I promise you, this blog post will be the ultimate guide to visiting the pyramids of Giza that you’ll need! I have literally spent months researching the best ways on how to visit the pyramids, but nothing beats experiencing it for yourself. I did find a couple good blogs floating around, but some of their information might be a bit old or they reused old blog posts and just re-dated them with 2023. If you’re reading this, I visited the pyramids on 5/18/2023 so you know this blog post is recent!
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Basic Info on Visiting the Pyramids
How Much is the Ticket to See the Pyramids?
As of 5/18/2023, the price is 240 EGP (~$8 USD) for foreign visitors. We paid another 440 EGP (~$14 USD) to go inside the Grand Pyramid (Khufu Pyramid). I heard it was 20 EGP (.65 cents) if you wanted to bring in a tripod, so I tried to tell the ticket guy that I had one but he didn’t take my money. I even tried to show my tripod to him and he waved me away. He probably didn’t understand what I was saying because I highly doubt he was going to give up free money. Either way, I didn’t end up paying for the tripod, but I didn’t even end up using it anyways.
Pyramids Hours of Operation
Okay, here’s my beef… when I was researching what time the pyramids opened, a lot of blogs and “official” websites said 8:00 am and then closed at different hours depending on the season. Well, when I walked up to the ticket office at 8:05 a.m., I was surprised to see how many people and tours were already INSIDE of the gates. I thought that was weird since the ticket office only was suppose to open at 8:00 am. Well, after looking at the official posted sign, I saw that it actually opens at 7:00 am! If I would have known it opened at 7:00 am, I definitely would have woken my butt up sooner! But my loss is your gain. Below is proof.
What Time of Year Should I Go?
If you want to enjoy the weather and not be miserable and cranky, definitely go during the months of November-March. I went in the middle of May and it was sweltering. I was sweating through every piece of clothing. I know November-March is high season, but it’s the tradeoff you make if you want to be comfortable and look cute in your pictures. You can try going in the shoulder months like October and April, but just remember April is usually Ramadan.
What Time Should I Get to the Pyramids?
I would highly suggest you get to the pyramids right at 7:00 am. We got to the ticket office around 8:05 am (us assuming it opened at 8:00 am and not at 7:00 am) and the pyramids were already packed with buses and tour groups. You’ll definitely want to beat the crowds as much as you can, but most importantly, you’ll want to beat the heat. Since we were visiting in the middle of May, the temperatures were hovering around high 90s to low 100s and there’s no shade whatsoever. Trust me… it is HOT!
What To Wear (Especially for a Female)?
Okay so this was a big question for me when I was researching. I knew Egypt was going to be hot, but I also heard of males harassing females if they were not conservatively dressed. I took the precaution and wore clothing that covered my shoulders and anything below my knees. But let me tell you… there were DEFINITELY influencers out there in short dresses, tube tops, shorts, heels, etc. I mean I was actually kind of shock of how little they wore, but hey, if you want to wear that, you go ahead.
I personally didn’t want anyone bothering me and no one did, but that could have been because we had a tour guide also. I can’t say if those influencers were bothered by males, but it’s up to you if you want to take that chance. All I’m saying is that you won’t be the only one not conservatively dressed if you end up deciding to wear what you usually wear back at home.
Overall, my recommendation is to wear anything cotton or linen since these fabrics can breathe. Do not wear polyester unless you like being suffocated in a plastic bag. Also, bring a hat, sunglasses, and decent walking shoes. They don’t have to be hiking or gym shoes. I wore my high tops and they were fine. Lastly, if you plan on riding a camel, I highly suggest you wear pants (for obviously reasons) and maybe not of a linen material. I wore linen pants and they were great for the most part until I got on the camel. The thing they don’t tell you is that when you’re on the camel, your thighs will be clenching so hard that my linen pants started to rub and irritate my skin.
Getting to the Pyramids
Where Should I Stay: Cairo or Giza?
There’s a lot of blogs out there that say that you should just stay in Giza since it’s a pretty long drive from Cairo. To be honest, I feel like you should do whatever is more convenient for you. I did a crazy hotel hop where I stayed in Cairo the first night, Giza the second night, and Cairo the third night. I did this because everyone on the internet kept saying to stay in Giza because you’re closer to the pyramids (which is true), but did I want to waste my time constantly repacking and moving hotels?
I say if you’re staying either in Giza or Cairo, just stick to that area and Uber where you have to go. Don’t get me wrong, my hotel in Giza (Marriott Mena House) was amazing and you literally can’t beat the view and proximity to the pyramids, but if I were to do it over again, I would have just stayed in downtown Cairo the whole time and Uber to the pyramids.
- Related Post: Where to Stay: Marriott Mena House Cairo Review
How to Get to the Pyramids from Cairo?
If you are staying in Cairo, the easiest and most convenient way to get to the pyramids is by Uber. There are plenty of Ubers in Cario and they are so cheap! My Uber ride from Cairo to the Marriott Mena House was 142 EGP ($4.60 USD). It took me about 40-45 mins around noon time. My friend took an Uber in the morning around 7:00 am from Cario to the Marriott Mena House and he said it only took him around 25-30 mins. So, just make sure you give yourself enough time depending on the time of day you want to visit the pyramids. I would always give yourself an extra 15-20 mins just in case because your Uber WILL MOST CERTAINLY get lost or take the longest u-turn in history.
Two Entrances to The Pyramids… Which One is Better?
There are two entrances to the pyramids of Giza. There is the north entrance near the Marriott Mena House hotel that drops you off right in front of the Grand Pyramid. The south entrance is near the Sphinx and where you can also find that famous Pizza Hut/KFC rooftop. To be honest, either entrance is fine. It just depends where you want to start off your day. I say that because you’ll most likely start off at one entrance and then end up at the other entrances. So, you’ll eventually get a view of both. That’s what we did.
