Luxury Egypt3 Day Cairo Tour: Pyramids, Museums and Old Cairo
This 3 day Cairo tour from Sun Pyramids Tours costs $441 per person and packs the Giza pyramids, Saqqara, Memphis, Dahshur, two museums, the Citadel and Islamic and Coptic Cairo into three private days. It is a day-tour package, so accommodation is not included and you base yourself in a Cairo hotel you book yourself. Entrance fees to the listed sites, three lunches, hotel pickup and a private air-conditioned vehicle are in the price, while the inside of the pyramids, tips and drinks at meals are not. This page sets out what the price buys, what it leaves out, and how it sits among the other luxury Egypt tours compared on this site. Compare it with the other luxury Egypt tours.
About This Tour
Sun Pyramids Tours runs this as a private 3-day circuit of Cairo and Giza with a private vehicle, a private tour guide and a fixed daily plan. Day 1 is the pyramids at Giza, the Sphinx, the Step Pyramid of Zoser at Saqqara, Memphis and Dahshur. Day 2 is the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization, Saladin Citadel and the Egyptian Museum. Day 3 is Coptic Cairo, the Ibn Tulun and Sultan Hassan mosques, Al-Muizz street and Khan el-Khalili.
The listing carries a 5.0 rating from 8 GetYourGuide reviews, a very small sample, so read it as encouraging rather than proof. Free cancellation applies up to 24 hours before departure, and you can reserve now and pay later.
$441 per person, Cairo only. Pickup from Cairo airport, Sphinx airport, the New Administrative Capital, New Cairo, Heliopolis, Badr City, Shorouk, Rehab, Obour, Sheraton Almatar, Sheikh Zayed City or Madinty City costs extra.
3 days. No overnight travel, the tour returns to your hotel in Cairo or Giza each day.
Hotel pickup in Cairo or Giza is included. The exact pickup time is shown when you check availability.
Private group available. A private tour guide is included, and the listing does not state Egyptologist status.
Not included. There is no Nile cruise, this is a Cairo-only itinerary and accommodation is listed as an exclusion.
Tips, the interior of the pyramids, beverages and water during meals, any hotel nights, and airport or outer-district pickups. Free cancellation up to 24 hours before departure.
Check Dates and Availability
Starting times are confirmed when you check availability, and pickup is from your hotel in Cairo or Giza. Reserve now and pay later, with free cancellation up to 24 hours before departure.
Quick answer 3 day Cairo tour in brief
This 3 day Cairo tour costs $441 per person, runs privately over 3 days with entrance fees and 3 lunches included, and holds a 5.0 rating from 8 reviews. Hotels, pyramid interiors, tips and drinks at meals are excluded. Airport pickups add a charge.
Key takeaways
- Compare it with the 8-Day Cairo Aswan Luxor Private Tour if you want Cairo and a Nile cruise in one booking.
- See the full detail of the plateau in the pyramids of Giza tour guide before deciding how much time to give it.
- Check the luxury Egypt tours to see this listing against 14 others.
What the Price Actually Covers
The $441 is a base price for a Cairo-based day-tour package. It covers the guiding, the vehicle and the site entries listed, and everything else from hotel rooms to water at lunch is on you.
Included in the $441
The listing includes all transfers by a private air-conditioned vehicle, hotel pickup in Cairo, bottled water on board, three lunches at local restaurants, entrance fees to the mentioned sites, a shopping tour in Cairo and a private tour guide. That entrance-fee line is worth more than it looks, since foreign adult tickets at the listed sites include the Egyptian Museum at EGP 550 and the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization at EGP 500 on the ministry price list.
Not Included, and What You May Pay on the Day
The exclusions are explicit: tips, accommodation, entry to the interior of the pyramids, and beverages and water during meals. If you want to go inside the Great Pyramid, the ministry price list shows EGP 1,000 for foreign adults, though one guide puts it at EGP 900. The Giza plateau ticket itself is EGP 700 on the ministry list against EGP 540 in one 2025 museum price article, but plateau entry is part of the entrance fees the listing includes.
