Pass types at a glance
The table below shows each pass category, its indicative price and the minimum number of included sites you would need to visit for the pass to break even against individual gate tickets for foreign visitors in the 2026 season. All USD figures are converted at the current official rate and rounded to the nearest dollar.
| Pass / ticket | Price (foreign) | Duration | Break-even sites | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cairo Pass | USD 100 | 5 days | 5–6 major sites | Museum-heavy Cairo stay |
| Luxor Pass (standard) | USD 100 | 5 days | 4–5 sites | Thorough west & east bank visit |
| Luxor Pass (premium) | USD 200 | 5 days | Nefertari + Seti I + 3 others | Royal tomb access priority |
| Giza combo | EGP 600 (~USD 12) | Single day | Plateau + 1 chamber | One-day Giza focus |
| GEM timed entry | EGP 450 (~USD 9) | Single session | N/A (standalone) | Grand Egyptian Museum only |
| Student rate | 50% of face value | Per site | N/A | Valid ISIC holders |
| Resident rate | EGP local price | Per site | N/A | Egyptian nationals & residents |
| Photography permit | EGP 50–300 | Per visit | N/A | Camera/tripod users |
Prices verified June 2026. EGP/USD conversion at 49.5. Individual site gate prices used for break-even are the headline foreign-visitor rates at the largest covered sites.
The Cairo Pass
The Cairo Pass is a five-day multi-entry pass sold by the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities for foreign visitors only. At USD 100 per person, it covers the Egyptian Museum on Tahrir Square, the Coptic Museum in Old Cairo, the Islamic Art Museum, the Cairo Citadel (excluding the National Military Museum within the complex), the Giza plateau entry (though not the inner chambers of the pyramids), and a selection of Islamic monuments around Khan el-Khalili. The pass must be purchased in person at the Giza plateau ticket office or at the Ministry kiosk inside the Egyptian Museum — it is not available online and payment is cash or card depending on which counter you use.
The break-even calculation for the Cairo Pass depends heavily on which sites you include. The Egyptian Museum alone costs EGP 450 (approximately USD 9) for a foreign visitor; the Citadel is EGP 360; the Giza plateau entry is EGP 400. If you visit the three major sites, you have already spent roughly USD 24 on individual tickets against a USD 100 pass. Break-even for most visitor profiles falls between five and six sites, meaning the Cairo Pass pays off only if you genuinely intend to visit that number of covered sites within the five-day window.
Key practical note: the pass is tied to the individual and requires a passport for each entry. It cannot be shared. Some sites in the pass coverage list have restricted opening hours that make visiting more than two or three per day difficult. We recommend building out your specific site list before deciding on the Cairo Pass — see our city card comparison for a detailed site-by-site breakdown, or send us your itinerary for a personalised calculation.
Photography: the Cairo Pass does not include photography permits. At the Egyptian Museum, a camera permit costs an additional EGP 50 for a phone and EGP 300 for a standalone camera. At the Giza plateau, photography is included in the main entry but tripod use requires a separate permit from the security office.
The Luxor Pass (Standard)
The standard Luxor Pass costs USD 100 per person and covers five days of access to the main open-air and enclosed sites on both the east and west banks of the Nile at Luxor. On the east bank, the covered sites include Karnak Temple complex and Luxor Temple. On the west bank, the pass covers the Valley of the Kings (three tombs per day — this is a Ministry rule applying to all ticket types, not a pass limitation), the Valley of the Queens (excluding the Tomb of Nefertari, which is sold separately), the Temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari, Medinat Habu, and the Ramesseum. The Colossi of Memnon are free for all visitors and are not part of the pass calculation.
The standard pass represents some of the clearest value of any pass in Egypt. Gate tickets for Karnak alone cost EGP 450 for a foreign visitor; the Valley of the Kings entry (three tombs) is EGP 360; Hatshepsut's temple is EGP 300; Medinat Habu is EGP 200; Luxor Temple is EGP 300. A full two-day itinerary hitting all major covered sites on both banks would cost roughly USD 32 in individual tickets — against the USD 100 pass. But if you plan five days in Luxor and intend to revisit Karnak for the sound-and-light show in addition to the daytime visit, or return to the Valley of the Kings on a second day to use the daily quota for different tombs, the pass pays off decisively.
The Luxor Pass is collected at the Luxor Tourist Offices near Luxor Temple on the Corniche. The office opens at 8:00 and closes at 15:00 on weekdays; it is closed Friday. Visitors arriving for a weekend-only trip often miss this window. We note the collection point timing in every recommendation involving the Luxor Pass. See our detailed notes on Luxor pass routes and combo ticket combinations for more context on planning a Luxor visit.
