Independent guide. This is not the Egyptian Museum's website.
Tahrir Square · Cairo
The Narmer Palette and the silver coffin of Psusennes I are still on show in this museum on Tahrir Square.
Most tour groups now head out to Giza, which leaves the long stone halls here far quieter than before.
Where it is now
Many guidebooks, and many tour descriptions, still describe this museum as it was before 2021. Here is where the famous pieces are as of November 2026, with the date and source behind each line.
At TahrirMinistry highlights list, read 8 Nov 2026
A carved siltstone palette about 64 cm tall, found at Hierakonpolis in 1897–98. One face shows King Narmer in the White Crown of Upper Egypt, the other in the Red Crown of Lower Egypt. Many read it as a picture of the two lands under one king; some scholars disagree.
At TahrirPhotographed here Nov 2025; reported Aug 2026
Gold and silver from the royal tombs at Tanis, the Nile Delta capital of the 21st and 22nd Dynasties. Pierre Montet found this king's burial intact in 1940. Look for the inner coffin of silver, a rarer metal than gold in ancient Egypt, and the gold mask with inlaid eyes.
At TahrirReported on display Aug 2026
Grave goods of the parents of Queen Tiye, from a Valley of the Kings tomb found in 1905: gilded masks, nested coffins, furniture and a chariot. Wikipedia also lists this collection for the Grand Egyptian Museum, so if one piece matters to you, check where it is before you go.
At TahrirMinistry highlights list, read 8 Nov 2026
The ministry names statues of Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure, the three kings behind the Giza pyramids, among the museum's masterpieces. It does not say which pieces, and some Old Kingdom objects have gone to Giza, so ask a guide to point out what is here now.
Moved to GizaOn show there since Nov 2025
The gold mask and the rest of the tomb's 5,398 pieces are at the Grand Egyptian Museum, about 2 km from the pyramids. It opened in full on 1 November 2025 and to the public on 4 November. For the first time the whole collection is shown in one place.
Moved to FustatSince 3 April 2021
Twenty-two royal mummies, 18 kings and four queens, left this building on 3 April 2021 in the Pharaohs' Golden Parade. They are now at the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in Fustat, Old Cairo, beside the Ain el-Sira lake.
Displays change. If one object matters to you, check the museum's page on the ministry's website, or ask at the entrance, before you build a trip around it. the museum's page on the ministry's website
Why still come
When it opened on 15 November 1902, the building on Tahrir Square was made to hold the antiquities gathered by Egypt's antiquities service since Auguste Mariette's day. The French architect Marcel Dourgnon won the design competition of 1895, which the ministry calls the first international contest of its kind. The salmon-coloured walls you walk past today are the ones he drew.
The royal mummies left in April 2021 for the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in Fustat, carried through the city in a televised parade. Tutankhamun's treasures went to the Grand Egyptian Museum at Giza, which opened in full on 1 November 2025 and now shows the whole tomb together. If those are what you came for, you need those museums, not this one.
The ministry still lists the Narmer Palette, the burial of Yuya and Thuya, the treasures of Psusennes I from Tanis and statues of Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure among the museum's highlights. The National reported in November 2025 that the gold and silver burial goods of Psusennes I had taken the place of Tutankhamun's pieces. Al-Monitor counted around 100,000 objects on display in August 2026.
Daily visitors fell from around 7,000 to 8,000 to between 1,000 and 2,000 once the crowds moved to Giza, Al-Monitor reported in August 2026. For you, that means room in front of the cases. A senior ministry figure told the same reporter that the building's anniversary in 2027 is a chance to present the museum to the world again.
Book from here
The first two visit this museum on Tahrir Square. The other two are for the Grand Egyptian Museum at Giza and the civilisation museum in Fustat, which now hold Tutankhamun's treasures and the royal mummies. Read the notes under each one before you choose.
A private guide and car collect you from your hotel in Cairo and spend about an hour and a half with you inside the museum on Tahrir Square. Entrance tickets and bottled water are included. Guides speak German, Arabic, English, Spanish, French, Japanese and Italian.
Tips are extra, and pickup from outer areas such as the airport, New Cairo or Sheikh Zayed costs more. The listing also names a Cairo shopping stop.
See dates ↗A flexible day from one provider: the museum alone, or with the Citadel of Saladin, Old Cairo and other stops, depending on the option you pick. The shared option includes entry tickets and an English-speaking guide; private options add languages and lunch.
Its description still mentions Tutankhamun's treasures and a Royal Mummies Hall at the museum. Neither is at Tahrir now. Shopping stops are optional, and the listing marks it unsuitable for wheelchair users.
See dates ↗A dated entry ticket to the museum about 2 km from the Giza pyramids, covering the main galleries, the Tutankhamun galleries and the solar boat museum.
No guide, no transport and no meals. Once booked it cannot be cancelled.
See dates ↗Entry to the museum in Fustat that now holds the royal mummies, with an optional Egyptologist guide and transfers from Cairo or Giza. About 4 to 5 hours with transfers.
A newer listing with few reviews, and the price changes with the option you pick, so check what is included.
