Let me start off by saying that I know deep down in my soul that I completely over paid for my camel ride at the Pyramids. So, if you are reading this blog post, you are already way ahead of the game and hopefully will learn from my mistakes and know what to be prepared for. With that being said, I don’t think I would have ridden a camel anywhere else in world so I don’t regret paying for it. 

 

How Much is the Entrance Fee to the Pyramids?

As of 5/18/2023, the fee is 240 EGP ($8 USD) to get inside for foreign visitors. The camel price is separate unless it was already packaged as a part of your tour. 

 

Should I Ride a Camel at the Pyramids?

Please be absolutely sure you want to ride a camel before you commit. I’ve seen people get on and get immediately off because they were too scared or just didn’t like it. In the end, they will still take your money regardless so you better make sure you’re okay with riding large animals and heights.

My friend and I were on the fence about riding a camel all day just because we didn’t want to spend the money and it didn’t look that fun. In the end, we decided to do it since we thought if there was any place in the world we would ride a camel, it would be in front of the Pyramids. 

 

How Much is a Camel Ride at the Pyramids?

You are going to get a lot of different answers about the cost of camels. Our tour guide brought us to his camel guy who then proceeded to escort us to his camels. This is where I could have been better prepared to negotiate pricing, but I was too distracted by the all the camels that the next thing you know, I’m already on top of one. Please learn from my experience and negotiate the camel price BEFORE you get on. It was hard for me to haggle with the camel guy since I was already on it, but I still definitely tried.

So, he presented us with 3 tiers of camel rides. First tier was 600 EGP ($20 USD), second tier was 800 EGP ($26 USD), and the third tier was 1200 EGP ($40 USD). All prices are per camel. I can’t remember what the first two tiers entailed, but the 1200 EGP price included taking you farther out into the desert so you can see all 9 pyramids at once. We decided to take the 1200 EGP package because, “Go Big or Go Home,” right? I tried to negotiate it down to 800 EGP, but that was quickly rejected. So, I countered back with 1,000 EGP ($32 USD) and was firm. I told him I don’t want to do this if he doesn’t agree to the price beforehand. Eventually, he said that if I wasn’t happy with the ride, I can pay him 1,000, but if I was happy, then I should paid him 1,200 EGP.

After the ride, I gave him 1,200 EGP. My thinking was that I’ll give him 1,100 EGP for the ride and 100 EGP for the tip. Of course, he was trying to get more tip from me, but I already told him that I didn’t want to do the ride unless it was 1,000 EGP so it was up to him how he wanted to divide up the 1,200 EGP. He wasn’t that happy with me so tried to get more tip from my friend. My friend ended up giving him an extra 20 EGP or something like that and the camel guy literally just gave it back to him hahaha! I guess 20 EGP wasn’t even worth taking. 

 

How Much Should the Camel Ride Actually Be?

I read on some other blogs that it should be 50 EGP ($3 USD) or something like that but that was from 2020 and I’m assuming before COVD. I don’t believe you’ll get anything close to that in 2023. One of my Uber drivers did tell me that he had a guy that was willing to only charge me $25 USD for a camel ride when most everyone else charges $50 USD. Not sure how true that is, but at least there’s that data point as well. 

I think if we didn’t have a tour guide, we could have negotiated our camel price way better. But since our tour guide took us straight to his camel guy, we didn’t really have a choice but to use his guy. If you don’t have a tour guide, then you’re pretty much free to go up to any camel guy and negotiate your price. There are a million camel guys inside so if one doesn’t fit your price, move on to the next. 

Again, I have nothing else to compare it to but I assume $25-$30 USD is reasonable if you’re getting the WHOLE package (9 pyramids + photographer/guide). I looked online and there are camel rides going for around $46 so our ride wasn’t too far off. As a rule of thumb, people always say to cut their price in half and then start negotiating from there. If you’re not comfortable haggling, then at least just walk away if you don’t hear a number you like and see if they drop their price for you. I personally don’t mind haggling and find it kind of fun after you get the hang of it. 

 

How Long Was Our Camel Ride at the Pyramids?

I would say our whole camel ride was maybe 45-50 minutes long. The actual time that we were on the camel though was probably 25-30 minutes and I don’t think I would have wanted to do any more than that. My legs were starting to hurt and I was tired of feeling like I was going to fall off every couple of minutes. 

 

What Should You Wear On Your Camel Ride?

If you’re a female, I personally would not wear a dress for obvious reasons. Pants will definitely be more comfortable. Overall though, do not wear any fabric that will make you chafe. I wore linen pants which was great all day until I got on the camel. Riding the camel made the linen rub against my legs and it started to really irritate my skin. I couldn’t wait for the camel ride to be over!

 

Was the Camel Ride Worth It?

Even though I feel like I totally got ripped off, I definitely still think it was worth it. My friend and I had an unforgettable experience and took some great+corny photos. If there was any place in the world that I would ride a camel, it would be at the Pyramids. Now, would I ride a camel again? Probably not unless it was required as some sort of transportation. Overall, this was a one time thing for me and I’m happy I did it, but I don’t need to do it again.

 

Corny Photos

I seriously don’t know what era these camel guys are stuck in, but we’ve stopped taking photos like these years ago. But to humor our guy, we decided to take them anyways. I will give him props on the jumping photos. He did a solid job there!