The Pyramids of Giza are Cairo’s number one half-day trip and a must-do attraction on everyone’s itinerary. Right on the edge of the city, on the Giza Plateau, these fourth dynasty funerary temples have been wowing travelers for centuries and continue to be one of the country’s major highlights. Despite the heat, the dust, and the tourist hustle, you can’t miss a trip here.
The Pyramid of Cheops (also called the Great Pyramid or Pyramid of Khufu) is the largest pyramid of the Giza group, and its interior of narrow passages can be explored, although there isn’t much to see, except a plain tomb chamber with an empty sarcophagus.
Directly behind the Great Pyramid is the Solar Boat Museum, which displays one of the ceremonial solar barques unearthed in the area that has been painstakingly restored to its original glory.
Farther south on the plateau is the Pyramid of Chephren (also known as the Pyramid of Khefre), with an internal tunnel area, which can be entered, and the smaller Pyramid of Mycerinus (Pyramid of Menkaure). Guarding these mortuary temples is the lion-bodied and pharaoh-faced Sphinx; one of the ancient world’s iconic monuments.
The Giza Plateau is set to welcome another attraction when the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) is finally finished. When opened, it will be the biggest museum in the world devoted to exhibiting the antiquities of a single civilization, displaying a wealth of Ancient Egypt’s artifacts that have never been seen by the public before. After a stop-start construction, beset with financial difficulties, the museum opening date has been set for 2020.
