My Cairo Itinerary for 2 Days: The Best of Cairo

I think there’s no traveller that doesn’t have Cairo on their travel bucket list. It is the only place on Earth where you can see the Ancient World Wonder intact: The Great Pyramid of Giza. But Cairo is much more than the pyramids complex and I particularly loved its old Islamic centre. Which is why in this Cairo itinerary, I will share how to spend 2 full days exploring the best of Cairo.

On your first day you will visit its ancient sites, which of course includes the pyramids of Giza, ancient town Memphis and the world’s oldest pyramid in Saqqara, alongside other pyramids within the complex. On your second day you will explore historic Cairo: from its most important islamic attractions to the old coptic churches and synagogues.

✅ If you’re looking for a custom travel plan, find out more about my personalised itinerary service here.

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📖 Read my Ultimate 7 Days in Egypt Itinerary: See the Best of Egypt blog post.

How to Get to Cairo

The best and easiest way to get to Egypt is to fly to Cairo International Airport because it is well connected with a lot of worldwide destinations. You can find direct flights from major European cities (i.e London, Paris, Madrid, Rome, Istanbul), Middle East, North America (Washington, NYC, Toronto) and even as far east as Tokyo and Shanghai.

✅ Check the flight prices here.

How to Get around Cairo

Cairo is a very hectic city of about 22 million people, so forget driving yourself. Public transportation is not the most efficient option either, so that leaves you with 2 options (I used both).

The first is to book a guided tour, which is what I definitely recommend for visiting pyramids. You can use GetYourGuide for that, or a local agency. We booked our day tour with Egypt Tours Portal, so I highly recommend them.

Otherwise, you can also take Uber, which we did on day 2 when we were exploring Old Cairo and the city centre.

Where to Stay in Cairo

My personal recommendation is to stay in a hotel that has the view of the Pyramids of Giza! I can’t even describe the feeling of watching the sunset over the pyramids or having your breakfast on the terrace with the pyramid view. It is such a dream come true moment.

The best part? Most of these hotels are super affordable, it’s ridiculous!

Another good choice is to stay in a hotel on the Nile River.

📖 For a more extensive list of hotels with the pyramids view, check my 10 Best Hotels with Pyramids View in Cairo for All Budgets blog post.

When to Visit Cairo

I would personally recommend only avoiding the summer months as it gets really hot then. We visited Cairo in mid-April and it was a short-sleeved season (if that thing exists). But basically what that means is that you can wear short-sleeves during the day, but for the evenings and early mornings, you still need a jacket or a sweater.

Even in winter, you can go with short-sleeves as temperatures tend to be around 19 C / 66 F, but you do need to pack in layers.

However, if you want to have warm temperatures, but still be able to breathe, then the best is to stick to spring or autumn seasons.

How Many Days in Cairo is Ideal

I’ve seen a lot of people come to visit Cairo only for the pyramids and then they leave. And while pyramids are totally worth the hype, and they will be the first thing to see on this itinerary, Cairo is however much more than the pyramids.

Ideally you need 1 full day for the pyramids and another one of the Old Cairo; both islamic and coptic.

So, 2 days in Cairo are the ideal amount to check off its main sites and feel the city.

Day 1 in Cairo: Saqqara, Memphis & Giza

You will spend your first day in Cairo exploring the pyramids in Saqqara and Giza, and you’ll visit Memphis, an ex-capital of Lower Egypt.

I recommend getting a tour for all of this as the sites are all spread out, so the best is to get a guide and driver to handle all of this for you. Even if you decide to visit Giza complex only, you’d still need at least a driver as it’s quite a large complex with no shade to hide!

✅ I booked this day activity with Egypt Tours Portal, but I found the identical one on Viator with amazing reviews. I definitely recommend booking a private tour for better and personalised experience.

Step Pyramid of Djoser, Saqqara

And speaking of mistakes that people make when they come to Cairo – they only visit the Giza pyramids complex.

But, did you know that the first ever pyramid was not built in Giza, but in Saqqara? The Step Pyramid of Djoser or Zoser is the FIRST PYRAMID EVER TO BE BUILT.

It was built in the 27th century BC during the Third Dynasty for the burial of Pharaoh Djoser. The pyramid is pretty impressive and interesting in design.

