4 years ago when we first sat down and wrote out our top 5 wish list destinations, both Justin and I had Egypt on our lists. As we did more research and adjusted our final destination list, Egypt ended up being cut for being too hectic, too likely to get sick, too much to handle with the kids at this age. But when booking our Paris → Nairobi flight, an opportunity appeared. For no additional cost, we could do a 24 hour stopover in Egypt on our way down to Nairobi. It would not only serve as a break in a long travel leg, but also tick off a bucket-list destination.
The 4.5 hour flight itself from Paris to Cairo was uneventful, though the 3 hours leading up to the flight was some of our most stressful yet (check out our ‘mistakes so far’ post for more details on that). We arrived in Cairo around 9pm local time (which felt like 8pm to us) and went off in search of their short term free visa which would allow us to stay in Egypt for up to 96 hours. After some confusing directions and tired kids, we got the visa and through the 45 minute passport control line (man am I sick of lines…). We headed straight to our hotel near the airport as we had an early start the next morning with our private guide.
By the time everyone actually got into bed, it was nearly midnight and we had 7am tour start. When Justin was in Cairo for a whirlwind trip last fall for a friends wedding, he did a tour with Mohammad and knew he’d be great fit for our family. He kept his contact information and arranged this private day long tour for our family’s time in Cairo.
We reluctantly dragged ourselves out of bed and down to the lobby early the next morning to meet up with our guide. His welcoming smile and relaxed manner immediately left everyone feeling excited for the day ahead. He quickly explained that Mohammad was the most common name in Egypt, introducing himself as Mohammad 8,283,023 and our driver as Mohammad 6,342,421.
The car they had waiting for us outside the hotel was nice, with a small third row to accommodate the kids. It was good we were just travelling with our day packs (our large bags having been checked all the way through to Nairobi), because there wasn’t room for much else in the trunk. We started our ritual of setting up the girls in their travel booster seats when we discovered that two of the seatbelt buckles in the car were missing.
Our guide assured us we had “the best driver in Egypt.” Ironically, when we’d debated bringing booster seats — I had once argued “cars in Egypt probably won’t even have seatbelts.” Turns out I was right, but so Justin: the boosters have been invaluable.
To his credit, our driver was excellent, navigating the chaotic roads of Cairo where we were told the lines in the roads were more suggestions than rules. And our guide spent the entire day not wearing his seatbelt either, though I don’t know if it was a show of confidence or that seatbelts aren’t really a thing used in Egypt.
Our first stop was the Giza Pyramids, about an hour from our hotel. Mohammad spent the drive telling Justin and I all about Cairo and the history of the area while the girls played around in the back and eventually fell asleep. We arrived at the pyramids right when they opened, with very few other people having arrived yet. It was so early there was still morning fog in the area, making it difficult to see the monoliths from much of a distance. They have recently changed the set up around the Giza pyramids, requiring small groups to use their shuttle buses to explore the sight and requiring everyone trying to sell things, including camel rides, to have a permit. I had imagine this place as pure chaos around the pyramids with hawkers taking advantage of bewildered tourists, but instead it was immaculately manicured, calm and organized.
I was initially disappointed by the fog obscuring my first views, until Mohammad explained the next stop would put us right at the pyramids. It was amazing to see them up close, even seeing the fossils in the building stones. Security ropes protect most areas, but one corner allows visitors to climb onto the first level. We were still some of first people there and had a great opportunity to explore without the crowds. Mohammad took us over to an area that was covered in hieroglyphs and I surprisingly noted there were no barriers or anything stopping you from touching them (or heaven forbid ruining them). He explained that there was just too much to protect, so they pick the most important and unique areas and leave the rest accessible.
We took the bus down the next stop, the Sphynx. It was smaller than I thought it would be, though perhaps against the backdrop of the great pyramids everything looks small. We snapped playful photos before retreating from the rising heat.
We all slept our way to the second stop of the day, the pyramids of Saqqara, which was another hour away. The Pyramid of Djoser at Saqqara is the worlds first stone pyramid. It’s a six-tier step pyramid, the prototype for the later smooth sided pyramids.
Inside, we could peer down shafts without the claustrophobic crawl of Giza. Mohammad explained that two of the pyramid’s three entrances were traps for tomb robbers. The temperatures were really on the rise now and we didn’t stay super long here. Mohammad could sense our waning energies and said the one thing he knew could lift any spirits: our next stop would have lunch and ice cream.
The lunch spot was nice, obviously set up for tour groups, but offered a buffet and a small BBQ of meat brought right to your table. The girls had a hard time finding something to eat, even the rice being spiced different than what they were used to. We found they were willing to eat the pita like bread and the BBQ chicken and of course a giant mango smoothie. I’m not much of a meat eater but Justin said the BBQ lamb was really good, which lead to us trying to explain to Izzy that her Lambie was still safe.
Now that the grownups were at least full, we headed off to our last stop: the Grand Egyptian Museum, which opened in Nov 2025. This museum is the largest museum in the world dedicated to a single civilization, housing over 100,000 artifacts. The vast halls impressed us, though the girls quickly tired. We couldn’t help but be disappointed that there aren’t any mummies there — they’re displayed at the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization. Luckily, the GEM’s children’s museum offered hands‑on exhibits, a welcome change after a day of “don’t touch.” They actually had really fun hands on displays that I think would have been a nice to addition to the main museum for people of all ages. An hour in the kids museum flew by and then we headed out, back to the airport to catch our next leg of journey to Nairobi, Kenya.
