Stopover Tour of Cairo

We can’t say enough about our wonderful 3-day visit to Cairo/Alexandria with Memphis Tours. Marwa did an excellent job providing tour options and coordinating logistics. We spent one day visiting pyramids, one day touring Cairo and one day in Alexandria. We also enjoyed a Nile dinner cruise. We were met at our hotel the first day by Amgd, the tour manager, and Imed, our guide. Both are very personable and professional. Imed and our amazing driver, Magdy, managed our daily tours and could not have been more courteous, responsive and knowledgeable. We learned so much and felt very well taken care of. There was not one question that Imed didn’t have the answer for and Magdy’s driving skills are beyond impressive. Taking us to the papyrus and jewelry stores were thoughtful gestures that helped us get wonderful mementos of our trip. All in all, I would highly recommend the Memphis Tours team for an amazing and perfectly coordinated holiday in Egypt.

I visited Cairo in the 3rd week on Jan and booked a 6 hours trip to the Giza Pyramids through Memphis tours.
The tour started on time at 08:00 am. While Mohamed Abdel Salam ([email protected]) gave me a brief historic overview our driver navigated carefully through the never ending traffic.
It was a very pleasant experience. Many tourists seem to avoid Egypt at the moment however I always felt safe even though I would recommend to avoid being on the road on Fridays. Most major capitals in the world I have visited feel much more dangerous.
Mohamed was very engaged, helpful and knowledgeable for all my detailed questions. The best tour guide I ever had. I arrived as customer and left as friend.
I will definitely come back for an extended trip to Luxor!

I had a full day stop over in Cairo, I relied on Memphis tours, Upon arrival, I was piked up from the Airport on time, and then taken into the city where I met my tour guide. I visited all the key sites and land marks, and also experienced the taste of Egyptian cuisine. The host also ensured I got back in time to the airport right in time for my flight departure. The staff are very friendly and i was well looked after during my time there.

Many thanks to Mohamed Abdeltawab for hosting me, Tarek my tour guide, Emam and Waleed who were the tour drivers. First class services from all.

My wife and I visited Cairo back in September 2013 in a quick layover visit. I was fortunate enough to find Memphis Tours when doing a search in the internet. They answered fast since the very first e-mail I send. They met us at the airport as per the arrangements made. Our first contact was with Fady Samaan and it was great. Really friendly guy and excellent professional. To be honest we were a little worried about visiting Egypt, particularly Cairo but that concern got away when we met out guide and our driver. We felt very welcomed by them and also by the people in every place we visited. The sights and the experience are unforgettable. I strongly recommend Memphis Tours if you plan to go to Egypt -ask for Fady!-. As a matter of fact: Plan to go! The country is great and it is full with marvelous people that are waiting for you.
 
 

I had booked a private half day stopover tour to visit the pyramids. The guide Fady was excellent in making me feel comfortable and giving me the highlights of the area. There were some unforseen and unavoidable changes that were initially upsetting and he handled the situation with competence and kindness. I had an excellent tour.

We had a one day stopover in Cairo last week.
We were very fortunate to arrange a one day private tour of Cairo with Memphis.
We were picked up at the airport (inspite of a 2 hour delay - no complaint by our guide) - we got whisked to Giza. Great time visiting the pyramids (pretty much had the place to ourselves), great pics on a camel (don't forget to haggle), quick stop at a papyrus museum and shopping for some Egyptian cotton. A pick up lunch (delicious) and time at the Egyptian Museum (incredible - loved the King Tut exhibit so close). Walked through Tahrir Square - felt totally safe, drove through the Khan el Khaili bazaar and spent the evening at the gorgeous and tranquil Al Azhar park. Great for people (family ) watching, see many monuments from here and lovely lakefront restaurant. Then got dropped off at our hotel late evening.

A special shout out to our travel consultant Abdo Younnis - who was incredibly responsive, very patient and accommodating and forthcoming with suggestions - couldn't ask for more.
Our guide Moustafa in Cairo - besides being very knowledgeable, was very flexible, great company and always ready to take pics. Our driver seemed to find non-existent spaces in the traffic to get us moving in the insane traffic.
The customer care and service provided by Memphis Tours is exemplary and incomparable (I have travelled extensively so have a good basis for comparison). I recommend them with no hesitation and am looking forward to visiting Egypt for a longer visit with Memphis.
 

Our family was returning to London from Jordan. Our flight routed through Cairo and we had a full day to explore. Personally, having been to Cairo for business on several occasions, I wanted to take the opportunity to have the family experience the city and its sites. Memphis greeted us at the airport and arranged a terrific day at in Giza to see the pyramids and we finished off with lunch along the Nile...before heading back to the airport. Guides were terrific...service was excellent and it was great value.

