Cairo Travel Forum

I like go to visit Cairo, the next summer
1. Where are the best restaurants in Cairo for 60€ per person?
2. Do you suggest visiting the market?
3.Which is the best pyramid?
4.How much money is the papyrus?
Thank you, so much.

The Valley of the Kings is very touristic and more expensive but you can only see three Pyraminds. You have to pay extra to see King Tut' s too.
Siqqara - in Cairo is better I think - There is a whole family of Pyramids including a camel ride and you can visit some Pyramids. After all it is one of the ancient wonders.
The Markets in Cairo - as in all of Egypt are very stressful with the sellers being very aggressive.60 Euros should be plentiful but hotels cater and charge the same here in the west
There are plenty of sellers and museums selling Papyrus - but as in all of Egypt - haggle

The currency in Egypt is the Egyptian pound, not the euro.

Papyrus pictures range in size from small to huge, and they also vary in quality. You will pay accordingly, but of course you should haggle.

No one pyramid is 'best': they are all much of muchness (huge blocks of stone in a pyramid shape). It is their size, position and the sheer skill involved in building them which is stunning. The inside of the pyramids which are open to the public are undecorated: they were not painted like the later tombs.

Expect the main pyramid sites to be very busy and tourist-oriented, because they are at all time of year. Expect crowds at Cairo museum. Also, expect Cairo to be extremely hot, and the road traffic to be chaotic.

I wouldn't recommend to visit Cairo during Summer! Go for March/April or October/November.

For 60 Euro per person you can eat and have drinks for an entire week in Cairo, well 3 or 4 days at least.
I like Abu el Sid in Zamalek. Good Egyptian food, homemade! Or Felfella, more cheap, more touristy, more popular.
Al Azhar Park has several good restaurants in a quiet environment with great views over down town Cairo.
You shouldn't miss Koshary! It is one of the few genuine Egyptian dishes, no meat but so rich and delicious you will not miss the meat. Seems the best is served at Abu Tarek, Sharia Champolion, 10 minute walk from the Museum.

A former poster mentioned the Valley of Kings. Ignore that: the Valley of Kings is in Luxor Westbank, a 9 hour trip by train away from Cairo.

Of course you should go visit the Khan el Khalili!! Of course it is touristy and the shop keepers are urging you to buy, that is their job and income. But it is so great. The atmosphere and surroundings; do look upwards and you will find some of the most astonishing medieval, islamic architecture. Have a drink (Turkish Coffee or Grenadine) at El Fishawi, the oldest cafe in Cairo, and have your shoes polished by the deaf/mute shoepolisher hanging around there.

Which is the best Pyramid???
Well the biggest on is Khufu (or Cheops) it is only opened at 8am and 1pm and only 100 visitors are allowed in at each time. At least that is the rule, but rules can be bended. I visited the Gizeh plateau several times whit different company but when we wanted to get inside we could. I never did because of a disabled leg. But there is nothing much inside, after a steep and narrow track you will end up in the burriel chamber with an empty coffin. Entrance fee 100LE

Other pyramids can be visited as well. Menchaure (Micherinos) is opened regularly. Entrance fee about 30LE.

A little more up north is the Dashour area with the bent pyramid (not open for visitors) and the Red Pyramid. You can enter the Red one for 25LE per person. A steep climb, inside kind of smelly but great views over Sakkarah and, behind that, Gizeh (on a clear day).

Papyrus....
There are a lot a fake ones around. Outside the Museum they will offer you 10 "papyrusses" for 10 Euro's. All banana leaves!! Go to a genuine papyrus shop where they show you how papyrus is made. They will have dozens of painted papyrusses for sail, you can bargain the prices. I have several and paid about 50LE for a small one till 120LE for a larger one.

You can distinguish genuine from fake by using your tumb. Lick your tumb to make it wet and rub it over the paint. If the paint smudges it is a fake.

I hope this helps, Dora.

60 euros will feed you for aged. 60 LEwill feed you well.
Of course. You've got to do khan wl khalil.
Go see all the pyramids. Leics is wrong for once: the step pyramid is unique (and there are some painted tombs to see there). The Giza trio are huge and the easiest. The Daishur field is my favorite: you can actually have a pyramid all to yourself. And the bent pyramid is interesting in still having most of it's cladding.
How much is payrus? How long is a piece of string??

Of course I should have mentioned that the earlier Step Pyramid is not the same as the later straight-sided ones. The even earlier pyramid-shaped mastabas are also entirely different. There are painted tombs too.

But I didn't: my apologies. I was concentrating on the main pyramid site at Giza, assuming that this was what the OP was most probably referring to.

When reading this thread I realised that for someone who is unfamiliar with the Pyramid sites all comments must/could be quite confusing.

There are over a 100 pyramids on the north side of Cairo. Small and big ones. But there are a few very famous.

If you want to visit them than start with the Step Pyramid in Sakkarah.
Sakkarah also has many Mastaba's. Before the pyramid came into fashion people were burried in mastaba's. Some of them are very vivid decorated!!
King Djoser had a vizier and architect called Imhotep and this Imhotep designed the Step Pyramid, in fact 6 mastaba's upon each other. This was the prototype for all the pyramids to follow.

