On a recent trip, I had 8 hours from the time I landed in Cairo to when my next flight was scheduled to leave. Luckily, I arrived in the morning and left in the afternoon, so, not being one to sit around an airport for 8 hours, I visited the Pyramids of Giza. Getting out of the airport was as easy as $15 on my US passport, and within 30 minutes of landing, I was ready for my trek across Cairo.
On the request of a friend who knows such things, I decided to hire a tour guide for the “layover tour” since I had heard that hagglers and traffic could slow you down. Best. Decision. Ever.
Thanks to another posting on TripAdvisor, I found Egypt Fun Tours, which, after I told them what I needed, offered me the package (entry fees/history lesson/transportation included) for $85. Turns out the owner, Hamada, decided to pick me up himself and take me on a personalized tour of the sites. I saw all the pyramids of Giza (I even entered one of the lesser ones just to get a feel for it) and the Sphinx within 3 hours and was back at the airport (after a brief stopover for some food) with plenty of time to spare.
As for the pyramids themselves, I was told that we went on a slow tourist day, but I was still stunned by the volume of people there. The pyramids were massive, albeit no frills. All of the artifacts have pretty much been removed by looters or archeologists, so all that’s left are the impressive structures. The Sphinx was also impressive and made for some really excellent pictures with the pyramids in the background.
Bottom line – definitely a doable thing even if you only have an 8-hour layover, but I definitely recommend hiring a tour company (like Egypt Fun Tours) to shuttle you through Cairo traffic, people at the site trying to take advantage of tourists, and the historical site, especially if Cairo (like me) was some place you had never been.