 Our family was returning to London from Jordan. Our flight routed through Cairo and we had a full day to explore. Personally, having been to Cairo for business on several occasions, I wanted to take the opportunity to have the family experience the city and its sites. Memphis greeted us at the airport and arranged a terrific day at in Giza to see the pyramids and we finished off with lunch along the Nile...before heading back to the airport. Guides were terrific...service was excellent and it was great value.
 
 

I found Memphis Tours in the internet after searching for reputable operators in Egypt. My wife and I have a stopover in Egypt and want to make the most of our time there. We have since booked a 1 day (hours really) tour in late September. Our tour operator Mohamed Sakr has been extremely helpful and has been able to answer our questions regarding the current political situation in Egypt. We hope to have a great day tour in Egypt and will surely post a review of the tour itself after we finish it!

I can not say a single bad thing about this tour. The guide was excellent and I learned so much in a single day. I arrived on the first day of the protests and had been advised by others to stay in the airport (18hr layover). I was assured by the staff at Memphis tours that my safety was their first concern and they would see that I was not in any danger. I can not say how glad I am that I did not listen to others and I went with the tour. At no time did I feel that they were not looking after me. Thanks Memphis Tours for an extremely great tour. The guide I had (Aymen) was exceptional.

- Memphis tours is a very professionally run organization with excellent, hard-working staff who are committed to keeping you safe and showing you that life is still going on and that you can certainly avoid any hotspots in Cairo despite what media reports may be trying to make you believe.
- Driving in Cairo is absolutely crazy (no stop lights, no lines on the roads, no real road rules). Our driver Mohammed did an incredible job navigating the wild and crazy streets!
- We visited during the day on Sunday, August 3, 2013. If we had made our decision to travel based strictly on what we were seeing in the news in Canada, there is no way we would have chosen to travel. The impression I got on the news was that the entire city of Cairo was engaged in constant battle between anti-Morsi and Morsi or Muslim Brotherhood supporters. We spent the entire day travelling around many different parts of Cairo, and, with the exception of seeing several army personnel carriers sitting in front of the museum, we did not see any protests or problems.
- Cairo is not a city I personally would want to spend much time in. We were touring the city sights for about 10 hours and that was enough for me. I am very much looking forward to spending several days enjoying Sharm el Sheik on our way back through Egypt.

General thoughts

Several months ago, my husband and I decided that we were going to plan an African Safari holiday in August. When I started looking for flights from Canada to Kenya, the best flight (cost and times) at that time was for us to fly with EgyptAir. We would have a 16 hour layover in Cairo during our flight there and we decided to spend a week scuba diving in Sharm el Sheik at the end of the safari.
We decided that using our layover day in Cairo to see the pyramids, Sphinx, and other Egyptian highlights would work best for us. I started researching on TripAdvisor and after sending out a couple emails for further information, I decided quite quickly that we would use the services of Memphis Tours during our time in Egypt.
I spoke with their contact person Abdo numerous times through email and she always responded quickly in a detailed, very helpful manner. She did a great job of tailoring an itinerary to suit our needs.
As the time for our holiday approached, Egypt started having more serious political problems and after the removal of Morsi as president, the Canadian government issued a warning to citizens to avoid non-essential travel to Egypt. After looking into insurance concerns, we discovered that our travel health insurance through our credit card was not going to be valid should we choose to travel with the government advisory as it was. Fortunately, our coverage through our employers provided some insurance benefits so it’s important to read your policies carefully! After reading a great deal of information on the situation in Egypt, I apprehensively made the decision to follow through with our plans, as I was pretty confident that we could avoid the “hotspots” and Memphis Tours assured us that they would keep us very safe. Given that it’s in their best interest to ensure their customer’s safety, I decided that we’d check out a bit of our tour and if we felt uncomfortable, we would return to the airport.
On to our experience…our flight arrived quite a bit early but much to our relief, the tour manager Abdul was standing right at the gate with a sign that had our name on it. He was so helpful getting us visa’s and taking us through customs. Our flight arrived at about 5:00 in the morning so we were given a couple options of what to do until the pyramids opened. We chose to make our way to a former Royal Palace that has been transformed into a hotel and is located very close to the pyramids. Abdul was very friendly, helpful and willing to answer any of our questions.
After chatting at the hotel for a while, our tour guide for the day Medhat arrived and took us under his wing. Medhat was a friendly, informative guide with a good sense of humour. He told us a large amount of information about the pyramids and we were able to walk up them a little bit. We rode camels in the pyramid area for 20 minutes. We saw the sphinx and a temple used for mummification ceremonies. There were vendors at the pyramids but a simple “no, thank you” was enough to not be really hassled by them although I think it helped that we were with Medhat. On the drive to, and during our time at the pyramids, we saw absolutely no sign of the civil issues going on in Cairo.
The remainder of our day consisted of a visit to a few different stores that Medhat asked us if we wanted to check out – a cotton store, “paper from the Papyrus tree” store and a hieroglyphics jewelry and memorabilia store. All of these were government run and were legitimate places to make purchases.
We went to the Egyptian Museum and it was nice to have Medhat with us to explain the significance of various artifacts. We paid extra to go in to the Mummy room which was quite interesting and a good place to cool off.
Overall, it was an interesting day and a nice way to spend our time during our layover. Thanks to Memphis and all the staff.

