A Plan for the Grand Egyptian Museum That Leaves Energy for Tutankhamun

Why people come out exhausted

The GEM is the world's largest archaeological museum: twelve main galleries, the Grand Staircase, two halls just for Tutankhamun, and 50,000 objects on show from a collection of more than 100,000.

Most visitors walk in with no plan, start at the start, and are worn out by the Middle Kingdom. By the time they reach Tutankhamun — the reason they came — they rush it.

Turn it around. This is the order we suggest.

The order

1. The atrium, 15 minutes. The 83-tonne statue of Ramses II, brought from Ramses Square in 2006 in a move that took ten hours. Walk to the far end and look up the staircase behind him.

2. The Grand Staircase, 45 minutes. Six levels of royal statues, in date order as you climb. It is laid out as a procession, and it works. From the top, a glass wall frames the pyramids two kilometres away.

3. Tutankhamun, first gallery, 45 minutes. Go now, while you still have energy: the nested shrines, the chariots, the ritual beds — objects never shown before.

4. Tutankhamun, second gallery, 45 minutes. The mask, the coffins, the jewellery. Give it more time than you planned.

5. A coffee, 20 minutes. We mean it — the terrace café looks out at the pyramids.

6. The main galleries, 90 minutes or more. Now take the chronological halls at whatever pace you have left. Each covers its period through three themes: society, kingship and belief.

Good to know

• Book in advance. Entry is timed, and weekend slots sell out.
• Some tickets exclude the Tutankhamun galleries, which need a separate ticket — check yours.
• Photos without flash are allowed in most galleries; rules in the Tutankhamun halls change, so follow the signs.
• Plan on four hours at least, or six if you are a real enthusiast.
• The children's museum downstairs is excellent and will keep younger visitors happy for an hour.

The GEM or the museum in Tahrir?

Go to both if you can. The GEM has the star pieces and room to see them. The old Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square offers what the GEM cannot: crowded wooden cases, handwritten labels, and the chance to stand alone before a Middle Kingdom masterpiece while everyone else is in Giza.

Neither has the royal mummies. They are in Fustat, at the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization, whose Royal Mummies Hall is beautifully done.