Cairo Things to Do Tips by Ramonq

Visit the world-renowned Egyptian Museum Egyptian Museum Review

If you're going to visit just one museum in Egypt, this is the place. Grave robbers would certainly love to get their hands into this virtual Alladin's cave of ancient Egyptian treasures found in royal tombs and burial sites all over Egypt. The most visited one is King Tut's treasures. Young Tutankhamun is one of the more insignificant pharaohs in ancient Egypt, but his burial site was overlooked by those avaricious grave robbers, that the treasures that normally gets stored with the mumified bodies have been saved for posterity and are now displayed in this museum. Can you imagine what would Ramses II's or Queen Nefertari's treasures be if those robbers didn't get hold of them?

Address: Midan El Tahrir, Cairo 11557

Directions: not far from Nile Hilton Hotel

Phone: (202)5782448

Wander up and down the River Nile River Nile Review

Thank God for the Nile River, otherwise, Cairo would be claustrophobic. The longest river in the world still flows through the city and creates a calming effect. The feluccas, though not as many as in Aswan, can still be seen sailing past, but most of the vessels along the river are now these huge entertainment boats that serve as loud discos, belly dancing nightclubs, and/or plush, meaning, expensive, restaurants. You can leisurely stroll on the banks of the river or cross the bridges to visit the beautiful well-maintained parklands in the islands of the Nile. Most of the areas around the river are fairly upmarket, so you can visit some of the posh hotels or resaturants overlooking the river and get some cool refreshments.

Directions: Just follow the water.

Experience the medieval walled city of Al-Qahirah Khan el Khalili Review

This is the Cairo that many travellers imagine it to be. The walled city is now part of what's popularly touted as the "Islamic Cairo". The narrow labyrinthian dusty streets filled with the cacophanous daily life of present-day Cairenes. Here you'll see dozens of mosques and madrassas; markets full of trinkets and tacky souvenir goods; men and women in conservative Muslim attires; wailing muezzin's call for prayer drowning out the blaring Arabic "habibi' music. It's noisy, chaotic, jampacked with humanity around the markets of Khan-al Khalil, so watch out for petty thieves. But you can still marvel at some of the towering minarets that puncture the sky and the historical mosques around the area. A very exhausting place especially on a hot day.

Explore the Coptic section of the city Coptic Cairo Review

After the fall of the Roman Empire, Egypt was once a Christian country before being overrun by the Islamists. There's still a pocket of a thriving Christian community in old Cairo and they belong to the Coptic sect. This section of Cairo is even older than the fortified Medieval city of Islamic Cairo.According to histrorians, the Holy family of Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus once took refuge from King Herod in one of the old structures here which still stands as a church.

There's also St George basilica. St George is the patron saint of many Eastern Orthodox communities including the Coptics. Many Coptics have a crucifix tatooed on the back of their hands as a defiant stand to the pervasive Islamic culture in Egypt. Some even say that they're descendants from the pharaohnic people because Coptics hardly intermarry with the outside world.

Address: Old Cairo

Directions: Take the Metro from Downtown

Website: http://www.touregypt.net

The Sphynx Gizeh Pyramids Review

This cheeky ochre-coloured stone sculpture sits proudly in one section of the Great Pyramids archaelogical site, like a vigilant guard-dog against the notorious Egyptian grave robbers. Half-man half-lion, the symbol of the sphynx is still a mystery to Egyptologists. Many hypothesis have been brough forward, but nothing definitve yet. So just look up and awe at this ancient monument.

Address: inside the Pyramids archaeological site

Directions: Same as the Pyramids

The Great Pyramids Gizeh Pyramids Review

Isn't this what most travellers go to Cairo for? The pyramids at Giza is without a doubt, one of the seven wonders of the ancient and even the modern world. Standing mightily for more than 4000 years on a desert plain just a "stone throw away" from the Cairo suburb of Giza, this monument to eternity has been wow-ing generations of travelers. One can even go inside into the centre one of the pyramids and experience the claustrophobic passages on the way to the tomb chamber. The chamber itself appears like an empty concrete cell with an open tomb on one side of the room.

One would think, "is that it? all this mega-structure built for many years by thousands of slaves for a lousy little cell?" It's not that simple and that's why ancient Egypt is such an enigma.

Address: Al Haram Str., Gizeh, Cairo

Directions: You can take a public bus from Downtown to Giza all the way to the doortstep of the archaeological site for a few measly cents and just buy a ticket at the counter.

Website: http://www.touregypt.net