North Africa
The pyramids, the Nile, and seven thousand years of wonders.
Egypt is the original bucket-list country — the land of the pharaohs, where the last surviving Wonder of the Ancient World still rises from the desert and a great river has carried civilisation for seven millennia. Cairo, the sprawling, chaotic 'Mother of the World', is its overwhelming heart: the Pyramids of Giza on its very edge, a treasure-crammed new museum, a thousand minarets, and the greatest medieval Islamic city on earth. Frantic, ancient and astonishing.
What things cost: Egypt is cheap for visitors — food, taxis and hotels are inexpensive, though the big sites' entry tickets add up and tipping (baksheesh) is a constant, expected part of daily life. Haggle hard in the bazaars and agree taxi fares before you set off. When a zone below says 'low', that means very low.
Sometimes the event picks the city for you.
The oldest and most prestigious film festival in the Arab world and Africa — ten days of premieres, stars and world cinema at the grand old downtown theatres and the opera house. A glamorous, cultured time to visit, when Cairo's rich film heritage takes centre stage.
Cairo · The Opera House & downtown
During the holy month, Cairo transforms after dark — the streets hung with colourful lanterns (fanous), families breaking the fast at lively iftar tables, and the cafés, markets and mosques of the old city alive and glowing deep into the night. Days are quiet and some sites close early, but the nights are magical.
Cairo · Islamic Cairo & citywide
One of the world's oldest festivals, dating back to the ancient Egyptians — a national spring holiday when all of Cairo, Muslim and Christian alike, heads to the parks and the Nile for a picnic of salted fish (fesikh), spring onions and coloured eggs. A joyful, only-in-Egypt celebration of the season.
Cairo · Parks & the Nile banks
