Cairo travel guides & articles

All 13 in-depth pieces we’ve published on Cairo — newest first.

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'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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.