Giza Necropolis — Attraction in Giza

Lack of a star only because of the scamming tour guides.

Read on for the experience , do's and don'ts :

1. Can I do the pyramids on my own without a guide ?

ABSOLUTELY

Go to the visitor center / main gate for your tickets.

Hop onto one of their busses (yellow i think - provided by the Pyramid complex) and get dropped off at one of the pyramids... from there you can walk around to the other pyramids - taking your time to really take in their wonder.

It's a fair bit of walking - granted - but it's not difficult either. There is a tar road connecting the pyramids and you can also walk on the sand (a bit more tedious)

2. Uber to the Pyramids Be very very specific with your Uber driver that you want to go directly to the pyramids.

Our Uber driver took us off the path - unasked - and deposited us in a tour agency. He just picked us up , gave us some bullshit story about no transport provided , no buses and not being able to walk in the pyramid complex. He shut off his engine and made us get down at the tour office in some backlane. Both he and the owner of the tour agency (that doubled as an alchemist) refused to let us leave until we agreed to take one of their exorbitant tours.

3. Horse carriages Some mindblowingly ridiculous prices and the tour agency has the balls to tell you to spend it because it is a "once in a lifetime" experience and that you should be prepared to spend lavishly.

They opened their pricing at USD 125/ person for a "full tour" of the pyramids - a licensed and experienced guide , visit all pyramids (3 main 6 small) , Sphinx , Merh Ankh tomb , panaromic view and prices of all tickets.

What we go after some negotiation - USD 55 / person was the said "full tour" minus entrance tickets - which was a sham. A waste of money.

We got the horse and carriage and that's about it. They sent a "tour guide" with us who navigated the horse but stayed in the carriage to "take care of horse" while we wandered around on our own. So basically , no proper tour guide.

We paid for all our entrance tickets on our own - they took us to a side gate (not the main one) where all these scamming tourist offices are and we bought our tickets from there.

Do not bother making arrangements for horse and carriage outside the complex. They will fleece you. Squeeze you dry.

I am not an advocate of riding animals - horses , camels or even the carriage (it is the lesser of the evils in my opinion) --- but if you really want to - you can get them inside the complex. And it is way cheaper. EGP500 an hour.

Bear in mind that the carriages bump and jostle a lot on the uneven sand and we almost flew out of our seats a couple of times. Not recommended for people with back or knee or shoulder problems

So walk around to the pyramids and just before you head up to the panaromic view point - hire yourself a horse or camel or carriage.

4. What tickets should I get ? Buy tickets on the spot

The main entry and the rest are to go into the pyramids.

We wanted to see the Merh Ankh tomb - the only one that had carvings in it's chamber.

We also went inside the smallest pyramid --- this had way less people and was less claustrophobic.

But get tickets based on what you really want to experience.

5. Tips Do not tip more than 100 EGP. These guys put up signs of "no photographs" but they pretend to do you a favour and quickly "help" you take photos and expect a big tip. Everyone wants a tip from "the goodness of your heart". The so-called securiy guards at the entrances of the sites , the cleaners , the random people there who point out one or two directions.

Our "guide" expected a tip from the "goodness of our heart" for no guide work and a handful of photo clicks. Regardless of the fact his boss just fleeced us of USD 110 in total. He demanded more than the usd10 we tipped him. We refused.

6. Time It took us 4 hours at our own pace. Start early between 7am to 9am

All in all , we would still rate it as a good experience though we felt we got fleeced despite our determination not to.

So...

Loved it! Egypt was a bucket list trip, and I suggest, going with a tour, as the street merchants are very aggressive! Beware of pick pockets, vendors grabbing money right out of your bag or hand, be very aggressive back! Haggle with them for a good price, because they start very high, look at Google to see what your money is worth compared to the Egyptian pound, theirs is not much, even 1 euro is 53.37 E. Pounds, that's alot! Keep saying no, to see how low they will actually go.

Another thing to be aware of; do not let the merchants lead you away from the crowds, and most importantly, the police, who are situated around the pyramids. There have been cases of single female travelers going on a camel ride, and being led behind the pyramids, away from the crowds, and then extorted for more money than was agreed upon, before they will let you off the camel. If you have never seen a camel close up, they are much taller than a horse, and you cannot get on or off without assistance. If you tried to jump, you would most certainly be injured. This happened to a lady on our tour; our tour guide told us all not to pay more than 3 American or Euro dollars for a ride, this lady had agreed to 5 Euros, and was then extorted for 50 Euros! This equates to; $3 Euros is equal to $159 Egyptian pounds, she was forced to pay $50 Euros, which was $2,652.00 Egyptian pounds! If you want that in more context, the average wage an Egyptian earns in one month, is $81 Euros! That equals $4,721.00 Egyptian pounds!