We took a tour in June (before the recent violence) on our 17-hour layover on our way to Uganda. We got to see all the major sights, from the Giza Pyramids and Sphinx to the Egypt museum to the major mosque and market. We were met at the airport and driven in a private car to all the destinations, taken for lunch (which was included in the price of the tour, though whatever you drink at lunch is not, which wasn't really clear to us until we got the bill for our very expensive sodas and waters!) then returned to the airport in time for our flight. The guides were very friendly and professional and I would highly recommend this as a much better way of spending your layover than sitting at the airport! I think the cost was approximately $125 per person, which included all entrance fees, lunch and transportation and guide fees.

My sister and I booked our Memphis tour about 5 hours in advance. Surprisingly it wasn't a problem at all, and were pleased to find Memphis Tours waiting at the airport for us. (They even dropped us back off at the airport at 3 am on our last day so we could catch our flight.) Our tour guide, Medhat was incredible. He played the role of tour guide, photographer, body guard, older brother, and friend. He fought off locals who were trying to rip us off, and we felt very safe whenever we were with him. He let us know that this was our trip and to not be shy asking to change our schedule or to take pictures. I learned so much about the Egyptian culture through him, and he and our driver Abraham made the trip very fun, relaxing, and easy. I don't know how we could have survived seeing the sights and getting around Cairo without them. It's difficult to learn about the sights you're seeing without someone to explain what it is you're looking at and its history. Also, we would not be able to drive in Cairo's chaotic traffic at all, so we were very thankful for Abraham. Overall, this was a great experience and I would definitely recommend Memphis Tours! Happy travels.

Travelling in Africa we had 1 day transit in Cairo and we asked Memphis tour to organise for us a 1 day tour for main Cairo attractions. We get in contact with Fatima. I've never found such a proactive and reactive person in all my travel experiences: she was simply amazing! She answered in real time to all our requests (many) and doubts (some) and when we encounterd problems with a flight cancellation in arrival she was very kind and re-scheduled the tour for the same fare for our return date, and it happened all in real time 30 min after our communication at 10pm! I've never found such a customer care in any other service company.
The tour was exactly what communicated and agreed in advance and the guide speaking in our language was a real Egyptologist that really involved us in every explanation, giving us a deep experience of Egyptian ancient culture.
Thank you very much to all Memphis tour staff for making our short tour the best tour ever.
Visited January 2013

After many a trip across North America this was my first time off the continent. I had a layover in Cairo of 11 hours and was initially told that I did not have enough time to get to the pyramids or see much of Cairo. Was that ever the wrong advice! I was helped out by so many people at Cairo airport, a big help for me and my slightly lost ways. I was greeted by a tour rep who introduced me to my driver, Mohamed. I did not catch his last name. Everything you've heard about Cairo traffic is true, but i never phased him once! My tour guide was Mohamed Abdel Salam and he kept me quite entertained and informed the whole way through. He had great ideas and suggestions, was always looking out for me by suggesting where to go, who to avoid, and what we could do in our time. When he asks if you want to go to the market in Al Hussein Square, just trust him, alright?

