Classic Cairo4.8
Cairo
The Egyptian Museum, Citadel, Khan El Khalili Bazaar and Old Cairo
Five thousand years in one day: pharaohs in Tahrir, Saladin's citadel, the Hanging Church and the bazaar.
9 hPrivate
€85
Cairo and Giza
Egyptian Museum, Tahrir Square, and the NMEC
The 1902 museum of the pharaohs, and the new home of the royal mummies in Fustat.
- Tahrir museum
- Opened 1902, Marcel Dourgnon; 120,000+ objects
- Highlights
- Narmer Palette, Rahotep and Nofret, Khafre statue, Amarna gallery
- NMEC
- Fustat, opened 2021; Royal Mummies Hall with 20 kings and queens
- Mummies
- Ramses II, Seti I, Hatshepsut, Thutmose III, Ahmose
The Egyptian Museum on Tahrir Square (1902) holds 120,000 objects: the Narmer Palette, the Old Kingdom statues, the Amarna gallery. Tutankhamun's treasures moved to the Grand Egyptian Museum and the royal mummies to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization (NMEC) in Fustat in 2021. Tickets about 550 EGP each; our Cairo days include one museum or the other with an Egyptologist.
Visiting
The neoclassical building on Tahrir Square is the oldest purpose-built museum in the Middle East, and although its two most famous collections have moved, it remains the best place in the world for the art of the Old Kingdom: the seated Khafre in diorite, the wooden Sheikh el-Balad, the painted Rahotep and Nofret, the Meidum geese. The Amarna gallery upstairs shows Akhenaten, Nefertiti and their daughters.
The National Museum of Egyptian Civilization sits by the lake of Ain El Sira in Fustat, the first Islamic capital. Its main hall tells the story of Egypt through crafts and daily life; below it, the Royal Mummies Hall, designed like a tomb, holds twenty kings and queens moved here from Tahrir in the Pharaohs' Golden Parade of April 2021. Ramses II, Seti I and Hatshepsut lie in separate chambers.
Our Cairo days pair either museum with the Citadel, Coptic Cairo and Khan El Khalili. The museum comes first in the morning, when the galleries are quiet.
Tips from our guides
- Tahrir: the second floor is where the Amarna and the jewellery are; do not stop only on the ground floor
- NMEC: the mummies hall is dark and quiet by design; no photos inside
- Both museums are flat with lifts, good for guests with mobility needs
Best time: Mornings on weekdays. Fridays and Saturdays are busy with Cairo families.
Questions
No. The Tutankhamun collection moved to the Grand Egyptian Museum at Giza. Tahrir keeps the Old Kingdom, Middle Kingdom and Amarna masterpieces.
In the Royal Mummies Hall of the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in Fustat since April 2021. Our NMEC day includes the hall ticket.
If you want Tutankhamun and the pyramids, the Grand Egyptian Museum day. If you want the old city, mosques and churches too, the Tahrir museum day or the NMEC day.
30.0478 N, 31.2336 EOpen in Google Maps
