If you get the chance to go to Cairo you must!
It is an experiance like no other......Never again........
We booked our day trip to Cairo through a reputable tour operator whilst staying in Hurgahda and I am very glad we did.
It is a place I have always wanted to visit but had my reservations for various reasons.
Because we booked through a reputable company we were allocated our own personal guide for myself , my husband and my 8 year old son. The guide was fantastic!!
The best advice I could give would be to wear comfortable clothing and footwear ,the tour took 19 hours in total including a 50minute flight either way from Hurgahda.
Your can wear shorts and T shirt there are no restrictions on dress even though its is in large a muslem city. The men in Cairo are OBSESSED with half dressed women so beware!!! they are not offensive and do not bother you but they will wolf whistle ,shout greetings to you and attempt to buy you or your children for several camels. It is all in good fun and they mean no harm.
The pyramids are great to see and you get the chace to go inside if you wish. It is an experiance to go inside a pyramid and would recommend to most people HOWEVER if you are asthmatic or have back problems i would recommend not to go inside. You need to be able to crawl through a hole about 4x4 foot and follow this right down into the heart of the pyramid it can get very claustrophobic if a lot of people are in the pyramid together and they guides keep pushing more and more visitors in, it gets very hot in a very small area and there is nothing really to see in there either. A guide will try to show you the way into the pyramid for a '' small fee'' you DO NOT need this. as there is 1 way in and 1 way back out again and most of this is spent with your nose up the persons bum in front of you!!!
Cameras are not allowed in the pyramids so best to leave them with a friend.
The sphinx is next to the pyramids and is a great photo opportunity. A must see!! you cannot get up close to the sphinx and it does have wire fencing around it to stop you but still worth a visit.
During a visit to Cairo you must go to the Cairo musuem. They recommend you allow several hours to see everything in the museum but believe me YOU DO NOT NEED to see everything in the museum. Its quite interesting for the first hour but then you can get bored and you legs really hurt ( I couldnt walk for the next 2 days) Im not really a museum person so maybe its just me but I was losing the will to live!!!! Still I would recommend an hour or two in there. My 8 year old son would have spent much longer he didnt show signs of bordom at all.
Be careful if you buy anything in Cairo They are the Kings of bartering we bought several items but know we paid far too much for all of it. You need to pay about 30% of the original price they asked for it but do not look interested in any particular thing or they will start much higher. Best thing to do is try to barter then put the item down and walk away saying you do not want it.. they will soon come after you. But I cannot stess how good they are at getting your money off you. Be warned!
All in all its an excellent experiance and I could go on for ever.
but I would not go back! You need to go and experiance it for yourself!