Cairo travel guides & articles

All 19 in-depth pieces we’ve published on Cairo — newest first.

Meeting the Great Sphinx Face to Face in Cairo

Tours & tickets

Meeting the Great Sphinx Face to Face in Cairo

What you actually see at the Sphinx, the hour its face is lit, how the new Giza gate has changed the whole day, and where to hide when the heat or the sand wins.

A Cairo Morning Beneath the Step Pyramid at Saqqara in October

Tours & tickets

A Cairo Morning Beneath the Step Pyramid at Saqqara in October

What there is to see inside Djoser's pyramid, what the gate charges in EGP, and why arriving at eight changes the rest of the day.

Walk Islamic Cairo from Bab al-Futuh to the Citadel

Tours & tickets

Walk Islamic Cairo from Bab al-Futuh to the Citadel

A minaret-by-minaret route through medieval Cairo: what the doors cost, which stairs you can actually climb, when prayer times shut things, and whether to bother with a guide.

Cairo Seen from Its Towers, Minarets and Rooftops

Cairo Seen from Its Towers, Minarets and Rooftops

A dozen places to get above Cairo: a lattice tower, two minaret stairs, a hilltop park, five river rooftops and the tables that face the pyramids, with what each costs, when it opens and who it suits.

The Nile felucca at dusk — Cairo's lateen-rigged sailboats and the captains who've worked the river for generations

The Nile felucca at dusk — Cairo's lateen-rigged sailboats and the captains who've worked the river for generations

An hour on the water at golden hour, from the flag-it-down Corniche docks to the fixed-price operators and the one crossing that isn't a tourist product at all.

The Art of the Haggle: A Local's Guide to Khan el-Khalili

The Art of the Haggle: A Local's Guide to Khan el-Khalili

How to read Cairo's 700-year-old bazaar, price a copper lantern, and know which stalls reward a hard bargain and which don't — with the tea stops, kebab houses and timings to plan a full day around.

Eating Cairo from the Koshary Counter to the Juice Window

Eating Cairo from the Koshary Counter to the Juice Window

One day of eating in Cairo, beginning at the morning foul counters and ending at a mango juice window, with the price, the queue and the door to expect at every stop.

Cairo's Grand Egyptian Museum and the Pyramids Beyond It

Cairo's Grand Egyptian Museum and the Pyramids Beyond It

How to split a Giza day between the new museum, the plateau's relocated gate and the quieter pyramids to the south.

Parliament of the Ahwa: Inside Cairo's Coffeehouse Life

Parliament of the Ahwa: Inside Cairo's Coffeehouse Life

From Naguib Mahfouz's 18th-century alley to the downtown passages where revolutions were argued into being — how to read, order and belong in Cairo's coffeehouses in 2026.

Grand Egyptian Museum After Year One: New $35 Ticket, Late Nights and the Eternal Sun Show

Grand Egyptian Museum After Year One: New $35 Ticket, Late Nights and the Eternal Sun Show

A year in, the Grand Egyptian Museum costs more and sells only booked slots. Timing the visit around the Eternal Sun show takes planning, and other Cairo museums are still worth a morning.

The City of the Dead: Living Among the Tombs in Cairo's Necropolis

The City of the Dead: Living Among the Tombs in Cairo's Necropolis

Inside Cairo's Northern and Southern Cemeteries, where Mamluk sultans built tombs meant to be lived in - and generations of Cairenes still do.

Inside the Great Pyramid of Giza and Across the Plateau

Tours & tickets

Inside the Great Pyramid of Giza and Across the Plateau

What plateau entry costs, how the capped Khufu ticket works, why Khafre's chamber is the better-preserved one, and where to sit with the pyramids in front of you.

Three Days in Cairo at a Walking Pace

Three Days in Cairo at a Walking Pace

A workable first-visit plan for Cairo, built around one anchor sight a day, with the opening hours, booking rules and gate changes that catch people out.

Cairo's Real Night Starts When the Pyramids Close

Cairo's Real Night Starts When the Pyramids Close

The coaches leave the plateau at closing time and most visitors go with them. Here is what the city does with the nine hours after that, including a Zamalek terrace and a Wednesday zar sitting in Mounira.

The Best Desert Adventures in Cairo

The Best Desert Adventures in Cairo

From quad convoys below the Great Pyramid to the White Desert's chalk under the stars — a calm, honest map of every desert trip worth taking from Cairo in 2026.

Follow the Cannon Fire: Cairo's Ramadan Iftar Trail

Follow the Cannon Fire: Cairo's Ramadan Iftar Trail

A door-by-door trail through Cairo's Ramadan iftar scene — from a 1773 tea house to a Nile-view splurge — with real prices, booking rules and who each table actually suits.

The Pigeon Towers of Cairo: The Rooftop Hamam Tradition

The Pigeon Towers of Cairo: The Rooftop Hamam Tradition

Above Cairo's rooftops, wooden dovecotes still hold working flocks — here's where to watch them fly, where their keepers buy and sell birds, and where hamam mahshi ends up on the plate.

Cairo's Egyptian Museum on a December Morning

Tours & tickets

Cairo's Egyptian Museum on a December Morning

What Tahrir still holds after the gold moved to Giza, and how to build a December day around it.

How a Shi'a Caliphate Shaped Cairo's Historic Core

How a Shi'a Caliphate Shaped Cairo's Historic Core

A myth-vs-reality walk through the mosques, gates and shrines the Fatimids left behind, and the market and sultan's dynasty that grew over what they lost.