How to Enjoy a One Day Layover in Cairo, Egypt

There are occasionally moments when I think to myself that our obsession with travel has led to a less-than-healthy appreciation for sleep, and our 20-hour layover in Cairo was definitely one of those times.

If I was paying more attention to sleep cycles than sarcophaguses, the thought of turning an already exhausting journey from Paris to Johannesburg into a multi-day event in order to spend one day in Cairo and “save” approximately $100 in flight costs might have seemed a tad ridiculous.

And frankly, it was… but we don’t regret it a bit.

During our long layover in Cairo, we might have become exhausted to the point of being mildly incoherent by mid-afternoon, but we also got to enjoy a small taste of Egypt, admire relics from King Tut’s tomb, see dozens of 5,000-year-old mummies up close, climb into a pyramid, take touristy photos in front of Giza, hang out with a camel, and stroll through the Egyptian Bazaar–all for incredibly affordable prices.

It was worth every second of heavy eyelids and sore feet, and we would do it all over again tomorrow.

Here’s what we saw during our one day Cairo layover (and how you can do the same).

kate storm and jeremy storm in egyptian bazaar during one day in cairo itinerary
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The Best Things to Do in Cairo in One Day

Visit the City of Giza.

The pyramids of Giza standing tall and surrounded by sand dunes–if there’s one image that we all know of Egypt, it’s this one. Visiting the pyramids of Egypt is on many bucket lists of travelers around the world, and we are no exception!

True, less well-known is that fact that you can see the skyline of Cairo quite clearly from the pyramids and that a Pizza Hut commands one of the most epic views of Giza, but in the age of the internet, even these facts aren’t a surprise to as many visitors as they once were.

We were blown away by our time at the pyramids–our guide, Bossi, did a fantastic job explaining the history and snapping dozens of photos for us, and we were so glad to have her along.

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We relished the opportunity to climb on the Great Pyramid, to descend inside one of the smaller pyramids belonging to a queen (Bossi called it an Egyptian sauna, which was accurate–it was so humid in there, we started sweating almost immediately), to admire the views of Giza from afar, to wander through the remains of temples and to check out the Great Sphinx in person.

Side note–anyone else grow up with the completely mistaken impression that the Great Sphinx was female? Just me?

In case there’s anyone else out there making that error, the Great Sphinx represents the King who had it built, and is decidedly male. Live and learn.

kate storm wearing a blue skirt in front of the great sphinx during a long layover in cairo egypt

Explore the Egyptian Museum.

Home to around 120,000 artifacts of ancient Egypt–the bulk of them stunningly well-preserved–this museum caused our jaws to hit the floor more than once.

From a statue of a Pharaoh that is believed to have been carved with diamonds to the enormous number of (heavily gilded) objects belonging to the famous Tutankhamun (aka “King Tut”) to the dozens of actual mummies, this was a museum like no other we have ever been in. It alone would absolutely worth spending one day in Cairo!

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The building itself is large and beautiful, dating back to the early 20th century, but it is also a bit rundown, lacks the kinds of upscale amenities (like a/c) that you would expect for a museum of this level of importance, and has shockingly few barriers between patrons and many 5,000-year-old artifacts.

To that end, Cairo is currently building a new museum next door to Giza in order to hold some artifacts, and based on the construction we saw, it’s going to be enormous (2021 update: the opening of the new museum is tentatively slated for June 2021).

displayes of statues and a sarcophagus in the egyptian museum, as seen when exploring cairo in one day

Explore the Egyptian Bazaar.

What would a visit to Egypt be without a quick trip to a bazaar?

With limited time during our one day Cairo layover and no luggage to tuck things into, we weren’t interested in making any purchases, but we loved walking around, photographing the beautiful shops and stalls, and of course, stalking all the cats we could find.

archway of egyptian bazaar with goods for sale on either side

Other Cairo Stops to Consider

If your Cairo layover is a bit longer than ours (or simply doesn’t involve a 3am arrival time that leaves you exhausted), you may also consider adding the Step Pyramid of Sakkara (which predates the pyramids in Giza!) or the ancient Egyptian capital of Memphis to your list of things to see in during a layover in Cairo.

This popular tour includes stops at the Step Pyramid and Memphis in addition to Giza!

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Our Incredible One Day Cairo Tour (That You Should Book!)

Typically, we wouldn’t consider booking a tour simply to see a city’s most famous and touristic highlights–travel infrastructure will generally be in place to accommodate those, and Cairo is no exception.

That being said, booking a tour for our long layover in Cairo was an extremely good decision, and we would recommend it to anyone (and no, our tour wasn’t sponsored–just a great success!).

kate storm and jeremy storm standing on the great pyramid of giza in egypt

There are a few reasons that we recommend a tour in this situation:

You don’t have to worry about handling logistics.

Could we have used Uber or Cairo’s metro system to get around to the major sights, waited in line for tickets ourselves, negotiated prices alone, and successfully seen the highlights of the city?