I was staying at the Marriott Mena House Cairo, so I chose to go to the north entrance since it was just a 5-10 minute walk from the the hotel. That’s right! If you are staying at the Marriott Mena House, you can just walk to the pyramids and not worry about getting a taxi or Uber. The walk is a little bit of a uphill climb but nothing strenuous. Once we got to the north entrance, we found our tour guide and he took us from the Grand Pyramid all the way to the south entrance where the sphinx was. in the end, yes we had to hike all the way back to the north entrance to get back to the hotel, but it was easily managable.
Inside the Pyramids of Giza
Should I Book a Pyramids Tour or Just Walk It Myself?
I’ve heard over and over again that we should book a pyramids tour just so we know what we are looking at and mostly so other vendors and hawkers won’t bother you. I did not book any tour, but instead decided to wing it the morning of. An Egyptian co-worker of mine mentioned that we could just pick up a guide by the front entrance so I thought I would try that route instead of pre-booking something online. I’m not a huge fan of tour groups to begin with and if I were to do any, I prefer it to be a private tour guide.
After we bought our ticket at the window, sure enough, there were guys in the front asking if we wanted a tour guide. To be honest, I don’t even know if these people are legit or if they are who they say they are, but we took the chance anyways. Two guys came up to us and offered us a 2-hour pyramids tour for 400 EGP ($13 USD). Of course, this seems cheap to me, but I know that I’m suppose to haggle so I offer 300 EGP ($10 USD). They rejected my offer so I walked away. Again, I wasn’t dying for a pyramids tour so I didn’t really care, but my nonchalantness must have worked because they came back saying they would do it for 300 EGP.
The pyramids tour ended up being almost 3 hours since we decided to add in the camel ride. Our tour guide was pretty knowledgeable and it seems that every knew him. Other guides kept coming up to us and saying how we were so lucky to have him. Who knows if they were just trying to puff him up but all-in-all, he was definitely worth it. If you would like to book our tour guide, feel free to add me on Instagram and send me a DM and I’ll give you his Whatsapp number.
How Much is a Camel Ride at the Pyramids?
I originally had the information here, but it was such a long story that I decided to make a separate post about it. If you want all the details of how to negotiate and what not to do, then definitely read the blog post below. Otherwise, I paid 1200 EGP ($40 USD) for my camel ride and I KNOW I severely over paid for it.
- Related Post: Camel Ride at the Pyramids + What Not to Do!
Is the Grand Pyramid (Khufu Pyramid) Worth Going Into?
This was something that we probably could have gone without, but the night before, we decided we were going to do it just because we didn’t just come all this way to not at least enter one pyramid. I’ve heard that there was nothing really exciting to see inside and I here to confirm that this is true. I’m glad we did it, but if you’re trying to save money, or are claustrophobic, or not physically as fit as you would like, I would skip it. You have to use all the thigh strength you have to climb up a super small tunnel to end up in a empty dark room with an empty tomb.
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The Tomb of Meresankh III (Mers Ankh Tomb)
The tomb of Queen Meresankh wasn’t in our original places for us to go, but our tour guide gave us a special tour and I’m so glad he did. If we didn’t get to see this tomb, I would have felt like the pyramids would have been a little lackluster. If you want to see vibrant hieroglyphics, detailed paintings, and well-preserved statues close up, I highly recommend visiting this tomb. The best part is that NO ONE goes to it. We literally had the whole tomb by ourselves. If you don’t have a guide, the ticket is only 50 EGP (~$1.62 USD) and well worth it!
Eating Around the Pyramids
Where is the Famous Tik Tok Pizza Hut/KFC Rooftop View of the Pyramids?
So I know all of you have probably seen the viral Tik Tok of someone claiming that the rooftop of this Pizza Hut/KFC is the best view of the pyramids, but to be honest, I wasn’t all that impressed. Yes, if you don’t want to go inside the grounds of the pyramids, this might be a cheap alternative, but how are you going to travel all the way to Egypt and not at least go inside. Either way, I digress. If you want to find this Pizza Hut/KFC, it’s located at the Sphinx Entrance. I’ve also Google mapped it down below for you as well!
Where Else Can I Eat with a View?
I didn’t get a chance to visit the any of the restaurants down below, but if I had the time, I definitely would have tried at least one of them. I’ve been seeing 9 Pyramids Lounge a lot on Instagram lately and it does look like it provides a really nice view of the pyramids, but it looks pretty far out of the way. I think you can probably take a camel there if you’re inside the compound already but I wouldn’t waste your money. I would just grab an Uber from one of the entrances since it’ll be cheaper and more convenient.
139 Pavilion is the main restaurant inside of the Marriot Mena House hotel. You will be sitting inside the lush hotel grounds have will have close up views of the pyramids. Since it’s close up though, you’ll probably only get to see two pyramids. At least with this restaurant, it’s walking distance from the pyramids (especially from the north entrance) so you can easily grab lunch after a day of exploring.
If I had the choice out of the three, I would pick Khufu’s Restaurant just because it look more like a culinary experience you would have at sit-down restaurant. Their website and pictures seriously makes my mouth drool. I would want to try this restaurant even without the pyramids view! This restaurant is a bit farther out than all of the rest so you will have to Uber or take a taxi there.
Conclusion
Hopefully this ultimate guide to visiting the pyramids has helped you better plan your trip to Egypt. I know when I was researching for my trip, these were the types of questions/answers I was looking for. If you have any other questions, definitely write them down in the comments below and I’ll definitely answer them so everyone can see the information too.
Pyramid Pictures
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