Your Egypt visa is also separate: the FCDO lists the on-arrival visa at US$30 cash, but the fee rose to US$45 for on-arrival and e-visa travellers in December.
| Line | In the price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Private vehicle and guide | Yes | Air-conditioned vehicle, private tour guide, languages include English, Arabic, French, German and Japanese |
| Hotel pickup in Cairo | Yes | Cairo airport, Sphinx airport and 10 other districts cost extra |
| Entrance fees | Yes, for listed sites | Interior of the pyramids excluded, Great Pyramid interior about EGP 1,000 on the ministry list |
| Lunch | 3 lunches | At local restaurants, drinks and water at meals not included |
| Accommodation | No | You book your own Cairo hotel for all nights |
| Tips and drinks | No | Tipping is expected in Egypt, carry small notes |
Where This Sits Against the Big Packages
At $441 this is the cheapest private listing on the site, but it buys three days in Cairo only. The 8-Day Cairo Aswan Luxor Private Tour at $1,800 adds a 5-star deluxe hotel, a 3-night full-board cruise and both domestic flights. If you would rather add the river separately, the 5-Day Dahabiya Nile Cruise from Luxor to Aswan at $1,750 runs full board with entrance fees, and pairs naturally with a Cairo stay like this one.
Sources: UK FCDO travel advice: Egypt, Wikipedia: Egypt
The six-tiered Step Pyramid of Djoser at Saqqara. Photo: Wknight94 talk, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
What the Day Is Really Like
The listing gives three fixed day plans with no clock times, so pickup times are confirmed when you check availability. Each day ends with a drop-off at your hotel or selected location in Cairo or Giza.
Day 1, Giza, Saqqara, Memphis and Dahshur
The guide picks you up from your hotel and drives to the Pyramids of Cheops, Chephren and Mykerinus, then the Great Sphinx. The tour moves on to the Step Pyramid of Zoser, which the listing calls the world's oldest major stone structure, then stops for lunch at a local restaurant. The afternoon covers Memphis, founded by King Menes and capital of Egypt in the Old Kingdom, with the Statue of Ramses II and the alabaster Sphinx, and finishes at the Dahshur pyramids, where the Bent Pyramid is the best known.
Saqqara lies about 30 to 40 km south of Cairo depending on the source.
Day 2, the Museums and the Citadel
The day starts at the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in Old Cairo, which the listing says shows 50,000 artefacts. Next is Saladin Citadel, built in 1183, with city and desert views over Cairo, then lunch at a local restaurant. The afternoon is the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square, which holds over 170,000 items from the Pharaonic period.
You are dropped off at your chosen location or hotel in Cairo or Giza.
Day 3, Islamic and Coptic Cairo
The morning is Coptic Cairo: the Hanging Church, Ben Ezra Synagogue, Church of St Barbara and Church of Abu Serga. The tour then moves to the mosque of Ahmed Ibn Tulun and the Mosque and Madrasa of Sultan Hassan, an early Mamluk example. On foot the route runs Bab Zuwayla, the Street of the Muezzin, Al Khayammeyah, the Mosque-Mausoleum of Sultan al-Mu'ayyad Shaykh, the Sabil-Kuttab of Tusun Pasha and the Mosque of Al-Azhar, then from the twin-towered Bab el-Fotouh gate to Khan el-Khalili bazaar, where bargaining is expected.
Lunch at a local restaurant comes before the madrasa and mausoleum of Sultan al-Mansur Qalawun, the Madrasa-Khanqah of Sultan Barquq, the textile museum, the mosque of Al-Aqmar and an old Cairo house, then the transfer back to your hotel.
3 Days in Cairo: the Pyramids of Giza and More
Three days in Cairo covering the pyramids of Giza and the main sights of the city. Third-party video by Travel2Places. This site did not shoot it and has no relationship with the creator.
Who This Tour Rules Out
This listing suits travellers already based in Cairo who want three private days of sightseeing without touching a cruise or an overnight train. Several common needs push you to a different product.
