Giza & Cairo, Egypt

Saqqara, Dahshur and Memphis : the Pyramids Before Giza Pyramids

Where pyramid building was invented, and where they got it right. The Step Pyramid, the Bent Pyramid, and the Red Pyramid: you can walk into them without a queue.

Full day, about 7 to 8 hours Private tour Private — your group only Hotel pick-up anywhere in Cairo, Giza or Zamalek, included.

Cultural & Historical Honeymoon & Couples Day Trips

Trip highlights

The Step Pyramid of Djoser the first monumental stone building on earth
The Bent Pyramid, where you can see the design being corrected mid-build
Walking into the Red Pyramid, usually without a queue
The colossal Ramesses II and the alabaster sphinx at Memphis
Far fewer people than at Giza, all day

About this tour

Most visitors to Egypt see Giza and then head home, often missing the extraordinary sights just half an hour further south. These lesser-known pyramids at Saqqara are typically less crowded.

Saqqara is where it all begins with the Step Pyramid of Djoser, the first large stone building ever constructed, built around 2670 BC by the architect Imhotep. Standing in its courtyard, you can almost witness the architect developing groundbreaking design principles in real time.

Next, we head to Dahshur, where Sneferu built two significant pyramids: the Bent Pyramid, which changes angle midway up because the original slope failed, and the Red Pyramid beside it, recognized as the first true smooth-sided pyramid. This design directly influenced the Great Pyramid at Giza, built by Sneferu's son.

You can walk into the Red Pyramid, which usually has no queue. After the crowds at Giza, experiencing a four-and-a-half-thousand-year-old burial chamber all to yourself is both strange and memorable.

We conclude our visit at Memphis, the capital of the Old Kingdom, which now serves as an open-air museum featuring a colossal statue of the fallen Ramesses II and an alabaster sphinx.

How the day runs

1Step
Pick-up

Pick up from your hotel and drive south out of the city for about forty minutes to reach Saqqara.
2Step
Saqqara

The Step Pyramid complex of Djoser and its restored entrance colonnade, the surrounding necropolis, and one of the beautifully carved nobles' tombs where the wall reliefs still show daily life in colour.
3Step
Dahshur

The Bent Pyramid, then the Red Pyramid, where you can climb down into the burial chambers. Low, warm, and airless inside, and almost always quiet.
4Step
Lunch

A local restaurant between the sites, out of the sun.
5Step
Memphis

The open-air museum on the site of the Old Kingdom capital: the fallen colossus of Ramesses II, now housed and viewed from a gallery, and the alabaster sphinx.
6Step
Return to Cairo

Back to your hotel in the late afternoon.

What's included

Private air-conditioned vehicle and professional driver
Licensed English-speaking Egyptologist guide
Hotel pick-up and drop-off in Cairo or Giza
Entrance tickets to Saqqara, Dahshur and Memphis
Lunch at a local restaurant
Bottled water throughout the day

Not included

Tickets for the interior of the Step Pyramid or the Serapeum, if you want them
Tipping for your guide and driver
Personal expenses

Questions about this tour

It is not a replacement for Giza — it is the context. If you have two days, do Giza first and this second, and the Great Pyramid will make far more sense afterwards. If you only have one day, do Giza.

It can be done and we are asked often, but it makes for a rushed ten hours in the heat. We would rather tell you honestly that it is better as two days than sell you a day you will not enjoy.

A long, low descending passage that you go down bent over, opening into three corbelled chambers. It is warm, the air is still, and there is a distinct smell. It is also usually empty, which is the point. Not one for claustrophobia.

From

$100

Priced per group once we know your dates and numbers tell us both and you will have a figure the same working day.