The largest standing file in the QPass archive. Thirty-four cards on the open-air sites that, unlike the museums, are walked rather than browsed — Giza, Saqqara, Dahshur, Memphis, Karnak, Luxor Temple, the Valley of the Kings and Queens, Hatshepsut, Medinet Habu, the Ramesseum, Deir el-Medina, the river-side temples on the Nile-cruise leg (Edfu, Esna, Kom Ombo), Philae and Abu Simbel in the Nubian south, Dendera and Abydos out of Sohag, plus the Islamic-Cairo open-air sites (Citadel of Saladin, Mosque of Sultan Hassan, Al-Muizz Street Mamluk corridor, Bab Zuwayla, Mosque of Ibn Tulun). Rotated quarterly for the Cairo-and-Giza cards and twice-yearly for the rest.
A practical note before the cards. Open-air sites in Egypt are walked, not browsed — they require shade planning, sun protection, water, and an honest assessment of the heat tolerance of your group. Most of the cards below carry a "best window" recommendation that is genuinely the difference between a memorable visit and a miserable one. Karnak in May at 14:00 is unpleasant; Karnak in May at 07:00 is breathtaking. The cards do not pad these recommendations — the desk has no incentive to underplay the discomfort because we walk these sites four times a year and would rather you have a good visit than a bookable one.
Card 015Ticket EGP 540 base; Khufu interior EGP 900 (worth it on first visit); Khafre interior EGP 350; Solar Boat EGP 200. Verdict: half-day. The panoramic point south of Khafre is free and is the photograph of the day. Avoid 11:00–14:00 in summer. Side door: the back entrance from Pyramids Road avoids the village touts.
Card 017Ticket EGP 450 base, Serapeum supplement EGP 200 (worth it), Mereruka tomb EGP 150 (worth it for relief programme). Verdict: 3 h combined with Dahshur. Avoid the Imhotep Museum on the way in unless not yet visited. Side door: arrive before 08:30 — buses queue at 09:00.
Card 020Ticket EGP 100 (the cheapest pyramid ticket in Egypt). Verdict: 90 min combined with Saqqara. The Red Pyramid interior is the gentlest pyramid descent in Egypt. The Bent Pyramid exterior reads better than the photograph. The lack of tour buses is the entire point. Side door: the half-day combination from Cairo with Saqqara works without a driver overnight.
Card 023Ticket EGP 450, combined Luxor + Karnak EGP 600 saves about 30%. Verdict: 3 h. Arrive 06:45 — the Hypostyle is empty for 40 minutes. The Sacred Lake circuit and the open-air museum (separate small ticket, easily missed). The evening sound-and-light is skippable. Side door: the back path through the Khonsu temple is much shadier in summer.
Card 025Ticket EGP 300, combined Luxor + Karnak EGP 600 saves ~30%. Verdict: 90 min. Best between 18:30 and 20:00 when the columns are lit. Avoid 11:00–15:00 in summer — open courtyards radiate heat. The Avenue of Sphinxes walks back to Karnak (closes 22:00). Side door: the evening session has 40% fewer visitors than the morning.
Card 028Supplement EGP 100, separate ticket sold at the inner enclosure. Verdict: 45 min. The Akhenaten talatat reconstruction (talatat blocks reassembled from the Karnak temple of Aten that was dismantled) is the most extensive monument-reassembly project in Egyptian archaeology. Side door: easily missed if you do not specifically ask at the inner-enclosure ticket desk.
Card 031General EGP 600 (3 tombs); Seti I supplement EGP 1,400 (worth it — longest, best-preserved open tomb); Nefertari EGP 1,400 in the Valley of the Queens (worth it, photography rules tightened April 2026); Tutankhamun EGP 360 (skippable — tiny chamber). Verdict: 2.5 h. Side door: the first ferry at 06:00 gets you in before the convoys.
Card 035Ticket EGP 360. Verdict: 90 min. The middle-terrace Punt expedition relief, the chapel of Anubis on the upper terrace, the panoramic view back across the Theban necropolis. Almost no shade. Side door: pay the shuttle fee from the gate — the walk is unpleasant in any season. Visit before 09:00 or after 16:00 May–October.
Card 037Ticket EGP 200. Verdict: 90 min. The Sea Peoples relief on the outer enclosure (the most complete battle-narrative relief in Egyptian art), the small palace ruins south of the main court. Most under-visited major site on the west bank. Side door: the colour on the upper wall scenes is preserved better than at Karnak.
