Pyramids of Giza

The Pyramids of Giza are the last of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World still standing, and no photograph prepares you for the scale. Rising on the desert plateau at the very edge of Cairo, the Great Pyramid of Khufu, its neighbours Khafre and Menkaure, and the enigmatic Sphinx have watched over the Nile for some 4,500 years.

Walk the plateau and the sheer engineering hits you: 2.3 million limestone blocks stacked with astonishing precision, without wheels or iron. You can pay to duck inside the Great Pyramid's cramped internal passages, ride a camel out to the panorama point, and stand beneath the paws of the Sphinx where ancient and modern Cairo collide.

This is the icon that defines Egypt, and it delivers. Go early or late to soften the heat, the crowds and the touts.