You've been talking to them for months, now it's time to meet your Girls Who Travel travelers! Together you'll board your overnight flight to Cairo.

Welcome to Egypt, where stories etched in stone await your discovery—and your own tale will soon unfold.

Transfer to your hotel and get settled in. Your dinner will either be served at an on-site buffet or brought to your room. (You’ll get to see and savor the best of Egypt with your group in the days ahead!)

Begin your journey in earnest with a guided sightseeing tour of Old Cairo, whose strategic location in the Nile River valley drew the area’s first settlements 2,000 years ago. Follow your Tour Director—a female Egyptologist—through the area’s labyrinthine alleys, venturing off the beaten path to dig into the city’s herstory.

• Start by visiting the Mosque of Ibn Tulun. Built in the Abbasid style in the late ninth century, with vaulted corridors and carved stucco accents, this structure is the oldest well-preserved mosque in Egypt.
• Walk to the Mausoleum of Shajar al-Durr, the final resting place of Islamic Egypt’s first and only sultana, or female sultan. Bought as a slave-concubine by the future Ayyubid ruler As-Salih, she was taken from the Levant to Egypt. After marrying him, al-Durr would play a pivotal role in both the defeat of European invaders and the country’s eventual transition to Mamluk rule.
• Visit the Cairo Citadel. Constructed on the order of the Ayyubid sultan, Saladin, and originally used as a fortress, it remained the seat of the Egyptian government until the 19th century.

This afternoon, a Cairo guide will join your group to explain how the lives and roles of Egyptian women have evolved from ancient times to the present. You’ll also hear about local daughters turned international icons: Umm Kulthum, a songwriter and actress ranked by Rolling Stone as one of the greatest singers of all time, and Doria Shafik, a poet and activist whose efforts directly led to the enshrinement of women’s suffrage in the Egyptian constitution.

Later tonight, gather with your Tour Director and fellow group members for a welcome dinner, served with beer or wine.

Please note: You must remove your shoes and cover your head and shoulders when entering the Mosque of Ibn Tulun. Additionally, the exact stops and content of your afternoon drive through Cairo will depend on traffic conditions.

Meet up with your Tour Director and set out for the Giza Necropolis. Set on the outskirts of Egypt’s third-largest city, this archaeological site contains some of Earth’s most enduring monuments—and soon, you’ll come face-to-face with them.

• Uncover the Pyramids of Giza, including the Great Pyramid—the only Wonder of the Ancient World to have survived into the modern era. Standing as tall as 480 feet when it was built, it continues to amaze with its sheer size and geometric precision.
• Visit the enigmatic, 4,500-year-old Great Sphinx, the largest monolithic statue on the planet. (It was carved from a single limestone bedrock!)

Transfer back to Cairo and sit down with your group for an included lunch at a local restaurant. Then, make your way to the Grand Egyptian Museum. Another attraction of monumental proportions, it’s the world’s largest archaeological museum; spend some time walking its halls, exploring its vast collection of artifacts alongside your Egyptologist.

Want to cap an epic day of sightseeing with a worthy meal? Add tonight’s optional outing to visit a Cairo family and join them for a home-cooked dinner. Dukkah, za’atar, and other delightfully complex seasonings take center stage in Egyptian cuisine—and all of it’s delicious. If you aren’t feeling hungry, hang back at the hotel and prepare for tomorrow’s flight.

Please note: You can enter the Great Pyramid for an extra fee—however, we wouldn’t recommend it if you’re claustrophobic. Additionally, if the Grand Egyptian Museum is closed, you’ll instead visit the Egyptian Antiquities Museum.