Guides · Egypt
Cairo tickets
Ticket and booking rules for Cairo: timed entries, closing days and official links, checked September 2026.
Checked September 2026 against official sources
Cairo
Bookings and opening rules
Follow the official link before you buy. Full walking days: Cairo itinerary.
Tickets and opening hours
- The Giza Plateau is open 8:00–16:00 every day. Area entry for foreign visitors is 700 EGP (students 350 EGP); this ticket does not cover the interiors of the Great Pyramid, the Pyramid of Khafre, the Pyramid of Menkaure, the Tomb of Meresankh III or the Workers' Cemetery, which are ticketed separately.Source: Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, Discover Egypt's Monuments · checked Sep 2026
- Giza Plateau tickets can be bought at four self-service machines that take bank cards, at the ticket outlets on the site, and online through the ministry's official site egymonuments.com.Source: Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, Discover Egypt's Monuments · checked Sep 2026
- The Grand Egyptian Museum complex opens 8:30–19:00 with the galleries 9:00–18:00 on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, and until 22:00 (galleries to 21:00) on Wednesday and Saturday; last entry is an hour before the galleries close. Tickets are sold on the museum's only official ticketing site, with an entry time, and also at self-service machines and on-site counters.Source: Grand Egyptian Museum, official ticketing · checked Sep 2026
- The Egyptian Museum in Tahrir is open 9:00–17:00 every day, with the ticket window closing at 16:00. Foreign adults pay 550 EGP, students 275 EGP; the audio tour is 75 EGP.Source: Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, Discover Egypt's Monuments · checked Sep 2026
- The National Museum of Egyptian Civilization is open Saturday to Thursday 9:00–17:00 with last ticket admission at 16:00, and on Fridays 9:00–17:00 and again 18:00–21:00 (last ticket 20:00). Foreign adults pay 550 EGP and students 300 EGP; during Ramadan the museum closes at 16:00.Source: NMEC / Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities · checked Sep 2026
- The Cairo Citadel is open 8:00–17:00 daily; foreign adults pay 550 EGP and students 275 EGP for an area ticket that includes the Mosque of Muhammad Ali Pasha, the mosque of al-Nasir Muhammad, the Sulayman Pasha al-Khadim Mosque and the Police, Al-Jawhara Palace and Military museums.Source: Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, Discover Egypt's Monuments · checked Sep 2026
- The Coptic Museum is open 9:00–17:00 every day; foreign adults pay 280 EGP and students 140 EGP. The Hanging Church next to it is open 9:00–16:00.Source: Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, Discover Egypt's Monuments · checked Sep 2026
- Cairo Tower raised its entry ticket for foreign visitors to 350 EGP (from 250) on January 21, 2025; Egyptian citizens pay 100 EGP, or 150 EGP on official holidays.Source: Egypt Independent · checked Sep 2026
On the day
What to watch at each stop
Pyramids of Giza
- 8:00–16:00; 700 EGP plateau ticket, pyramid interiors extra; cards at the machines
Great Sphinx of Giza
- On the plateau ticket; exit through the Sphinx gate for the taxis to the museum
Grand Egyptian Museum
- Galleries 9:00–18:00, to 21:00 Wed and Sat; last entry an hour before; timed tickets at tickets.gem.eg
Citadel of Saladin and the Muhammad Ali Mosque
- 8:00–17:00 daily; 550 EGP, one ticket for everything inside the walls
Mosque-Madrasa of Sultan Hassan
- Walk down from the Citadel through Salah al-Din Square; ticket at the door
National Museum of Egyptian Civilization
- 9:00–17:00, last ticket 16:00; Fridays also 18:00–21:00; 550 EGP
Egyptian Museum
- 9:00–17:00 daily, ticket window closes 16:00; 550 EGP
Questions
Quick answers
Which days should I plan around?
The main sites are open every day of the week: the Giza Plateau 8:00–16:00, the Grand Egyptian Museum's galleries 9:00–18:00 with late opening to 21:00 on Wednesdays and Saturdays, the Egyptian Museum, the Citadel and the Coptic Museum from 9:00 or 8:00 to 17:00. The NMEC also opens Friday evenings 18:00–21:00. Hours shorten during Ramadan; Al-Azhar Mosque is closed to visitors during prayers on Fridays.
How do I buy tickets?
The Giza Plateau sells tickets at self-service machines that take bank cards, at the outlets and online at egymonuments.com; the Grand Egyptian Museum sells timed tickets on its official site, tickets.gem.eg, and at its machines and counters. Everywhere else the ticket office at the gate is fine. Foreign tickets are priced separately: 700 EGP for the Giza Plateau, 550 EGP each for the Egyptian Museum, the NMEC and the Citadel, 280 EGP for the Coptic Museum.
How do I get around?
Ride-hailing apps and taxis are cheap and the only practical way to Giza, the Citadel and the NMEC; agree or meter the fare before you go. Metro line 1 is useful for Coptic Cairo (Mar Girgis station) and Tahrir (Sadat): single tickets cost 10–20 EGP depending on distance. The Islamic Cairo day and the walk from Tahrir to the river are on foot.
The days these rules belong to
3 days in Cairo
Cairo's sights are far apart and its traffic is slow, so each day stays on one side of the city. Day one is Giza: the pyramids and the Sphinx at 8:00 before the heat and the buses, then the Grand Egyptian Museum, two kilometres away, for the afternoon, and the Cairo Tower for the sunset over the Nile. Day two is medieval Cairo on foot: the Citadel and the Muhammad Ali Mosque, the great Sultan Hassan mosque below it, the gardens of Al-Azhar Park, then Al-Azhar Mosque, Al-Muizz Street and dinner in Khan el-Khalili. Day three takes the metro to the churches of Coptic Cairo, sees the 22 royal mummies at the NMEC and finishes in the Egyptian Museum on Tahrir, with the Nile bridges at dusk. Everything is open daily; the timed tickets are for the Grand Egyptian Museum.
