Saqqara, Memphis & Dahshur Day Tour

Leave the city behind and travel south to Saqqara, the vast necropolis of the ancient capital Memphis. Here stands the Step Pyramid of Djoser, designed by the visionary architect Imhotep around 2670 BC as the first large stone building in human history. Walk through the monumental enclosure wall and peer into tombs decorated with scenes of daily life that feel startlingly alive.

Continue to nearby Dahshur, part of a UNESCO World Heritage zone still blissfully free of large crowds. The Bent Pyramid reveals a fascinating construction experiment frozen mid-course, while the Red Pyramid — the first true smooth-sided pyramid ever completed — can be entered via a ramp into its atmospheric burial chambers.

Finish the day at Memphis, founded around 3100 BC as the first capital of a unified Egypt. In its open-air museum you will come face to face with the colossal recumbent statue of Ramses II and the magnificent alabaster Sphinx, perfect final chapters to the story of how pyramid building began.