 We had a 12 hour layover in Egypt on our way to Tanzania. We decided to go a day tour with Memphis tours. They took really good care of us. Even though we were just the 2 of us, we got a private tour. We were personally greated by the tour representative before the immigration section at the Cairo airport. He escorted us through immigration and took us to the car that was reserved for us. We were promptly taken to the Pyramids where we were greated by our Tour Guide Emad... He was very friendly and i was very impressed with his comprehensive knowledge of the history of egypt. He made us feel very comfortable and took really good care of us. Right after seeing the pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx, we were taken to see the Museum of Egypt.. he carefully explained the significance of all the statues on display. After a quick lunch, we were then taken to the Khan E Khallili market. He helped us bargain with the local shop vendors and we were able to get some really cute soveniors.. The best part of this company is that they allow you to customize the tour according to your need. They gladly changed the suggested tour on their website to suit us. We were dropped off at the airport well in time for our flight out of cairo. They were extremely professional and i loved the entire experience. Would definitely recommend this company..

 great trip. Mohammed Sakr and his crew were very helpful, informative, friendly. we enjoyed the trip, even if the trip from Cairo to Sinai was quite long. 8 hours, including lunch break.
thank you so much.

 Returning from holiday in May my wife and I had a 14 hour stopover in Cario, in between Bangkok and Johannesburg and decided to book a day tour to see the sights whilst we were in town. After a bit of searching on the internet prior to arriving we decided to use Memphis tours. 

 We were on a business trip and Egypt just available for sightseeing during the weekends. Memphis thru is excellent trip consultant Yosri Abdallah made possible for us to visit all the places we wanted, with a great flexibility, an excellent service and affordable prices. Yosri understood our interests and our availability and made a perfect customized trip for us. He, as well as the other Memphis employees that we deal with where very responsive and attentive. Even after the trip I still received an outstanding support from Yosri to get the invoices with the required level of detail that we needed.

 I had a 16 hour layover in Cairo and decided to to a day tour. Memphis Tours was wonderful from the first contact I had with them. They took care of all the arrangement, met me at the airport and my guide, Momen, was able to help me see all the highlights of Cairo. He was very informative, and also made sure I was safe. As a single female in a different culture, this was important to me. He also helped me avoid typical tourist trap areas and took me to places geared toward my interests. He and the driver, Hassan, were wonderful! Mohamed Abdo was the coordinator who met me at the airport and made sure all the arrangements were in place. The three of them made sure this tour was a relaxing mini-vacation with no hassles. I recommend anyone who is visiting Egypt book with Memphis Tours!

My family had a stopover in Cairo at the beginning of our trip to eastern Africa. I contacted Memphis Tours to help our small group of 4 people with arranging tours for some of the sites in the area. Yosri Abdallah helped me set up the itinerary for our trip and was professional, quick to respond to my questions and a very nice person. All of our transfers, hotel and tours were great and we had no problems. Our tour guide Achmed was very nice and knowldgeable of all of the sites we visited including the Pyramids, Sakkara, the Museum of Anitquities and Coptic Cairo. We all had a wonderful visit and I would highly recommend using Memphis Tours for your trip to Egypt.
Visited June 2011

 I had a 10 hour layover in Cairo on September 10, and did not want to stay in the airport. I had been to Egypt last year and loved it but did not get a chance to see the Pyramids at night. I contacted Memphis Tours and received an immediate response from Mr. Abdo Younis indicating that he could arrange a short transit tour for me. I could not be happier with my short time in Cairo. Abdel Fatah met me at the Immigtration and took care of everything for me. He was so nice and right from the first moment I knew he was going to be perfect! I was not disappointed!! He was amazing from start to finish. I felt like I was out with an old friend. he made the night magical! Our driver Adel was awesome and I am so impressed with his driving skill! It can't ne easy to drive in Cairo! Both gentlemen were the best I could have asked for and I would not hesitate to book Memphis on my visit to Egypt next September. I will beg for my 2 new friends!! Thank you Abdo, Abdel and Adel for everything.

 Wanted to book a tour in Cairo with some very precise timings etc & emailed Memphis Tours. They responded quickly & organised each step of the tour accordingly. All booked within 48 hours & now looking forward to actually doing the tour. Many thanks Memphis so far for a pain-free experience!

Bassem has been excellent with helping me plan my trip....so far so good...hope everything goes well moving forward!

 I had only an 8 hr layover in Cairo and wanted to see what I could with such little time so I booked with Memphis. When I landed, Abdul was inside passport control basically waiting for me just as I came off the plane. He guided me through currency exchange, to get an entrance visa and through passport control... This wasn't an expectation I had at all, but abdul's motto the whole day was "let me worry about everything, u relax and focus on Cairo!" the pyramids were closed by 3pm but he and our awesome driver Amr (who is skilled... And u need to be in Cairo) got me as close as they could from two vantage points... When we got out at the crazy pyramid gates, Abdul made sure that no one bothered me as we took pics, etc. Then we drove some back street in old Cairo, went in an old local mosque and Abdul shared many of his muslim traditions and helped me as a western tourist get a sense of his traditions and practice. We went for a ride on a felluca and afterward he took me to have smoke (hooka) ... I had never done it and was interested.. All in all we did a ton of stuff in a short period of time, more then I expected..and all while getting some off the beaten path experiences and some intelligent perspective and a good laugh. On your next tour, ask for Abdul, he'll make sure you get what you want your tour to be, and switch it up at any moment if you want to... Great time!

