3 Days in Cairo: Giza & GEM, Royal Mummies & Coptic Cairo, Plus Historic Islamic Cairo

The secret to an unhurried three-day stay in Cairo is grouping your sights strictly by side of the Nile: spend Day 1 entirely on the West Bank for the pyramids and the Grand Egyptian Museum, Day 2 along the southern and central East Bank for Coptic Cairo, the Royal Mummies, and Tahrir Square, and Day 3 in the medieval citadel and alleys of UNESCO-listed Historic Cairo.

Day 1 (West Bank): Giza Pyramids, Great Sphinx & the Grand Egyptian Museum (or Saqqara)

• 07:30, Giza Plateau, Panorama Point & the Great Sphinx: Arrive at the Mena House (Great Pyramid) Gate as it opens to stand at the base of the 2560 BCE Great Pyramid of Khufu (and climb inside the Grand Gallery if you hold an interior ticket), continue past the casing-topped Pyramid of Khafre and granite-clad Pyramid of Menkaure to Panorama Point, and finish at the megalithic Valley Temple and Great Sphinx on the lower eastern terrace; see our Giza Plateau route.
• 13:00, Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) or Saqqara Step Pyramid: Drive five minutes north-west to the Grand Egyptian Museum to see the Hanging Obelisk, the Ramesses II Atrium, the Grand Staircase, and the 12 Main Galleries (or continue 30 minutes south to Imhotep's Step Pyramid at Saqqara).

Day 2 (Southern & Central East Bank): Coptic Cairo, NMEC Royal Mummies, Tahrir & Sunset Felucca

• 09:00, Coptic Cairo & the 641 CE Mosque of 'Amr ibn al-'As: Ride Metro Line 1 to Mar Girgis to explore the Roman Babylon Fortress, the Hanging Church, the Crypt of Abu Serga, the Coptic Museum, and the Ben Ezra Synagogue.
• 12:00, NMEC Royal Mummies Hall, Tahrir Egyptian Museum & Nile Sail: Take a 5-minute taxi to Fustat to descend into the Royal Mummies Hall at NMEC, enjoy a Downtown lunch of traditional koshary, spend mid-afternoon among the Old Kingdom statues and Tanis gold at the 1902 Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square, and board a wooden felucca on the Nile at sunset.

Day 3 (Historic Islamic Cairo): Saladin Citadel, Sultan Hassan, Al-Mu'izz Street & Khan el-Khalili

• 09:00, Citadel of Saladin & Sultan Hassan / Al-Rifa'i Mosques: Tour the 1848 Mosque of Muhammad Ali atop the Citadel, then walk down to the 14th-century Mamluk masterpiece of Sultan Hassan and royal Al-Rifa'i Mosque (or add the 879 CE spiral minaret of Ibn Tulun).
• 13:30, Al-Mu'izz Street, Khan el-Khalili & Al-Azhar Park Sunset: Walk south from Bab al-Futuh (1087) along Al-Mu'izz Street past the Qalawun Complex into Khan el-Khalili and Al-Azhar Mosque, ending with golden-hour tea overlooking the minarets from Al-Azhar Park.