These people are not poor merchants, they are trying to steal your money at every turn! They surround you and cause a distraction, to confuse you, and you need to be vigilant. Do not use large bills, have lots of small bills for these transactions. Most of the vendors will not accept change either, but if that's all you have, they won't have a choice. Have the money ready to pay, so you don't have to dig for it, that's another distraction that they can use to their advantage. And above all, don't accept the first price they give you, they will usually go down to half of what they first quote. Just remember the worth of their dollar to ours, 1 Euros or US Dollar is 53 Egyptian pounds. 1 Canadian dollar is lower, it's 35 Egyptian pounds. Make yourself a chart, if you don't have an internet connection on your phone. Make a chart, then take a picture of it, then you can access that in your travels. Also be aware of "kind strangers," you don't get anything in this country for free, they will all be offering to take you and your travel partners pictures in front of the pyramids, then they will ask for money for the service, if you don't want to pay for these offerings of "kindness" from strangers, don't talk to these people at all, just ignore them, don't engage them, and stay close to each other, and the police. In our case, we were on a bus tour from our cruise ship, we had an armed guard with us, he had to come and rescue us from these people, as they were starting to surround us on the hill in front of the great pyramid. We had a disadvantage of not being on stable ground, it was a slippery, sandy, rocky slope, away from the crowds, and we were digging for our money, with these guys closing in on us, our guard saw us, stepped in, and got between us and those vultures, and told us to zip up our bags, please relax, go slowly, don't panic, (as we were) are you OK with the price agreed upon, he asked, we said yes, paid them, and he escorted us from the slope, back on to stable ground, and back to the safety of the bus.

The Pyramids can be a great experience, just don't let the merchants milling about, ruin it for you. Just take a page from our book, and please go with a tour guide, they will warn you of these dangers. Make sure the tour company is also reputable as well. Do your Google...

EGYPT! My favorite country in the world! The Great Pyramids of Giza are majestic and calming to the soul. Visiting Egypt is a magical experience, whether you are spiritual or not, I'd advise any and all to go. It's life changing, that's for sure. The pyramids are located in the desert, but with modernization, the cities seem to have been built very close by, but approximation makes the city life appear closer, but in reality, it's not. Especially not with Cairo's traffic! I've been to Egypt a few times and always take pictures of the pyramids. Oddly enough, even the locals say they haven't visited the pyramids not once, but those of us who are not from Egypt flock there by the masses. Having said that, I didn't think it felt overcrowded at all! We visited in May and the weather was warm, but I didn't think it was unbearable. And we went with a tour company, but you definitely don't need to, you can go on your own. The tour company is likely to provide you with history and facts that you may not have known on your own. And you can sit on the steps of the pyramids, they are cool to the touch (even though the sun is out) being made of limestone. I didn't do the camel ride, because I had rode a camel a few times before in other countries, and wasn't phased if I repeated the experience or not. But, I do think that riding a camel around the iconic pyramids would be a fun, memorable experience! There's lots of parking, but I'm not entirely sure if private cars or rental cars are allowed, but it's a tourism site, so I'd like to believe it may be ok to go with your own car, if you had one. Last time I visited the pyramids (2023) Egypt was developing the roads in that area. Yes, there are roads there, but they were working on paving limestone roads, to have a more cohesive look and feel. Do remember that all non-Egyptians pay a higher price for entrance fees to most tourist sites, if not all. The local economy is not strong, in terms of living wages, and the value of the Egyptian Pound is fairly weak against the dollar. Another thing I'll add, from my own experience, I didn't think that the vendors selling souvenirs on the grounds of the pyramids to be pushy or aggressive or annoying, as vendors are typically described in Egypt. Selling is their livelihood and frankly, I did buy a souvenir set of Cleopatra, the pyramids, the Sphinx (with a smaller pyramid), Anubis, and a Pharaoh all for around 800 Pounds, which when I checked the conversion rate it was a great deal. Buying it from the vendor at the pyramids saved me time and likely money, and the set was made of a nice stone material and it has decent weight, plus I got a great Egyptian style reusable bag. I look at the set everyday. Talk about a win! And with the Grand Egyptian Museum being so close by, I'd do both in a day, with the museum being first. When you enter the museum (past the turnstile up the stairs) be sure to go behind the screen looking object to get pictures of the pyramids! The window frames the pyramids and it makes it look like art! As you can see, I can go on and on about Egypt, but one last bit of advice, take the time to soak in the culture, speak with the locals, and have Egyptian food. Being in Egypt and visiting the Great Pyramids of Giza was a...