Sphinx
ATTRACTION Keywords:
Must-Do Experience,
Monument - Historical
Sphinx Reviews
We've found 65 Sphinx reviews from Viator.com travelers and members: what they loved, what they liked and what they think could be improved. It's all here to help you make the most of your next trip.
Review by Vijay D, February 2011
Doing what: Private Tour: Giza Pyramids, Sphinx, Memphis, Sakkara
Tour could have been better if Viator makes sure that the local tour agency that they are working with are reliable and trustworthy. In our case we felt cheated by the tour GUIDE and to some extend by Viator.
Some highlights were,not showing Sphinx internally, walking away after a short explainations.Not showing entrance to Khafre and mentioned it was closed (while it was not). Tour without proper explanation from tour guide is not worthy as we pay a lot in international currency . This makes one feel cheated. What he did was arranged a camel ride and told us that we should pay him later which was thrice the normal price.We found that camel ride and ticket can be bought at ticket office together. We found out above after going once again to the Pyramids. He took us to the perfume factory which was not included in tour and we had to pay $80 for a very small bottle of perfume which was four time the cost. So the question is should one relay on tour guides!! or what Viator can do to improve service and avoid such guides as we had to go once again to see the pyramids. Managing on our own was more convinient and satisfactory. It was total waste of money in first instance. It was a private tour but we felt forced.
Review by TERENCE G, November 2010
Doing what: Private Tour: Giza Pyramids and Sphinx
Punctual pick up from hotel in nice clean air conditioned vehicle. Escorted arounf Pyramid site & Sphinx by knowledge English speaking guide. Level of information imparted was just right. An excellent tour.
Review by MARK P, November 2010
Doing what: Private Tour: Giza Pyramids, Sphinx, Egyptian Museum, Khan el-Khalili Bazaar
This tour was nothing more than a sham shopping trip with side trips to the Pyramids, Sphinx, museum. I would give 0 stars if I could. My guide took me to no less than 5 government-run shops, each with high-pressure salespeople who wouldn't take "No!" for an answer. Traveling alone, at times I felt threatened and found myself buying stuff just to get out of there. When would I ever wear a thobe in the Midwest? And the guide was no help; he got in on selling me stuff. The Guide spent so much time taking me through the shops that I only had 30-minutes at the Museum. This was barely enough time to get to the Tut Exhibit. The Guide made no mention of the Bazaar. The camel ride at the Pyramids was supposed to be the experience of a lifetime. It was priced as such. I made a point of asking The Guide about the price before starting. The Guide said it would be handled after the ride but that he would negotiate a "good price". As his company was recommended by Viator, I trusted him. Big mistake! After the 25-minute ride, The Guide negotiated $140 (USD) for the ride. I shudder to think what he negotiated it from. To add insult to injury, the camel handler demanded a tip as did his manager whom came out of no where. As we departed, I saw the manager hand The Guide a few bills. At the end of the "tour", The Guide asked for his tip as we dropped him somewhere Downtown. Luckily, he settled for a price that was more than I paid Viator ($128). What exactly did I pay for? I certainly didn't sign up for a sham shopping trip and an unscrupulous tour guide. Epic Fail!!!
Review by Wickliffe N, October 2010
Doing what: Private Tour: Giza Pyramids, Sphinx, Memphis, Sakkara
This tour was excellent and very much as advertised. It lasted about 6 hours and we saw all the sites including the Solar Boat and Lunch add ons which were worth it. Our guide, Fowsi (or Bowsi?) was also our guide the next day for the Egytian Museum, Mosque and Khan el-Khalili tour - see my review for that tour as well. The guide was very well educated, nice and accomodating, though at times he did push things we weren't interested in. He took us to a carpet making factory which was nice because we saw how they made them and most importantly, nobody was trying to push us to buy something. Then however he took us to a Egyptian cotton store which was nothing more than a typical boutique with a guy following us around trying to sell us stuff. We then went to a perfume making store which was a cross between the carpet factory and the Egyptian cotton store though admittedly, we did buy a bottle of perfurm. Like most reviews you'll reed, these extra visits seem more like a sales opportunity for the locals than an educational value add. I'd recommend Viator work with there guides on being less aggresive in taking visitors to these places unless they're interested in going. As we were driving past the Sphinx after the pyramids, he pointed them out but was going to drive right past them until we told him we of course wanted to stop. Are you kidding, go to Egypt and not stop for the Sphinx??? Again, he was very educated, nice and acommodating though. I'd rate the guide an 8 of 10 - which notably is a slightly better score than our opinion of him the next day.
