Egypt - is staying in Giza worth it for the pyramid views?
Posted by shockedpikachu123@reddit | Shoestring | View on Reddit | 19 comments
Hello Shoestring, I'm planning my trip to Egypt and thought I would ask some feedback in here to those that have been. I'm in the early stages of planning the Cairo leg of my trip before continuing on to Luxor. I am trying to figure out the best way to split my time between Cairo and Giza.
Current plan:
- Night 1: Land in Cairo and stay there. Explore Coptic Cairo and nearby areas that evening
- Day 2: Spend most of the day continuing to explore Cairo. In the late afternoon or evening, transfer to Giza and check into a hotel with pyramid views
- Day 3: Explore the Giza pyramid complex and surrounding sites/GEM
- Night 2 (possibly Night 3): Stay in Giza so after a full day at the pyramids I can just return to the hotel and relax instead of sitting in traffic back to Cairo.
- Final morning: Head back to Cairo, explore more if time allows, then fly to Luxor.
I know a lot of people suggest just staying in Cairo and commuting to Giza, and I get that it’s more polished and comfortable.
But part of why I’m considering staying near the Giza pyramid complex is the experience itself. I’d love to wake up with the pyramids right there, be able to walk over early before it gets crowded, and not have to deal with traffic first thing in the morning.
All the hotels I looked at were very affordable making me wonder what's the catch? But I guess it's because Giza is a very rough area. I get that the “pyramid view” hotels aren’t luxury and the area is more chaotic, but I’m okay trading some comfort for proximity and that early morning access. I’m just trying to figure out whether that experience is actually worth it in reality.
Also, the reason I’m considering two nights in Giza is mainly convenience. After a full day at the pyramids, I’d rather just walk back to my hotel and relax instead of sitting in traffic back to Cairo.
Does staying 1–2 nights in Giza make sense with this plan, or would it still be better to base myself entirely in Cairo? I'm open to different perspective to those that have been.
MoraineEmerald@reddit
The hotel we stayed was 4 stars but closer to 2 or 3 by Can Am Euro standards. East gate is closed and under construction so no point staying there. It’s a seedy area, too. Pyramids were awesome (especially if you’re familiar with the history) with air-conditioned buses and restaurants. It was 40 degrees today so be prepared.
Cold_Incident8154@reddit
Hello, Egyptian here. You don't need 2 hotels in cairo.
For a pleasurable experience, don't stay in a hotel in Giza. It's full of unbearable traffic jams. Stay in downtown, fifth settlement, zamalek, or maadi and Uber to the destinations you'd like to visit. Don't take a taxi at all and never pay for anything you didn't ask for.
When going to the Pyramids, google "البوابة العظيمة" or the "Great gate" where everything is going to be smooth and scammer free.
Take an Uber from the airport as well (avoid taxis at all costs, even us Egyptians avoid them).
Remember to visit the national museum for Egyptian civilizations as well it's amazing (where most of the mummies are on display).
Try to hire a highly reviewed tour guide when going to Luxor because a lot of people get annoyed there because of the scammers.
There's a lot I can't remember right now, but for you or anyone else reading the comment and planning on a trip to Egypt feel free to text me and ask me about anything so you can get the most out of your trip!
DisdainedTomato@reddit
I second everybody who said to pick only one place to stay, it's just not worth the hassle to move hotels. I would rather spend my energy picking a good one - because that's a job in itself. Cairo is extremely loud from all the car engines and honking, so I would pick a side street. If you can, as somebody said here already, Zamalek and Maadi are more chill neighborhoods. Pick a non-smoking room if you don't want to live in an ashtray. And thoroughly check the quality of the rooms and the reviews.
A little bit of a reality check - staying in Giza will not protect you from being hassled. Or from the chaos. The truth is, nothing will. I often found that taking an Uber (even in traffic), was much more relaxing than walking on the streets. Especially with earphones on :) Hell, sometimes it was even more relaxing than staying in a not-so-great, still loud room. No matter if that was a 4* hotel, an Airbnb, or a hostel. It's just Cairo :)
shockedpikachu123@reddit (OP)
I’m not sure if this is true in your case but I read a comment somewhere is that if I stay in Cairo (I will in downtown for the first day) Ubers won’t drop you directly in front of your hotel unless you pay them more. Is this true? Especially since you mention side streets
DisdainedTomato@reddit
Absolutely not true. Quite often, they actually went out of their way to drop me exactly where I wanted (and it's not often easy - some streets have a lot of lanes, there are a lot of one-way streets etc.). What is true, though, is that you need to know where you're going (because sometimes they may not be able to locate your specific hotel) and if you're getting a ride through Uber/InDrive, sometimes you have to look around a bit to find your driver (so knowing Arabic numbers is very useful).