 Went on a layover tour through Memphis tours and never have I spent my time so well. The tour guide was very informative and the driver was also excellent. I could not travel the day I planned but they were ready to reschedule my tour whenever I arrived in Egypt. Thank you Memphis tours and thank you Mohamed Mokhtar for your prompt responses.

 We were extremely pleased with our tour of Egypt through Memphis Tours. From the minute we were picked up at the airport, we were treated very well. The tour directors were very personable and as soon as we landed in Egypt we were made to feel very welcome. The staff was prompt, efficient and very accommodating. The tour guides were very flexible and were willing to adjust our itineraries when we would discover a new site that we wanted to see. The drivers were excellent and kudos to them for managing to drive us through the chaotic traffic and get us to places on time. The tour guides were very knowledgeable and fun to be with - they soon became our friends. The staff on the cruise ship were also very friendly and we enjoyed the food and our accommodations. We would definitely recommend Memphis tours.

In July I am flying to Ethiopia via Cairo and have 10 hours in Cairo. Through the most efficient echat I have ever had, Fatima arranged a custom visit to the pyramids and Nile outing, answered all my questions, offered an efficient way to pay and wrapped it all up in less than 20 minutes. I look forward to returning to Egypt for a proper stay and will use Memphis Tours to make my arrangements. First Class Operation!
Visited June 2011

We had a 6 hour wait in Transit between our flights, and Memphis Tours were absalutely brilliant in helping arrange a tour to the pyramids for the short time we had in Cairo. Also to the sphinx, a couple of factory tours and a lovely buffet lunch to finish. I think this is such a brilliant idea, and far more interesting than waiting in the airport for 6 hours!! Bassem Saad was our contact through Memphis and at all times he was very quick with responding to all emails I sent him, polite and professional. Payment was taken promptly and we experienced no problems at all. We were greeted at the airport, and the guide which did our tour was extremely knowledgable, spoke very good english and was also an excellent photographer and got us some great photos! I highly recommend this company and would definately use them again next time i go to Egypt.

I missed my original flight to Cairo and only had 4 hours in Cairo and these guys made it happen!
Great on the fly decision making and service, stopping for tea, Egyptian whiskey and local tailgate breakfest on the way to pulling off a visit to Saladin's Citadel.
Much appreciation to my driver, Ahmed and Mr. Abd El Fatah Mohamed my guide. Recommended!

I had a stopover @ Cairo on 6 Apr 10 for @ 14 hours and decided to have a day tour to Giza, Memphis, Museum & Nile Cruise.

I had an online chat with a Memphis staff and he is very efficient, accommodating and able to customise the day tour for us with some discounts during our brief chat. He even email the online chat transcript to me without asking so that there is black & white which could minimise misunderstanding.

The person who receive the 3 of us @ the airport in the early hours is Mr Abdul and he is very welcoming and make our tour and rest fuss-free. Our guide is Mr Ahmad and we are very comfortable with him and we enjoy his company and tour very much.

We took the cruise to relax as well as to kill the evening hours before our flight. But the cruise was disappointing as the food wasn't nice and the spread was minimal. The belly-dancer was mediocre. 

Overall, the service of Memphis is excellent and we had a good time in our short trip, with no worry and fuss, and the whole tour was smooth sailing

Ok, this is awsome, arrived at Cairo at 9am and my connecting flight back would only leave Cairo al 4am the following day, so we hired Memphis tour, designed what we wanted to do and just let them take you, with their guide, their driver and their mini yes mini mini van. a little small for my husband 6ft, long legs but again it was only the two of us. we were able to do all we wanted in a timely manner and get to the dinner cruise on the nile everything is included, all people, all entrances, gas... only thing at the end of the day, a tip is expected for all, but what we thught was a good tip from what I had read online, I think at the end was a sour note.. but then again we paid almost $380 US dollars for two for one day.Also a little thing was that water was to be available all day in the mini van, but never got a drop of it, nor was I offered any at any given time, but I guess I could live with that, after having private tour of the national museum, a view of the pyramids, a photo op. of my husband with the belly dancer (hahaha) lunch at Hardrock cafe, visiting the sphinx, and much more valuable experiences from this trip than a drink of water one day in my life.Would use them again any time.