Things to Do in Cairo

The essentialsالأساسيات

• The Giza plateau — pyramids, the Sphinx, and the walk out to the panorama point. Full guide.
• The Grand Egyptian Museum — half a day minimum, and the complete Tutankhamun collection. Full guide.
• Saqqara and Dahshur — the Step Pyramid, the Bent Pyramid, the Red Pyramid. Older than Giza and far quieter.
• The Egyptian Museum in Tahrir — the old museum, still full, atmospheric and cheap.
• The Citadel and Sultan Hassan — Saladin's fortress above the city, and the finest Mamluk mosque in Cairo directly below it.

The city most visitors missما يفوته معظم الزوار

• Al-Muizz Street — a kilometre of medieval Islamic architecture, best walked late afternoon and lit at night.
• Khan el-Khalili — the market, and El Fishawy for mint tea in the middle of it.
• Ibn Tulun Mosque — ninth century, vast, austere, usually empty. Climb the spiral minaret.
• Coptic Cairo — the Hanging Church, Ben Ezra Synagogue and the Coptic Museum inside the old Roman fortress walls.
• Al-Azhar Park — built on a thousand-year rubbish mound, now the best view of the old city at sunset.
• The City of the Dead — a living Mamluk necropolis; go with a guide.
• Zamalek — island neighbourhood, galleries, bookshops and quiet streets when Cairo gets too loud.
• Downtown's belle époque core — Khedivial architecture around Talaat Harb, best on foot in the evening.
• A felucca at sunset from Garden City or Zamalek.
• Koshari, ful and taameya — the national dishes, cheap and excellent. Abou Tarek for koshari is the obvious pilgrimage.

Practicalitiesنصائح عملية

Traffic	Plan around it. Giza can be 45 minutes or two hours from downtown depending on the hour. Early starts solve most of it.
Getting around	Ride-hailing apps are cheap and remove fare arguments. The metro is fast for the downtown corridor and has women-only carriages.
Mosque visits	Shoes off, modest dress, headscarf for women. Most major mosques welcome visitors outside prayer times.
Crossing roads	Cairo traffic does not stop. Cross with locals, move predictably, and don't hesitate mid-lane.
Time needed	Three full days to do the city properly, two if you skip Saqqara, four if you want Alexandria as a day trip.