The Luxor Pass (Premium)
The premium Luxor Pass costs USD 200 per person and includes everything in the standard pass with the addition of two exceptional sites: the Tomb of Nefertari in the Valley of the Queens and the Tomb of Seti I in the Valley of the Kings. These two tombs are the most elaborately painted royal burial chambers currently accessible to visitors in Egypt, and their individual prices — USD 100 for Nefertari, USD 70 for Seti I — mean the premium pass breaks even the moment you visit both alongside two other covered sites from the standard list.
Access to both the Tomb of Nefertari and the Tomb of Seti I is tightly regulated. Daily visitor quotas apply to both tombs and they can sell out weeks in advance during the October–March peak season. If visiting either tomb is a firm priority for your trip, you need to plan the pass purchase and site visits around the quota system, not the other way around. The pass itself does not guarantee entry if the quota for the day is already filled — an important operational detail that is frequently omitted from general travel guides.
For visitors who are genuinely committed to both royal tombs, the premium pass is straightforwardly the right choice. For those who want access to one but not the other, the calculation is tighter and depends on the rest of the planned itinerary. We model this scenario specifically — including the quota risk — in our full itinerary review. Details at our service plans page. You can also browse our notes on passholder perks that apply to premium Luxor Pass holders.
The Giza Combo Ticket
The Giza plateau has its own combination ticketing structure that is entirely separate from the Cairo Pass. The core combination ticket — referred to as the Giza combo — currently costs EGP 600 for a foreign visitor and covers plateau entry plus access to the Solar Boat Museum (now formally the Khufu Ship Museum) and the panorama point at the south side of the plateau. Inner pyramid chamber access is sold as an individual add-on: the Great Pyramid chamber entry is EGP 400; the Khafre pyramid is EGP 100; the Menkaure pyramid is EGP 100. The Sphinx enclosure entry is included in the general plateau ticket.
For a visitor spending a single focused day at Giza — which is a common and entirely reasonable itinerary — the Giza combo plus one or two inner-chamber add-ons typically costs between EGP 600 and EGP 1,100 depending on which chambers they choose. This is almost always less expensive than the Cairo Pass if Giza is the only site on the agenda. The Cairo Pass makes more sense when Giza is part of a longer multi-site Cairo stay, because the plateau entry is counted as one of the covered sites under the pass.
Note that the Giza plateau has a daily visitor limit that is increasingly enforced during peak season. Tickets are sold at the main plateau ticket booth outside the main gate; there is no reliable online pre-purchase system for individual visitors as of 2026. Groups must book through an authorised agency. Check our combo tickets guide for details on what each chamber offers and how to plan the sequence of visits to minimise walking distance inside the plateau.
The Grand Egyptian Museum Ticket
The Grand Egyptian Museum — located approximately two kilometres from the Giza plateau — operates its own standalone timed-entry ticketing system. As of the 2026 season, a standard timed-entry ticket costs EGP 450 for foreign visitors (approximately USD 9 at current rates). A premium ticket that includes access to the Tutankhamun galleries on the upper floor costs EGP 700. There is a reduced rate for Egyptian nationals and a student discount of forty percent for ISIC card holders.
The GEM is not currently included in the Cairo Pass. This is a frequently asked question — and the answer has been no consistently since the museum began full operations. The Ministry of Tourism has announced intentions to integrate GEM access into a revised version of the Cairo Pass for a future season, but as of our June 2026 review no integration date is confirmed. We track this status and will update our recommendations as soon as an official announcement is made. Follow the seasonal deals page for updates.
Practically: the GEM requires a timed-entry slot, and popular time windows (late morning, early afternoon) sell out several days in advance during high season. Visitors should book their slot before booking their flights to Cairo if the GEM is a priority. The museum itself is enormous — a thorough visit takes between four and six hours, more if the Tutankhamun galleries are included. It is not a site you can meaningfully combine with the Giza plateau in a single day unless you arrive very early at one and very late at the other.
For visitors planning a Cairo trip that includes both the GEM and the Egyptian Museum on Tahrir, the combined cost of both entries is currently less than the Cairo Pass even before any other sites are factored in. This is a counterintuitive finding — see our visitor budgeting reference for the full calculation.
