Cairo Travel Guide
First time visitors to Cairo might find it a little overwhelming. Over populated, polluted and congested, Cairo is home to some 18 million people and growing all the time.
The streets are dusty, the roads are noisy and the traffic is laughable. But if you stick around long enough to get under the skin of the place, you’ll soon start to appreciate the alluring chaos of Africa ’s largest city.
On arrival at Cairo Airport, most tourists who pass through Cairo make a B-line straight for the Giza plateau. Home to the great Pyramid, not to mention several thousand post card vendors, men touting camels, pizza hut and KFC. The Egyptian museum is next on any classic itinerary. Together perhaps with a brief shopping/toilet stop at one of the many papyrus institutes, this completes the common perception of Cairo' s “must see” sights.
But once you’ve visited the afore mentioned, and ticked them off your ‘to do before you die’ list you might want to consider the following.
Head down to the Khan el Khalili market for a retail sensory overload. If you want something more authentic, old Islamic Cairo and its market are a short walk away. Enjoy the architecture and see a sufi show. There's plenty of good food to try downtown in the form of foul, felafel, kosheri, and even Egyptian style pancakes.
You can visit a mosque from the inside, or go for drinks in Zamalek. The step pyramids of Sakara are not far away and the site has some of the oldest pyramids in the country. A little bit further away, and far less crowded are the Pyramids of Dahshur.
Whatever you choose to do don’t miss the River Nile, you hardly can. And make sure you take some time out to appreciate it, preferably at sunset when the mighty river is accompanied by the sound clash of prayer calls across the city.
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