A day trip to Cairo from Sharm

Each and every year, tourists descend upon the renowned destination of Sharm el Sheikh from Britain. They come to unwind by the beach or swimming pool. Some want to scuba dive and other spend hours snorkelling on neighbouring coral reefs. There are enough excursions offered for travellers and tourists to Sharm and undoubtedly one of the more successful ones is a tour to Egypt’s capital, Cairo.

Cairo is home to the world renowned Pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx but the day outings to Cairo offer you considerably more than only these age-old monuments. From Sharm el Sheikh, visitors can either get to Cairo by road or air. Either way, its an early morning start with road outings departing at close to 2am and flights at close to five in the morning. It makes for a long day ahead but it is definitely worth the effort.

Itineraries can vary on trip to trip but normally starts off with a pay a visit to the Cairo Museum or to give it’s proper title “The Museum of Egyptian Antiquities in Cairo”. A lot of the morning is spent at the museum and it is full with some popular items. Several of the more wonderful treasures are those that were found in the tomb of the boy Pharaoh Tutankhamen which include the renowned gold and blue death mask. There are quite a few items of furniture and ornaments and one thing that is noticeable is how well the colours are preserved in a number of the items bearing in mind they are 1000′s of years old. Nonetheless there is simply too much to explore in the museum which means travellers have to decide on the areas they want to look at.

From the museum, the tour group is driven down to the River for lunch aboard a river boat. There is a decent array of food and for entertainment there are also dancers. On the other hand, you’re able to watch the Cairo skyline pass by as you sail up and back to your departure point.

The next item on the itinerary are the Pyramids of Giza. Looking at a great many photos, you should be forgiven for imagining the Pyramids are in the middle of the desert but that isn’t true. The Pyramids and Sphinx are merely on the outskirts of Cairo. It is extremely hard not to be impressed after you get up close to the Great Pyramid by the actual size of the it. You’re able to have a good amount of time here to wander round the Pyramids and there are no lack of local people trying to sell you a large array of mementos or rides on their camels. There are a lot of chances for photos prior to the tour coach drives you a bit further down to the Sphinx. Again, you will be given the opportunity to purchase all sorts of souvenirs and there are further photograph opportunities. Yet, the Sphinx has not worn nearly as well as the Pyramids therefore you can not get as near to it. Its late afternoon as the tour leaves Cairo’s most well-known tourist sights but there is still time for one or two more stops.

The first of these stops is at a perfume shop where your are asked to try some of the numerous perfumes the shop stocks. From here the tour bus gets going to head back to the airport with one final stop en route. Papyrus is the paper like material made by the ancient Egyptians from the pith of the Papyrus reed. It was used to write on but nowadays, it is a popular tourist souvenir, generally with images of age-old Egyptian gods and similar images. At the Papyrus shop, there is a wide range of Papyrus available and people can also observe a demonstration of how modern day Papyrus is created.

The tour coach leaves and the tour group to Cairo is over. The tour group now heads back to the airport for the flight back to Sharm el Sheikh or the road journey. The day excursions to Cairo from Sharm are quite exhausting but are great value. For holiday makers staying in Sharm el Sheikh, it is a pretty good way to see some of the sights of Cairo without actually staying there.