The pyramid fields of Saqqara and Dahshur lie 30 and 40 km south and are the essential day trip from Giza. Saqqara holds the Step Pyramid of Djoser, the oldest monumental stone structure on earth (c. 2670 BC), and the astonishing painted reliefs of the Mastaba of Mereruka. Dahshur has the Bent Pyramid — built with a corrected angle partway up, as the engineers realised the original slope was too steep — and the Red Pyramid, the first true smooth-sided pyramid ever built. A taxi for the day from Cairo or Giza, with time for both sites, is the sensible way to see them; the two sites are only 10 km apart.
Alexandria is 220 km north and doable as a long day trip by train — the Library of Alexandria, the Roman catacombs of Kom el-Shoqafa, and a seafood lunch on the corniche — though an overnight is better. Trains run frequently from Cairo Ramses station and the journey takes around 2–2.5 hours.
Abu Rawash, 8 km north, holds the ruined Pyramid of Djedefre — Egypt's most northerly pyramid, largely destroyed but dramatically sited on a high ridge. It gets almost no visitors and requires a taxi; combine it with the Giza visit rather than making it a dedicated trip.
