A Guide to Visiting The Great Pyramids of Giza, Egypt
/On everyone’s bucket list - right? I studied Ancient Egypt in primary school and remember being completely obsessed with the subject. Pharaohs, Pyramids, Hieroglyphics, all of it. I was intrigued that artefacts and mummies are constantly being discovered and the Pyramids are still standing after 4,500 years.
Ever since visiting the Giza Pyramids has been at the top of my bucket list. I only knew a handful of people that had been and never thought I’d ever have the chance to go. Especially with the stigma that Egypt is an unsafe country for female travellers. I’m not going to lie, that thought was always in the back of my mind.
Luckily an opportunity arose in August 2019, where I was invited to an Egyptian wedding in Cairo. My answer was HELL YEAH! The wedding was for my boyfriend’s sister - they’re Egyptians hehe. My boyfriend hadn't been back home for a long time, so we decided to plan a full trip.
My top hotel recommendations are the Kempinski Nile in Cairo and the Marriott Mena House in Giza. Both are completely safe and are 5* rated without the five-star price.
The Pyramids are only 20km away from downtown Cairo, however in the crazy traffic, allow yourself at least an hour to get there. The most preconceived idea about the Pyramids is that they’re in the middle of nowhere, when in fact they’re on the outskirts of the insanely busy city of Giza. If you’re travelling from Cairo, you’re the best option is to use an Uber or travel with a certified tour company or tour guide. I was lucky to have my boyfriend and one of his friends, Moataz, with me, to speak Arabic and guide the way. We also met up with a local tour guide (friend of Moataz) who took us around the whole Giza Pyramid Complex.
The main entrance and ticket office are located on Abou Al Hool Al Seiahi street, in front of many hotels and a Pizza Hut with the best view. Not joking. There is also another entrance next to the Great Pyramid which is where the pick up/drop off bus tours operate from.
Please don’t expect any fancy World Heritage entrance or modern visitors centre - it just doesn’t exist at the Pyramids. The ticket office is a single door, concrete building with a few security guards inside. There are no signs outside, apart from seeing the obvious huge triangles in the distance. You can easily walk past the entrance and not even know it was there. My first reaction was, ‘is this it?’ haha.
The Giza Plateau is open daily from 8am to 4pm - stretched out to 5pm in the summer months. Entry ticket prices for adults are 160 LE, around £7. If you want to explore the inside of the Great Pyramid, it’s an extra 300 LE, around £13.
There are also extra costs to enter the other Pyramids and to ride on a horse and cart. As it was the height of the summer when we visited, we were told that the only option was to use the horse and cart. There is a steep hill leading all the way up to the main complex, around 3km, which to walk would have been unbearable in the 40-degree heat. I was thankful for the ride up, however, I am severely allergic to horses… I ended up sneezing a thousand times on the way. Nevertheless, there was something magical about the whole experience.
We were taken to the top of the complex, Panoramic Point, which gave us 360 views of all the Pyramids and the cities in the distance. I really couldn’t believe I was standing amongst the history that I had admired for so many years. We were advised to arrive early to beat the heat and the queues. The early start paid off, as we felt like we were the only ones there for the first few hours.
This is Moataz and my boyfriend Sherif - smiling through gritted teeth after taking hundreds of cheesy tourist photos with me haha. Our horse and cart driver was an enthusiastic local Egyptian guy, who gave us all the angles. I thought the local men offering camel/horse and cart rides and selling gifts were nothing but friendly and welcoming. However, they are known for being quite forceful and interrogating tourists. I think I wasn’t approached as much, as I had two six-foot Egyptians with me. If they do approach you, don’t be afraid to BARGAIN prices with them!
The three most famous and biggest Pyramids are the Pyramid of Menkaure, the Pyramid of Khafre and the Great Pyramid of Khufu. What most people do not know is that there are over 100 others. You can climb inside most of the Pyramids at a cost. Of course, the bigger Pyramids are the most expensive. As it was a scorching hot day, we decided to climb inside one of the smaller piles of rubble - the queens' Pyramids, tombs of Khufu's wives and sisters.
We paid a few pounds to one of the locals at the entrance and headed in. The climb down was pretty much vertical and we lost any kind of air in an instant. To say this was the hottest experience of my life is an understatement. Pretty much an underground, claustrophobic sauna. The Pharaohs made the entrances steep so you’re forced to bend down, as a sign of respect to the tombs. We walked down around 15 metres to the tomb which was a small, stone room. We took a couple of sweatyyyy pictures and came back up. It was a lot, and I wouldn’t say enjoyable. Air conditioning would have been great at this point.
Of course, I had to get THE ‘couple goals’ picture outside The Great Pyramid of Khufu. Standing strong at 139 metres tall and the biggest out of the three. As cheesy as it sounds, this was a pinch-me moment. In the background here you can see what looks like a normal building. In fact, it’s the Khufu Ship - a 144-foot long vessel from the Ancient Egyptian era. The Giza Solar boat museum was reconstructed in 1985 to display the reconstructed ship.
We headed back down towards the entrance of the Sphinx and said goodbye to our horse and cart. In the pictures, the Pyramids look so close together but I can assure you they’re not. I was very grateful for the easy ride around - despite my crazy horse allergies. From here you can see a huge seating area which is for the nightly Sound and Light Show. The Great Pyramids are illuminated with an audio-visual display. History is re-told with ancient secrets and mysterious tales.
One of my favourite pictures of the entire trip. The Great Sphinx of Giza is a giant 4,500-year-old limestone statue, with a lion's body and a human head. It’s most definitely one of the most famous sculptures in the world.
I will always be so grateful for these two, for giving me a memorable and smooth experience here. I certainly couldn’t have done it alone. No matter how well-travelled I was at the time, the whole day felt like a blur. My top tips to have a successful day at the Pyramids are: arrive early, pack a good amount of water and snacks, plan your day in advance and most definitely travel in a group or with a certified tour guide if you’re a solo female traveller. You will get heckled by the locals but they’re harmless. The Pyramid Complex is safe and security monitors the entire area.
I’m also grateful for our tour guide Ahmed who showed us all the hotspots in a relaxed manner, without feeling like we were on a tight schedule. He is one of the most chilled guys I’ve ever met. Here he is, having a smoke perched on the side of a tomb. Legend. He’s well known in Giza, so if you’re interested in coming to the Pyramids, I can pass on his contact to you!
After visiting the Sphinx, we crazily decided to hike up to the Pyramid of Khafre. It’s the second biggest Pyramid out of the three. Khafre looks the biggest, however, this is only because it’s set at a higher elevation. The most distinctive feature of Khafre’s Pyramid is the topmost layer of smooth stones that are the only remaining casing stones on a Giza Pyramid. My cheeky boyfriend thought it would be amusing to see how far he could climb up the outside. It wasn’t too long before security came to shut down the party. I didn’t realise at the time that it’s a highly illegal offence and many people are serving jail time after summiting the Pyramids. Whoops! We luckily had a ‘get out of jail free’ card.
After an exhausting and exhilarating 5 hours, being bruised and burned, however, completely blessed. It’s safe to say, I will treasure this day for the rest of my life.