Anyone Who Needs a Hotel Included
Accommodation is a stated exclusion, so this is not a turnkey package. If you want hotels, transfers between cities and the river in one price, the 8-Day Cairo Aswan Luxor Private Tour at $1,800 includes a 5-star deluxe hotel, a 3-night cruise and two domestic flights.
Anyone Who Wants to Enter the Pyramids
Entry to the interior of the pyramids is not covered, so the tour views Cheops, Chephren and Mykerinus from outside unless you buy interior tickets yourself. Travellers who want the plateau covered in depth, including what interior entry involves, should read the pyramids of Giza tour guide or consider a listing built around it.
Anyone Staying Outside Central Cairo
Hotel pickup covers Cairo and Giza, but pickups from Cairo airport, Sphinx airport, the New Administrative Capital, New Cairo, Heliopolis, Badr City, Shorouk, Rehab, Obour, Sheraton Almatar, Sheikh Zayed City and Madinty City all cost extra. The amounts are not stated, so ask before booking if you are staying in any of them.
Anyone Who Needs Abu Simbel, Luxor or Aswan
This is a Cairo-only itinerary with no domestic flights and no cruise. The 4-Day Nile Cruise with Abu Simbel at $690 covers Abu Simbel from Luxor, and the Nile river cruise guide explains how the cruise legs work.
Shoppers and stallholders in a narrow lane of the Khan el-Khalili bazaar. Photo: RThiele, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Getting There and What to Add
You handle your own arrival and hotel, since accommodation and flights are not in the price. Here is how to reach Cairo and what to bolt on around the three tour days.
Getting to Cairo
Cairo airport and Sphinx airport both appear in the listing's list of paid pickups. Note that an airport pickup on this tour costs extra, so budget for that transfer or take your own taxi. If you plan to continue south afterwards, sleeper trains depart Giza at 20:00 and 20:30, taking about 9 hours to Luxor and 12 to Aswan, though Rome2Rio lists longer durations of 10h45m and 14h15m.
Rome2Rio gives the Cairo to Luxor road distance as 637.2 km and Cairo to Aswan as 848.4 km, both far too far to drive casually, and a Cairo to Luxor flight takes about 3h13m door to door.
What to Add Before or After
The Grand Egyptian Museum stands about 2 km from the Giza pyramid complex and is not on this itinerary. Its ticket price for foreign adults is reported at EGP 1,450 in one 2026 visitor guide and EGP 1,000 in a 2024 trial-period review, so confirm the current figure before you go. The Grand Egyptian Museum guide covers the galleries in detail.
The tour also skips Alexandria, about 220 km from Cairo with trains in around 3h50m, and the Red Sea resorts. April can bring khamsin sandstorms, and Cairo average monthly highs reach 35.1 degrees in summer, so the best window for Cairo, Giza and Saqqara is October to March.
- The Grand Egyptian Museum, about 2 km from the Giza plateau, is the obvious addition.
- Alexandria works as a long day trip or an overnight, about 220 km away by train.
- Continue to Luxor or Aswan by sleeper train or flight if you add a cruise afterwards.
Three Days, Stop by Stop
The listing fixes the order of stops but gives no clock times, so each day is described by phase. Pickup and drop-off times appear when you check availability.
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Day 1, Start
Hotel pickup and the Giza pyramids
Your guide collects you from your hotel and drives to the Pyramids of Cheops, Chephren and Mykerinus and the Great Sphinx.
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Day 1, Midday
Saqqara, lunch and Memphis
Visit the Step Pyramid of Zoser, stop for lunch at a local restaurant, then see the Statue of Ramses II and the alabaster Sphinx at Memphis.
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Day 1, Afternoon
Dahshur and return
Finish at the Dahshur pyramids, home of the Bent Pyramid, then drive back to your hotel in Cairo or Giza.
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Day 2, Start
National Museum of Egyptian Civilization
Pickup from your hotel, then the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in Old Cairo with its 50,000 artefacts.
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Day 2, Midday and afternoon
Citadel, lunch and the Egyptian Museum
Saladin Citadel, built in 1183, with views over the city, lunch at a local restaurant, then the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square. Drop-off at your hotel or chosen location.
