Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM)

The Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) stands on the edge of the Giza plateau, about 2 km from the Giza Pyramids, and is the largest museum in the world devoted to a single civilisation. After years of construction and partial openings, it was officially inaugurated on 1 November 2025 and opened fully to the public on 4 November 2025.

The building

The GEM’s large stone-faced building was designed so that its main sightlines point towards the pyramids. It holds more than 50,000 objects on display out of a much larger collection, and includes one of the largest conservation centres in the Middle East, where restorers treat objects before they go on show.

What to look for

• The Hanging Obelisk of Ramesses II outside the entrance, raised so you can walk beneath and see the king’s cartouche on its base.
• The Grand Hall, dominated by the colossal 11-metre statue of Ramesses II that stood for decades in Cairo’s Ramses Square.
• The Grand Staircase, a six-storey climb lined with statues of kings, gods and sarcophagi, ending at a window framing the pyramids.
• The twelve Main Galleries, which lead from prehistory to the Roman period, arranged by era and by themes such as kingship, society and belief.
• The Tutankhamun Galleries, where more than 5,000 objects from the king’s tomb are shown together for the first time since its discovery in 1922, including the gold mask, shrines, chariots and jewellery.
• Khufu’s Boats Museum, home to the 43-metre cedar boat found beside the Great Pyramid in 1954. The second boat is being conserved and reassembled in stages.

Visiting tips

Tickets are timed and sold online, so book ahead, especially for weekends and holidays. Give yourself at least half a day: the Tutankhamun Galleries alone take one to two hours. Start early or come on a late-opening evening to avoid the busiest periods, wear comfortable shoes, and save time for the cafés and terraces with views of the pyramids. The museum is on the Cairo–Alexandria Desert Road at Remaya Square and easy to combine with the pyramids on the same day; Sphinx International Airport is the closest airport.

Last checked October 2026. Sources: the-past.com, corinthiantravel.co.uk, euronews.com, arabnews.jp.