Cairo Travel Forum

I will be Cairo on a business trip from July 9 to 15. The business could be done on July 13, therefore, from July 13 to 15 we have 3 days to travel around.( We'll leave Cairo from 23:00 of July 15. Could any VTer give me some advice on how to spend the 3 days in Egypt. What's the must see of Egypt within 3 days?
Thank you in advance.

Three days plenty.

I suggest you google Cairo or, pick up a guide book, like we did, and narrow it down to your own personal "I must do".
The obvious are: The Pyramids/Giza Plateau, Sphinx, Egyptian Museum, Khan el-Khalili Bazaar for shopping, and don't forget to explore both Islamic and Coptic Cairo.
You should make it a point to visit the Alabaster Mosque at the Citadel of Salah el-Din.

Shopping is a popular pass time but, we found it too hectic and crowded in Cairo, aside from the bazaar.
There is plenty of fine dining in Cairo as well and you should make it a point to sample local fares.

Again, do your research, pick up a book and divide your days according to personal interests.
More tips on our pages.

I do agree with the suggestion for sightseeing made in the above post. I think you should do most but not all of what he suggested. 3 days are not enough.

I would like to point out 2 words he mentioned, hectic and crowded. If you try and do too much in the Middle of July, in the out doors, in Cairo, with all the pollution, the traffic, the noises, the hassle, You'll probably suck the fun out of your trip. Do things at your own pace and try digest what you see rather than rushing through sites.

Don't get me wrong the hassle is part of the fun and the Cairo experience but I don't know it might be too much for you.

The Egyptian Museum can take the entire day and why not? after all it can tell you so much about Egypt and you'll be doing it in the shade. When you are visiting the The Giza Plateau do NOT forget to visit the ship museum.

The Islamic Cairo, Khan Al-khalil and The citadel are close to each other. I would suggest to drop Coptic Cairo from your itinerary and you got something you can work with and enjoy

Where are you gonna stay? we might better help you with restaurants and stuff.

basically, I agree with bothe the above...especially the doctor's don't rush. Never been im Cairo in the summer...hot enough for me in the winter!
I'd spend one day doing the pyramids at Giza & the Sphinx and the eqyptian museum. Which is worth many days but after a couple of hours your brain will be full & you'll just be staggering, glassy-eyed-from one exhibit to the next without seeing anything. In the Egyptian museum be sure to check out the so-called 'fayoum portraits' (upstairs near King Tut) : extaordinary funerary portraits from around the first centry AD and pretty well all that is left of the Greek tradition of naturalistic painting.

A day spent wandering around the Fatimid city between Bab Ftuh and Bab Zawayla.

I personally would do 'old' cairo. Churches dating from the Fourth Century are not two a penny and the museum is good. Leaves you half a day to do the Citadel. Ignore the Muhammed Ali (alabaster) mosque, its more a place of nationalistic pilgrimage than a building of architectural merit.(altho it's terrrace has a great view) There are a couple of more interseting mosques on the citadel and also the nearby mosque of Sultan Hassan.

Thank you all for the helpful message.
I have another question:
1. Can we use Video-camera in most of the tourist site? Does the local people mind if I take a video of them?
2. Can we pay Euro directly to the driver or vendor?

Thank you.

We have information on our Egypt travel section but, here's the scoop on cameras/video.

NO CAMERAS or VIDEOS are allowed into the Egyptian Museum.
You will be asked to check them in at the door (something we didn't feel comfortable doing with all our expensive photo gear).
We instead, left them with our personal driver who we had come to trust.

We were able to photograph and video inside the Mosque. Observe simple, common courtesy. It is a religious shrine.

ABSOLUTELY NO FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY inside tombs, pyramids, etc. as they do great harm/damage to the ancient paintings.
Guides will turn a blind eye (for a fee) and let you snap away.
We still did not photograph. Be responsible as a tourist.

You should always observe common courtesy when wishing to photograph people.
A token of appreciation will most likely be asked for.

Not only is the use of flash harmful it's often futile. Flash flattens sculptures and if you're photograhing something in a glass case all the light will bounce right back at you...just say NO!

