Giza Pyramids & Sakkara Private Tour from Cairo

4.94

(52 reviews)

What’s the experience like?

First thing I noticed was the way the air changed as we got closer to the Giza Pyramids — a little drier, almost dusty-sweet, and then suddenly there they were, just rising out of the morning haze. Our guide, Ahmed, had this easy way of weaving stories; he pointed at Cheops and said something about how each stone could fit a small car. I tried to picture that while brushing sand off my shoes (should’ve worn different ones). There’s this quiet hum from all the camels nearby — not loud, but you feel it in your chest. We stood right in front of the Sphinx for a while. I thought it’d be bigger? But up close, its face is so worn and still kind of mysterious.

Driving out to Saqqara felt like slipping back in time — you leave Cairo’s noise behind and suddenly it’s just palm trees and flat land stretching forever. The Step Pyramid is older than Giza’s, which Ahmed kept reminding us (he’s proud of that). He showed us some carvings inside one of the tombs — honestly, I couldn’t read any of it but he translated bits about bread offerings and afterlife wishes. It smelled faintly musty inside, like old paper or maybe dried herbs? At one point I tripped on a stone step and Ahmed laughed with me instead of at me. That helped.

Memphis was our last stop. It’s quieter than I expected for an ancient capital — just a few locals selling postcards under acacia trees and kids playing nearby. The statue of Ramses II is massive; you have to crane your neck to see his face properly. There’s an alabaster sphinx too, smaller but somehow more approachable than the big one at Giza. By then my phone battery was nearly dead so I just sat for a bit listening to birds and thinking about how old everything here is compared to anything back home. Still can’t quite wrap my head around it.