Sharm: Private Giza, Sakkara, Memphis & Khan el-Khalili
The whole of ancient Cairo in one private day from Sharm: Giza's Pyramids and Sphinx, the step pyramids of Sakkara, old Memphis, and the spice-scented lanes of Khan El Khalili.
Overview
You didn't come all this way to admire the Pyramids from a postcard. Before dawn, a private car slips out of Sharm and turns west across Sinai — while the coast still sleeps, you're already on the road to Cairo, and to the oldest wonder still standing on Earth.
By mid-morning you reach Sakkara, walking the necropolis where Egypt first learned to build in stone, the Step Pyramid of Zoser rising in tiers against the desert. Then the Giza Plateau opens up and the scale rewrites everything: Khufu's Great Pyramid overhead, Khafre and Menkaure beside it, the Sphinx watching the horizon as it has for four and a half thousand years — your Egyptologist filling the silence between the stones with the stories that raised them.
This is deep time you can put your hand on. The men who built these tombs meant them to last forever, and standing here, dwarfed, you understand they were right. At Memphis, once the capital of a whole civilisation, the fallen colossus of Ramses II shows how even empires settle back into sand. Few places make one human life feel so small and so lucky at once.
By late afternoon you're threading the lantern-lit lanes of Khan El Khalili, breathing cardamom and copper-dust, bartering for a keepsake in a bazaar still trading six centuries on. The road home is long and you'll sleep most of it — but you cross back into Sharm changed: one of the few who didn't just see the Pyramids, but stood in their shadow.
Highlights
- Stand beneath the Great Pyramid of Khufu — the last of the Seven Wonders still standing
- Meet the Sphinx face to face on the Giza Plateau with your private Egyptologist
- Walk Sakkara's Step Pyramid, where Egypt first built in stone
- See the fallen colossus of Ramses II at Memphis, Egypt's ancient capital
- Barter for spices and souvenirs in the historic Khan El Khalili bazaar
- Travel private, door to door from Sharm — your own guide, car and pace all day
Included
- Private hotel pick-up & drop-off in Sharm El Sheikh
- Private air-conditioned vehicle for the full day
- Private Egyptologist guide
- Entrance fees to Giza Plateau, Sakkara & Memphis
- Giza Plateau fast-track entry
- Lunch at a local Egyptian restaurant
- Bottled water on board
- Khan El Khalili guided walk
- Guide available in English, Italian, German & Russian
Not included
- Cairo entry visa (available as an add-on)
- Great Pyramid interior entrance (optional add-on)
- Camel ride & Nile boat ride (optional add-ons)
- Drinks beyond the bottled water provided
- Personal expenses & souvenirs
- Tips and gratuities (optional)
Good to know
- Child price: ages 3-11 · Infants under 2
- This is a full-day journey with a very early start. Pick-up from your Sharm El Sheikh hotel is around 1:00–2:00 AM, as Cairo is roughly a 5–6 hour drive each way, and you return late the same night. Bring a pillow and rest on the road — the day at the sites is long but unhurried.
- Cairo entry visa: guests must hold a valid Egypt/Cairo entry visa. You can add the visa at checkout if you don't already have one.
- What to bring: passport or ID, comfortable walking shoes, sun protection, a camera, and a light layer for the early-morning drive.