The new Grand Egyptian Museum: My Honest Review

What took over 20 years to build, had its grand opening delayed due to regional conflict, spans over 500,000 square meters, and is the largest museum dedicated to one, single civilization?

If you answered the Grand Egyptian Museum (or GEM), you are 100% correct!

I first visited the Great Pyramids of Giza in 2018, and was amazed with ancient wonder (they are the only surviving monuments from the ancient 7 wonders of the world, of course). At that time, the Giza plateau was centralized around tourism focused on the Pyramids themselves. Many of the artifacts of ancient Egyptian civilization were spread around – well – not just Egypt, but the globe as well. (The Rosetta Stone, currently in the British Museum, alone is causing much drama.)

Just within Cairo, you can spend hours visiting the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square and the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization (NMEC) in Old Cairo to only touch the surface of the treasure trove of artifacts that have been excavated from across Egypt.

With the foundation stone laid back in in 2002, the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) is the latest – and largest – of the museums exhibiting artifacts from Egypt’s ancient civilization.

Following decades of planning and construction, it was supposed to open in 2012, but that clearly didn’t happen. Then, it was scheduled to open to the public fully on 6 July 2025. This was delayed by the Israel-Iran escalation in June 2025. The full grand opening has now been delayed to the 4th quarter of 2025.

Thankfully, they had a soft opening in late 2024 to start welcoming visitors. This meant I got to have a preview on my latest trip to Cairo. In fact, it’s one of the places I went to stay cool in the hot Cairo summer.

So what’s it really like?

Let’s dig in (*archeology pun* intended)!

Getting to the Grand Egyptian Museum

Honestly, this is probably the worst part of the GEM. It’s incredibly difficult to get to unless you are already staying in Giza.

I was staying around Tahrir Square in Downtown Cairo, which is… let’s just say… not close to Giza and the GEM. It’s about 20km away from downtown. If you are lucky, it’s about a 30 minute journey. There’s a lot of construction going on across Giza, which also complicates transportation.

I tried to get an Uber, but consistently I found that Uber drivers either messaged to ask for more money than what was agreed in the Uber app (to exorbitant amounts – one driver asked for $40 USD!). Or, they didn’t want to drive to Giza.

Thankfully, I was with an Arabic speaking friend, so we were able to convince a taxi to take us there. He had no idea what the Grand Egyptian Museum was, even calling other taxi drivers for instructions. In the end, he also missed an exit (several times), so it took us about 45 minutes to get there from downtown.

None of us knew what to expect for drop-offs and parking, which made this even more complicated.

The GEM is located along a major highway, the Cairo-Alexandria Desert Road, with a few entries and exits, and a parking lot. It’s only possible to enter it from one direction (southbound). If you are on the opposite side of the road, you have to drive past it by several kilometers until you find a place to do a U-turn that enables you to be on the correct side of the highway. I know this by personal experience 😐 .

Enter at the parking lot, but ask your driver to go slowly as you approach it. If you miss it, you will have a loooong journey back around to the entrance.

Practical tips for getting to/from GEM

• It’s easiest if you are driving yourself, as you will have full control of the approach, exit and parking. The parking lot is definitely large enough. I’m not sure if it costs money to park, as we didn’t have a car. But based on our experience, driving yourself is the easiest by far.
• Alternatively, tour groups are organizing trips to the museum already. This will include transportation (in almost all cases), and may join together a visit to the Pyramids (only 2km away). They usually pick you up / drop you off at your hotel, incredibly convenient. This could also be a great option, although more expensive.
• If you do take a taxi, my best advice is to direct the driver using Google Maps. Until this museum becomes much more popular, it’s unlikely that taxi drivers will know where to go. Just enter Grand Egyptian Museum into Google Maps and direct from there.
  • He charged us us 300 Egyptian pounds (~$6 USD) to get there. But don’t be surprised if they try to charge more. Honestly, 400-500 Egyptian pounds is still a good deal, particularly if you are coming from downtown.
  • Leaving by taxi is also not super easy. You may find a taxi waiting inside the parking lot (like we did), or there may be some that are waiting outside, along the highway. Before you climb into the taxi, be sure to inform them where you are going, and try to negotiate a price (which will be more than usual for taxis). It will be even more difficult without an Arabic speaker.
• You can always use Uber to and from. But expect them to ask for way too much money. The convenience of the pick-up and drop-off are great, but do you really want to pay $15 USD for what you should get for $6 (or less)? Up to you.

Yes, it’s difficult to get to. But is it worth it? I think so. So, let’s dig in (archeology pun again 🙂 ) to what’s available there.

What do you see at the Grand Egyptian Museum?

The GEM is currently open 7 days a week. Every day but Saturday and Wednesday, the premises are open from 8:30am-7pm. On Saturday and Wednesday, it’s open until 10pm.

Note – the galleries close one hour before the whole facility closes. Ticket sales end 2 hours before the facility closes.

Currently, admission provides you with access to the Main Gallery, the Grand Hall, the Grand Staircase, Children’s Museum (at extra cost), commercial area and exterior gardens.

In the future – and what is possibly the most exciting – the GEM will host the entire collection of treasures from King Tutankhamun’s tomb – over 5,000 artifacts, 2,000 of which will be on public display for the first time ever! This gallery is still under construction, but promises to open for the Grand Opening later this year.

An additional gallery under construction is the Khufu Boat Courtyard and Museum. The Khufu ship is the biggest, oldest, and most valuable wooden monument made in human history. Archaeologists found it fully intact in a pit alongside the Giza Pyramids. It’s estimated to be from around 2,500 BC and allegedly can still sail to this day!

This boat, as well as one more, will also be displayed in the GEM in time for the Grand Opening.

