Dahshur, Saqqara & Memphis
The pyramids almost nobody is standing in front of
- Departs from
- Cairo
- Group size
- Up to 14 travellers
- Season
- All year. Best October to April; summer departures start earlier to stay ahead of the heat.
Dates & Seats
No dates scheduled yet
This trip runs seasonally and the next dates aren't up yet. Message us and we'll tell you as soon as they are — or run it privately on a date that suits you.
Giza is the one everybody photographs. Saqqara is where the idea started — Djoser's Step Pyramid is the oldest of them, and the thing every later pyramid was an attempt to improve on. Dahshur is where they worked out how: the Bent Pyramid, where the angle changes partway up because the original one wasn't going to hold, and the Red Pyramid beside it, which is what they built once they knew. You can usually walk into the Red Pyramid with nobody else in the passage. Memphis, the capital all of this served, closes the day.
Highlights
- The Bent Pyramid and the Red Pyramid at Dahshur, both usually near-empty
- Djoser's Step Pyramid at Saqqara, the oldest large stone building anywhere
- Going inside a pyramid without a queue for the passage
- Memphis, and the colossal Ramesses II lying in its own hall
How the day runs
Morning — Dahshur
Straight to the quietest site first, while the light is low: the Bent Pyramid, then the Red Pyramid and its interior passage.
Late morning — Saqqara
The Step Pyramid complex and the surrounding necropolis with the guide.
Midday — lunch
A stop before the last site.
Afternoon — Memphis
The open-air museum on the site of the old capital, and back into Cairo.
Walking on sand and uneven stone all day. The pyramid interiors are a stooped descent down a steep, narrow, warm passage — skippable, and worth skipping if stairs or enclosed spaces are a problem.
Questions
Different sites entirely, and far fewer people at them. Giza has the Great Pyramid and the Sphinx; this day has the older pyramids that explain how Giza became possible. Most people who have a few days in Cairo do both.
At the Red Pyramid, yes, and usually without waiting. It is a long stooped walk down a narrow passage and it is warm inside — genuinely not for everyone, and nobody minds if you wait outside.
No, deliberately. Adding Giza would make it a rushed day at four sites. We run Giza as its own private tour.
Pair it with
Giza1 Day Giza Tour: Exploring Ancient Wonders
Pyramids, Sphinx, and a free private photoshoot — all in one day.
Prefer this privately?
We run every Weekly Trip as a private trip too — your own vehicle, your own date.