Private Tour: Monastery of St Simon Cave Church and Garbage City Exploration

15 Ratings

Cairo

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Embark on a private tour to the Monastery of St Simon Cave Church and explore the fascinating Garbage City. Discover the Christian history and witness the miracle of the mountain movement with a knowledgeable guide. Hotel pick-up in Cairo or Giza available.

Duration: 2 hours

Cancellation: 24 hours

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Highlights

Cave Church - Our guide will pick you up from your hotel in Cairo or Giza at any time you request, starting from 10 am and up to 1 pm.
You will be transferred in a private, air-conditioned car to St. Simon Monastery.
Visit the Monastery of Saint Simon. Simon the Tanner was a craftsman saint who lived during the 10th century, and the cave church…

What's Included

Hotel pickup and drop-off
Private tour
All taxes, fees and handling charges
Transport by private vehicle

What's Not Included

Gratuities
airport hotels , airport areas , nasr city , ,6th october city , new settlemnt 30 usd extra

Additional Information

Explore El Mokattam Mountain Cave Church, also known as the Monastery of St. Simon, on a private tour that includes the stunning churches of Coptic Cairo. Discover some of Cairo’s most significant Christian landmarks.
A private tour guarantees personalized service, and included entrance fees mean no additional costs.
Travel in comfort and safety with a…

Location

Cave Church

Mokattam,

Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings

4.9

(15 Ratings)

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1 star

Wiliam

Mar 20, 2025

Cave church and garbage place - Kirolos took us to many and rare hsitoral places as not much tourists knew about it . The place with full explanation of history and stories . He helped us to take photos and know history . Tour also was surprise to have local street and sugar cane juice .we saw church and garbage place for recycling .it was great day

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Joanne

Feb 20, 2025

Fabulous guide and driver and an amazing visit to the cave church. - Our guide Dias was fantastic. She was knowledgeable and enthusiastic, made us feel comfortable and allowed us plenty of time to explore the cave church complex. The driver was very calm and skillfully navigated the intense traffic of Cairo.

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Fearless48316667652

Jul 26, 2024

Very happy. - Guide Bisho and driver John were very professional, got very satisfied, fluent in English, wouldn't rush, had a great time the whole way, my colleagues and I tentatively wanted to come out of the hotel to see, can also arrange for the time of day

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Peterpb8021ez

Apr 27, 2024

Amazing experience - Saint Simon’s cave church is spectacular. I was lucky to arrive at the end of a service and could hear prayers being chanted, which was amazing. The reliefs carved into the stone are beautiful. Had aenjoyed tea under stone gazebos. I hope no one is put off by the term “garbage city”. To get to the cave church you must pass through a poor neighborhood in Cairo. It was charming. Interesting to see how life works in this neighborhood. The garbage is neatly contained in large sacks and hoisted to the rooftops for recycling. Yes there is a smell of garbage. I found it quite mild. I hope no one misses the opportunity to see the cave church just because you must pass through a poor neighborhood. Overall a great tour. My guide Kereem was fabulous. Very knowledgeable. Very friendly. Eager to help me understand the history of the church and life in Egypt in general.

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Fenellaa2024

Feb 24, 2024

The best tour and very informative experience ever. - This was a last minute booking before we left the U.K. as this tour interest us very well.Initially I only booked for a driver only and I am glad that Hesham advised me to get a tour guide for the last minute.We are very happy to meet Karim who is very articulate thorough and best guide ever.We learned a lot about Egypt.He answered all my curiousity and give me more reason to come back and explore Egypt.With regards to our driver Walid I am very pleased that he made this trip possible he was calmed and driven us safely to every destination we stopped until we reach our hotel.They are both highly recommended and especially this tour….It is worth your money.Sukran and thank you very much for this wonderful experience.

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Yordeev

Feb 19, 2024

Great Simon the tanner visit - I tried to get here with uber but the drivers refused to get in that area so I decided to book this tour with a driver only and no guide. I booked it at midnight for 11am and everything was organised on the spot. Ahmed was my driver and he was awesome! Spoke great English and we talked about many things. Crossing the Zabbaleen was a task for experienced drivers like Ahmed. Once at the church we walked around and saw the buildings and took some pictures. It was really worth it!

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Nancy_k

Nov 11, 2023

A Fun, Unique Tour - This is a great tour to see another aspect of Cairo. The tour included a visit to Garbage City and St Simon Monastery. I was particularly taken with Garbage City where Cairo’s trash is processed. This may sound boring but it was anything but! St Simon monastery is a church built into the cliffside and is a huge cave church. I was picked up at my Airbnb by Karam, a very skillful driver who also provided great information. I highly recommend this tour.

Review provided by Viator

Navigator39343246054

Aug 23, 2023

Excellent driver Ahmed. Super friendly, punctual and speaks English. - It is a very very beautiful and impressive place. It's completely worth it. Go through the Garbage City is interesting, although even the church has a bad smell. We asked the driver to recommend where to eat something quick and he was very accurate.

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Jbf0925

May 1, 2023

Cave Churches and Garbage City tour - We had a wonderful trip with Tamer. He was an informative guide about places we passed on the way to the Cave Church. The ride through Garbage City was interesting, topped by the beautiful summer and winter Cave churches. We would be happy to take a tour with him another time.

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Chariseq2021

Mar 24, 2023

Nice tour with a great guide. - Tamer is a great guide and was very knowledgable about the tour. He is punctual and went the extra mile to explain the history about the Garbage city and cemetaries in Cairo and answered all my questions. I would recommend him to anyone as you will walk away with a lot of information and appreciate the tours more. Thank you Tamer. You are great at what you do and such a kind person🙂

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Check Availability

From $12

up to 15 guests

1 - Adult