Visiting the pyramids in Cairo

Travel to Egypt

I decided to go for a short trip to Egypt to see the pyramids and enjoy some sunny days at a nice hotel. It takes four hours from Zürich to fly to Cairo and although it was a bit of delay on both ways it went smooth. For me as a Swede I need a visa to go there, either you could apply online before traveling (allow a week to process) I tried but the visa portal did not allow me to put all my names in so I gave up after several tries and brought 25 USD (AUG, -25) to pay it upfront. You could purchase your visa sticker to put in the passport just before immigration and it went hazle free. Then out from the airport to find an Uber. That was not difficult except that the majority of the drivers want you to pay in cash and want some tip even before starting the ride. So either to agree or get a new driver. An hour and a half after landing we arrived to our hotel just next to the Giza pyramids. First time in Egypt for me and country 86 on my list but who counts?

Visit the pyramids of Giza

The highlight of the trip was to visit the pyramids of Giza. Since we lived at a hotel next to them they brought us over by golf cart but you needed a ticket to go inside. We got a general admission one and one to enter the Cheops pyramid. The biggest one. Although summer and low season due to the heath (35 degrees this day) it was not very hot outside. It was just perfect. A little wind and all good. We started to enter the big pyramid. It is closed for an hour around noon so better go in early. This was absolute a highlight but be prepared that it is very hot inside, sauna like, and also you need to be a bit flexible and not to tall to climb around inside. Entering inside is not suitable for everyone. Claustrophobic persons absolutely not. elderly or children no.

Outside the pyramids busses that was running very frequent took you around the area but you can also walk. It is quite huge and we spent 3 hours inside which was a fair amount of time to take pictures but did not walked around all the area. Inside they had a very nice restaurant I would recommend, Khufu’s. We didn’t tried more than with our eyes since we just had breakfast but I would have loved to had a nice brunch there. Food looked amazing and I regret I was not buying any of the nice pottery they sold.

It wasn’t too many people around this time of the year. Just perfect. If you wished you could do camel and horse rides inside but when you see status of the animals you might reconsider if you had it on your mind. We took the bus to the Sfinx and watched the beauty. Done and dusted and back to the hotel for a swim in the pool.

Cairo city

Cairo city is huge and widespread so count on some time for transport. We went to the big and famous market Kahn El Kahlili and it was huge. Selling everything. Sundays many shops are closed but still massive. Didn’t bought anything except some vanilla scent oil. I was looking for some handcrafted items to bring home and also a magnet to my collection but nothing of interest. Nice to see and wander around though. Cairo is very cheap and if you wish to go to malls you probably also find great deals and they are open until midnight.

Egypt is a muslim country so be prepared with suitable clothing and also you will most likely not find the best alcoholic drinks you had in your life there without research. The city is fascinating though with its chaos, dust and no silence. Take it for what it is and travel with an open mind. Everything takes time, enjoy and you will have a great time.

Hotels

There are of course a lot of hotel options to choose between. For international hotels there are many located in the center near the Nile which looks great. Then you have the Nile just outside and have to take a trip to Giza and the pyramids. We stayed a doorstep away from the pyramids which I found was great. It was magic to wake up, go out on the balcony and see the 4500 year old pyramids. The hotel was good but not great. Pool was awesome and gym as well. Rooms were very small.

The hotel we stayed at had three restaurants. One Italian, one Indian and one with international cousine. We tried the Indian and international ones. Portions were huge but food tasted very well. In the evening it was live music and it was actually the only options nearby and believe it or not open 24 hours a day.

For next time

I would not have minded another day. If I ever come back which I hope I would also like to visit the Egyptian museum, eat at the Nile, take a cruise along it and also visit more the city center square. I liked the place and hope to get back and also to see Sharm El Sheik. And of course, run a marathon. This trip seeing the pyramids was the main goal. Everything else was bonus. Have you been to Egypt or would like to go?