Sure.

But there’s no denying that having a private driver who knew where they were going, access to a car with a/c in it, and a guide who knew the lay of the land made our one day in Cairo far less stressful–and those services alone would have been worth the price of the tour.

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The culture of ancient Egypt is worthy of a guided tour.

Both Giza and the Egyptian Museum, while incredible, have a distinct lack of signs and contextual information available onsite.

The context that our tour guide was able to provide, from disagreements between Pharaohs to cultural quirks to timelines, enriched the experience of our layover in Cairo immeasurably.

statue of a pharoah with a bird on his back in the egyptian museum in cairo egypt

Having a tour guide will keep the touts at bay.

While we are well used to shaking off touts and aggressive salespeople these days, it was certainly far more relaxing to spend our time in Cairo not having to worry about saying “La shokran” 9,999 times to men selling everything from pyramid figurines to taxis.

The mere presence of a tour guide kept the persistent salespeople away, and while we didn’t end up wanting to purchase anything, Bossi made it clear that she was happy to jump in and help negotiate if needed.

camel in giza egypt with a red shawl on its back

I’ve mentioned our tour guide, Bossi, a few times, but I just really can’t overemphasize how impressed with were with this tour.

She holds a MA in Egyptology and is obviously extremely passionate about it–her knowledge in the Egyptian Museum alone was practically encyclopedic.

We also had the benefit of having her all to ourselves, but groups are reported to stay small with this company regardless of the time of year. Bossi also kept us in snacks and drinks and was completely open to moving at our pace.

Our tour only included one “buying stop”, which was a papyrus paper demonstration, and even that was very low-pressure and over in the blink of an eye (and the short presentation, while clearly a sales pitch, was genuinely interesting).

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If we return to Cairo, we would not hesitate to book this tour again, and can happily recommend it to anyone passing through Cairo for a day.

With a longer layover in Cairo and more time to spend on an Egypt itinerary in general, we’d probably also consider tours to explore the area more in depth.

We’d love to go to Memphis to explore more Egyptian temples and do a food tour in Cairo, for example!

Book the same tour that we enjoyed in Cairo today!

close up of the head of the great sphinx in giza

How to Get Around During a Long Layover in Cairo

Cairo is an enormous, sprawling city, but it is surprisingly easy to navigate–especially when you only have time to head to the most famous attractions.

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The metro is supposed to be clean and very simple to use, but with only a short time available for our Cairo layover, we didn’t consider using it.

Uber is popular in Cairo, with prices being among some of the least expensive we’ve ever seen. We used Uber to travel back to the airport at the end of our Cairo layover and found it just as straightforward as Uber is in every other city.

kate storm and jeremy storm standing in front of grand pyramid during a one day in cairo itinerary

On our way from the airport to our hotel at roughly 4:00 AM, we took a taxi as we had trouble finding the designated Uber pick-up spot at the airport.

We were hesitant to jump into a cab, and highly recommend negotiating well and keeping an eye on the directions, but our cab driver ended up being not only honest but exceedingly kind, driving around several extra minutes to find our well-camouflaged hotel without asking for another penny.

We’d still recommend using Uber when you can, but our successful cab ride definitely made for a very heartwarming first experience in the country and immediately made us eager to come back for a longer trip and explore more of the epic things to do in Egypt.

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Where We Stayed During Our Cairo Layover

Eco Inn Cairo — Despite only spending a whopping four hours there during our long layover, we loved this little hotel!

The decor was beautiful, the included breakfast tasty, the view off the deck lovely, the room enormous, and the owner incredibly kind!

The only (small) downside was that the hotel’s entrance can’t be seen from the street and it can therefore be a bit difficult to find, but one quick phone call to the front desk solved that–even at around 4am, a cheerful receptionist picked up and immediately sent an employee down to the street level to escort us upstairs.

Staying at Eco Inn Cairo was a great experience, and we would not hesitate to book it again.

Check rates & book your stay at Eco Inn Cairo!

2 photos of cairo egypt: great sphinx with pyramid and skyline with mosque in the foreground. black and red text on a white background reads "how to spend one day in cairo"
About Kate Storm
Image of the author, Kate Storm

In May 2016, I left my suburban life in the USA and became a full-time traveler. Since then, I have visited 50+ countries on 5 continents and lived in Portugal, developing a special love of traveling in Europe (especially Italy) along the way. Today, along with my husband Jeremy and dog Ranger, I’m working toward my eventual goal of splitting my life between Europe and the USA.

17 thoughts on “How to Enjoy a One Day Layover in Cairo, Egypt”

  1. I have 20 hour layover in Cairo- I am citizen of India travelling to Canada in July,2022. My question is does Egypt air provide free transit visa and accomodation? If your answer is no then how much is the fees of transit visa? and yes will they stamp in our passport that we have transitted?

