Day trips from Cairo
Saqqara and Dahshur half an hour away, Alexandria by train, the Fayoum with waterfalls in the desert, and the White Desert for a night — four trips from Cairo ordered by time and by which need a driver.
- Best half day
- Saqqara and Dahshur
- Easiest
- Alexandria by train
- Most beautiful
- The Fayoum — Lake Qarun
Trips from Cairo split into those with a driver and the one by train: Saqqara, Dahshur and the Fayoum need a car for the day, because there is no public transport there, while Alexandria has an hourly train faster than anything. The White Desert is not a day trip but a night out, and is planned as an extension, not a day.
Saqqara and Dahshur — half a day, 30–45 min
Saqqara is the step pyramid of Djoser, the first stone building of its size in the world, and nobles' tombs with reliefs that hold colour — Mereruka, Ti, Kagemni — better preserved than anything at Giza. Dahshur, fifteen minutes on, has the Red Pyramid, entered without a supplement or a queue, and the Bent Pyramid whose angle shows where the builders went wrong. With a driver who waits, three to four hours for both; tickets a few hundred pounds each, by card.
Alexandria — a full day, by train
The train from Ramses station at seven or eight in the morning, two and a half to three hours, first class with air conditioning, the ticket at the counter or in the app. In the city the Qaitbay citadel, the Library, the catacombs and fish in Anfushi, all by taxi along the Corniche; back on the seven o'clock evening train, which fills — the ticket is bought in the morning on arrival. This is the one trip from Cairo that needs no driver and the only one with the sea.
The Fayoum — a full day, 2 h
An oasis south-west of the city, with Lake Qarun, the two lakes of Wadi el-Rayan with waterfalls between them — the only ones in Egypt — and the Valley of the Whales, World Heritage with skeletons of forty-million-year-old whales with legs, in the desert. The village of Tunis on the lake makes pottery and has restaurants; the dunes by Wadi el-Rayan are for sandboarding. With a driver, ten hours, and worth more than any other trip except Saqqara.
The White Desert — two days
Four to five hours to the Bahariya oasis, then by jeep into the Black and White Deserts: chalk mushrooms and icicles white as snow, a night under the stars with a Bedouin dinner, and back the next day. Organised from Cairo or Bahariya, with jeep, guide and gear in the price. Not a day trip but a journey, and the best day and night Egypt has away from the Nile.
WWhere to stayWhich district the trips are shortest from:Where to stay in Cairo →
What not to do
- Luxor from Cairo in one day. A plane at five in the morning, temples in the heat, a plane at night — Luxor needs two nights and not less.
- Alexandria by coach. The same time as the train, but it arrives on the outskirts and stops on the way; the train is shorter, cooler and cheaper.
- Saqqara with a group after Giza. Groups arrive at noon when the plateau is white; with your own driver you go at three in the afternoon, when the groups have left.
Before you go
Short answers to what people ask most before setting out.
Which trip from Cairo is best if there is time for only one?
Saqqara with Dahshur, half a day. The first pyramid in the world, tombs with colour and the Red Pyramid entered without a queue — all half an hour from the city and with a tenth of Giza's people.
How do you get to Alexandria from Cairo?
By train from Ramses station, two and a half to three hours, first class with air conditioning. The first morning train out, the seven o'clock evening one back; the return ticket is bought in the morning because it fills.
Can Luxor be done from Cairo in one day?
It can, but it should not be. A plane at five in the morning, temples in the heat without a break and back at night — while Luxor needs two nights. Anyone with one day goes to Saqqara or the Fayoum.
Ready for Cairo?
Where to next
Where to stay in Cairo
→Zamalek, downtown around Tahrir, Giza or Maadi — four districts choosing between quiet, the metro, pyramids…
Alexandria · 180 km
→A city that was the capital of the world, of which twenty kilometres of Corniche remain, one fort where the lighthouse stood, and a library built again
How well does Cairo suit you?
→Six questions: a score for this place and others like it.
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