Saqqara Step Pyramid and Necropolis

Saqqara is the vast necropolis of ancient Memphis, about 30 km south of Giza city in Egypt's Giza Governorate, and it is the site of the Step Pyramid of Djoser, the oldest large-scale stone building in the world. The drive from the Giza Plateau takes 45 minutes to an hour, and a hired car or private driver is the most practical transport because the site is spread over several kilometres of desert. Microbuses leave from the Maryutia Canal junction on Pyramids Road, but they drop passengers on the access road and the walk to the monuments is long and shadeless.

The Step Pyramid complex, designed by the architect Imhotep for King Djoser of the Third Dynasty, is the centrepiece. Visitors walk through the colonnaded entrance hall, onto the Heb-Sed court and past the Southern Tomb. Nearby, the Pyramid of Unas carries the oldest Pyramid Texts, carved inside the burial chamber, and its causeway is lined with relief fragments. The Pyramid of Teti and the decorated mastaba of Mereruka, a vizier with more than thirty chambers of daily-life scenes, are among the finest painted tombs on the plateau. The Serapeum, the underground galleries where sacred Apis bulls were buried in granite sarcophagi, lies a short drive to the north-west, and the Imhotep Museum near the entrance gives context with artefacts from the excavations.

A workable one-day arc is to arrive when the gates open in the morning, around 8:00, to see the Step Pyramid and Unas complex before the heat builds. The mid-morning can be spent at the Teti and Mereruka tombs, which are shaded inside. Lunch is usually taken at a simple restaurant on the road near the site entrance or back in Giza, and the afternoon can be used for Memphis or Dahshur if the day is shared with a hired driver. Group tours from Giza hotels typically combine Saqqara, Memphis and Dahshur in one day.

The best window is October to April, when daytime temperatures are mild. June to August is very hot for open-air desert sites, and shade is limited between the monuments. Water, a hat and sturdy shoes matter more than at most city sites, because the ground is sandy and uneven.