What’s it like inside an Egyptian pyramid? That’s the question buzzing through my mind all morning as my Exodus Adventure Travels tour group winds its way through the bustling streets of Cairo to the Great Pyramid of Giza. It’s not a new question for me. It’s something I’ve wondered about all my life.
Like many children of the ‘80s, I grew up on an endless supply of Indiana Jones movies and “Tutmania,” a fascination bordering on obsession with the famed King Tut and all things ancient Egypt. Today, under the scorching Egyptian sun, I’m finally going to find out for myself what it feels like to go deep inside a pharaoh’s tomb.
I’m here for a professional reason, too. I’ve written an Indiana Jones-inspired adventure novel, Victoria Dare and the Blood of Kings, and I’m just about ready to send it to my publisher. But before I do, I want to see which details I got right (and which ones I’ll need to revise) about exploring an ancient Egyptian necropolis. There’s only so much you can learn from research, after all.
So, I’m going to brave the weight of six million tons of limestone and granite blocks to find out.
‘You’ll have to crawl. It’s very uncomfortable.’
“It’s going to be hot in there. Claustrophobic, too. You’ll have to crawl. It’s very uncomfortable. Many people choose not to do it.” This caution from my Egyptologist guide, Andrew Neamtalla, is not the first warning I’ve received about clambering inside the Great Pyramid, but it is the most pointed. Coming as it does now, though, as I stand peering up at the shadowy “Robbers’ Tunnel” entrance split open by battering rams a millennia ago, it’s safe to say it’s falling on deaf ears. I’ve waited decades and traveled more than 5,000 miles for this opportunity. I’m not turning around now.
Not everyone in my tour group is as excited by the prospect as me, however. Several guests choose to stick to the perimeter and photograph the pyramid or take selfies from the outside. Exodus gives all its guests the opportunity to explore sites like the Giza pyramid complex any way they want. But for me, sticking to the outside of the pyramid doesn’t feel like an option.
The original entrance to Khufu’s tomb in the heart of the Great Pyramid is about 56 feet above the sand. Tourists today enter through a small dark scar in the sandstone exterior about 23 feet off the ground. Forcibly created in the 9th century by Abbasid Caliph Abdullah al-Ma’mun in his search for hidden treasure, this “Robber’s Tunnel” immediately evokes the feeling of intrusion, of being somewhere forbidden—of tomb raiding, frankly.
The long tunnel is jagged and dimly lit. As the daylight fades away, the way ahead narrows, then twists and turns and climbs all at once before intersecting with the original tunnel leading to King Khufu’s tomb. From there, it’s a tight, hunched climb up a steeply vertical shaft, the ceiling low to the floor, the way ahead lit only by low lighting up and down the tunnel. When you reach the end of one shaft, you slide over a few steps and ascend another one.
It’s tiring work. Hot and sweaty work. The air is stale and musty and thick with the smell of perspiration. You feel the combined bulk of nearly 2.3 million stone blocks overhead like an invisible weight, and you can’t help wondering: What if something up there shifts? Even just a little?
Your legs ache and your knees and back won’t thank you for it, either, but when you reach the end of the climb and step inside a pharaoh’s tomb, it hits you. You did it. You’re standing inside the only surviving wonder of the ancient world. And it is, in every sense of the word, awesome.
It’s also just the beginning of Exodus’s “Ancient Egypt & Nile Cruise – Premium Adventure” tour.
Egypt by land, air, and sea
Every year, Exodus Adventure Travels runs more than 500 tours across nearly 100 countries. My Egypt trip is one of the company’s “Premium Adventure” options, which delivers a more upscale experience than its standard tours (think five-star hotels and an upscale four-night Nile river cruise) along with an itinerary that takes in many of Egypt’s most important historical sites.
An Egyptologist accompanies you to all of the sites and also eats with you at every meal, which is helpful for contextualizing what you’re seeing and where it fits into the timeline of Egyptian history. I found it especially useful during our visits to the Valley of the Kings (where more than 60 pharaohs are entombed), the Temple of Karnak, the new Grand Egyptian Museum in Cairo, and many other sites up and down the Nile. Having an engaging and knowledgeable guide to bring Egypt’s history and legends to life is something not even the best guidebook can match.
At the Valley of the Kings, the Exodus tour includes visits to three of the dozens of tombs hidden away in the sandstone cliffs. But just as with the visit to the Great Pyramid, you also have the option to explore additional tombs on your own. I chose King Tut’s tomb and the tomb of Seti I.
The tomb of Seti I in particular feels almost untouched by the millennia. It’s dim and haunting and, when I visited, virtually empty of other tourists. It’s also one of the most extensive and best-preserved tombs in Egypt, with multiple levels, shadowy passages, and a real sense that you’re somewhere both sacred and forbidden. For me, it’s right up there with going inside the Great Pyramid as a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
The multi-night Nile River cruise is another highlight. This Exodus premium tour includes four nights aboard the five-star MS Movenpick Royal Lily or Royal Lotus, and it’s a perfect way to move between famous sites overnight while enjoying the fertile scenery around every bend. Evening drinks on the top deck are another highlight you’ll remember long after the names of the pharaohs and their temples have slipped your mind.
What is and isn’t included with Exodus Adventure Travels
The “Ancient Egypt & Nile Cruise – Premium Adventure” tour is offered nearly every month throughout 2026 and 2027. Prices based on availability and seasonality range from $4,755 (September 2026) to $7,350 (December 2027).
The price includes activities, guides, most meals, and transportation within Egypt. It does not include flights to or from Egypt, or a mandatory visa to enter the country (but that last part is not expensive). Travel insurance is also required by Exodus and most other companies who operate Egypt tours. My group was about 10 people in total. The maximum is 16.
This Exodus trip offers both built-in and optional excursions. For example, the visit to the Great Pyramid is included, but if you want to go inside the pyramid to the pharaoh’s tomb as I’ve described, you have to purchase that separately on-site for about $20. Similarly, the visit to the Valley of Kings comes with three tomb excursions included on your ticket, but you need to pay separately on-site for additional tombs. I chose to pay the extra fees to visit King Tut’s tomb (worth it for the inner Egyptologist in me, but not nearly as interesting as some of the others) and for the tomb of Seti I.
Those tombs, and really everything on the trip with the exception of entering the Great Pyramid, were very accessible and required no particular level of fitness. The only real health considerations were to stay well hydrated and out of the sun.
Exodus will hold your hand through the entire travel process. I was met in the Cairo airport even before I reached Customs and Immigration, so it was a breeze to go through passport control and find my prearranged ride to the hotel. Coming home, an Exodus guide also stayed with me until I made it to my airport terminal for the return flight.
If you’re looking for a stress-free way to experience Egypt (or fact-check your next adventure novel), it’s hard to beat true door-to-door service like that.
Josh Roberts visited Egypt to research and add authenticity to his forthcoming novel, Victoria Dare and the Blood of Kings, coming September 14, 2027, from Owl Hollow Press.