Transporting items from all over Egypt

The Egyptian friend I was with mentioned to me the drama that the GEM has had in the Egyptian media over the last decade or so. In particularly, this friend noted that scores of artifacts had to be moved across Cairo from their previous locations to the GEM. This caused loads of media attention due to the sensitivity of moving these items.

The Khufu boat, which weighs 20 tons, took over 10 hours to be moved from the Pyramids of Giza plateau to the GEM – a distance of just 2km! I can’t imagine the traffic this caused.

The Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square housed much of King Tut’s treasures, which also needed to move with extreme care.

I don’t think they plan to move ALL artifacts to the GEM, which means that they will still be spread out across the Egyptian Museum and the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization. But at least, here, you should be able to see many interesting things.

Ticket prices

The ticket price to the GEM cost 1,270 EGP (~$25 USD) for foreigners (including all Arabs, except Egyptians). Children and students are 635 EGP (~$12 USD). Egyptians pay 200 EGP for adults. You can book online or buy at the entrance.

This ticket gets you entrance into the facility, the main gallery, grand hall/staircase, and the commercial area/external area.

Guided tour tickets for the main gallery are also available online, and require a time booking, as well as a date. They are 1,700 EGP (~$34 USD) for adults.

It’s not clear yet if the King Tutankhamun gallery and Khufu boat exhibit will be an additional cost. My gut, after my visit, says that the King Tut gallery will be an additional cost, while the boat exhibit will be included. Let’s see.

The Children’s Museum costs an additional 750 EGP (~$15 USD) per person.

Entry into the Museum

We walked from the ticket hall to the Grand Hall, which is about a 4-5 minute walk. Golf carts are also available to take individuals to and from (although depending on how busy it is, they may not be readily available). It’s an easy walk though, and allows you to admire the building, which is – in and of itself – an architectural wonder.

After you enter into the Grand Hall, you can walk straight through a ticket scanner to the Grand Staircase, to head up to the Main Gallery at the top of the stairs.

What is the visitor experience really like?

The building itself is a wonder. The building incorporates sustainable features, including natural cooling systems and wind circulation. Indeed, in the Grand Hall, it felt warm, but not hot, with a good breeze flowing through. The Main Gallery itself has air conditioning.

A statue of Ramses II dominates the entrance to the Grand Hall. I stupidly did not take a photo of, even though it clearly is a star attraction. And it is impressive. I read that the architects positioned it to have a celestial alignment on October 22 and February 22, mirroring the sun’s illumination of Ramses II’s face in parallel with the same phenomenon at his temple at Abu Simbel.

Main gallery

We spent most of our time in the Main Gallery. We arrived a little later than hoped (see taxi drama above), so we had to move a little faster through the Gallery than planned. In total, we spent about an hour in the Main Gallery. I would have preferred more time, to be sure, but probably only 30-45 minutes more. Not hours more.

If you prefer to pay close attention to the details, expect to spend about 2 hours in the Main Gallery.

The gallery itself displays artifacts from around 700,000 BC – the Prehistoric period – through 394 AD – the Greco-Roman period. Each display is accompanied by details regarding the pieces itself and more on the history surrounding the pieces.

Curators arranged the gallery into 12 mini-galleries by historical time period, and also around three different themes: Society, Kinship, and Beliefs.

Galleries 1-3 cover the Prehistoric Period, Predynastic Period, Early Dynastic Period, Old Kingdom, and First Intermediate Period. Time period from about 700,000 – 2034 BC.

Galleries 4-6 cover the Middle Kingdom, Second Intermediate Period, from about 2034 – 1550 BC.

The 7th-9th galleries cover the New Kingdom only, from around 1550 – 1069 BC.

Finally, galleries 10-12 cover the Third Intermediate Period, Late Period, and Graeco-Roman Period. This covers a time period from about 1069 BC – 394 AD.

Throughout, visitors encounter interactive displays, which digitalize the experience in a unique way. All galleries are connected.

You exit out of the same entry, where you can explore the Grand Staircase even further.

If you get hungry, or want to shop til you drop, head to the GEM gift shop, as well as the other (quite fancy) shops & restaurants in the commercial hall.

The Honest Review

First, I want to note that I paid for my visit to the GEM. This review is *Not Sponsored*. (That would have been nice though).

Firstly, the building is impressive, like I noted before. It really is an architectural wonder. The space is intended to be more than just a museum, but rather a cultural space and conference center. I can’t wait to see what more they do with this over the coming years.

I found the layout of the main gallery impressive. It felt both efficient, but also enabled exploring. I tried to follow from gallery 1 to gallery 2 to gallery 3 and so on. I will say it’s super easy to skip a gallery, if you aren’t paying attention. Which means, you may have to backtrack to see everything. Watch out for that.

The archeologists restored the artifacts meticulously. I can’t imagine the levels of work that the archeologists went through to get them into this immaculate condition. They feel like new. It’s admirable to see the levels of care that went into these incredible treasures.

I found the written signs to be less detailed than is my personal preference. They provide a lot of information about the items themselves, but I prefer to also read more about the historical time period and how the culture/society worked together. The main gallery is, indeed, an archeological collection rather than a comprehensive history.

Because of that, next time, I’d be keen to have a guided tour. I overheard a few while I was there, and noticed that the tour guides were incredibly knowledgeable. I would love to take one the next time, so as to be able to get more into Egyptian history.

That said, I definitely do plan to go back, particularly after the King Tut and Khufu Boat exhibits open, after the official opening. And not just to get out of Cairo summer heat.

Final thoughts

The GEM website does not yet have a lot of details, but I saved the visitor guide QR code from the museum where more details, including maps, can be found. It’s my parting gift to you here. Plus a few more preview photos of my favorite artifacts… YOU. ARE. WELCOME.