No. 01 · Landmark
Pyramids of Giza
The last surviving ancient wonder, on Cairo's edge
The 4,500-year-old funerary complex of Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure — plus the Great Sphinx and several smaller pyramids and tombs.
Read more →Egypt
Cairo
Pyramids on the edge of the world's biggest Arab city
A 22-million-person megacity sprawling east from the Pyramids — Islamic, Coptic, and Pharaonic histories layered on top of each other.
When to go
October–April. May–September is brutally hot.
Getting around
Uber and Careem are cheap and safer than street taxis. Metro reaches downtown and Coptic Cairo.
Cairo highlights
Don't miss
The top places to start with if you only have a day or two — the essentials before you go deeper.
No. 02 · Museum
Grand Egyptian Museum
The new home of Tutankhamun's complete treasure
Opening in stages near Giza, the largest archaeological museum in the world — Tutankhamun's full collection plus 100,000 other artefacts.
Read more →No. 03 · Attraction
Khan el-Khalili
A 14th-century bazaar in Islamic Cairo
A labyrinth of alleys around Al-Hussein Mosque selling lamps, spices, perfumes, and silver since 1382.
Read more →Things to do in Cairo
4 hand-picked
A curated mix of landmarks, neighborhoods, and museums worth your time in Cairo, Egypt — grouped by type below.
Landmark
1 place
Attraction
1 place
Museum
1 place
Where to stay
1 place
Where to stay in Cairo
4 neighborhoods
Cairo is enormous — base near Tahrir or Zamalek and use Uber for the spread-out distances.
Downtown / Tahrir
Egyptian Museum, central transit
Best for: Walking to the Nile and centre
Zamalek
Leafy island, embassies, restaurants
Best for: Calmer base with great food
Garden City
Embassy district, river views
Best for: Quiet and central
Giza (near the pyramids)
Pyramid views, resort hotels
Best for: Pyramid-first trips
A 3-day itinerary, your way
If you only have a long weekend in Cairo.
Day 1
Giza Day
Pyramids of Giza at opening, Sphinx, lunch with a pyramid view, Grand Egyptian Museum in the afternoon, dinner in Zamalek.
Day 2
Islamic & Coptic
Khan el-Khalili and Al-Hussein Mosque, lunch at Naguib Mahfouz café, Citadel of Saladin and Sultan Hassan Mosque, sunset felucca on the Nile.
Day 3
Saqqara & Memphis
Step Pyramid of Djoser at Saqqara, lunch in Maadi, Memphis open-air museum, return for shisha and dinner in Zamalek.