When we were planning our month-long backpacking trip for our family of six, I spent a lot of time researching how to do the pyramids on our own. The internet was full of horror stories. And everyone’s message was the same: TAKE A TOUR. So, I went through our hostel and took a tour.
I knew exactly what I wanted our family to see and double checked before leaving on the tour. I had booked a tour to see the pyramids at Saqqara and Dahshur, as well as the most famous Giza Pyramids. But instead of just spending our time at the sites, our day was crammed full of all the normal tourists traps – carpet shops, papyrus shops, etc. We spent very little time at the pyramids. This may be the way some people prefer to see the pyramids, but for our family, we left one of the greatest wonders of the world feeling disappointed and rushed. We decided to try again the next day on our own.
Here’s how we did our day visiting the Giza Pyramids without a tour:
Download a Taxi App
Our first switch was to download the InDrive app onto our phone. This particular app gave us the ability to barter a price directly with a taxi driver before getting picked up. This way we knew that both parties were happy with the decided price that we would be paying at the end of the trip. We paid in cash with Egyptian Pound.
Our friend who was traveling with us already had the Uber app downloaded on her phone, which was attached to her American credit card, and she was able to book through the Uber app and then pay directly through the app (no cash needed).
Find a Close Location
I looked for a location near the pyramids instead of at the pyramids, so my taxi price would not skyrocket for being a tourist. I found a Pizza Hut across from the pyramids where we started and ended our day. This gave us set prices on food (no haggling us while inside Pizza Hut), a wonderful view of the sphinx and pyramids, and a rest from the heat before and after entering the site.
Dismiss All “Help”
As we went up to the ticket booth, we were bombarded with people wanting to help us. We just continued to say no to anyone. Buy your tickets, they take both cash and credit card and enter. Continue saying no to everyone.
Camel Rides – Your Way
When you enter the pyramids from the Pizza Hut entrance, there will be signs with the amount for a camel ride. What we found was that even though we said we didn’t want a camel ride, we were not left alone. Our family decided to offer a percentage of the price for a short camel ride. Once we bargained and took the very short camel ride, we were left alone to explore.
Explore on Your Own
We spent several hours walking through the sand, away from all the crowds. What a vast difference it was between the two experiences. One being a quick walk by one pyramid in a crowded spot as part of a tour and the other being hours wandering around all of the pyramids – the three king pyramids and the smaller queen pyramids. We were able to read about each pyramid on our own on the internet, so we became our own guides as we took the time we wanted to see each site.
There were people selling water along the road, so that we did not get overly thirsty and as I mentioned, we entered and exited at the Pizza Hut entrance, so we were able to cool down and have another drink at Pizza Hut before ordering a taxi back to our hostel.
Choosing to travel off the beaten path does not necessarily mean you stay away from the great wonders of this world. But it’s willing to try to visit in a different way than the status quo. We were able to see the pyramids in a way that made us feel like we were one of the only visitors there that day, even though there were actually hundreds of others who stopped by on tours.