Card 039Ticket EGP 450 + EGP 350 boat fare negotiated at Marsa. Verdict: 2 h. The boat approach is part of the value — Hadrian's Gate from the water is the photograph. Late-afternoon light at 16:00 flatters the carvings. The evening sound-and-light show is skippable. Side door: the southern landing has 30% lower boat rates than the front jetty at the Old Cataract end.
Card 044Combined ticket EGP 600 for Ramses II and the smaller Nefertari temple. Verdict: 90 min on site, worth the 04:00 convoy from Aswan. The smaller Nefertari temple is the under-recommended visit and is often skipped — should not be. Equinox tickets (22 Oct, 22 Feb) sell out 3 months ahead. Side door: the road convoy is cheaper than the morning flight and gives you 90 minutes on site.
Card 047Three river-side Ptolemaic temples standard on every Nile cruise. Edfu EGP 360, 90 min, most intact relief programme. Esna EGP 200, 30 min, smallest and most damaged but recent ceiling-cleaning is striking. Kom Ombo EGP 240, 60 min, the double Sobek-Horus temple, best at sunset. Side door: reachable independently by train and taxi if you do not take a cruise.
Card 050Combined ticket EGP 360 covers Citadel, Mosque of Muhammad Ali, Police Museum, Military Museum. Verdict: 3 h. The Alabaster Mosque interior, the panoramic view across Cairo from the eastern terrace, the Police Museum (unexpectedly strong). Skip the Carriage Museum unless raining. Side door: the rear entrance on Salah Salim avoids the bus drop-off.
Card 052Combined ticket EGP 180. Verdict: 90 min for both. The Sultan Hassan central court is the most spatially impressive Mamluk interior in Cairo. Al-Rifa'i opposite is later (early 20th C) but the marble work is exceptional. Side door: dress code strictly enforced — shoulders and knees covered, women cover hair.
Card 054Individual sabils EGP 60–80, Al-Aqmar mosque EGP 40. Verdict: 3 h walking visit from Bab Zuwayla to Bab al-Futuh. The Sultan Qalawun complex, the Bashtak palace, the Wikalat al-Ghouri craft showcase. The architectural spine of Mamluk Cairo. Side door: visit Friday after 14:00 when most shops reopen post-prayer.
Late June through August at midday is genuinely hazardous at open-air sites south of Cairo. The Valley of the Kings and Hatshepsut are particularly exposed and the rock radiates heat after about 11:00. Visit before 09:00 or wait until 16:00. Karnak is shadier on the inside but the Sacred Lake circuit is still unpleasant in August at noon. The Window of the Year file carries the full month-by-month picture.
Mostly no. For Karnak, Luxor Temple, the pyramids and Dahshur a good printed guide and a steady pace produce a better visit than a generic group-tour commentary. The exceptions are Abydos (where the relief programme benefits from explanation) and the Valley of the Kings if you want to understand the iconography of the specific tomb you are in.
If you have never been inside an ancient Egyptian pyramid, yes — the Grand Gallery is structurally remarkable even after thirty centuries. If you have already done the Red Pyramid at Dahshur the Khufu interior is less interesting per unit of supplement, and the Khufu air is famously stale. The Khafre interior is the under-recommended alternative.
The unified-camera-ticket system replaced the per-site camera fees in early 2024. Most sites now sell an EGP 50–100 photography permit that covers still photography across the day. Video and tripods still require separate permits. Nefertari's tomb has new rules from April 2026 — no photography of any kind, with a strictly enforced bag drop at the entrance.
The main entrance runs along the ram-headed sphinx avenue and is hot and exposed in summer. There is a small staff/visitor side gate to the north of the main complex that drops you near the open-air museum and the small Khonsu temple. The card explains where to find it; ask the gate guard politely and the answer is almost always yes.
The cruise is the easier and more pleasant way to do Edfu, Esna and Kom Ombo because the sites are otherwise tedious to reach. The cruise is the wrong way to do Luxor and Aswan as your only visit, because the schedule rushes the temple time. The honest pattern is: cruise the river leg, then add two or three extra nights in Luxor and Aswan around it. Card 047 covers the comparison.
Pair this file with the Flagship Collections for the museum component, the Honest Itineraries for the walked plans that put the open-air sites in working order, and the Preflight Checks for visa, money and SIM basics.
The west bank rotation runs in March and September. The Cairo and Giza rotation runs quarterly. Subscribers see the new readings in the printed visit-letter first; the online cards update within a working week.
Subscribe for the visit-letter