Actually, if you stay on a side street, it's much easier to use Uber due to less traffic.
As for overcharging, I don't remember it being a problem in Cairo. In other places in Egypt - absolutely.
Vagablogged@reddit
You don’t need 2 hotels for Cairo. Just uber places. It’s cheap and simple. Stay in downtown Cairo somewhere. Uber everywhere from there. Everything is close by. Giza is not where you want to transfer to. You go there to see the pyramids and museum and then you uber back.
NicoRosbot@reddit
I stopped in Cairo twice on my Egypt solo trip last year, stayed first time by the pyramids and the second time in the city center. Had a really positive experience so hopefully I'm in a good position to answer this.
Most of the hotels only have views of the pyramids from their rooftop, and often only a partial view from a small corner of their rooftop. It helps that the pyramids are kinda huge so the whole neighbourhood can see them in some form. All the hotels have extremely basic rooms, and a lot are basically stacked on top of each other. That said, I stayed at a cheap-ish hotel across the road from the entrance gate that had a perfect view of the pyramids from all their room windows and its just so utterly surreal laying in bed and being able to see the pyramids in full view lit up with lights in front of you, its something I'll be telling my grandkids about someday. The room was pretty shit though, but they delivered exactly what they promised and nothing more. Edit: the name of the place was "Guardian Guest House" but anything along that road should have a similar view.
Others have said it, but the whole neighbourhood around the pyramids gate is truly awful. I went to North India in the trip prior to this and I found Giza significantly more run down and outright scammy.
Central Cairo (around Tahrir for me) was actually really nice... bustling, mostly just local students and professionals, slight European feel to the architecture and so many good restaurants. Completely different Cairo experience. The traffic is really not great though.
marlajfish@reddit
Your plan sounds okay. I’ve done both. Central Cairo is definitely a more interesting area. I do want to tell you that we hired a guide for the day, which was the best idea ever, and she first took us to the Step (sic?) pyramid, which was one of the earliest experiments in how to build a pyramid. And then to Giza. I found that later pyramids even more fascinating after I saw the early experiments. The touts at Giza were so unbearable that it was worth hiring a guide just to keep them away, not to mention that it made the experience deeper and more interesting. I highly recommend it. Also if you can give yourself an extra day in Luxor, do it. So many interesting things to do and see! We stayed at the Nefertiti hotel which was affordable and great!
shockedpikachu123@reddit (OP)
Do you happen to remember the guide and where you hired her? Thank you
Mattos_12@reddit
The Giza area is shit, but it’s all shit so I guess that’s not such a problem. If you want to sit in a cafe at night looking over the pyramids then visit the pyramids then it’s clearly a decent option.
I’d recommend seeing the other pyramids as well as being a better experience. The bent and burned pyramids offered a more interesting experience.
Newtracks1@reddit
Yes. A lot of those hotels along the edge of the pyramids park area have amazing roof top views of the pyramids, and looking the other way, the city. Lots of roof top bars, and restaurants. You won't even believe how beautiful it is, especially at night. They light up the pyramids with all types of crazy l.e.d. lighting, and the city lights look amazing. If the moon is out... super win. The fact that some of the rooms are in the 50-70 dollar range makes it all the sweeter. Place I stayed in 2024.
shockedpikachu123@reddit (OP)
Thank you for your comment! You’re the first person in my very extensive research about Giza accommodations who actually liked it. Google reviews/booking/reddit all seem to not recommend Giza area. Again, I’m aware that Giza is rough on the outside
-Babel_Fish-@reddit
lucapal1@reddit
I've stayed in both areas.
If you only want to spend a day at the Pyramids and maybe include the new museum (in Giza) then that's fine,why not?
The centre of Cairo is a lot more interesting, better for walking around, restaurants and things to see... but if you don't want to walk around in the evening anyway, you might as well stay in Giza.
Old Cairo and the Tahrir area are not necessarily 'more polished and comfort ' at all. They are mostly crowded and chaotic.. but also full of life
invalidmail2000@reddit
This.
To add, Cairo is hectic enough that I wouldn't want to be moving hotels as well. Just pick one and stay there.
no_4@reddit
15 years ago I stayed in Cairo and took a taxi to Giza as a day trip. That worked well, and was more than enough time to me.
Idk if traffic is worse now. But I know you can alternatively take the subway as close as it gets, then from there it's a 15-20 minute (per Google) taxi ride to Giza.
invalidmail2000@reddit
Traffic is definitely worse but even if you stayed as far east as rehab way past the airport it's still an easy day trip to the pyramid.
no_4@reddit
The subway gets you to within a 20 minute taxi to Giza. I stayed in Cairo and did Giza as a day trip, which seemed like more than enough.
InextricablyYours@reddit
Don’t go