Aswan & Southern Egypt Single Site Tickets
Aswan and the sites of Upper Egypt south of Luxor have no regional pass. Every site is ticketed individually, which means Philae Temple (accessed by boat from the Aswan High Dam area), the Nubian Museum, the Unfinished Obelisk, Elephantine Island sites and the Tombs of the Nobles are each bought at the gate or through a licensed boat operator.
Current gate prices for foreign visitors in Aswan: Philae Temple EGP 300 (boat transit to the island costs an additional EGP 50–80 depending on the negotiated rate with the licensed ferry cooperative); Nubian Museum EGP 200; Unfinished Obelisk EGP 150; Elephantine Island archaeological site EGP 150. Abu Simbel, located 280 km south of Aswan, has its own ticketing — the two temples cost EGP 600 total for foreign visitors, and reaching them requires either a flight (roughly USD 80–120 from Aswan) or a four-hour pre-dawn coach trip on a convoy that departs at 4:00 from central Aswan.
For an Aswan stay of two to three days covering all the main sites, the total individual ticket cost typically ranges from EGP 1,000 to EGP 1,500 depending on site choices, excluding Abu Simbel transport. Some guided day tours bundle the boat to Philae and the entry fee into a single price — we check whether these bundles represent genuine savings before recommending them. See our pass routes for Upper Egypt for itinerary suggestions by trip length.
Student Rates
A valid International Student Identity Card (ISIC) entitles the holder to a fifty percent reduction on the foreign-visitor gate price at most major Egyptian heritage sites. This includes the Egyptian Museum, the Giza plateau, Karnak, Luxor Temple, the Valley of the Kings and Philae. The discount is applied at the cashier upon presentation of the card — it is not automatically included in any pass purchase and must be claimed at each site.
The ISIC must be valid at the time of the visit. Expired cards are rejected at the gate, and some ticket officers have begun requiring that the card holder be under thirty years of age as a secondary check, though this is not a written Ministry rule as of our current review. A counterfeit or unofficial student card will be rejected. The ISIC card can be purchased online through the official ISIC website before travel for approximately USD 20 — this cost breaks even after one or two large sites.
Critical practical detail: the Cairo Pass and the Luxor Pass are fixed-price instruments and there is no student-rate version. A student who visits enough sites to break even on the standard pass will do better with the pass at full price than with individual tickets at student rate. But a student visiting fewer sites will almost always do better buying individual tickets and claiming the ISIC discount at each. We model both scenarios in our recommendations when the person enquiring holds a valid ISIC. See our passholder perks page for more on discount stacking possibilities.
Egyptian university students and holders of an Egyptian residency card qualify for the local Egyptian-national rate, which is roughly one-quarter to one-fifth of the foreign-visitor price at most sites. Documentation requirements vary by site but typically require a national ID card or residency certificate.
Egyptian Resident Rates
Egyptian nationals and holders of valid Egyptian residency permits pay a local price that is structured entirely differently from the foreign-visitor pricing. At the Giza plateau, the local entry fee is EGP 20 against the foreign rate of EGP 400. At the Egyptian Museum, it is EGP 30 against EGP 450. At Karnak Temple, it is EGP 20 against EGP 450. These disparities are intentional and in line with common heritage pricing policy in the region.
Residency must be documented with either an Egyptian national identity card (for nationals) or a current residency permit (for foreigners with legal residency). The documentation is checked at the gate and a foreign passport alone is not sufficient even if the visitor has long-term residency — the permit document must be presented. Visitors who are legally resident in Egypt but travelling on a foreign passport frequently ask us about this; the answer is that you need the residency permit at the gate, not the passport.
For visitors who have dual documentation — for example, an expatriate with both Egyptian residency and a foreign passport — the local rate applies as long as the residency permit is valid and presented. We include a note on document requirements in every recommendation where residency eligibility might apply. This is one of the cases where the visitor savings from the correct rate are large enough that the effort of confirming eligibility is clearly worth it.
Photography Permits
Photography permits in Egyptian heritage sites are a separate category from entry tickets and are handled inconsistently across sites and across individual ticket officers. The general rule is that phone photography is included in standard entry at most sites, camera photography (standalone camera with a lens larger than a standard phone camera) requires a paid permit, and tripod use requires a separate permit in addition to the camera permit. Video recording for professional or commercial use requires a formal application to the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, typically submitted weeks in advance.
Current photography permit prices where charged: Egyptian Museum — phone EGP 50, standalone camera EGP 300, no tripods in gallery areas; Giza plateau — photography included in standard entry, tripod permit from security booth EGP 100; Valley of the Kings — camera permit EGP 300 per tomb (this adds up quickly if you plan to photograph in multiple tombs); Karnak — camera permit included in the general entry fee as of 2025; Philae — camera permit EGP 100. The Grand Egyptian Museum has a no-tripod policy throughout but allows phone and camera photography without a fee.
