Cairo Travel Guide

Cairo (pronounced KY-roh; Arabic: القاهرة al-Qāhirah) is the capital of Egypt (until the New Administrative Capital is completed) and, with a total population of Greater Cairo metropolitan area in excess of 16 million people, one of the largest cities in both Africa and the Middle East (the regions which it conveniently straddles). It is also the 19th largest city in the world, and among the world's most densely populated cities. On the Nile river, Cairo is famous for its own history, preserved in the fabulous medieval Islamic city and Coptic sites in Old Cairo — with historic Cairo inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list. The Egyptian Museum in the city centre is a must see, with its countless Ancient Egyptian artefacts, as is shopping at the Khan al-Khalili bazaar. No trip to Cairo would be complete without a visit to the Giza Pyramids and to the nearby Saqqara Pyramid Complex, where visitors will see Egypt's first step pyramid built by the architect Imhotep for the third dynasty

Cairo airport has frequent flights from other Egyptian cities, the Gulf states and Levant, and usually daily flights from the European and North African capitals. There are direct flights from Beijing, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Mumbai, New York, Washington D.C, Tokyo and Toronto but travel from the Far East or North America will usually involve a change.

You will find that it's useful to have several maps handy if you are looking to get around Cairo on your own. Spellings of street and place names can vary from map to map and from map to actual location, and not every street will appear on every map.

Scams against tourists are almost a national sport, though they're usually obvious. A good rule of thumb is that if someone approaches you on the street, they're trying to scam you. Don't talk to them. Common scams are:

Cairo has a tremendous range of accommodation, from low-rent budget hotelsdowntownto five-star palaces along the Nile. See individualdistrict articlesfor hotel listings.