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Day 3, Morning
Coptic Cairo and the mosques
The Hanging Church, Ben Ezra Synagogue, Church of St Barbara and Church of Abu Serga, then the mosque of Ahmed Ibn Tulun and the Mosque and Madrasa of Sultan Hassan.
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Day 3, Midday to end
Khan el-Khalili and Islamic Cairo
Walk Bab Zuwayla to Bab el-Fotouh and Khan el-Khalili, lunch at a local restaurant, then the Qalawun and Barquq complexes, the textile museum, Al-Aqmar mosque and an old Cairo house before the transfer back to your hotel.
What Works and What Does Not
The honest picture of this listing, including the points the operator leaves out of the headline.
What we genuinely like
- Private vehicle and private guide for a flat $441 per person across three full days, the lowest private price on the site.
- Entrance fees to all listed sites and three lunches are included.
- Seven guide languages are offered, including English, Arabic, French, German and Japanese.
- Free cancellation up to 24 hours before departure, and reserve now, pay later.
- Wheelchair accessible according to the listing.
The honest downsides
- No accommodation at all, so the real cost is $441 plus the hotel nights you arrange yourself.
- The interior of the pyramids is excluded, and a Great Pyramid interior ticket runs about EGP 1,000 on the ministry list.
- Pickups from the two airports and 10 other districts all cost extra, with the amounts not stated.
- The 5.0 rating rests on only 8 reviews, a very small sample.
- No Abu Simbel, no Nile cruise, no domestic flights and the Grand Egyptian Museum is not on the itinerary.
- Tips and drinks during meals are excluded, and tipping is an expected custom in Egypt.
Who it's NOT for: Not for travellers who want hotels, a Nile cruise, pyramid interiors or Abu Simbel in one booking.
Questions About This Tour
Is 3 days in Cairo enough for this itinerary?
Three days cover the pyramids, Saqqara, Memphis, Dahshur, two major museums, the Citadel and both Coptic and Islamic Cairo, which is a full but workable schedule. If you also want the Grand Egyptian Museum, read the Grand Egyptian Museum guide and consider adding a fourth day.
Does the price include hotels and the inside of the pyramids?
No, accommodation and entry to the interior of the pyramids are both listed as exclusions, so you book your own hotel and buy interior tickets separately. For how the plateau visits work in depth, see the pyramids of Giza tour guide.
What exactly does the $441 cover?
It covers private transfers by air-conditioned vehicle, hotel pickup in Cairo, bottled water on board, three lunches at local restaurants, entrance fees to the listed sites, a shopping tour and a private guide. Compare what other listings include on the homepage comparison of luxury Egypt tours.
How does this compare with an 8-day tour that has a cruise?
The 8-Day Cairo Aswan Luxor Private Tour at $1,800 adds a 5-star deluxe hotel, a 3-night full-board Nile cruise and both domestic flights, so it suits anyone who wants the river in the same trip rather than a Cairo-only stay.
Can I add a Nile cruise after this tour?
Yes, and the natural pairing is the 5-Day Dahabiya Nile Cruise from Luxor to Aswan at $1,750, which runs full board with an Egyptologist guide and entrance fees. You would travel to Luxor yourself, by flight in about 3h13m door to door or on the sleeper train departing Giza at 20:00 or 20:30.
Where does pickup happen and what does it cost?
Pickup from your hotel in Cairo or Giza is included, and the time is shown when you check availability. Pickups from Cairo airport, Sphinx airport and districts including Heliopolis, New Cairo and Sheikh Zayed City cost extra, with the amounts not stated in the listing.
What should I budget beyond the tour price?
Add your visa, listed at US$30 on arrival by the FCDO but raised to US$45 for on-arrival and e-visa travellers in December, tips, drinks at meals, your hotel, and any pyramid interior tickets at about EGP 1,000 on the ministry list. See the visa, money and safety section of the homepage for the wider figures.
Prices, availability and terms are set by the operator and confirmed at checkout.
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