Where the Pyramids Meet a Living Capital
Cairo is the capital of Egypt, a vast Nile-side city best known as the gateway to the pyramids of Giza and for one of the richest concentrations of Islamic, Coptic and Pharaonic heritage anywhere. It was founded in 969 by the Fatimid dynasty, and its historic core was inscribed by UNESCO as Historic Cairo in 1979. The Nile curls through the centre, separating the island district of Zamalek from the busy downtown and the older quarters to the east. At dawn the call to prayer rolls across the rooftops, and by late afternoon the river fills with white-sailed feluccas drifting towards the sunset.
Giza lies on the western edge of the city, where the Great Pyramid of Khufu, the Pyramid of Khafre and the Sphinx stand on the plateau, close to the Grand Egyptian Museum. In the city itself, the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square is a landmark of early twentieth-century Cairo, while the Citadel of Saladin and the Mosque of Muhammad Ali crown a hilltop of domes and minarets. Travellers often pair the capital with the Red Sea coast, and the region links naturally with Jeddah and Dubai for a longer Middle Eastern journey.
Khan el-Khalili, Koshari and Al-Muizz Street
The old city is a place to wander slowly. Al-Muizz Street, in the Fatimid quarter, is lined with mosques, madrasas and gateways from the medieval centuries, and glows after dark when the lanterns come on. Nearby, Khan el-Khalili, a bazaar that dates to the Mamluk era, is a maze of copper, spices, perfume bottles and hand-stitched leather. Fishawy's coffeehouse, long a meeting place for writers and artists, is the traditional spot to pause for mint tea and a sheesha, and the nearby Al-Azhar Mosque anchors a district that has been a centre of learning for more than a thousand years.
Cairo eats generously. Koshari, a street-food classic of rice, lentils, pasta, crispy onions and spiced tomato sauce, is the city's signature dish, while ful medames and ta'ameya, the local falafel made with fava beans, fill breakfast tables. Om Ali, a warm pudding of pastry, milk and nuts, closes many evenings. Coptic Cairo adds another layer, with the Hanging Church and narrow lanes of early Christian heritage. For a airline building a route story, the city offers an unusually easy first chapter: culture, food and history within a few kilometres.
Read the full Cairo guide on Visit Travel Group, or see VisitCairo.co.uk on Visit Travel Group.