Most of your questions are already answered. All but one:

Yes you can pay in Euro's to drivers and vendors, but I wouldn't recommend it!!!! I see you are from Peking. Are you aware of the exchange rates of the Euro?? They differ every day!

You are better of to have some of your money changed into LE. It will narrow your bargain limits! And expect to do a lot of bargaining!! For taxi's, souvenirs, etc.

3 days... your first day will be kind of busy. Spend your night at the Khan el Khalili of have a relaxing felluca sail on the Nile, or do both.

Next day: do Sakkarah, Dashour and the Gizeh Plateau. Have lunch between Sakkarah and Gizeh: there are several restaurants with bufet style meals in the shadow, some of them even have a swimming pool (just to cool down, because it will be HOT).
Have diner at the restaurant next to the Mena House Oberoi. Good food and great views on the Pyramids and visit the Sound and Light Show at night. After that you might even go to the Khan el Khalili of have a felucca sail! Cairo never sleeps.

Last day: the Museum. You can spend there as much time as you like. It is in the shade but it still will be HOT! Because it has no (or hardly) climate control. Try to get there very early because it will be crowded. Coptic Cairo is only 2 or 3 metro stations away from the Museum, so you could do that in the afternoon. Main metro station on Tahrir square just in front of the Museum, go to Abu Girgis station and you will be in front of the Hanging Church.
If you like to go shopping.... Talaat Harb street and Qasr el Nil street are all in walking distance of the Museum, just across Tahrir Square. Good shopping! On a side way of Talaat Harb street is Felfella: a good and hospitable Egyptian restaurant: take the first street to the right after passing the Felfella Take Away. A little bit before Felfella Take Away is Cafe Riche. A good place to have a drink and to absorbe a little bit of the Caireen Belle Epoque.

The last time I was in Al Quahira (last December) Cafe Riche looked like it was closing, and isn't it further up Talaat Harb than Felfala's? (who I actually disliked...see my Cairo eating tips!)


And like you say, apart from expensive hotels & reataurants (where you could simply pay with plastic), use LE.

As an Englishman (i.e. non-eurozone inhabitant) I got fed up with people hustling me to exchange their Euro coinage, very difficult to explain why a one euro coin is no use to me

No, Antony,

Cafe Riche is on the corner of a sideway right before Felfella (when coming from Tahrir).

Felfella is quite touristy and the man in charge of service is very eager to strike up the tips, since he will hand over the bill and do the financial bits. The waitors that actually gave the service get nothing, I think. I usually tip them under the table, if you know what I mean.
But I like it there because it is in walking distance of our hotel and easy going. The food is OK, but for genuine Egyptian food Abu el Sid is the place to be.

Dora.

I thought Cafe Riche is the one with all the old photos outside? (I'm being a real rather than virtual torist at the moment, so can't check my guide books

Since your three days will be very busy, I would suggest planning thes two activities into your evenings since most tourist sites are only open until approx 4pm: Go to the Khan in the evening as it is open virtually round the clock and the cooler temps will allow you to enjoy the extensive walking you should do. Also, take a ride on the Nile in a feluca. This is a fun and unique experience and a great way to spend some time in the evening - one hour is plenty and quite inexpensive (be sure to tip the gentleman that takes you out as his cut of the money will likely be the smallest.)

Antony,

I thought the Cafe Riche is the narrow Cafe on the right side of Sharia Talat Harb coming from Midan Tahrir. It has a lot of photo's inside and maybe in the windows as well. When coming in it has a small bar directly in your right side and there are 2 sections: after you passed the bar you can go straight up into a narrow long section, when you go right after the bar there is an inner section.

Actually I never sat down there, but one night we came to down town Cairo after a party in Giza where we only had water to drink and were in need for some party booze. Everything was closed, only Cafe Riche was opened and we bought some bottles of Stella there....

;-) Dora.

Thats the one. Last december it looked ike they were upping sticks, all the books were being packed up. Never been there myself either, but the photos outside were interesting.