Pyramids Visitor Centre — Attraction in Giza

I had heard horror stories about the experience at the pyramids about having to rent camels or horse drawn carts to get around and constantly getting hassled from 'helpers'. I can honestly say the experience I had was one of the best anywhere. The new entrance looks amazing and houses tickets booths and ticket machines. Buying tickets is so easy. The biggest surprise came inside where we found they had hop-on hop-off coaches going around the 6 drop off points on the site. Worked incredibly well and wa so easy to get around to the panorama view, pyramids and Sphinx. Camel rides and horse & cart rides were avaialble if you wanted them but not forced in you. There were the souvenir stalls around but no hassle. We took the option of going inside the Pyramid of Khufu to the burial chamber. An amazing experience which I would recommend but it is a physical climb and it is so hot an humid it is almost unbearable but the experience of being inside one of the Seven Wonders of the World is...

The new arrangements at the pyramids are a welcome change. The centre is fully air conditioned with lots of great information about the site. There are very clean toilets in the centre.

Air conditioned buses take you from site to site around the complex. At each stop, there are shops and a cafe to get a drink.

There are vendors at each pyramid who try to sell you souvenirs or rides but these are normally overseen by local police to avoid harassment of tourists (saw it in action)..

Inside the pyramids, there are still one or two that will ask for bakshish for taking a photo. Just be assertive and say no thank you.

Tips

If you are using Uber to get back to your accommodation, catch it from The Great Gate to avoid harassment/haggling at the lower gate near the Sphinx. There is a bus stop in the car park behind the shops

The governed rate for all rides is 500 LE per hour. Unfortunately this is only sign posted at the lower end...

Experience: Looks Good... But Reality Hits Hard! 🚍⚡️🇪🇬

We all expected big improvements at the Giza Pyramids area after the new system by Orascom… Electric buses, cleaner air, better experience… well, here’s what really happened yesterday:

⚡️ Only 15 electric buses available… that's it!

🚌 They added gasoline tourism buses to cover the shortage — so much for eco-friendly talk!

😰 Overcrowded like Metro Sadat at 5 PM.

🤢 Bad smells, 🔥 weak AC, people sweating and tired.

⏳ Waited in line 45 minutes just to get on a bus.

✅ The new gate? Beautiful! But that’s the only thing that felt organized.

Honestly… 💸 It felt 100% commercial — not about Egypt’s image, not about tourists’ comfort, just business. 😞 The place lost its charm for me on Day 1. Can it get better? Maybe… Will it?...