Cairo Hotels

Few circumstances engender more sympathy for your country, after all, than the triumphant, grassroots overthrow of an octogenarian despot. So Hosni Mubarak out, waves of new tourists in? Such is the hope, from Sharm el-Sheikh to Abu Simbel. The fact, however, is that Cairo, mega-city par excellence, is too epic to pass up at any time.

This is how prolific Cairo is. You could, conceivably, skip the Giza Necropolis and still have your fill. With close to 20 million people and thousands of years cumulative history, metro Cairo is incomparable on the African continent and, as such, invites all manner of justifiable hyperbole. Though the impossibly complex capital resists scrutiny, Cairo, from the Great Pyramids to the Al-Azhar Mosque, the banks of the Nile to the shisha shops of Khan el-Khalili, has a singular, infectious rhythm.

Cairo’s Top 10

Cairo Local

A city of 20 million people typically has more than a few districts to explore. While not all of Cairo’s ostensibly boundless urban sprawl is worth a whirl, it pays to have a firm grasp of the national capital’s landscape.

Old Cairo is a requisite tourist area that unites some of the most intrinsically historic points of interest in the city. The inherent enclave of Coptic Cairo, in particular, is fraught with precious landmarks like Saints Sergius and Bacchus Church, Ben Ezra Synagogue, the Church of St. George and the Babylon Fortress.

Heliopolis is a foremost suburb replete with landmarks of note, such as St. Mark’s Coptic Orthodox Church, Heliopolis Palace and Baron Empain Palace. The satellite city was also the fountainhead for the eponymous Heliopolis style of architecture that took hold in the early 20^th century.

New Cairo is a recent urban development that evinces the collective desire of Cairo’s moneyed classes to escape the choking furnace of the core city for gated community life. Neighbourhoods within unfurl breezy streets of luxury villas, international university campuses and upscale shopping malls.

Islamic Cairo is the linchpin of the city’s UNESCO World Heritage “Historic Cairo” inscription and, as such, figures prominently on the tourist agenda. The millennium-old quarter is home to Khan el-Khalili suq, Saladin Citadel, historic mosques and countless architectural gems. Al-Muizz Street is a foremost artery of Islamic Cairo.

Garden City is an affluent area of Cairo that was built by the British. A popular central area with desirable proximity to the Nile Corniche.

Giza, though a separate city with over 2.5 million people, is indistinguishable from Cairo proper. The massive suburb lines the west bank of the Nile and is the gateway to the Giza Plateau, where Cairo’s most famous icons await. Dokki and Mohandisee are notable embassy areas in Giza, with popular nightclub, coffeeshop and restaurant haunts for the city’s upper-middle class.

The Nile River island of Gezira hosts a range of landmarks, from Cairo Tower to the Cairo Opera House.

Downtown Cairo is the central business and commercial district of the city. Wide boulevards hint at a late 19^th century French urban plan and the presence of numerous hotels makes the area a perpetual hub for tourists.

Cairo Eat & Drink

For the hungry and indecisive, Cairo’s relentless food options transform mealtime into a bewildering, nerve-racking affair. Copious restaurants, cafés and stalls cram city streets and ply clientele with indelible staples like ful, fetyeer, taa’miya, shawarma and ta’amiya. Suffice to say that in a city as big and food-mad as Cairo, it pays to follow your gut, have a sense of adventure and eat a little, often.

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Cairo Events

The Cairo International Film Festival is a major event for world cinephiles. Inaugurated in 1976, the annual event held in late November and early December was a first in the Arab world.

The Cairo Jazz Festival debuted in 2009 and has quickly become a regular on the city events calendar. The festival takes place over three days in March at the all-important El Sawy culturewheel.

The Cairo International Book Fair is the most prominent literary event in the Arab world and, in years past, has been a perpetual target of government seizures and shakedowns. Over 2 million visitors attend the event at Cairo International Fair Grounds in Madinat Nas every year.

Avid classical music mavens should keep an eye on the monthly schedule at the wonderful Cairo Opera House.

The annual Cairo Dance Festival celebrates Egypt and the Arab world’s myriad contributions to the performance artform.

A dinner cruise or felucca ride on the Nile is touristy, without question, but well worth the negligible cost and experience nonetheless.

The sheer ferocity and passion of the Cairo Derby makes Fulham-Chelsea look woefully insignificant. The rivalry pits city football clubs Al-Ahly, the “African Club of the Century”, and Zamalek SC at Cairo International Stadium.

When To Go

The desert climate of Cairo and the Nile River Valley can feature some nasty weather, from high winds and dust storms to flash floods and intense humidity. A metropolis as big and dense as Cairo has a unique meteorological character and greenhouse effect, a reality most evident at summer swelter’s crest.

With that, visitors averse to merciless heat will want to avoid the Egyptian capital when the mercury soars above the 90°F (32°C) threshold from May to September. While winter nights can get downright chilly, Cairo is a decidedly more tolerable and patient city to navigate from November to February.

What To Miss

Aggressive, pushy tour guides and vendors clamour around tourists at the Giza Necropolis with uncommon zeal. For this reason and, indeed, because of the dogged, inexorable popularity of the Great Pyramids, many visitors choose to stay away. That, however, would be a mistake. Try to arrange a visit to the foremost ancient wonder with a private, knowledgeable guide between the hours of 8 a.m. and noon and, for your own comfort and safety, outside of the summer months.

Likewise, Nile dinner cruise and Khan el-Khalili café operators often prey on desperate tourists to offer inferior fare at elevated prices. Since both are such indelible cornerstones of the total Cairo cultural experience, it pays to do your research beforehand. Better yet, befriend a trusted local and tag along with a group of native Cairenes for insider intel on all the hip hot spots in the city.

Getting Around

Cairo International Airport handles over 16 million passengers a year, which makes it the second-most important hub in Africa. The airport serves a multitude of destinations in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

A conventional taxi or limousine service (more luxurious but still affordable to most) are the best options for transport into Cairo proper from the airport. Taxi drivers expect even non-Arabic speakers to ask about and negotiate fares in advance, so let go of any haggling hang-ups before departing the terminal.

Cairo neophytes should avoid getting behind the wheel within the city at large. Few urban centres on the planet have a more sordid or notorious record when it comes to vehicular congestion. Public buses can be maddeningly crowded but are an efficient mode of transport, on the whole. Taxis and the Cairo Metro, however, remain the most reliable and hassle-free choices in the vast Egyptian capital.

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