Things to do in Cairo
Cairo, Egypt
41 hand-picked places in Cairo, Egypt: 21 landmarks, 10 museums, 8 mosques and 2 parks. Each has an editor's guide to what it is, when to go and what to know before you visit, with licensed photos. Start with the 3-day plan below, one area a day so you spend your time seeing rather than crossing town, or let the AI planner build a plan for your own dates, with restaurants, opening hours and live prices.
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3-day plan for Cairo: one area a day
The best-known places, grouped by how close they are to each other. Distances are straight lines; the walk is a little longer.
Day 1: around Egyptian Museum
- 1.Egyptian Museum · Museum
- 2.Cairo Tower · Attraction · 900 m away
- 3.Abdeen Palace · Attraction · 2.3 km away
- 4.Museum of Islamic Art · Museum · 500 m away
Day 2: around Al-Azhar Mosque
- 1.Al-Azhar Mosque · Mosque
- 2.Khan El Khalily · Attraction · 200 m away
- 3.Al-Azhar Park · Park · 800 m away
- 4.Al-Rifa'i Mosque · Mosque · 1.1 km away
Day 3: around Great Pyramid of Giza
- 1.Great Pyramid of Giza · Attraction
- 2.Pyramid of Khafre · Attraction · 500 m away
- 3.Pyramid of Menkaure · Attraction · 500 m away
- 4.Great Sphinx of Giza · Attraction · 1.0 km away
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Landmarks and sights
Khan El KhalilyKhan el-Khalili is Cairo's most famous historic bazaar and one of the main attractions for Egyptian and foreign visitors alike.
Great Pyramid of GizaThe Great Pyramid, or Pyramid of Khufu, is the largest of the Egyptian pyramids and the most famous landmark of the Giza pyramid complex, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Great Sphinx of GizaThe Great Sphinx of Giza is a colossal limestone statue of a resting sphinx, a mythical creature with the head of a human and the body of a lion, standing on the Giza Plateau on the west bank of the Nile and facing east.
Pyramid of KhafreThe Pyramid of Khafre is the middle of the three Pyramids of Giza and the second tallest and second largest of the group.
Cairo TowerThe Cairo Tower, sometimes called the Gezira Tower, is the Egyptian capital's best-known modern monument and, for many, the country's second most famous landmark after the Pyramids of Giza.
Abdeen PalaceAbdeen Palace is one of Egypt's best-known historic palaces.
Babylon FortressBabylon Fortress is an ancient Roman fortress in the Old Cairo district, beside the Mar Girgis metro station, in the area known today as Coptic Cairo.
Baron Empain PalaceThe Baron Empain Palace, also known as Le Palais Hindou, is one of the most unusual mansions in Cairo, standing in the heart of Heliopolis on al-Orouba Road.
City of the DeadThe City of the Dead, or al-Qarafa, is a series of vast Islamic-era necropolises stretching north and south of the Cairo Citadel, below the Mokattam Hills and outside the old city walls, over a length of roughly four…
Pyramid of MenkaureThe Pyramid of Menkaure is the smallest of the three main pyramids of the Giza complex, on the Giza Plateau in the south-western outskirts of Cairo.
Cairo Opera HouseThe Cairo Opera House, formally the National Cultural Centre, is Egypt's principal performing-arts venue, standing at the southern end of Gezira Island in the Zamalek district close to downtown Cairo.
Manshiet NasserManshiyat Naser is one of the nine districts of Cairo's Western Area, covering 5. 54 square kilometres with a population of 258,372 at the 2017 census.
Qalawun ComplexThe complex of Sultan al-Mansur Qalawun is one of the most celebrated Mamluk architectural ensembles in Cairo, standing at Bayn al-Qasrayn on al-Muizz Street in the coppersmiths' quarter.
Ben Ezra SynagogueThe Ben Ezra Synagogue is Egypt's oldest surviving synagogue, located in the Fustat area of Old Cairo within the enclosure of the ancient Babylon Fortress, next to the Coptic churches and the Coptic Museum.
NilometerThe Nilometer on Roda Island is a unique monument of the Abbasid period, built in 861 CE to measure the height of the Nile during the annual flood, and one of the oldest surviving Islamic structures in Egypt.
Bayt al-SihaymiBayt al-Suhaymi, also known as the house of Sheikh Abd al-Wahhab al-Tablawi, is one of the finest and best-preserved traditional houses in Cairo.
6th of October PanoramaThe 6th of October War Panorama is a museum and memorial to the October 1973 war, located in Heliopolis on Salah Salem Street next to Cairo International Stadium. The complex covers about 7.
Yacoubian BuildingThe Yacoubian Building is a famous mixed-use building in Downtown Cairo at No. 34 Talaat Harb Street (formerly Soliman Pasha Street), built in 1937 in the Art Deco style by the Armenian architect Garo Balian.
