The Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) stands about 2 km from the Giza pyramids and opened fully in November 2025. Its highlights are the colossal statue of Ramesses II, the Grand Staircase and the complete Tutankhamun collection, shown together for the first time. Allow at least three to four hours, book tickets on the official website, and pair it with the pyramids in one day.
For more than a century, Cairo’s treasures lived in the old Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square, crowded into cases with handwritten labels. The Grand Egyptian Museum gives them space and light, on the desert plateau within sight of the pyramids.
What the museum is
GEM is one of the largest museums in the world dedicated to a single civilisation. It opened in stages and was fully inaugurated in November 2025. The galleries follow ancient Egyptian history from prehistory to the Roman period, and the building’s glass front faces the pyramids.
The highlights
The Grand Hall: you are welcomed by the colossal granite statue of Ramesses II, around 11 metres tall, which stood for decades in a busy square in central Cairo before being moved here.
The Grand Staircase: six storeys of statues of kings, queens and gods line a wide stair that rises to a window framing the pyramids. Walk up it slowly — it is a gallery in itself.
The Tutankhamun galleries: for the first time, the complete contents of the boy king’s tomb — thousands of objects found by Howard Carter in 1922, from the gold mask to chariots, shrines and jewellery — are shown together. Give them at least an hour.
Khufu’s boat: the great cedar boat buried beside the Great Pyramid more than 4,500 years ago is displayed in its own gallery at the museum.
Planning your visit
Tickets: buy them on the museum’s official website, where prices and opening hours are always current. Some galleries, such as the Tutankhamun halls, may have timed entry at busy periods.
Time: three to four hours for the highlights; a full day if you love the details. There are cafés and restaurants inside, and a garden terrace.
Order of the day: the pyramids early in the morning, lunch, then the museum through the hottest hours of the afternoon. A guide makes a big difference here — the collection is vast, and knowing what to look at saves you hours.
Questions people ask
On the Giza plateau, about 2 km from the pyramids and roughly 20 km west of central Cairo.
Yes. It opened fully in November 2025, including the Tutankhamun galleries.
At least three to four hours for the highlights, or a full day to see the galleries properly.
Yes. The gold mask and the rest of the Tutankhamun collection are displayed together at GEM.
Yes. They are about 2 km apart; the pyramids in the morning and the museum in the afternoon is the easiest plan.