Get FREE email communications from Fodor's Travel, covering must-see travel destinations, expert trip planning advice, and travel inspiration to fuel your passion.
Cairo is big: just how big you'll see on the drive in from the airport, which sometimes takes so long you'll think you're driving to Aswan. And what you see on the way into town, amazingly, is only half of it—Cairo's west-bank sister city, Giza, stretches to the Pyramids, miles from Downtown. But if you are the sort of person wh
Cairo is big: just how big you'll see on the drive in from the airport, which sometimes takes so long you'll think you're driving to Aswan. And what you see on the way into town, amazingly, is only half of it—Cairo's west-bank sister city, Giza, stretches to the Pyramid
Cairo is big: just how big you'll see on the drive in from the airport, which sometimes takes so long you'll think you'r
Cairo is big: just how big you'll see on the drive in from the airport, which sometimes takes so long you'll think you're driving to Aswan. And what you see on the way into town, amazingly, is only half of it—Cairo's west-bank sister city, Giza, stretches to the Pyramids, miles from Downtown. But if you are the sort of person who instinctively navigates by compass points, exploring Cairo will be a breeze because the Nile works like a giant north–south needle running through the center of the city. If not, you might find the city bewildering at first.
Taxi drivers generally know only major streets and landmarks, and often pedestrians are unsure of the name of the street they stand on—when they do know, it's as often by the old names as the postindependence ones—but they'll gladly steer you in the wrong direction in an effort to be helpful. Just go with the flow and try to think of every wrong turn as a chance for discovery.
Thankfully, too, you don't have to conquer all of Cairo to get the most out of it. Much of the city was built in the 1960s, and the new areas hold relatively little historical or cultural interest. The older districts, with the exception of Giza's pyramids, are all on the east bank and easily accessible by taxi or Metro. These districts become relatively straightforward targets for a day's exploration on foot.
Old Cairo, on the east bank a couple miles south of most of current-day Cairo, was the city's first district. Just north of it is Fustat, the site of the 7th-century Arab settlement. East of that is the Citadel. North of the Citadel is the medieval walled district of al-Qahira that gave the city its name. It is better known as Islamic Cairo. West of that is the colonial district. Known as Downtown, it is one of several—including Ma'adi, Garden City, Heliopolis, and Zamalek—laid out by Europeans in the 19th and 20th centuries. (The west-bank districts of Mohandiseen and Doqqi, by comparison, have only sprouted up since the revolution in 1952.) The most interesting sights are in the older districts; the newer ones have the highest concentrations of hotels, restaurants, and shops.
Opened in 1910 and home to the world's largest collection of Coptic antiquities, this museum traces Coptic history from its beginnings to its full rise, providing a link between ancient and Islamic Egypt, as most of the city's population remained Christian until the 11th century, a half millennium after the Arabs brought Islam to the country.
The insightful displays are more or less arranged by medium. The first floor has carved stone and stucco, frescoes, and woodwork. The second floor includes textiles, manuscripts, icons, and metalwork. In some cases, chronological divisions are made within each grouping to show the evolution of the art form.
The collections also demonstrate how eras can beautifully overlap to produce exceptional artistry, as is evident through the slight Pharaonic, Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman influences detected across the museum. Many carvings and paintings, for instance, help to trace the transformations of the ancient key of life, the ankh, to the cross. Depictions of the baby Jesus suckling at his mother's breast are also striking in their resemblance to pharaonic suckling representations.
3 Mari Gerges St., Kom Ghorab, Cairo, Cairo, Egypt
Named after the architect of the Djoser step pyramid, this relatively small but superb museum brings Saqqara to life, with well-lit artifacts and exhibits that provide background on ancient Egyptian architecture, politics, and religion. Highlights of the collection include a statue of a seated Djoser, the Old Kingdom pharaoh who reigned from approximately 2686 to 2648 BC; a bronze statuette of Imhotep; a Ptolemaic mummy discovered by Zahi Hawass, who is considered Egypt's version of Indiana Jones; the enigmatic "famine" stela; and a set of vibrant blue and turquoise faience tiles that once decorated the interior of Djoser’s Pyramid. Note, though, that this museum has experienced temporary closures; keep your fingers crossed that it's open during your visit as it's well worth your time.
Pyramid of Djoser Rd., Saqqara, Giza, Egypt
Sight Details
Rate Includes: LE180, as part of the Saqqara site\'s general admission
Egypt’s first museum to focus on all its different civilizations truly takes you on a trip through history. The collections are designed to tell a story, some chronologically and others thematically. The chronological collections follow the Archaic, Pharaonic, Greco-Roman, Coptic, Medieval, Islamic, modern, and contemporary eras. Thematic collections map a route through the Dawn of Civilization, The Nile, Writing, State and Society, Material Culture, Beliefs and Thinking, and the Gallery of Royal Mummies.
