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 Shaun K, Canada, November 2008
Doing what: Private Tour: Giza Pyramids, Sphinx, Memphis, Sakkara
We were picked up at our hotel with our own personal Egyptologist and driver in our own air-conditioned van to travel to see the pyramids. We visited several ancient Egyptian sights, saw the first pyramid, and the famous Giza Pyramids and Sphinx. Excellent tour!!
Review by Preston R, November 2008
Doing what: Private Tour: Giza Pyramids, Sphinx, Memphis, Dahshur
Note Sign up for the "Giza, Sphinx, Memphis and SAKKARA" tour. Our tour guide was awesome. When she picked us up, she gave us a great history on the pyramids and timeline. She also explained that Sakkara was the oldest pyramid and that we could see Dahshur pyramid from there if we wanted to change our itinerary. It was great being on a private tour with just our family, the guide and driver. I am SOOOO glad we did it this way rather than go on a traditional tour with a busload of people. You get to spend as much time as you want, where you want. Also, you get to go shopping during the tour and our guide was very flexible about lunch which was a plus since we had our 8-year old with us. One note - if you want to ride the horses or camels, have your guide negotiate a good price for you. Also, you can go into the Great Pyramid, but make sure you let the travel agency know when you set up the pick-up time for this tour. The guide needs to get your tickets early it is an extra charge. They only allow 300 people inside the pyramid per day 150 in the morning, 150 in the afternoon. Unfortunately, we didn't know this and missed it - but apparently it is just an empty area anyway.
Review by THOMAS S, Cyprus, November 2008
Doing what: Private Tour: Giza Pyramids and Sphinx
Every aspect of the tour was absolutely first class. Our contact for the week, was very helpful and friendly and arrived on time. Our minibus was clean, air conditioned and very well driven. Our tour guide, unfortunately I have forgotten her name, was really nice and treated us more like friends then tourists. She told the history of Egypt in a most interesting way and knew her stuff. We felt very good about everything. The pyramids and the sphinx were even better than we had expected. Splendid.
Review by June R, United Kingdom, November 2008
Doing what: Pyramids Sound and Light Show with Private Transport
Enjoyed the production although it was a bit "twee". The car picked us up at the hotel and met us after the performance. It was stunning to see the pyramids and sphinx illuminated.
Review by Shaun K, Canada, November 2008
Doing what: Pyramids Sound and Light Show with Private Transport
Earlier in the day we took the Private Tour Giza Pyramids, Sphinx, Memphis, Sakkara tour and came back at night for the light show with the same driver and host. The light show is something you definitely should see! The light show also provides some history you may have missed about Egypt and the pyramids.
Review by Joyce R, United Kingdom, November 2008
Doing what: Private Tour: Giza Pyramids, Sphinx, Memphis, Sakkara
This could have been a really good trip, but was let down by poor planning, and a disinterested guide. We were advised that a 9am pick up time would be good, and allow us enough time to see everything. The pick up was 30 minutes late, due to traffic. Having been to Cairo several times before, I was not surprised at the volume of traffic, so I would have thought the a firm based in the city wouldn't be caught by surprise. Our guide, a young lady called, was very pleasant, but far more interested in my tattoo and ID bracelet, than telling us about the various sites. The visit to the ancient capital of Memphis went like this - "Here's a large sandstone statue of Ramses II. This site is built on an ancient temple, you've got 30 minutes to look around and I'll meet you outside." No mention of when it was the capital city, who founded it, and when and why the capital moved. Our trip to Saqqara was equally uninformative, and can be summed up by the guide not recognising the hieroglyphs for the god Osiris, and suggesting instead it showed the tomb owner sitting down - I guess he was dead tired. At the pyramids, in order to fit in time to see the Sphinx, we had to miss out the Solar Boat Museum, and once again, much of the visit was given over to free time to wander around, whilst guide sat in the shade. At the Sphinx, no explanation was given about the Mortuary Temple of Chephren, it was simply a case of, get out of the van, look at the Sphinx, take some photos, and meet the guide, yes you guessed it, back in the shade.
Review by Chris A, USA, November 2008
Doing what: Private Tour: Giza Pyramids, Sphinx, Egyptian Museum, Khan el-Khalili Bazaar
Our guide spoke terrible English - we didn't understand anything he was saying. He wouldn't come to the bazaar with us and told us to take pictures of the Sphinx from the car - that we couldn't get out.
Review by WAYNE A R, United Kingdom, October 2008
Doing what: Private Tour: Giza Pyramids and Sphinx
The pick up on this trip was on time and the guide was very knowledgeable. We wondered before the trip how easy it is to get inside the pyramids it was surprisingly easy. There are plentiful tickets on sale for the second pyramid 25 Egyptian pounds, however it was more difficult to get tickets to the Great Pyramid as only 150 tickets are sold in the morning and 150 tickets for 1pm more expensive. We were told that advanced tickets were not available. These two pyramids are very similar in size. The photo opportunities are amazing, you can get close to the pyramids and the Sphinx. There are a number of locals that will try and get money for items or for taking photos however we did not find that a problem. We found it very hot inside the pyramid. It is made worse by having to crouch down and walk in a four, five foot high passage ways down and then up. We were only in the second pyramid for around 10 minutes and needed to drink lots of water after, take plenty of water with you. The only downside for us was the guide seemed to rush things along a bit and we needed to make efforts to slow things down and make a point of walking off on our own so we would have more time for photos etc. Also they do seem to try to tag on additional parts to the trip that involve buying items from factories, don't feel compelled to do these, just politely decline if they do not suit. Overall this is an awesome trip, a must do.
