The New Egyptian Museum of Cairo

As announced on January 27 by Ahmed Ghoneim – the museum’s new CEO – in an interview with ON TV, the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) was finally supposed to fully open on July 3, 2025. It is set to become the largest Egyptian museum in the world and one of the largest archaeological museums ever dedicated to a single civilization.

However, in a statement issued just a few days ago, the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced the decision to postpone the official inauguration of the GEM to the last quarter of this year, due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

Now, as announced on August 7 by Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, the inauguration has been definitively set for November 1, 2025.

Below you’ll find the latest updates regarding its opening, a brief history and description of the museum, and all the practical information you need to plan your visit.

Opening Date

As mentioned, the full opening of the GEM was scheduled for July 3, 2025, with a grand inauguration ceremony lasting several days, possibly even weeks, including various events, some of which international.

However, on June 14, 2025, the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities issued a press release announcing the decision to postpone the museum’s official inauguration to the third quarter of 2025, on a date to be determined and announced later.

August 7, 2025 – Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly announced that Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisil has approved November 1, 2025 as the official opening date of the Grand Egyptian Museum. We will see if this will be the right time or if other events will cause it to be postponed again.

A pre-opening phase began in 2023, during which the following areas have been available for preview visits as part of group guided tours:

• The Grand Hall
• The Obelisk Plaza
• The Children’s Museum
• The garden, restaurants, and shopping area

In October 2024, a partial opening of 12 galleries took place, though not yet including the two halls that will house the full treasure of Tutankhamun.

History and Description of GEM

The GEM – Grand Egyptian Museum (also known as the Giza Museum or the New Great Egyptian Museum of Cairo) will house over 100,000 artifacts and will cover a massive surface area of 500,000 square meters.

It is located just outside Cairo, less than two kilometers from the famous Pyramids of Giza—one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The museum was designed with the intention of offering stunning views of the pyramids.

The Grand Egyptian Museum was designed by a team led by Heneghan Peng Architects (HPARC), an architecture firm based in Dublin and Berlin. HPARC won an international design competition held by the Egyptian government in 2002.

Construction began in 2006 and was entrusted to BESIX, a large Franco-Belgian construction group. The project also received support from the Irish government and financial backing from Japan.

The museum features a modern architectural style and incorporates cutting-edge technologies to enhance the visitor experience. The building’s design was created to be harmonious with its surroundings, especially with the nearby Pyramids of Giza.

As mentioned, the museum will showcase an extraordinary collection of over 100,000 artifacts, spanning from prehistory to the Roman period.

Notable highlights include:

• The colossal statue of Ramses II, moved from Ramses Square in Cairo to the museum’s Grand Atrium.
  • The statue stands 12 meters tall and weighs 83 tons.
  • It was created 3,200 years ago and discovered in 1820 by Genoese explorer and Egyptologist Giovanni Battista Caviglia in the Great Temple of Ptah, near Memphis, the capital of Ancient Egypt.
• The statues of Ptolemy II and Arsinoe II, also placed in the museum’s foyer.
• The entire treasure of Tutankhamun, including the golden funerary objects from the famous tomb of the boy pharaoh (1341–1323 BCE), discovered by British archaeologist Howard Carter in 1922.
  • The treasure consists of over 5,500 artifacts, now curated by Atelier Brückner, and displayed together for the first time in a dedicated 7,000 sqm gallery.
• The obelisk
• Thousands of other artifacts from the Egyptian Museum of Cairo and other museums and archaeological sites across Egypt.

Video

Here is a 5-minute video with a description of the Grand Egyptian Museum:

Address and Map

Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) – X4VF+V38, Cairo – Alexandria Desert Rd, Kafr Nassar, Al Haram, Giza Governorate 3513204, Egypt

How to Get There

There are several ways to reach the Grand Egyptian Museum, depending on your location and mode of transport:

• By car: The museum is located on the Cairo-Alexandria Desert Road, about 20 km (12 miles) from downtown Cairo. You can take a taxi or rent a car.
• By bus: Public buses are available from Cairo’s bus station to Giza, from where you can take a taxi or walk.
• By metro: You can take the metro to the final stop (Helwan) and then get a taxi to the museum.
• By tour: Many tour companies offer day trips to Giza, and after the museum opens, guided tours to GEM will also be available.

Contacts

Grand Egyptian Museum

Phone: +20 2 353 173 44
Email: tourism_info@easwaaqmisr.com

Opening Hours

Here are the GEM opening hours starting 4 November:

Wednesdays & Saturdays

• Complex: 8:30 am – 10:00 pm
• Galleries: 9:00 am – 9:00 pm
• Ticket office closes: 8:00 pm

Other days

• Complex: 8:30 am – 7:00 pm
• Galleries: 9:00 am – 6:00 pm
• Ticket office closes: 5:00 pm

Recommended visit duration: 3–4 hours.

NB – In preparation for the inauguration ceremony on Novermber 1, the GEM will be temporarily closed until November 4. 2025.

Last update: 31 October 2025

Ticket Prices

Here are the entrance fees for the various categories:

EGYPTIANS

• Adults (21+ years): EGP 200
• Children (4–12 years): EGP 100
• Students (13–21 years): EGP 100
• Seniors (60+ years): EGP 100

ARABS OR OTHER NATIONALITIES

• Adults (21+ years): EGP 1,270
• Children (4–12 years): EGP 635
• Students (13–21 years): EGP 635

EXPATRIATES

• Adults (21+): EGP 635
• Children (4–12): EGP 320
• Students (13–21): EGP 320

Free Admission:

• Children aged 0–4
• Egyptian citizens with special needs + 1 companion
• Egyptian tour guides (excluding weekends and public holidays)
• Egyptian military veterans (excluding weekends and holidays)
• First-degree relatives of Egyptian martyrs (excluding weekends and holidays)
• ICOM members

Note – Foreign spouses of Egyptian citizens and their children may purchase tickets at the same rate as Egyptian citizens.

For group bookings and travel agencies: email legacy.booking@hassanallam.com
For school bookings: email learning@gem.eg

Other Visitor Info

• Parking is available on-site for a fee
• Food and drinks are not allowed outside the museum
• Personal, non-professional photography with mobile phones is allowed
• Professional equipment, detachable-lens cameras, camera lighting, tripods, and drones are prohibited
• All passes are non-transferable and non-refundable

Tickets

Entrance tickets to the Grand Egyptian Museum can be purchased online via this handy availability calendar on GetYourGuide, a platform offering tickets and guided tours worldwide:

• Free cancellation – with full refund – up to 24 hours before your selected entry time

On another well-known ticketing portal (Tiqets), you can purchase an admission ticket to the GEM including transportation (with an optional guided tour) and a combined GEM + Pyramids ticket:

Guided Tours

Several guided tours and excursions are also now available for online booking via GetYouGuide. Unlike standard admission tickets, many of these guided tours are already bookable and available.

• Free cancellation – with full refund – up to 24 hours before your selected entry time

Guidebooks

Here we suggest two books about the Grand Egyptian Museum, both in English and available online on Amazon:

Hotels near the GEM

» Discover the best hotels located near the GEM and the Giza Necropolis on Booking.com. Some of them also have a beautiful view of the museum and/or the Pyramids.

A hotel with a view of the GEM is the GEM View Inn.

There are many hotels with views of the Pyramids: we offer you this list, with all establishments rated 9 or above and located less than 1 km from the Giza Necropolis.

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Top photo: Exterior view of the Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza (rendering).
Original title: “Grand Egyptian Museum built recently in Cairo”.
By AshyCatInc. via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)