El-Sawy Cultural WheelEl Sawy Culture Wheel (Sakiat al-Sawy) was the first private cultural centre in Egypt and remains the most active, a model for the independent cultural venues that grew up outside the state cultural sector.
Church of St. BarbaraThe Coptic Orthodox Church of St Barbara is one of the best-known churches of Coptic Cairo and among the oldest buildings in the city.
Prince Said Halim's PalaceThe Champollion Palace, or Palace of Prince Said Halim Pasha, is one of the most beautiful palaces of Khedival downtown Cairo.
Museums
- Grand Egyptian MuseumThe Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) is the largest museum in the world devoted to a single civilisation, located in Giza about two kilometres from the Pyramids, which its main facade faces directly.
Egyptian MuseumThe Egyptian Museum in Tahrir, formally the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, is one of the largest and most famous museums in the world, occupying the northern side of Tahrir Square in central Cairo.
National Museum of Egyptian CivilizationThe National Museum of Egyptian Civilization (NMEC) is a large museum in Fustat, Old Cairo, set on a 33. 5-feddan site overlooking the natural lake of Ain al-Sira.
Museum of Islamic ArtThe Museum of Islamic Art in Cairo is the largest museum of Islamic art in the world, standing in Bab al-Khalq Square on the edge of Historic Cairo.
Gayer-Anderson House MuseumThe Gayer-Anderson Museum, known to Cairenes as Bayt al-Kritliyya, is an art museum standing against the wall of the Mosque of Ahmad ibn Tulun in the Khalifa district, close to Sayyida Zeinab.
Mohammed Mahmoud Khalil MuseumThe Mohamed Mahmoud Khalil Museum is an art museum in the Giza district on the Nile corniche near Cairo University, housed in an art nouveau palace built in the early 20th century.
Al-Gawhara Palace MuseumAl-Gawhara Palace, also known as the Bijou Palace, is one of the palaces inside the Citadel of Salah al-Din, just south of the Mosque of Muhammad Ali.
Egyptian National Military MuseumThe Egyptian National Military Museum is the official museum of the Egyptian Army and Armed Forces, housed in the Harem Palace inside the Citadel of Salah al-Din in Cairo.
Carriage museumThe Royal Carriages Museum at the Citadel is a small museum inside the Citadel of Salah al-Din in Cairo, standing in front of the Suleiman Pasha Mosque in the northern part of the fortress.
National Police MuseumThe National Police Museum is a small museum inside the Citadel of Salah al-Din in Cairo, next to the Military Museum in the northern part of the fortress near the site of the old prison.
Mosques
Al-Azhar MosqueAl-Azhar Mosque is Egypt's most important mosque and one of the most celebrated historic mosques of the Islamic world, forming part of the Al-Azhar al-Sharif institution.
Mosque of Amr ibn al-AsThe Mosque of Amr ibn al-As, also known as the Mosque of the Conquest, the Old Mosque and the Crown of Mosques, was the first mosque built in Egypt and one of the first in Africa.
Ibn Tulun MosqueThe Mosque of Ahmad ibn Tulun is the oldest well-preserved mosque in Egypt and one of the most significant monuments of Islamic architecture in the country.
Al-Rifa'i MosqueAl-Rifa'i Mosque is one of Cairo's best-known historic mosques, standing in Salah al-Din Square in the Khalifa district, directly opposite the Mosque-Madrasa of Sultan Hassan and below the Citadel.
Mohammed Ali MosqueThe Mosque of Muhammad Ali, also called the Alabaster Mosque, is the best-known landmark of the Citadel of Salah al-Din and the most visible mosque on Cairo's skyline, its domes and two slender minarets recognisable…
Sultan Hassan MosqueThe Mosque-Madrasa of Sultan Hasan is one of the greatest monuments of Islamic Cairo, described as the pearl of Islamic architecture in the East and the most harmonious of the city's monuments, marking the maturity of…
Midan Hussein and Sayyidna al-Hussein MosqueThe al-Hussein Mosque is one of the most sacred Islamic sites in Egypt, standing in Old Cairo in the quarter named after it, next to Khan el-Khalili and across from Al-Azhar Mosque.
Al-Hakim MosqueThe Mosque of al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, also called al-Anwar ("the Illuminated"), is one of the largest Fatimid mosques in Cairo.
Parks and gardens
Al-Azhar ParkAl-Azhar Park is one of Greater Cairo's largest and best-loved public parks, covering about 80 feddans in the al-Darb al-Ahmar district of Historic Cairo, with views over the Citadel and the minarets of the old city.
Giza ZooGiza Zoo, known locally as Geninet el-Hayawanat, is the largest zoological garden in Egypt and the Middle East and the first to be built in Africa. Founded in 1891, it was once called the crown jewel of African zoos.