frogoutofwater

Mr frogoutofwater and I are going to Egypt for 2.5 weeks in late September/early October.

Our BA flight arrives very late on a Saturday night and we plan to fly from Cairo to Hurghada. We could either book a hotel relatively near the airport (considering the JW Marriott because I'll have a free night's stay certificate) and leaving on an early am flight the next day. Ideally, we'd be able to get to Hurghada, drop bags at least (if not check in) and go do a check dive in the afternoon so we're ready to go out on a dive boat the next morning.

Alternatively, I'm thinking of booking a hotel near the pyramids (either the Mena House for a splurge, or the Meridien on SPG points) for our arrival night in Cairo. That would give us a chance to go out to see the pyramids the next day. We're planning to come back to Cairo for 3 nights and stay in the city at the Marriott at the end of the trip.

My questions are as follows.

(1) Will we have enough time to make a trip to see the pyramids and still catch an evening flight to Hurghada? There are 5:30 pm, 9:30 and 10:00 pm flight to Hurghada - I know we'll need to budget at least 3 hours to get to the airport and check in.

(2) If we take a late night flight to Hurghada, how late is "too late" when it comes to getting transportation and continuing on to our hotel. We actually will be staying in El Gouna, about half an hour away from Hurghada. If we took the 21:45 Cairo flight, we'd get to Hurghada at 11:00 pm. There is another flight one hour later.

It seems to me that 21:45 flight might achieve our objectives - giving us enough time to spend 4-5 hours at the pyramids and still get to the airport in time.

I should note that if we don't have enough time on our first visit to the pyramids, we can always plan to go back when we return to Cairo at the end of the trip. But I do want to make the stopover worthwhile - there's no point in staying so close if we can't fit a decent visit in.

sf7307

4-5 HOURS at the pyramids? Forgive me, but what do you plan to do there for 4-5 HOURS? Mostly, all you do is look at them. You will have plenty of time to do the pyramid circuit when you return to Cairo from Hurghada.

frogoutofwater

sf7307

Please forgive my ignorance about estimated times for sightseeing at the pyramids. I haven't been there - that's why I was asking the question. And, in any event, I understand that not everyone just stands there and looks at them - it's possible to enter some.

Also, my point is that I don't want to do the "pyramid circuit" when we go back to Cairo. I want to see if I can do the "pyramid-side of Cairo" sightseeing on arrival, so that we can focus on sightseeing in other parts of Cairo from a base at the Marriott.

Your response suggests, however, that my itinerary is doable and that we would only need to spend our arrival night in the area (not two nights) before leaving for Hurghada.

sf7307

Yes, I do think you can do the pyramids the same day as you leave for Hurghada. (My family toured Luxor on a Friday, flew to Sharm el Sheikh via Cairo that night, went up Mt. Sinai for sunrise, caught a nap back at their hotel in the morning and did their check dive that afternoon!).

How long (I know 3 nights, but how many days) will you have in Cairo when you return?

Oh, and if you're not just going to the Great Pyramid, but also to Sakkhara, for example, that would take more time, of course, but it's still doable in 5 hours. Will you have a driver?

frogoutofwater

We're going to have 3 nights in Cairo on our return - flying in from Aswan, so only 1/2 a day and evening on the first day, then two full days/nights, before for home the next day.

We also will have 2-3 nights in Luxor (booked the renovated Hilton Luxor on a pointsaver award at 40% off!) and 2 nights in Aswan, after the dive part of our holiday but before Cairo.

My husband lived in Egypt for a year(stationed with the multinational forces in the Sinai) about 15 years ago, and spent all his weekends sightseeing in the region, often accompanied by his then-girlfriend, an archaeologist. So I will benefit from his prior experience.

I might be able to talk him into a hiring a driver/guide for our pyramid-side stay.

sf7307

frog, it's hard to visit the pyramids in Cairo without a driver. You can take a taxi, but then don't have a guide. Also, Sakkhara is pretty far out of town, so a taxi will likely be costly.

By the way, we stayed at Le Meridien Pyramids. It is a nice hotel, very comfortable beds, good breakfast, good service. Not at all on the level of a Four Seasons, or from what I hear, the Mena House, but nice nonetheless (I would equate it to a typical USA Marriott). FWIW, I would ONLY stay out by the pyramids for the pyramids part of your trip. We would have preferred to have stayed "in town".

If you do stay at the Meridien, the falafel stand next door, "Felfela" (not the restaurant...the stand) is fantastic and incredibly cheap (I don't mean "inexpensive", I mean "cheap"!). We ate there at least 3 times). And the Tex-Mex restaurant in the hotel itself is quite good (and pricier, of course, being a hotel restaurant).

niharika

I need help for our trip too. We reach at 12 noon and have a flight out in Sept at 9:30pm same day.
What's the best possible way to visit Pyramids and come back by 6:30pm to the airport.
If its possible, please suggest and the nice guides if somebody knows?