nippurmagnum
Contributor
We did all that along with Giza in one long day. We had our guide for the whole day. Admittedly, it all became a blur. The second day we tooled around Cairo on our own, as I mentioned above.
As for Luxor and the Valley of the Kings, we figured we'd save it for our next trip to Egypt, and we did. On our second trip to Egypt we skipped Cairo entirely and flew on to Hurghada and then by van to Luxor. Although the great pyramids and the Sphinx are iconic and not to be missed, my impression was that the sites at Luxor and the Valley of the Kings were more extensive, more intricately decorated, well preserved, etc. I mean, tombs like King Tut's! I would never have thought it could be done in a single day, let alone as a day trip via air from Cairo, if ScubaLawyer hadn't said he did it.
I just checked online, and there are same-day package tours to Luxor from Cairo for $480, including flight, guide, transfers, lunch, etc. Seems reasonable in price, but it departs at 5 pm, and returns late at night, circa 10 pm if everything works like it is supposed to. That seems pretty exhausting. So I am thinking to do like you did, and leave it for a return trip . . .