A city card is a fixed-price document that replaces the individual gate tickets at dozens of sites within one region for a set number of days. In Egypt, the main example is the Cairo Pass — the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities' multi-site credential for greater Cairo and Giza. It is not a tourist card that bundles transport or restaurant vouchers; it is purely an entry credential for heritage sites, which is exactly what makes it relevant here.
The logic behind a city card is straightforward: if you visit enough covered sites, the flat price undercuts what you'd pay at each gate individually. The catch is that "enough sites" depends entirely on your itinerary. A visitor spending three days in Cairo who only plans to see the Egyptian Museum, the Citadel and one afternoon at Giza may find the pass fails to break even. A visitor who wants the Egyptian Museum twice, Saqqara, Memphis, the Giza chambers and the Egyptian Civilisation Museum in a five-day sprint will almost certainly save money and a significant amount of queuing time.
Egypt's ticketing landscape has changed considerably since 2022. Foreign-visitor prices at major monuments have risen sharply as the government has unified entry fees and moved away from the multi-tier structure that existed for decades. At the same time, the opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) near Giza created a new flagship attraction that the older Cairo Pass does not currently include — you buy the GEM on a separate timed ticket. That single fact reshapes the pass's value proposition for many visitors, and it is the kind of structural detail most travel blogs haven't caught up with.
The Cairo Pass costs USD 100 for foreign adult visitors (as of the 2026 season) and is valid for five consecutive days from first use. It is issued in paper format and must be collected in person at the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities offices near the Egyptian Museum on Midan El Tahrir — not online, and not at any site gate. The office opens Sunday to Thursday, 09:00–15:30; it does not open on Friday or Saturday, which is a frequent source of confusion for visitors arriving over a weekend.
The pass provides a single entry to each covered site. It does not allow unlimited re-entry unless a site specifically permits it under the pass terms, which is rare. Photography is included in the basic pass without an additional permit for standard phone or compact cameras, but a professional photography permit (for tripods, multiple-camera setups or commercial shoots) is a separate paid credential even if you hold the Cairo Pass.
Egyptian residents and students with a valid Egyptian national ID pay a different local rate and are not eligible for the Cairo Pass as it applies to foreign visitors. International students with a valid ISIC card (International Student Identity Card) receive a discounted rate at most individual sites, but the Cairo Pass itself does not carry a student discount — you either buy it at full price or you buy individual student-rate tickets. This is one scenario where single-ticket purchasing may beat the pass outright; see our passholder perks and eligibility page for a full breakdown.
| Site | Location | Standard gate price (foreign) | Included in Cairo Pass |
|---|---|---|---|
| Egyptian Museum (Tahrir) | Downtown Cairo | EGP 450 (~USD 9) | Yes |
| Mummies Hall (Egyptian Museum) | Downtown Cairo | EGP 750 (~USD 15) extra | Yes |
| Saladin Citadel complex | Islamic Cairo | EGP 450 (~USD 9) | Yes |
| Mohamed Ali Mosque (Citadel) | Islamic Cairo | Included with Citadel | Yes |
| National Museum of Egyptian Civilisation (NMEC) | Fustat, Old Cairo | EGP 450 (~USD 9) | Yes |
| Giza Plateau (plateau entry) | Giza | EGP 360 (~USD 7) | Yes |
| Great Pyramid interior (Khufu) | Giza | EGP 1,600 (~USD 32) | Yes |
| Second Pyramid interior (Khafre) | Giza | EGP 750 (~USD 15) | Yes |
| Solar Boat Museum | Giza | EGP 250 (~USD 5) | Yes |
| Saqqara step pyramid complex | Saqqara | EGP 450 (~USD 9) | Yes |
| Memphis Open-Air Museum | Mit Rahina | EGP 250 (~USD 5) | Yes |
| Dahshur (Bent Pyramid, Red Pyramid) | Dahshur | EGP 250 (~USD 5) | Yes |
| Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) | Giza | EGP 1,200 (~USD 24) timed ticket | No — sold separately |
Prices in EGP are indicative for 2026. USD equivalents assume approximately EGP 50 per USD; the actual exchange rate on the day of purchase may differ. We confirm current rates before each recommendation.
To justify the USD 100 price, you need to visit sites that would together cost more than USD 100 at gate prices. The table above makes the arithmetic visible: if you enter the Giza plateau, the Khufu chamber, the Egyptian Museum with the Mummies Hall, Saqqara and NMEC, you've already crossed USD 100 at standard gate prices. Everything else you visit is free from that point.
The most common scenario where the pass loses out is a stay of fewer than three days where the visitor is primarily interested in the GEM. Because the GEM costs around USD 24 separately and is not in the pass, a visitor who pays USD 100 for the Cairo Pass and then also pays USD 24 for the GEM has effectively spent USD 124 for the same set of monuments a focused visitor could access for considerably less by buying only the GEM and two or three individual tickets.
A second scenario where the pass underperforms is when an international student card is in play. Most sites listed in the table above charge approximately half the foreign adult rate for valid ISIC holders. A student visiting Giza (plateau entry at ~USD 3.50 student), the Egyptian Museum with Mummies Hall (~USD 12 student combined), Saqqara (~USD 4.50) and NMEC (~USD 4.50) pays roughly USD 24.50 in individual student tickets for the same four visits that would cost around USD 49 at full individual adult gate prices. The USD 100 Cairo Pass is not discounted for students, so the student route wins unless the itinerary is genuinely comprehensive.
Where the pass wins decisively is for a museum-intensive visitor with four to five days, no student card, who wants to combine the Egyptian Museum (including Mummies Hall), Giza with chamber entry, Saqqara, Memphis, Dahshur and the Citadel. That combination runs to approximately USD 120–130 in individual adult tickets. The pass saves USD 20–30 in entry fees and additionally removes the need to queue at multiple cashier points, which in peak season (October–December, March–April) can add 30–45 minutes per major site.
