Tourists are allowed to enter all three of the great pyramids, for a fee, of course. That is, you can go into the Great Pyramid of Khufu, the Pyramid of Khafre, and the Pyramid of Menkaure as long as you pay for a ticket. That’s the good news.

The bad news starts with the mundane issues of how hard it can be to get inside. You must first pay for a ticket (around $20) for general admission to the grounds, then for an additional ticket for each pyramid, between about $5 and $15. The total amounts up fast, especially if you’re traveling with your family.

Second, ticket sales are not a smooth procedure. Changes occur in the process regularly, and you can never be sure of exactly what to expect. First, there’s often, but not always, a limit imposed on ticket sales for the smaller pyramids, those of Khufu and Khafre. This is usually 300 tickets per pyramid per day, but only 150 are offered in the morning, the rest are saved until the afternoon. People get annoyed and impatient and you may run into pushing and shoving.

Third, it is often, though not always, the case that if Khufu is open to visitors, Khafre is not and vice versa. The explanation is that this accommodates restoration work proceeding inside them. You may be unable to find this out before you go, that’s why Some say it’s better to sign up for an organized pyramid tour instead so someone else can handle arrangements.