White Desert Over Day Trip

Pickup and drop-off at your hotel or Nile cruise ship, a private air-conditioned vehicle, an English-speaking guide (an Egyptologist at the historical sites) and the entrance tickets named on the tour page. Lunch and bottled water are listed per tour. Fly-in trips, such as Hurghada to Cairo, include the return flights.

Two full days cover the essentials: one for the Pyramids of Giza, the Sphinx and the Grand Egyptian Museum, and one for Old Cairo with the Citadel, the Coptic churches and Khan el-Khalili. A third day fits the pyramids of Saqqara and Dahshur, the countryside or a day trip to Alexandria.

The day tours on this page cost per person. Evening shows, a food walk and half-day museum visits are at the low end; full days with lunch sit in the middle; the most expensive are the long trips that include a domestic flight, such as Sharm El Sheikh to Luxor or Hurghada to Cairo.

Yes. The Cairo Layover Tour does both in about 8.5 hours with lunch, from $135 per person. If you prefer a slower pace, book the Grand Egyptian Museum half day, about four hours from $70, and a separate Giza half day from $70, on the same day or on two mornings.

The sightseeing tours are private: a vehicle and a guide for your group only, so the start time and the pace are yours. Boat trips such as the Ras Mohamed snorkelling day and the evening shows follow the format described on their own page, with an English-speaking guide or escort included.

Between three and nine and a half hours. The sound and light show at Giza and the dinner cruise take about three hours; the museum, Giza and Old Cairo tours four to six hours; the full days at Saqqara, Dahshur and Giza or in the countryside eight to nine and a half hours. Prices run per person.

Yes. In Luxor and Aswan the tours collect you from your hotel or from the cruise ship at the dock, including the Luxor West Bank and East Bank tours, the sunrise balloon flight and the Nubian village trip. In Alexandria the archaeological tour can start at the port.

Only on the full-day tours that list it: Saqqara, Dahshur and Giza, Giza and Saqqara, Old Cairo with the Ben Ezra Synagogue, the countryside day and the Layover Tour. Half-day tours do not include a meal. The dinner cruise and the pyramids show with dinner include dinner instead.

In Cairo the Layover Tour, about 8.5 hours from $135, covers the Pyramids, the Sphinx and the Grand Egyptian Museum with lunch and a return to the airport. Half-day options take about four hours: the Grand Egyptian Museum from $70, a Giza-only trip from $70 or the Alexandria seafront half day from $75.

All 16 tours are marked family friendly. Because the car and the guide are private, you set the start time and can shorten a visit when the children are tired. For young children the half-day Giza trip, the Grand Egyptian Museum and the evening sound and light show are the easiest choices.

From about three hours for an evening show or the Nile dinner cruise to a full day of eight to ten hours for the pyramids, Luxor or Alexandria. The longest are the trips that cross the country, such as Hurghada to Luxor by car at about 15 hours or Sharm El Sheikh to Luxor by plane at about 17 hours.

You can enter on your own, but every Cairo day tour here comes with a private Egyptologist who explains the site, handles the tickets and keeps the visit on time. The Giza-only trip takes about four hours from $70 per person; the full day with Saqqara and Dahshur, about nine hours from $85 with lunch.