The only official sales point for the Cairo Pass is the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities office at 3 Adly Street, Downtown Cairo, near the northeast corner of Midan El Tahrir. There is no online purchase option and no resale at site gates. The office is open Sunday through Thursday, 09:00–15:30. Arrive before 14:30 to allow processing time.
Payment acceptance at the office has changed repeatedly. As of early 2026, card payment is accepted but has occasionally been unavailable without notice. Bring Egyptian pounds equivalent to USD 100 as a backup. The current rate typically puts that at EGP 4,800–5,100 depending on the exchange rate on the day.
The pass is issued against your passport number. Bring the original passport, not a copy. The pass is personal and non-transferable. The five-day validity clock starts on the day of first use at any site, not on the day of purchase, which gives you flexibility to delay your first museum visit by a day or two if needed.
At each site, present the pass to the cashier or access controller before entering. The pass is stamped at most sites on first use. At Giza, the plateau entry gate and the individual chamber entry points each require a separate presentation. Keep the pass visible and undamaged throughout your trip.
Below is the kind of summary we give clients before they commit — written to help you decide, not to push a purchase.
In peak season, the cashier lines at the Egyptian Museum gate, the Citadel entrance and the Giza plateau can each take 20–45 minutes. Showing a pass at the side window or staff entry point skips the retail queue at most included sites, effectively giving you extra visiting time each day. This time saving is real and not captured by the simple price comparison.
For travellers who prefer knowing their entry costs in advance, the flat USD 100 removes one variable from the daily budget. You can add or drop sites from your itinerary freely during the five days without recalculating each time. Spontaneous decisions — such as stopping at Memphis on the way back from Saqqara — carry no additional entry cost.
The Khufu interior ticket alone costs EGP 1,600 (~USD 32) at the gate. If entering the Great Pyramid is on your list and you plan to visit even two or three other major sites, the Khufu chamber's individual price alone covers nearly a third of the entire pass cost, making the maths favour the pass quickly for pyramid-focused visitors.
The Ministry office has limited hours and is closed on weekends. A visitor arriving Thursday evening cannot buy the pass until Sunday morning, losing two days of potential validity window. For short trips or weekends-only stays, this is a serious practical constraint that the pass's pricing cannot compensate for.
The Grand Egyptian Museum is the single most high-demand attraction near Giza in 2026 and is not in the Cairo Pass. Many visitors who come primarily for the GEM will find they pay USD 100 for the pass plus USD 24 for the GEM, which is a higher total cost than buying the GEM plus two or three individual tickets for supporting visits.
The Cairo Pass is strictly a greater-Cairo and Giza credential. If your trip includes Upper Egypt — Karnak, the Valley of the Kings, Edfu, Kom Ombo, Philae — you need separate tickets or the Luxor Pass for that leg of the journey. Visitors planning a combined Cairo-Luxor trip should evaluate the Luxor Pass separately; see our combo tickets comparison for the details.
No. The official sales point is the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities office near Midan El Tahrir, open Sunday to Thursday, 09:00–15:30. Any third-party seller claiming to offer the Cairo Pass online is either selling a different product or operating outside official channels. There is no authorised online purchase process as of June 2026.
The five days begin on the date you first use the pass to enter a site, not the date of purchase. You can buy the pass on Sunday and wait until Tuesday to use it — your five days run Tuesday through Saturday. This flexibility is useful if you want to settle in or sort logistics before starting your monument schedule.
Rarely. Two days limit how many sites you can physically cover, and the office-purchase requirement means you spend part of day one travelling downtown. Our standard recommendation for a two-day stay is a focused Giza combo ticket (plateau entry plus Khufu chamber plus Solar Boat, approximately USD 52 individual) plus a single ticket to the Egyptian Museum — a total that comes in well under USD 100 and covers the flagship monuments without the overhead of the pass.
Standard personal photography (phone or compact camera without flash) is permitted inside the Khufu chamber with the pass. A professional photography permit — covering tripod use, multiple bodies, or any commercial purpose — is an additional paid credential regardless of whether you hold the Cairo Pass. Permits are applied for separately at site administration offices and pricing varies by location and shoot scope.
Children under 6 enter most Egyptian sites free regardless of pass or single ticket. Children aged 6–17 are charged reduced rates at individual gates (typically 50% of the foreign adult price), and the Cairo Pass does not carry a reduced child price — it is a single adult price of USD 100. For families with children, single discounted tickets usually work out cheaper; see our perks and eligibility page for the current child-rate breakdown by site.
The Cairo Pass does not carry any refund or compensation if a covered site is unexpectedly closed during your five-day window. Unscheduled closures do occur — occasionally due to restoration work, VIP visits or security arrangements. We track scheduled closures when preparing recommendations and note any known issues for your travel dates, but unscheduled closures are outside anyone's control. Plan at least one backup site per day to absorb unexpected closures.
City cards are one piece of the puzzle. If your trip extends beyond Cairo and Giza, these guides cover the other options.
A combo ticket bundles entry to two or more adjacent attractions at a discounted combined price — different from a city card in that it covers a single site complex rather than a whole city. Learn when a Giza combo beats the Cairo Pass for a single-day visitor, and how Luxor combos stack against the Luxor Pass for a short upper Egypt stay.
Compare combo tickets →Skip-the-cashier access, photography permits, student discounts, resident rates and priority access to timed entry — there is more to a pass than the headline price. Our perks guide maps every extra benefit currently available to passholders and explains who qualifies for which discount category.
Explore passholder perks →Send us your site list and travel dates. We'll run the numbers and tell you which option costs less — with the working shown.
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