There are currently around 1,600 pieces on display, with plans to display 50,000 artifacts over time, and they range from monumental to the more mundane, like one of the first-ever prosthetics—an artificial toe from the Pharaonic era that predates the Roman Capula Leg. The museum is also the new home of the royal mummies of ancient Egypt. Designed to feel like a tomb, the Gallery of Royal Mummies has the remains of 22 rulers, including 18 kings and four queens. Displays are interactive: you can scan QR codes to learn about each royal.
El-Fustat Road, Ein as Seirah, Cairo, Cairo, Egypt
This huge neoclassical building, a Downtown landmark on the north end of Tahrir Square, was masterfully designed by French architect Marcel Dourgnon. It opened in 1902, making it one of the oldest archaeological museums in the Middle East—and one of the largest, with a collection of ancient Egyptian artifacts so vast that it would have taken nine months to complete a tour if you spent just one minute studying each item.
Although some of the museum's treasures have been moved to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization—and most of the Tutankhamun finds are now in Egypt's newest archaeological repository, the Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza—the breadth here is still staggering. Galleries take you through millennia, from the Predynastic Period (6000 to 3100 BC) through the Greco-Roman Era (332 BC to 313 AD). The Tanis Treasure includes gold masks, jewelry, solid-silver coffins, and other artifacts dating from between 1076 and 945 BC. Don't miss the animal mummy rooms, especially if you have kids in tow, or the Fayyum portraits: done on wood, these very lifelike paintings put you face to face with one individual Roman-era Egyptian after another.
One of the most ambitious architectural designs in the new millennium is a fitting home for the mother lode of ancient artifacts excavated in Egypt over the last 150 years. Situated less than 2 km (1 mile) west of the pyramids, the world's largest archaeological museum covers 120 acres (49 hectares) on the Giza Plateau. Although embellished with hieroglyphs, its otherwise modern facade is a clear indication that the interior is state of the art, from the large exhibition halls that welcome visitors to the storage, research, and restoration areas accessible only to scholars and staff.
At the entrance, a colossal statue of Ramses II towers over all, and a stairway punctuated with royal statuary leads to the upper halls, where some of the estimated 18,000 artifacts—transferred here from Downtown Cairo's Egyptian Museum and other repositories across the country—are on display for the very first time in history. Other highlights of the collection include the Pharaoh's Royal Solar Boat and much of the Tutankhamun collection.
Al Giza Desert, Greater Cairo, Cairo, Cairo, Egypt
Designed by French architect Léon Rousseau, this massive palace was commissioned by Khedive Isma’il to serve as the official government headquarters in place of the Citadel. Construction began in 1863, and the palace was officially inaugurated in 1874, with a new wing added in 1891. The gardens, however, were not added in until 1921, by Sultan Fuad I before he became king. Much of the palace is closed to the public, but it's worth stopping by to take in the architecture, the well-maintained garden dotted with old-growth trees, and the small museum. The latter occupies just a handful of the massive palace's 500 ornate rooms and has displays of weaponry, silverware once used by the royal family, and other items.
Equally as fascinating as the displays on Egyptian architecture, arranged chronologically, is the 18th-century structure containing them. It's one of the best-preserved Islamic houses in Cairo, greatly influenced by the Ottoman and Mamluk styles. It was originally known as Ali Labib House, but came to be known as the House of the Artists, having been home to many local and international artists, including the renowned Egyptian architect, Hassan Fathi. The museum also conducts workshops and hosts lectures and cultural events.
Please try a broader search, or expore these popular suggestions:
There are no results for {{ strDestName }} Sights in the searched map area with the above filters. Please try a different area on the map, or broaden your search with these popular suggestions:
Neighborhoods Some neighborhood filters have sub-neighborhoods that can be selected individually in a dropdown by clicking on the icon to the right of the name.
Abu Sir
(1)
Dahshur
(3)
Memphis
(1)
Saqqara
(10)
The Fayyum
(7)
The Wadi Natrun Mon...
(2)
Distance from:
Try increasing the mile radius or searching near one of these popular suggestions:
The Citadel
Giza Plateau
Mosque of Ibn Tulun
Mosque and Madrasa of Sultan Hassan
Enter a sight, restaurant, hotel, or other place to find sights nearby.
I want emails from Fodor's Travel with travel information and promotions. I can unsubscribe any time using the unsubscribe link at the end of all emails.
Thank you for your interest!
Look out for our newsletters with travel tips and special offers.
Sign up for Travel Tips & News
By signing up for the newsletter, I agree to the Privacy Policy. You must check the box to subscribe
Thank you for your interest!
Look out for our newsletters with travel tips and special offers.