You can also go inside, which we missed to see because our guide told us it’s not as impressive as other pyramids inside, but I do regret listening to them now.

Pyramid of Unas, Saqqara

Contrary to the Step Pyramid, the Pyramid of Unas looks like it’s going to fall apart on the outside, but inside is amazing.

People often assume that pyramids have hieroglyph texts, but it is actually not the case, there are only a few of them. This tradition of inscribed walls started properly in the Valley of the Kings during the New Kingdom, when pharaohs started to bury themselves inside the tombs to protect their treasures from robbers.

Which is what makes the Pyramid of Unas significant because it has the first example of funerary texts known as Pyramid Texts despite it being the smallest pyramid.

Unas Pyramid was built in the 24th century BC for the Egyptian pharaoh Unas, the ninth and final king of the Fifth Dynasty.

The Pyramid of Unas was the first site with the hieroglyphs that I’ve ever visited till that point, so the smile and excitement on my face (as you can see below) was so big!

Tomb of Iynefert, Saqqara

For some reason it is very difficult to find any info online about the Tomb of Iynefert.

What is known about Iynefert is that he was Chief Justice and Vizier during the reign of King Unas in the Fifth Dynasty.

So it’s really surprising to have the lack of resources about him because the tomb is pretty impressive and it was a great intro to the tombs we’d later see in the Valley of the Kings (by this point we were already super hyped up!).

Pyramid of Teti, Saqqara

While nothing impressive on the outside, the Pyramid of Teti is however significant because it is the 2nd built pyramid that consists of Pyramid Texts.

Teti was the first pharaoh of the Sixth Dynasty (2345–2323 BC).

While I liked Unas more, Teti Pyramid is also a must visit for sure!

Kagemni Tomb, Saqqara

Kagemni was Chief Justice and Vizier during the reign of King Teti in the Sixth Dynasty. His wife Nebtynubkhet Sesheshet was probably the daughter of the pharaoh Teti.

Kagemni was buried in the largest mastaba, a type of monumental tomb in the shape of a low-cut pyramid on a rectangular plan, at the Teti cemetery in Saqqara.

Hieroglyphs are pretty impressive there, I really loved visiting this tomb!

Memphis

Memphis was the capital of Lower Egypt.

It is mainly in ruins now, but it’s a great spot to visit due to its historical significance, so if you love history, you can’t miss this place.

There, you will find The Statue of Ramses II, a colossal 3,200 year old figure of Ramses II, depicting him standing, though it’s laid down today.

It is 11 meters (36 feet) tall, made from red granite and weighs 83 tons. 

The Great Pyramid of Giza

The highlight of your first day in Cairo is of course visiting The Great Pyramid of Giza, the only surviving Old World Wonder.

The Great Pyramid of Giza is the largest Egyptian pyramid. It is 138.5 metres (454.4 ft) high and was built by quarrying an estimated 2.3 million large blocks, weighing 6 million tonnes in total.

The Great Pyramid served as the tomb of pharaoh Khufu, who ruled during the Fourth Dynasty of the Old Kingdom. It was constructed in 2600 BC and today it’s a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

It is really impressive. You can’t help but admire the people who built this monumental site. While it is still not completely known how they built it, contrary to what people think, it wasn’t built by slaves but by paid workers.

Apart from visiting The Great Pyramid from the outside, you have to go inside the pyramid too. Just beware that you don’t go down the stairs, but up, so it gets hotter and hotter. It is actually very stuffy inside, so you can’t really enjoy it that much. Plus, there’s nothing inside really beside the open tomb of Khufu. However, it is great to think that you were inside the Ancient World Wonder, it’s a must experience if you ask me!

💡Please, please, please, respect the site and don’t behave like a stupid tourist! People were getting inside the tomb to lay down in order to take that “funny” photo. I mean, I can’t even describe how awful that is generally, but also, the tomb is 4500 years old which makes it an important archaeological artefact which should be preserved, not destroyed!

Panoramic View of the Pyramids

Your tour guide will offer you a camel ride once you get to the panoramic viewpoint, which is really up to you whether you’d like to do it or not. From what we’ve seen, the camels were not in a good shape, so we opted out of it.