Review by Anonymous, August 2010
Doing what: Private Tour: Giza Pyramids, Sphinx, Egyptian Museum, Khan el-Khalili Bazaar
I had this tour booked for myself only. We started at the pyramids and the Sphinx. I felt a little rushed at first, but I insisted that I have more time seeing as I was the only one on the tour. We then took a "side trip" to a perfumed oil sales shop and a papyrus place. I don't remember seeing either of those stops on the tour list. I declined to buy anything from either place. I also skipped out on the Khan el Khalili Bazaar part of it because I wasn't in the mood for more shopping. Glad I did because the place is a dump. The Egyptian museum was cool, but the guids "tour explanations" were shallow at best and she basically left me alone to wander the place. After you've seen King Tut's things you've seen it all really. Statue after statue, mummy after mummy, broken pottery..etc. The plus side was having the tour to myself and being picked up at my hotel without having to navigate public transportation. The minus was feeling rushed and the side trips - I'm sure the guids would have got a cut off the proceeds.
Review by Allyson W, USA, July 2010
Doing what: Private Tour: Giza Pyramids, Sphinx, Memphis, Sakkara
My tour guide "Walaa" was the best. Very knowledgable and explained different of Cairo as we passed them. Don't pass up the chance to go to the Carpet school. Explains why Parisan carpets cost so much. Memphis was great so were the Pyramids, Sphinx and Sakkara step pyramid. Let your guide negotiate the price of your camel ride. That will save you alot of money and time.
Review by Anonymous, July 2010
Doing what: Private Tour: Giza Pyramids, Sphinx, Memphis, Sakkara
We had a very bad experience. We had to try three telephone calls in Egypt to contact the tour provider, and they never called me back to confirm by booking. On the third attempt of telephoning to discuss my tour someone said ok we will collect you, as if it was far too much trouble! When the trip started we were told we would have 15 minutes at 2 pyramids and 15 minutes at the Sphinx. 15 minutes to view and tour these sites is just not enough, the queues waiting and walking around the pyramids were naturally busy and long, so by the time we had walked to the sites it was time to return to our tour guide. Our guide did not walk with us to the sites, she remained in a minibus, so we could not ask questions or get info about what we were viewing and touring. When it was time to visit a carpet, perfume and papyrus shop we were given hours to view. We were not interested in such lengthy times viewing shops, we wanted more time at the pyramids. We told our driver and our tour guide the pyramids was our main reason for visiting Cairo and we would like to have extra time at these sites, we did not want to spend hours in the carpet college and papyrus shop, nevertheless we spent wasted hours in them. This trip was very disappointing, we had no control to change the venue schedule once it had started with our tour adviser, she had her own schedule agenda and we had no choice but to spend the entire of our paid trip conducting the tour as she wanted it. We are very disappointed with the Viator trip, I will not be using the service again. Don't waste your money
Review by Rachana T, United Kingdom, July 2010
Doing what: Private Tour: Giza Pyramids and Sphinx
We had the same tour guide as the egyptian museum who completely ruined the experience for my daughter. The tour guide was rubbish, completely disinterested and couldn't care less. He didn't tell us the mirths and legends about the pyramids sphinx, infact he was boring and didn't like it when we asked questions.
Review by Margaret J, Australia, May 2010
Doing what: Private Tour: Giza Pyramids, Sphinx, Memphis, Sakkara
The culmination of a life long desire to see the various sites.We were disappointed that the Sphinx is condemned to look at Pizza Parlour but that is not your fault.
Review by Anonymous, May 2010
Doing what: Private Tour: Giza Pyramids, Sphinx, Memphis, Sakkara
It was good, but could have been better. The guide was always trying to take us to places to sell us gold or rugs. We did not like that. We went to Cairo to see the Giza Pyramids, Sphinx, Memphis and Sakkara. I was very disappointed.
Review by James S, United Kingdom, April 2010
Doing what: Private Tour: Giza Pyramids, Sphinx, Egyptian Museum, Khan el-Khalili Bazaar
Excellent way to sightsee when you have only a short time in Cairo. Far better than joining a coach tour, and the guide was extremely knowledgeable. Small point is that the tour should end after the Sphinx!
Review by Gillian W, United Kingdom, April 2010
Doing what: Pyramids Sound and Light Show with Private Transport
We were disappointed with the actual light show. The pyramids and the sphinx still made it bearable though. Our guide and driver though were worth a 5 star rating.
Review by Julie T, USA, March 2010
Doing what: Private Tour: Giza Pyramids and Sphinx
The Pyramids and Sphinx were amazing. Our guide was very nice and knowledgeable. It was a private tour, which was great because we could go at our own pace.
Review by Manish P, USA, March 2010
Doing what: Private Tour: Giza Pyramids and Sphinx
This is a review of the TOUR only not of the pyramids and Sphinx. The tour is great. I was there for only a day and they picked me up on time in the morning at my hotel called to confirm prior, and took me straight to the Pyramids. The tour lady was very knowledgeable and nice and allowed us to take our time taking pictures etc.. Unlike many places in the world ie, India, the tour lady gave us the OPTION to go to the tourist traps after perfume shop and papyrus store. We actually agreed to go and were pleasantly surprised. Nobody was pushy. Great experience if you are there for a day only!
Review by Anonymous, March 2010
Doing what: Private Tour: Giza Pyramids and Sphinx
The Pyramids and the Sphinx are extremely impressive to see with your own eyes, photographs do not do justice. We only had a day in Cairo - a must see even on a short stop over!
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