How many days do you need in Cairo?
Four days. That is the length of the itinerary we built for Cairo.
Here is what each day holds. Every stop below carries its time, and every gap says how to get to the next stop, with the walk or drive time wherever both stops are mapped.
Cairo · 4 days Egypt
Best time: October through April brings comfortable, dry days ideal for the open desert sites.
Giza PlateauDay 1
📍8:00 AMPyramids of Giza
Stand beneath the Great Pyramid of Khufu and its two companions, the last of the ancient world's seven wonders still standing.
🚶 ~9 min · 🚗 ~1 min · 0.3 mi
📍12:00 PMGreat Sphinx
Walk down to the lion-bodied guardian carved from the bedrock, gazing east toward the rising sun.
🚶 ~17 min · 🚗 ~2 min · 0.6 mi
📍4:00 PMGiza plateau panorama
Head to the desert viewpoint southwest of the pyramids to see all three lined up against the sand.
Islamic CairoDay 2
📍9:00 AMSalah El-Din Citadel
Explore the medieval hilltop fortress crowned by the alabaster Mosque of Muhammad Ali and its silver domes.
🚶 ~40 min · 🚗 ~5 min · 1.5 mi
🌆1:00 PMAl-Muizz Street
Walk the open-air museum of Fatimid and Mamluk architecture, one of the oldest streets in the Islamic city.
🚶 ~6 min · 🚗 ~1 min · 0.2 mi
📍5:00 PMKhan el-Khalili bazaar
Get pleasantly lost in the centuries-old market of copper, spice, and lamp stalls, then rest over mint tea.
Coptic Cairo and the NileDay 3
🖼️9:00 AMEgyptian Museum (Tahrir)
See the classic red museum on Tahrir Square, packed with mummies, sarcophagi, and gilded pharaonic treasures.
🚗 ~10 min · 2.9 mi
📍1:30 PMCoptic Cairo
Visit the Hanging Church and the ancient lanes of the Christian quarter built over a Roman fortress.
🚗 ~14 min · 3.9 mi
📍5:30 PMFelucca sail on the Nile
Board a traditional lateen-sail felucca from the Zamalek bank to drift past the city skyline at sunset.
Saqqara and MemphisDay 4
📍9:00 AMStep Pyramid of Saqqara
Drive south to Djoser's stepped pyramid, the world's oldest large stone monument, in its vast necropolis.
🚗 ~10 min · 2.8 mi
🖼️1:00 PMMemphis open-air museum
See the toppled colossus of Ramesses II and the alabaster sphinx at the ruins of Egypt's ancient capital.
🚗 ~16 min · 4.7 mi
📍3:30 PMDahshur pyramids
Finish at the Bent and Red Pyramids, the quieter fields where the true smooth-sided pyramid was perfected.
This is how Petrel lays out a trip. Upload your own confirmations and it builds this for your dates: flights and hotels included, with live flight status and the travel time between stops.
This is one of 126 free itineraries. Open it, change anything you want, and it becomes your trip.