Instead, we just enjoyed the view of the 3 pyramids of Giza: Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure (father, son and grandson).

Btw, you can see Cairo in the distance from here which really surprised me the most! Giza pyramids are not somewhere remote (like the pyramids in Saqqara), but actually very close to the city. Even from some Cairo viewpoints you can spot the pyramids (as I will show you later).

Great Sphinx of Giza

The Great Sphinx of Giza is a limestone statue of a reclining sphinx, a mythical creature with the head of a human and the body of a lion. The Sphinx is the oldest known monumental sculpture in Egypt, built in 2500 BC.

The face of the Sphinx most likely represents the pharaoh Khafre, and so she guards his pyramid. It is 73 m (240 ft) long from paw to tail, 20 m (66 ft) high from the base to the top of the head and 19 m (62 ft) wide at its rear haunches.

It is really impressive to see it in person. Today, it’s a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Day 2 in Cairo: Islamic & Coptic Cairo

On your second day of this Cairo itinerary, you will explore historic Cairo, which is divided into islamic and coptic Cairo.

To end your amazing 2 days in Cairo, you will enjoy the dinner on the river Nile too.

I explored everything I will share below on my own using Uber and/or walking, but I know that Cairo can be a lot for some people to handle independently.

✅ This is the tour that is exactly the same like the itinerary I made for myself, it has awesome reviews, so I highly recommend it if you’d prefer to go on an organised tour instead. You only need to visit the museum independently, but everything else is covered with the tour.

Grand Egyptian Museum

If you want to see the treasures of Tutankhamun’s tomb, then you need to go to the Grand Egyptian Museum that has finally opened on November 1 2025!

When I was visiting Egypt, I still had to go to the Old Egyptian Museum to see the treasures. That museum was conveniently located on Tahrir Square in central Cairo, so it made sense for us to visit it a day after exploring the pyramids.

However, despite the Grand Museum being next to the pyramids, I still recommend visiting this first thing in the morning, especially if you’re staying near the pyramids, and then head to the centre of Cairo to visit the rest of the sites outlined here.

✅ The collection of the new museum is amazing and the architecture style is wow! If you’re exploring on your own, get your tickets here.

Khan El-Khalili Market

Khan El-Khalili Market is the heart of Cairo. If you’ve ever been to any muslim country before, then you know that the best way to experience the hustle and bustle is to stroll through the markets.

I definitely recommend buying something because bargaining is the experience of itself. I got myself a pashmina because I needed it to enter the mosques.

💡If you’re going to explore Cairo, make sure to dress modestly because the people are very conservative here, so you don’t want to attract any unnecessary looks! For both women and men, I recommend long pants/jeans and a short-sleeve t-shirt + pashmina for women, so you can enter mosques.

Khan El-Khalili is really big and looks like a maze, so it’s better to have some plan.

I recommend checking one of the historical cafes there, such as Naguib Mahfouz Cafe or El Fishawy.

Naguib Mahfouz Cafe opened in 1989 as a tribute to the famous Egyptian writer Naguib Mahfouz who won a Nobel Prize for Literature in 1988.

El Fishawy Cafe opened in 1797, one year before Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Egypt.
Naguib Mahfouz loved to visit this cafe frequently to have a cup of coffee.

The most beautiful and instagrammable place in Khan El-Khalili is at Bab Al-Ghuri, one of the gates of the market.

Al-Azhar Mosque & Al-Hussein Mosque

Next to Khan El-Khalili are the two great mosques of medieval Islamic Cairo.

Al-Azhar Mosque is the very first mosque established in Cairo. It was built in 970. The affiliated Al-Azhar University is the second oldest Islamic university in the world that is continuously run.

Al-Hussein Mosque is considered to be one of the holiest Islamic sites because it is believed that the head of Hussein, Prophet Mohammed’s grandson, is buried there. It was originally built in 1154 and then later reconstructed in 1874.

Sadly, because it was Ramadan and we happened to be there for their noon prayer Dhuhr, we couldn’t visit the mosques at all because the visit is not allowed for non-Muslims during the prayers. Not even the open grounds. As we were on a tight schedule because we had to catch a flight in the evening, we had to leave this area to visit what was next on our list.

