Egypt's sightseeing carries civilisational weight unlike any other country. The Egyptian Museum holds Tutankhamun's golden death mask in the room it has occupied since Howard Carter's excavation. The Giza Plateau's three pyramids and the Sphinx, visited at dawn before the heat and crowds arrive, are a sightseeing experience that photographs have made familiar but proximity makes incomprehensible — the Great Pyramid is the only surviving wonder of the ancient world. The Islamic Cairo district carries a millennium of urban history at street level. The Coptic Museum, the Abu Simbel temples, and the Valley of the Kings extend the circuit into further periods and registers of extraordinary depth. Tours by locals add the missing layer. Take it all in.