saqqara and Dahshur, or Coptic Old Cairo and the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization, where the royal mummies are displayed.
• Two nights in Alexandria. A second night leaves time for the Graeco-Roman Museum, reopened in 2023, Kom el-Dikka and the cosmopolitan city, and in summer for the hotel's beach.
• With the Nile. A flight to Luxor or Aswan at the end of the stay extends the trip with a cruise.