See dates ↗More to book around Cairo
Compared
| Choice | What you get | Watch for | Suits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Egyptian Museum private guided tour, about 4 hours | A private guide and car collect you from your hotel in Cairo and spend about an hour and a half with you inside the museum on Tahrir Square. Entrance tickets and bottled water are included. Guides speak German, Arabic, English, Spanish, French, Japanese and Italian. | Tips are extra, and pickup from outer areas such as the airport, New Cairo or Sheikh Zayed costs more. The listing also names a Cairo shopping stop. | First-time visitors who want the collection explained and no transport to arrange. |
| Egyptian Museum, Citadel and Old Cairo guided tour, 3 to 6 hours | A flexible day from one provider: the museum alone, or with the Citadel of Saladin, Old Cairo and other stops, depending on the option you pick. The shared option includes entry tickets and an English-speaking guide; private options add languages and lunch. | Its description still mentions Tutankhamun's treasures and a Royal Mummies Hall at the museum. Neither is at Tahrir now. Shopping stops are optional, and the listing marks it unsuitable for wheelchair users. | Travellers who want the museum and medieval or Coptic Cairo in one day. |
| Grand Egyptian Museum entry ticket | A dated entry ticket to the museum about 2 km from the Giza pyramids, covering the main galleries, the Tutankhamun galleries and the solar boat museum. | No guide, no transport and no meals. Once booked it cannot be cancelled. | Anyone who came to Egypt for Tutankhamun. |
| National Museum of Egyptian Civilization ticket | Entry to the museum in Fustat that now holds the royal mummies, with an optional Egyptologist guide and transfers from Cairo or Giza. About 4 to 5 hours with transfers. | A newer listing with few reviews, and the price changes with the option you pick, so check what is included. | People who want to see the royal mummies. |
| Plain entry, bought at the museum (not sold here) | Sold by the museum on site. The ministry's page lists prices for foreign and Egyptian visitors, student rates and an audio guide. GetYourGuide listed no entry-only ticket for this museum on 8 November 2026. | No guide unless you hire the audio guide, and no transport. | Independent travellers who like to read the labels at their own pace. |
For plain entry, current prices and opening times, see the museum's page on the ministry's website
Getting there
Sadat station lies under Tahrir Square, where Line 1 and Line 2 of the Cairo Metro meet. Come up into the square and the museum stands on its northern side. Fares go by the number of stops, and the two middle cars of each train are kept for women.
Ask for the Egyptian Museum on Tahrir Square, or Midan el-Tahrir. Say Tahrir clearly, because drivers also know the Grand Egyptian Museum out at Giza, a long drive away. Downtown traffic is heavy, so allow extra time around the middle of the day.
The museum's garden once ran down to the Nile, and it is still a short walk from the river. From the downtown streets east of the square, or the hotels along the corniche, you can walk. The square is busy with traffic, so cross with the lights or where others cross.
Photographs
These photographs were taken between 2015 and 2026. Displays move, so treat them as a picture of the building and its collection rather than a map of where each case stands today.
Useful to know
Plain entry is sold by the museum, which comes under Egypt's Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities. The ministry's page lists the current prices for foreign and Egyptian visitors, student rates and an audio guide. Prices change, so they are not copied here.
The ministry's page shows the museum open every day from morning to late afternoon, with the last tickets sold an hour before closing and shorter hours during Ramadan. Check the page for the times on your date.
Two to three hours covers the highlights at an unhurried pace. The guided tour on this page spends about an hour and a half inside and takes about four hours with pickup and drop-off.
Tutankhamun is at the Grand Egyptian Museum by the Giza pyramids, and the royal mummies are at the civilisation museum in Fustat. Each sells its own ticket and deserves its own half day. Put Tahrir on a day you are already downtown.
GetYourGuide listed no entry-only ticket for this museum on 8 November 2026. Buy it at the museum, and use the ministry's page for prices.
Which museum Egyptian Museum vs Grand Egyptian Museum: what is where now Tahrir Square or Giza? What each museum holds since Tutankhamun moved in 2025, where the royal mummies went, which one to choose and how to fit in both. Open the guide → Highlights What to see at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo now The Narmer Palette, Psusennes I's silver coffin, the burial of Yuya and Thuya and more: what is on show at Tahrir since Tutankhamun left, and a route through it. Open the guide → No. Tahrir Antiquities Guide is written independently and has no link to the museum or to Egypt's Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, which runs it. It has nothing of its own to sell; bookings made from this page go through GetYourGuide.
No. The mask and the rest of Tutankhamun's tomb treasures are at the Grand Egyptian Museum near the Giza pyramids, which opened in full on 1 November 2025. Tahrir no longer shows them.
No. On 3 April 2021, twenty-two royal mummies moved to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in Fustat. Some older tour descriptions still mention a mummy hall at Tahrir; that is out of date.
Plain entry is sold at the museum itself, and the ministry's page lists the current prices. This site does not sell entry. The guided tour on this page includes entrance tickets in its price.
No. The Egyptian Museum is the 1902 building on Tahrir Square in central Cairo. The Grand Egyptian Museum is a separate, newer museum about 2 km from the Giza pyramids, with its own collection and its own tickets.
Yes, if you like objects more than crowds. The ministry still lists the Narmer Palette, the treasures of Psusennes I and the burial of Yuya and Thuya among its highlights, and daily visitor numbers have fallen sharply since 2025.
The tour on this page lists the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities as its stop, which is the Tahrir building, not the museum at Giza. Read the itinerary on GetYourGuide before you pay if you want to be sure.
Two to three hours is enough for the highlights. The guided tour on this page spends about an hour and a half inside and about four hours in all, including the drive from and back to your hotel.
Tour prices on this page are shown per person in US dollars, as checked on 8 November 2026. On GetYourGuide you will see the day's figure in your currency before paying.
Egyptian Museum, Citadel and Old Cairo guided tour, 3 to 6 hours ↗