Arrive no later than 2 p.m. at the Memphis Museum, where the main attraction is the colossal fallen limestone statue of Ramses II, housed in its own pavilion, with a raised walkway that allows you to get up close and gaze down upon—like a fly buzzing over a felled elephant—the pharaoh's idealized features and musculature. Then it's back to the car and on to Sakkara, 15 minutes away. There are more than 200 pyramids and graves in this vast funerary complex, whose monuments cover every period of Egyptian history (right through the Christian era). The one to see is Djoser's Step Pyramid, built circa 2650 b.c. It is the world's earliest stone monument, a precursor to the smooth-sided pyramids of Giza, and its architect was the Frank Gehry of the ancient world, the later deified Imhotep. Take the time to walk around—the visitors are fewer here than at Giza—and when you reach the pyramid's rear, chances are excellent that you will be alone, with just desert silence and wind.

You can be back at the Hilton by 5 p.m., in time for a swim before the pool closes at sunset and a rest before dinner. Then it's off on your own—a regular taxi is fine—for the short drive to Zamalek Island, an erstwhile expat and upper-middle-class residential enclave of leafy avenues and bourgeois apartment buildings and villas, now a bit shabby. Stop by the excellent Diwan English-language bookstore, open until 11:30 p.m., to stock up on books for the trip ahead (159 26th of July St.; 20-2-736-2598; go to cntraveler.com/iconictrips for my reading recommendations). The Abou El Sid restaurant is just off 26th of July Street, behind a large, ornate wooden door. Inside, you'll find Royalist Egyptian meets Andy Warhol decor, and an interesting menu of Egyptian dishes, including one of my favorites, fettah, a risotto with yogurt, tomato, and beef. Have your concierge book ahead (20-2-735-9640; entrées, $6–$8). You'll find taxis outside for the ride back to the hotel.

Day 3: Cairo, Part 2
Meet your guide after breakfast at 8:45 a.m. sharp to be among the first in line at the Egyptian Museum, across the street from the Hilton. As the doors open, run, don't walk, up to the first-floor Tutankhamun Galleries and head straight to Room 3. While other guides spend ten minutes on the ground floor with orientation lectures, you can steal some time alone with Tut's resplendent gold death mask (pictured right). There are two other must-sees. The Royal Mummy Room (No. 56) has the remains of 11 pharaohs and queens from the seventh to the twenty-first dynasties, including the formidable Ramses II; there is something vertiginous about inspecting the corpse of one of the ancient world's most powerful rulers close up (note the elegantly elongated fingernails and aquiline nose). The Fayoum Portraits (in Room 14), found on Greco-Roman mummies dating from 30 b.c. to a.d. 395, are haunting in their realism and the youth of some of their subjects.