We only managed to see Al-Azhar Mosque from the street as depicted in this photo below, so if you don’t want to repeat our mistake, plan ahead and leave a full day for all of this.

Al-Nasir Muhammad Ibn Qalawun Mosque

Al-Nasir Muhammad Ibn Qalawun Mosque was built in 1318 as the royal mosque of the Citadel, where the sultans of Cairo performed their Friday prayers.

It is located across the street from the courtyard access to the Mosque of Muhammad Ali which was my favourite site in Cairo.

It was the first time I visited an open-air mosque, so what that means is that you need to take off your shoes and put on pashmina as soon as you enter the mosque grounds.

Al-Nasir Muhammad Ibn Qalawun Mosque is pretty unique and so I definitely recommend you to check it out. I was glad I was finally able to check one mosque of Cairo after the two failed attempts with previous mosques.

Citadel of Cairo & Mosque of Muhammad Ali

While I really loved the core of medieval Islamic Cairo, the Citadel of Cairo and the Mosque of Muhammad Ali was my favourite site in Cairo.

Citadel of Saladin is a medieval Islamic fortification in Cairo. It was built by Salah ad-Din (Saladin), a founder of the Ayyubid dynasty, and further developed by other Egyptian rulers.

It was the seat of government in Egypt and the residence of its rulers for nearly 700 years from the 13th century until the construction of Abdeen Palace in the 19th century.

The Mosque of Muhammad Ali, the founder of modern Egypt, is situated in Citadel and is the most beautiful mosque in Cairo and one of my favourite mosques in general. It was built under the influence of the Blue Mosque of Istanbul, so the architecture is entirely Ottoman, which is my favourite mosque architectural style.

The interior of the mosque is super impressive, make sure to go inside.

And the best part of visiting the Citadel and Mosque of Muhammad Ali? THE VIEWS!

Because it’s on a hill, the views of Cairo are amazing and on a clear day you can even see the pyramids – we were very lucky to have a clear sky!

Remember how I said I was surprised how the Giza pyramid complex is so close to Cairo? You can also notice this from the Citadel.

Coptic Cairo

Coptic Cairo was final on my list, but sadly we didn’t account for the Ramadan prayers and the crazy traffic jam of Cairo, so from Khan El-Khalili to the Citadel instead of having a 15 minute ride, we got stuck in Uber for almost an hour! Basically, everyone on the street and from the shops got out on the streets to pray which caused a blockade of the roads.

So, even though Coptic Cairo was also some 15 min drive from the Citadel, we only had an hour left and we were afraid that we may be stuck again, so not only we won’t see anything, we may also not be in our hotel in time. So, we just left for the hotel to get our luggage as we had an evening flight to catch. It was a smart thing to do because it took us longer to get back than anticipated.

However, if your flight is on the next day or you’re doing a tour I recommended, then you will be able to visit the Coptic Cairo too.

Coptic Cairo is the only area in Cairo that is completely Orthodox Christian (and there are some Jewish sites too!), and because of that it is enclosed and monitored by the tourism police to ensure safety. It’s a completely pedestrian area.

Cairo Tower & Dinner on Nile River

Because I’m anticipating that you will have 2 full days to explore (instead of making a mistake like us and flying overnight), I recommend visiting the Cairo Tower and having dinner on the Nile River as your last thing to do in Cairo.

✅ You can either book a Nile river dinner cruise with entertainment, or you can just have dinner at a restaurant on the Nile.

Before dinner, definitely go up the Cairo Tower (close to Le Pacha) for great views. You can easily buy tickets on the spot, there are no crowds there.

Is Cairo worth Visiting

I hope I convinced you that Cairo is much more than the pyramids and definitely a place where you need to spend a few days to really soak up its vibe.

Yes, it’s a very chaotic and dirty place at times, but the people are really nice, the city is full of history and definitely one of the best places in the world to experience Middle Eastern culture.

The pyramids are just amazing and impressive, you won’t be able to stop admiring them. I’d say Cairo has a perfect mix of ancient and medieval attractions alongside some pretty cool modern sites too.

I loved Cairo a lot and I definitely think it is worth visiting.

✅ If you’re looking for a custom travel plan, find out more about my personalised itinerary service here.

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