Cairo, Egypt

He does have two episodes dedicated to Egypt. Also, here's a link to a Forum regular
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/egypt-5-000-years-in-13-days

Are you ok with using a guidebook other than RS?
Lonely Planet, for example?

I would check to see if you need to buy tix in advance for the new museum in Giza.

Once you book your hotels, I imagine they can help.

Thank you both so much! Will dig into these resources. We are meeting a river cruise but have a couple of days pre cruise on our own.

I have been to Egypt three times, the last. time two years ago. We took a Gate 1 Travel tour with river cruises.
1. Selecting you hotel- 5 star hotels are not expensive in Cairo and you NEED to stay in one that has proper security. Don't try to go with something cheap. Egypt is a wonderful country, but it is a not Europe or America.
2. The new Egyptian museum has opened (finally). It looks fantastic. The museum is in Gaza, which is near the grand Pyramids. The old Egyptian Museum was located on the Nile in Cairo. Assuming that most of the exhibits in the old museum are now in the new one, I suggest finding a hotel near the new museum.

3. Traffic in Cairo is not fun to negotiate, suggest. you NOT try doing it on your own. Since you should visit the great pyramids (there are three Huge ones and some smaller ones as well, along with the new museum. Also, the Sphinx is there. You may not be able to do all this in one day, especially if you want to go inside the great pyramid. Try finding a tour guide or even a group tour.
4. There is more to see in Cairo, such as the Step Pyramid and other sites near it. Also, the Christian area where Jesus and his family stayed when he was young. Then, there is the traditional Muslim Cairo with interesting places to visit.

Some other tips:
1) don't eat street food. Only drink from a bottle that you open or your waiter opens in front of you.
2) Eat in nice restaurants, equivalent of four and five star hotel restaurants.
3) If you wish to ride a camel while at the Pyramids, negotiate the price BEFORE you get on the camel. Also, hold on tight, it is not. like riding a horse.

For dining, be sure to try Moussaka and for dessert Baklava.

We visited Egypt last year and used Lonely Planet Egypt to help us plan. We booked private guided tours for the Giza pyramids and the Saqqara pyramids (both of which I would highly recommend) and the rest we did independently. It's easy to get around on the metro, or you can use Uber which is incredibly inexpensive in Cairo. I would definitely make sure you also check out the new Grand Eyptian Museum, Khan Al-Khalili, and the Coptic Quarter.

It's up to you how much you want to spend on hotels/food but we didn't stay or eat anywhere fancy and it was absolutely fine.

I travelled to Egypt with two friends in January 2022. I learned of an Egyptian travel company called Djed Egypt Travel from this forum. It was a fabulous trip! I was very happy with their staff, arrangements, and price. You can search (in search bar above) the name of the company and will likely get some other posts about them. Here is my travel report:
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/two-wonderful-weeks-in-egypt-a-travel-report

We just got back from an Overseas Adventure Travel (OAT) tour, "Ancient Egypt and the Nile River" - 7 nights on a ship, 7 nights total in Cairo. We did not do any independent travel, since the tour covered everything we wanted to do (and we didn't have time to add days anyway). It's all amazing. You can check out the itinerary here for inspiration. Make sure you get to the GEM - Grand Egyptian Museum - in Giza. We went before the grand opening, it's very very well done and now even better since the Tut artifacts and Ramses' solar boat are installed and open to the public. Giza pyramids - way closer to Cairo than you expect, we could actually see them from our hotel! - are a must-do, pay extra (I think) to go inside one of the pyramids. Saqqara (step pyramid), you can also go to Memphis, although there is not a lot there (IMO). Plenty to do and see in Cairo, and one off-beat thing we did was go to the "Cave Church" which is located on Mokattam Mountain, which is also called the "garbage mountain" - for reasons! The entire thing is a real eye-opener.

Colleen, I visited Egypt in January 2022 as a solo traveler and booked private guides in Cairo, Luxor, and Aswan. I am planning to return in January 2026 and, because I liked Aswan Individual a lot, I am booking with them again. I found the Moon guide to Egypt to be helpful.

Wow - incredibly helpful, every reply! Thanks to EACH of you for taking (precious) time to reply. What a fantastic community this is.

We have a trip set up for January through a Canadian company, Platinum Holidays, a company that specializes in Egypt. Several friends from NY have used this company. www.platinumholidays.com/