Review by Anonymous, October 2008
Doing what: Private Tour: Giza Pyramids, Sphinx, Memphis, Sakkara
The tour was definitely worth doing! we're able to know the history and culture of Egypt through our guide. But he should give us more time in the giza pyramid, sphinx, etc. than taking us to this perfume & carpet stores and spending more of our time there.
Review by Nathan J, Australia, September 2008
Doing what: Private Tour: Giza Pyramids, Sphinx, Memphis, Sakkara
My partner and I did this tour with two our friends and we were soooo excited about doing it. The guide picked us up at our hotel in an air conditioned mini van, on time, at 9am and we immediately warmed to her. We started with Sakkara and Memphis, and admittedly she was very knowledgeable about both sites. The Pyramids were what we were really waiting for, but were disappointed we were rushed through the entire experience. We literally spent 40 minutes around the base of the Pyramids including the time spent queuing to go into the Pyramid itself. The guide kept insisting "hurry up with the photos, we have to go". After the Pyramids we did a very expensive camel ride LE150 each AU30 which she said would take 30 mins - it took 15 mins. We were then taken to see the Sphinx, again rushed through it. When we came out the guide was hysterical asking where had we been. It was about 2:30pm by this stage and we had seen the four things we had expected to see. As it turned out it was a perfumery, followed by a bad Egyptian restaurant which we didn't eat at and papyrus, carpet shops etc. We insisted on simply grabbing a KFC burger - which put our guide into a foul mood as she listed all the other places we needed to visit, all gift shops that didn't interest us. At this point, I did put my foot down and said we were grabbing a burger, to which she asked if we could buy something for her and the driver. Unbelievable! She then proceeded to mention that a tip was also customary in Egypt! We were rushed, didn't enjoy the tour, and then tipped her at the end of it!!
Review by Anonymous, August 2008
Doing what: Private Tour: Giza Pyramids and Sphinx
We had a great experience. We were picked up at our hotel on time. Our guide did an excellent job of explaining the various parts of the city as we drove to Giza. The pyramids were larger than expected, while the Sphinx was a bit smaller, but both were truly awesome. The driver was excellent and got us through the traffic in record time. He also managed to get us right up to nearest spot so we didn't walk much. The car was a clean, late-model and air conditioned vehicle. I would recommend the tour to all tourists, from any part of the world, as this is truly one of the 'Wonders of the World'.
Review by Rachel H, USA, August 2008
Doing what: Private Tour: Giza Pyramids, Sphinx, Memphis, Dahshur
The trip was really good. We were able to walk into the pyramids, ride camels, and we also stopped by a papyrus institute, perfume shop, and carpet school though the guide and driver sometimes made comments that were a bit rude. Beware of the hasslers at the Giza Pyramids and Sphinx who are constantly attempting to put items in your hands or on you by telling you that it's a 'gift' and then demanding money.
Review by Anonymous, June 2008
Doing what: Private Tour: Giza Pyramids, Sphinx, Memphis, Sakkara
We had a good day and saw a lot. However, the tour guide was very aggressive in his attitude towards us. We felt harrased by his approach towards our group. Also one of the highlights of the trip was Giza and Sphinx and we did not spend a lot of time at the Giza and almost no time at the Sphinx. We were hardly allowed to go see the Sphinx. He took us to the entrance and we had to take a photo from far away. Our group had to run in to have a sneak view of the Sphinx and run back out. I personally would have liked to spend some time at one of the biggest wonders of Egypt. We ended up spending countless hours at places that was not important and could not enjoy the important parts of the trip. I did not like the tour guide at all. I felt that he was telling a lot of lies and was deceiving us all the time. Unfortunate that the wonders of Egypt had to be spoiled by the guide!!!
Review by Anonymous, May 2008
Doing what: Private Tour: Giza Pyramids, Sphinx, Memphis, Sakkara
The pyramids and sphinx were awesome, but guide more interested in taking us to a papyrus shop.
Review by Anonymous, September 2007
Doing what: Private Tour: Giza Pyramids, Sphinx, Memphis, Sakkara
If I could give 5 stars for this tour I would, it was fantastic. The Pyramids and Sphinx are even better in real life than they look in pictures. We spent alot more time at each place than we would have if we had done a big bus tour and we were able to stop in a great Government Papyrus store to get souvenirs we knew were genuine. Our guide was awesome and made the history of Egypt fascinating. Also good to get see all the sites in the same area in the same day instead of wasting time crossing from one side of Cairo to the other.
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