Giza Plateau

Lonely Planet review

It can be a bit of a shock to visit the Giza Plateau and realise that the sandy mound that's home to the pyramids is actually plonked in the middle of the congested city suburb of Giza. There are currently two entrances: the main entrance is via a continuation of Pyramids Rd (Sharia al-Haram) at the foot of the Great Pyramid of Khufu and the secondary entrance is via the village of Nazlet as-Samaan, below the Sphinx.

Most independent visitors enter from Sharia al-Haram, and this is where the bus and minibus from Downtown stop. Follow the road up from the roundabout towards the pyramids and firmly ignore anyone who tries to distract you from going that way . Continue along the tarmacked road, climbing up to the temporary ticket office (a hut) to your right. Work is currently underway to fence the plateau, and when this is completed there will only be one entrance, via a new visitors centre on the Cairo-Al-Fayoum road. No officials are currently willing to confirm when this visitors centre will open (this is Egypt, after all).