A practical concern: permit enforcement varies. Some sites enforce the camera permit strictly; others allow cameras into areas marked camera-fee without challenge. We do not advise on whether to pay for permits you may not be challenged on — we document what is required and what the fee is. For photographers planning serious work at specific sites, we recommend budgeting for all applicable permits, which we itemise in our recommendations alongside the entry fees. See notes on combo ticket inclusions for which bundles include photography.
Group & Family Rates
Egypt's heritage sites do not offer a structured group discount rate for independent travellers in the same way that some European heritage sites do. However, families with children under twelve years old pay a child rate at most sites — typically forty to fifty percent of the adult foreign-visitor price — and children under six enter free at virtually all sites. A family of two adults and two children under twelve should calculate their total entry cost using a mix of adult and child rates, which we factor into our family recommendations.
Organised groups of ten or more visitors travelling through a licensed Egyptian tour operator can sometimes access block-booking arrangements, though these are not standardised and depend on the operator's relationship with individual site management. We do not broker these arrangements, but we note in our Group and Operator plan recommendations where block-booking is likely possible and which operators the Ministry of Tourism has historically facilitated for this purpose.
School groups from Egyptian schools pay the local Egyptian rate. International school groups on educational visits are treated as foreign visitors for entry pricing purposes, though some sites — the Egyptian Museum in particular — offer a discounted group rate for pre-registered educational groups with a letter from the visiting institution's administration. The GEM has a dedicated educational booking process. We document these in detail in our family passes guide. For school groups, contact us through the Group and Operator plan — see the plans comparison for what that includes.
Alexandria Heritage Sites
Alexandria is not covered by any existing multi-site pass. The city's heritage sites — Pompey's Pillar and the Catacombs of Kom el-Shoqafa, the Bibliotheca Alexandrina (which is technically not a heritage site in the Ministry sense but is a cultural institution that charges entry), the National Museum of Alexandria, the Graeco-Roman Museum, and the Royal Jewellery Museum at Zizenia — are each individually ticketed.
Current gate prices in Alexandria for foreign visitors: Pompey's Pillar and Catacombs (sold as a combination) EGP 180; National Museum of Alexandria EGP 200; Graeco-Roman Museum EGP 200; Royal Jewellery Museum EGP 200. The Bibliotheca Alexandrina charges EGP 70 for a general entry that includes the library, the Antiquities Museum within the complex and the planetarium (timed). Together, a thorough Alexandria day covering all major sites costs approximately EGP 850 for a foreign adult — there is no pass that reduces this.
Alexandria is frequently added as a day trip from Cairo. Given that the high-speed train takes roughly two hours each way and round-trip fares are typically EGP 150–200, a day trip from Cairo to cover the main sites costs roughly USD 30–35 in total including transport and entry — without any pass applicable. We model this scenario for visitors considering Alexandria as part of a Cairo-based itinerary. See our pass routes by region for Alexandria-specific planning notes.
Seasonal Promotional Offers
The Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities has issued promotional entry offers during specific periods, typically around national holidays, Egyptian cultural celebrations and in the shoulder season months of April–May and September–October. These promotions have included free-entry Fridays for Egyptian nationals, reduced-rate access to GEM during its opening anniversary period, and bundled ticket offers during Tourism Day (27 September) and International Museum Day (18 May).
Promotional offers for foreign visitors have been less frequent but do occur. In 2025, a reduced-rate passport promotion was offered for a two-week window in October — a limited version of the Cairo Pass that covered three sites at USD 60, targeted at short-stay visitors. Whether an equivalent offer will appear in 2026 is not confirmed as of our June review, but we monitor all Ministry communications and update the seasonal deals page as soon as an announcement is made.
Practical note on promotional offers: they are typically announced with short notice and sell out or expire quickly. Visitors planning a trip months in advance cannot rely on a promotional offer being available for their dates. We flag any active or upcoming promotions in our recommendations, but we base our break-even calculations on the standard published rate to ensure the advice is conservative and actionable regardless of whether a promo is active.
If you are planning a visit during a period when a promotional offer might apply — particularly around May and October — it is worth mentioning your specific dates when you send us your itinerary. We will note any promotions likely to be active in our reply and adjust the numbers accordingly. For the latest confirmed promotions, see the seasonal deals section, which Karim updates as information becomes available.
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