Things you can’t miss in Cairo

Cairo has a way of hitting you all at once. The call to prayer drifting over rooftops, the smell of grilled corn on a street corner, the fact that some of the oldest buildings on Earth are just sitting there on the edge of the city, waiting to be explored. It’s chaotic, it’s loud, and it is absolutely one of our favourite places to send travellers.

Here’s our take on what you shouldn’t miss, plus a few quieter spots that most visitors walk straight past.

Let’s get this out of the way, because of course they’re on the list. You’ve seen the Pyramids of Giza in a hundred documentaries, but nothing quite prepares you for the moment they appear on the horizon. Bring a good guide (we always do) who can talk you through the mysteries of how they were built and why, because the stories are honestly wilder than the structures themselves.

If you fancy going one step further, you can head inside the Great Pyramid of Cheops for a small extra fee. Expect narrow passageways, steep wooden walkways, and a warm, slightly tight scramble down to the granite burial chamber. It’s not for everyone, but it’s the closest you’ll ever feel to being an actual archaeologist.

Right alongside the pyramids stands the Sphinx. It’s smaller than most people picture, but there’s something about standing face to face with it, pyramids rising behind, that still gives you goosebumps.

Fancy seeing the pyramids from a completely different angle? Swap the guided walking route for a quad bike and head out into the golden sands surrounding Giza. Leaving the noise of the city behind, you’ll bump and roar your way across the desert plateau, with panoramic views of the Great Pyramids, the Sphinx, and endless dunes rising around you. It’s a real adrenaline hit paired with one of the best photo opportunities in Egypt, and the routes suit everyone from total beginners to experienced riders, with the ride tailored to you. Our families in particular love this one.

This is where it gets interesting. Most tours stop after Giza, which means Saqqara, home to Egypt’s oldest pyramids, stays wonderfully quiet in comparison. Here you’ll find the Step Pyramid, widely considered the first large-scale stone structure ever built and effectively the blueprint for everything that came after. Wander the site and you’ll notice something else: archaeologists are still digging up new discoveries here, right now, under the sand. It’s history that hasn’t quite finished being written.

If Giza is Egypt’s famous face, Memphis is its overlooked heart. This was the ancient capital, and while only fragments of the once-great city survive today, the open-air museum here is full of surprises, including a colossal statue of Ramses II and a striking alabaster sphinx. It rarely makes the highlight reel of a Cairo trip, but it should. Visit alongside a guide who can fill in the gaps, because there’s a lot of empty space here that used to be a thriving capital city.

Cairo has not one but two extraordinary museum experiences. The original Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square is a beautiful old building crammed with statues, mummies and treasures collected over generations, well worth a visit even now that some of the star exhibits have moved on.

That’s because they’ve mostly relocated to the new Grand Egyptian Museum, a huge space near Giza that mixes thousands of years of history with striking modern architecture. Wander its glass-walled halls and you’ll catch glimpses of the pyramids through the windows. The undisputed highlight is getting up close to Tutankhamun’s treasures, including that iconic golden mask.

Head up to the Citadel first for panoramic views across the entire city, and to admire the Mohammed Ali Mosque with its beautiful domes and soaring minarets. Then dive down into the narrow lanes of Islamic Cairo, where daily life unfolds around you in a maze of old mosques and hidden courtyards.

Follow those lanes and you’ll eventually land in the Khan el-Khalili Bazaar, one of the oldest markets in the Middle East. It’s spices, lanterns, jewellery and souvenirs as far as the eye can see, and your guide will teach you the basics of haggling before you dive in, where acting surprised at the price and offering less usually gets you a better deal. Play along and you’ll end up buying something you didn’t know you needed, at a price you’re quite pleased with.

Honestly, one of the best ways to understand any city is through what the locals eat. A food tour through Cairo takes you well beyond the obvious, stopping at small family-run cafes and buzzing street food spots that you’d otherwise walk straight past. Expect to try koshari (Egypt’s beloved mix of rice, lentils and pasta topped with crispy onions and rich tomato sauce), warm taameya (Egyptian-style falafel made with fava beans), creamy ful medames, and maybe a glass of fresh sugarcane juice or hibiscus tea to wash it all down It’s as much about the neighbourhoods and the people behind the counters as it is about the food, though the food is very good too.

Cairo rewards a bit of patience. It can feel busy and slightly overwhelming at first, but give it time and it turns into a city full of stories, flavours and surprises. If your schedule allows, add an extra night. And when you’re ready to move on, Egypt has plenty more waiting, from the quieter temples of Middle Egypt to the Valley of the Kings in Luxor.