We spent 2 nights in the le Meridian Pyramids hotel before going on a nile cruise and then Hurghada on the red sea. The first thing you will notice when getting off the plain, is that Cairo is very polluted. If you suffer from breathing problems I would suggest checking with your doctor.

When we finally got to our hotel it was lovely. Before they allow any cars or buses to go through to the hotel there are guards that check under the bus for bombs etc. There is also a metal detector (like what you get in the airport) as you walk through the entrance of the hotel. There are tourist police everywhere who carry guns as well as the occasional normal policeman, so you do feel quite safe.

Everyone in the hotel are so friendly and will go out of their way to help you. The rooms are quite big, we had pyramid view rooms, and the view was lovely, I had a king size bed which would have happily slept 3 people. I have tv with lots of sky channels (some in english), sofa, internet access. Shower, bath, hair dryer. No tea making facilites but you do have the mini bar and there is an in room security box. The pool is lovely, it's heated and has a bar that you can drink at either from the patio or from the pool. There are plenty of nice places to eat, there are about 4 restaurants nearby that you can safely eat at and are reasonably priced. We were advised not to eat at anything other than a 4 or 5 star restuarant.

The pyramids are very incredible, however it is spoilt by the hassassment that you get form the traders and such that walk around the pyramids preying on tourists. You are given a ticket to get to the pyramids and you need to keep it to get through to the sphinx. The traders will try and con you into making you show or give them the ticket. DONT! They wil basically keep hold of it and they will demand money from you else they wont give it you back and without the ticket you wont be able to see the sphinx. Camal rides are another big thing out there. Beware of these again. Give them money AFTER you get off. Other wise they will basically try and charge you twice.

You are driven to all the pyramids and have the time to look around and take photos. You then are taken to a panoramic view which is the best place to take a picture of all the pyramids. You then are driven to the sphinx. You are taken around and the guide again explains everything to you. There are again lots of traders etc. We found the best way to handle them is to be rude, and ignore them, dont give them eye contact and just keep walking, unless you want something, in which case you MUST haggle, otherwise you will pay over the odds. They will try and be friendly and say hi, where are you from etc. As soon as they know what language you speak, you will stuggle to get rid of them. Also dont accept ANY gifts! They will say free of charge, as you then start walking off they will they start saying you should give them a bit of money as a thank you or something.

The tour is by far the best way of seeing things in cairo, especially if you are only there for a short time. I personally wouldn't have liked to spend any longer in cairo. The other excursions include, a day of seeing the pyramids (including ones that are farther into the desert), and the sphinx. The other tour is the museum, coptic cairo and a tour round a mosque. I think they were all £30/£30. You can choose to see things yourselves. However, the taxis aren't licensed and aren't insured (simply because they dont have to be). They do tend to also take you for little detours to family shops and such, all part of trying to get money out of you. If you do use a taxi, make sure you agree a price before you get into the taxi. Your hotel will give you an idea of what you should pay. Hotels do have what they call limosuines which are just nicer car's/taxis, but they are probably safer but you will pay a bit more than a normal taxi.