    Reply
    • Hi Shrey! I recommend checking the official government website for this, especially in 2022 when we know these things can change quickly. 🙂

      Reply
  2. Great read, thanks! I didn’t see how long of a layover you had to make this quick trip possible. We have a 15 hour layover, would you think that’s long enough to see the pyramids, museum, etc?

    Reply
    • Absolutely, as long as it covers the full day! I believe our layover was somewhere around 20 hours, but we did spend a few hours sleeping in a hotel before starting our tour.

      Reply
  3. I land in Cairo, Egypt at 7.45pm
    I depart at 5 pm next afternoon.
    Can I see the pyramids and anything else?
    What area should I stay to see the most I can?

    Reply
    • Hi Chandresh!

      If you get an early start and book a tour to keep things simple, you should be able to see the pyramids just fine. Anything else, I’d just watch the clock carefully.

      Reply
      • Wow, amazing article. Pretty much wrapped up everything. I also have a layover of approx. 20 hrs. at Cairo airport while travelling to Canada. Just wanted to know how to find the tour guide, like we can find them on the spot or just need to pre book them? Also what are their charges?

        Reply
  4. Hi. We are opting for the 18hour layover on our way back to Washington DC from Johannesburg in July 2023 because of your blog!! Traveling with our 2 young adult kids. What a great way to spend the day and see somewhere new!
    Couple questions:
    1. We land at 5:30am and want to get a hotel like you did for shower, rest and breakfast!. Is it best to get one in Cairo or Giza? looks like you opted for Cairo.
    2. since its about an hour from Cairo to Giza does the 8 hr tour include the 2 hr RT transit? trying to determine pickup time. We reserved the same tour you recommended!
    3. Is it worth paying extra to go into the great Pyramid? you said you went into a smaller one.
    4. How much time should we leave when returning to the airport for an 1pm departure (requisite 3hrs or longer?)

    THANKS! We are so excited.

    Reply
    • Hi Haley!

      Yes, we opted for Cairo. We just wanted to get to a hotel and rest ASAP after the flight! Giza is a further drive from the airport, but comes with the benefit of potentially booking a hotel with a view, so it’s down to personal choice.

      Our tour did include a round-trip transfer, they picked us up right from our hotel lobby and then dropped us off in central Cairo. They offered to help us secure a cab to the airport but we decided to take an Uber, which worked just fine.

      Since we didn’t go in, I can’t give a personal opinion on the Great Pyramid! The general advice I’ve heard from other bloggers is that it’s interesting but not necessarily a must-do, and not great for people who don’t like tight spaces. Since we were short on time, we were happy to skip it in favor of just going into the smaller (included) pyramid–honestly, that was more than enough for us, it was sweltering in there!

      Our trip was a few years back, so with 2022 airport kerfuffles, etc, I’m not sure if it’s different, but 3 hours early was plenty for us.

      Hope you guys have a wonderful time! This layover is still one of our most memorable travel days ever–there’s just nothing like seeing the pyramids up close in real life. 🙂

      Reply
      • Thank you so much for the quick reply. All very helpful. There was one question I am not sure you answered. The tour stated 8hours. I wasn’t sure if that included transit or we need to allot 10 hrs with transit to/from hotel? we may add the camel ride which is another hour and just trying to ensure we don’t get back too late.

        Reply
  5. Sorry one last question. What time did you schedule your pickup at the hotel? you responded to Karl to get an early start…
    Thank you!

    Reply
  6. Hi Kate, the link you shared has many tours (offered by different companies), which one did you use for your tour?

    Reply
    • Hi Sandy,

      Yes, I apologize, it has been a bit confusing since Get Your Guide changed their options around! But the tour that pops up first, highlighted in blue, is the one we took. The company is Emo Tours Egypt and as of today, has a picture of a woman “kissing” the sphinx as its first photo.

      Have a great day in Cairo!

      Reply
  7. Excellent read. I have nearly 21 hours layover in Cairo (reach at 9 PM and leave next day at 6PM). Can I cover Pyramid and Spinks during this time? Can I see anything else? How do I get the details of the reliable tour operator you used?

    Reply
    • Hi Tapas,

      The person right above you in the comment chain had the same question, as the links have been changed around a bit since I published. It’s Emo Tours Egypt, should be highlighted first in blue when you click the link.

      Reply
  8. Thanks for this kate! Mine arrives 9am at cairo and leaves at 11pm, so have all day!!
    This gives me 14hr layover. I dread the airport at cairo,
    I’m just wondering what to do, I want the see pyramids.
    and do maybe camel ride.
    Do i get a local tour guide when i get there or you booked online..

    Reply
    • Hi Stahiga,

      Personally, we opted to book online in advance and recommend most readers do the same. It’s much easier than negotiating a rate on the ground, especially with only one day to work with!

      As far as getting into Cairo and back, we took a taxi into town from the airport and then an Uber back to the airport after our tour.

      Reply

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