Tours, sightseeing tours, activities & things to do | Viator.comPrivate Tour: Giza Pyramids, Sphinx, Memphis, Sakkara
based on 69 reviews of Private Tour: Giza Pyramids, Sphinx, Memphis, Sakkara
Read what other Viator.com travelers think about the Private Tour: Giza Pyramids, Sphinx, Memphis, Sakkara. 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.
Nice place!
Reviewed by: Sylvio M, Brazil, April 2009
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.
Reviewed by: Bruce R, United Kingdom, October 2008
The tour guide kept giving us a ridiculous amount of time to do sightseeing. In Sakkara, she gave us 30 minutes, but we ended up spending more than 1 hour, and when we came back to her, she was all angry and in a bad mood. Give me a break!
Reviewed by: Joao Paulo P, Australia, October 2008
The driver is punctual and the guide is very well knowledgeable. The timing is quite rushing not sure if it's due to Ramadan. We didn't even get to see the Solar Boat when it's included in our package. It was a new experience on the camel ride for an additional cost but we feel it's not really worth it. The lunch is good except that we have to pay for drinks.
Reviewed by: Anonymous, Malaysia, October 2008
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!!
Reviewed by: Nathan J, Australia, September 2008
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!!!
Reviewed by: Anonymous, South Africa, June 2008
The pyramids and sphinx were awesome, but guide more interested in taking us to a papyrus shop.
Reviewed by: Anonymous, United States of America, May 2008
This trip should probably have started much earlier than 9 a.m., since it was getting extremely hot by the time we got the end. There was also no suggestion of stopping for something to eat, which made it a very long day.
Reviewed by: Steven M, Belgium, June 2007
This private tour is not at all worth the money. Our tour guide did not provide any information that I couldn't find in my guidebook. She even bought a 'Concise History of Egypt' book while we were at the papyrus shop and was reading it in the car. This did not make me confident in her abilities as an Egyptologist. In addition to that, she scammed us into giving her money to bargain for a camel ride.
Reviewed by: Audrey S, United States of America, April 2009