Dashour has the attempts of King Seneferu. He started to build a smouth sided pyramid, build during the construction it became clear that the angle was to steap to hold the weight of the stones, so they changed the angle. Hence the Bent Pyramid. He didn't like it and started to build a new Pyramid: The Red Pyramid. (In fact he made more attempts but the Red Pyramid is the one that seemed the best)

Than Gizeh! Some will call it Giza but that is wrong. Giza is a suburb on the Westbank of Cairo just beyond the Gizeh plateau.
Gizeh was the place King Khufu chose to build his Pyramid. Khufu was the son of Seneferu and he was either of very low self esteem or a megalomaniac, probably both. He wanted to over exceed his father by building the highest and most perfect Pyramid. What ever he did in his life, he succeeded in this efford.

His son Khafre and grandson Menkaure are responsible for the other two Great Pyramids on the Gizeh Plateau.
It is assumed that Khafre also build the Sphinx.

60 euros would buy you well over a months supply of kushari....

LOL!!! 60 Euro's of Koshary???? Years!!!!

1, It'll be really hot in Cairo in the summer but I guess if you're used to the heat it'll be OK because at least it's a 'dry' heat.

Try Felfelas just off Talaat Harb St - very centrally located. Good Egyptiasn food, friendly service used to tourists. It's not too expensive.

I'm sure the Khan el Khalili market is great. Unfortunately we ran out of time when we went to Cairo last April (2008). Apparently it's easy to get lost there.

Depends what you mean by best - the Pyramids are all quite close together really and you can walk around them but climbing is not allowed. There is a baby pyramid that you can enter for free but mind your head.


With everything in Cairo you have to negotiate your own price. Best not to get too worked up about prices -just pay what you feel is right and be happy. They'll not accept your offer if it's too low. My take on this was that if you are a tourist who can afford to travel to these exotic places then you've almost certainly got more money than they have so why not share it around a bit.

Enjoy your trip. I loved every minute of our visit there. Someone said in one of the Forums that they thought Cairo was hyped up and over-rated. I disagree - to me it's a vibrant, entrancing place with huge amounts to interest the visitor. Have a great trip.

Mike

Best restaurants : you'll find them in the trendy Zamalek island, next to downtown. I suggest Sequoia, with its incredible view all over the Nile and its fabulous Mezze and beautiful outdoor lounge, and Abu El Sid, which has a beautiful decoration and offers excellent food. For 60 euros two persons will eat like kings there ! Do book by phone in advance, at leats the morning for the night, even before it it's on the week-end, and dress smartly, they won't let you enter if you look like a tourist (no shorts, no giant backpack). Their contacts are in all guidebooks.

Felfela is not that great, a


1. Where are the best restaurants in Cairo for 60€ per person?
2. Do you suggest visiting the market?
3.Which is the best pyramid?
4.How much money is the papyrus?
Thank you, so much.

1 - Best restaurants : you'll find them in the trendy Zamalek island, next to downtown. I suggest Sequoia, with its incredible view all over the Nile and its fabulous Mezze and beautiful outdoor lounge, and Abu El Sid, which has a beautiful decoration and offers excellent food. For 60 euros two persons will eat like kings there ! Do book by phone in advance, at leats the morning for the night, even before it it's on the week-end, and dress smartly, they won't let you enter if you look like a tourist (no shorts, no giant backpack). Their contacts are in all guidebooks.

Felfela is not that great, and rather touristy. The park Al Azhar has several restaurants, food is not that greatt but it's a nice place to have a drink as the sun goes down and the Muezzins begin to sing in all the mosques below.

2 - There are many markets in Cairo... I suppose you mean the Khan Al Khalili. It's a horrible place to be during the afternoon, when all package tourists arrive in giant buses. But it's very nice after 8 or even 9pm, when tourists have left and Egyptian families and expats flood the place. Café Fichaoui is
the place to be to have tea and chicha. Very beautiful show of Al Tannoura, the turning derviches, nearby. And of course the whole Islamic neighborhood which stretches around is an absolute marvel, not to be missed.

3 - Pyramids
There are three main sites for pyramids. Giza is overtouristy and in the middle of the city, but of course it's the most famous. Saqqarah is beautiful and when going there you'll see admirable landscapes. Dashur is extremely interesting because it's very beautiful, you can go down the great pyramid and it's in the middle of the desert, with pratically no tourists there. It's one of the sites that expats recommend to one another.

4 - The price of papyrus is difficult to tell. Most papyrus sold on the street or in touristic shops are fakes, in banana leaves. To find real papyrus, it's better to go to shops selling only papyrus, around the pyramids. problem : all the prices indicated include the 70% commission given by the shop to any guide taking you there. If you go with a taxi driver, he'll also ask for a commission from the shop. the best is to go alone, and shout at anyone trying to sneak into the shop with you. Do tell the shopowners that you are alone, with no guide, and therefore want to pay at least - at least - half price. You should find adresses of good shops in guidebooks.

Good reply!! Catw.