Cairo is the capital and largest city of Egypt. It is the Arab World’s largest and Africa’s most populous city. While Al-Qahirah is the official name of the city, in Egyptian Arabic it is called by the dialect’s name for the country, transliteration: Masr. (Egypt’s first Arab capital, Fustat, was known as Misr al-Fustat, “City of the Tents”.)
Situated on the River Nile, Cairo is famous for its own history - preserved in the fabulous medieval Islamic city and in Old Cairo - and for the ancient, Pharaonic history of the country it represents. No trip to Cairo would be complete, for example, without a visit to the Giza Pyramids, to nearby Saqqara, or to the Egyptian Museum in the center of town. Though firmly attached to the past, Cairo is also home to a vibrant modern society.
Cairo was founded by the Fatimid caliphs as a royal enclosure. It replaced Fustat as the seat of the government. It later came under the Mamluks, was ruled by the Ottomans 1517 to 1798, and briefly occupied by Napoleon. Muhammad Ali of Egypt made Cairo the capital of his independent empire from 1805 to 1882, after which the British took control of it until Egypt attained independence in 1922.
Cairo has a population of about 6.8 million people, according to the 2006 population census. The number of inhabitants was about a million higher at the time of the census, but this was adjusted downwards on the 17th of April 2008 when the new governorate of Helwan was created from parts of a.o. Cairo governorate. Cairo’s metropolitan area has a population of about 17.8 million people. Cairo is the sixteenth most populous metropolitan area in the world. It is also the most populous metropolitan area in Africa.
Today, Greater Cairo homes various historic towns and modern districts. A journey through Cairo is virtual time travel: from the Pyramids, the Hanging Church, Saladin’s Citadel, the Virgin Mary’s Tree, the Sphinx, and Heliopolis, to Al-Azhar, the Mosque of Amr ibn al-A’as, Saqqara, the Cairo Tower, and the Old City. It is nicknamed “The City of A Thousand Minarets”. It is near the site of the first capital of unified Egypt, Memphis.
Cairo is located on the banks and islands of the Nile River in the north of Egypt, immediately south of the point where the river leaves its desert-bound valley and breaks into two branches into the low-lying Nile Delta region.
Referring to Cairo often means Greater Cairo, which is composed of Cairo governate, part of Giza and Qaluobyia governates. Since May 2008 Greater Cairo has been divided into 4 new governates: Cairo, Helwan, Giza and 6th of October. Cairo University is in Giza governate, while Cairo governate has the Ain Shams University.
The oldest part of the city is east of the river. The city gradually spreads west, engulfing the agricultural lands next to the Nile. These western areas, built on the model of Paris by Khedive Ismail in the mid-19th century, are marked by wide boulevards, public gardens, and open spaces. The older eastern section of the city is very different: having grown up haphazardly over the centuries, it is filled with small lanes and crowded tenements. While western Cairo is dominated by tater government buildings and modern architecture, the eastern half is filled with hundreds of ancient mosques.
Extensive water systems have also allowed the city to expand east into the desert. Bridges link the Nile islands of Gezira and Roda, where many government buildings are located and government officials live. Bridges also cross the Nile attaching the city to the suburbs of Giza and Imbabah (part of the Cairo conurbation).
West of Giza, in the desert, is part of the ancient necropolis of Memphis on the Giza plateau, with its three large pyramids, including the Great Pyramid of Giza. Approximately 11 miles (18 km) to the south of modern Cairo is the site of the ancient Egyptian city of Memphis and adjoining necropolis of Saqqara. These cities were Cairo’s ancient predecessors, when Cairo was still in this approximate geographical location.
In Cairo, and along the Nile River Valley, the climate is hot desert (BWh) according to the Köppen climate classification system, but often with high humidity due to the river valley’s effects. Wind storms can be frequent, bringing Saharan dust into the city during the months of March and April. High temperatures in winter range from the 13°C to the low 20s, while nighttime lows drop to below 10°C, often to 5°C. In Summer, the highs often surpass 40°C, and lows drop to about 20°C. Rainfall is sparse, but sudden showers do cause flooding.
Cairo is vast: with more than 17 million people, it’s the largest city in Africa and the Middle East. The downtown core consists of the following districts:
- Midan Tahrir - the very centre of the modern city: big hotels, transport nexus and the Egyptian Museum
- Downtown - the commercial heart of the modern city from Midan Talaat Harb up to Midan Ataba
- Midan Ramses - Cairo’s main railway station and a burgeoning retail and accommodation zone
- Garden City - an upmarket “garden suburb” close to the city centre and the Corniche el-Nil
- Islamic Cairo - the centre of historic Cairo, located east of downtown; the Citadel, Khan el Khalili (the main Cairo souq / market), historic mosques and medieval architecture
- Old Cairo - located south of downtown, includes Coptic Cairo and Fustat (Cairo’s historical kernel)
- Dokki and Mohandiseen - located on the west bank of the Nile, with upscale restaurants and shopping
- Gezira and Zamalek - upmarket suburbs on an island in the Nile, with hotels and the Cairo Tower
- Giza - a sprawling western district of the city and the site of the Pyramids
- Heliopolis and Nasr City - an upmarket residential and retail area close to the Airport
- Ma’adi - a suburb catering to many foreign ex-patriates, accessed by the Ring Road
Situated along the Nile, Cairo has ancient origins, located in the vicinity of the Pharaonic city of Memphis. The city started to take its present form in 641, when the Arab general Amr ibn al-As conquered Egypt for Islam and founded a new capital called Misr al-Fustat, “the City of the Tents”, in what is now Old Cairo. The Tunisian Fatimid dynasty captured the city in 969 and founded a new city, al-Qahira (”The Victorious”) just north of al-Fustat. Al-Qahira gave the city its English name, Cairo, but the locals still call it Masr, the Egyptian dialectal version of Amr’s Misr. Confusingly, this also the Arabic name of the entire country of Egypt.
Cairo, as well as neighbouring Giza, has been established as Egypt’s main center for medical treatment, and despite some exceptions, has the most advanced level of medical care in the country. Cairo’s hospitals include As-Salam International Hospital- Corniche El Nile; Maadi (Egypt’s largest private hospital with 350 beds), Ain Shams University Hospital, Dar El Fouad Hospital, as well as Qasr El Ainy General Hospital.
Cairo has long been the hub of education and educational services not only for Egypt but also for the whole Arab world. Today, Cairo is the center for many government offices governing the Egyptian educational system, has the largest number of educational schools, and higher learning institutes among other cities and governorates of Egypt.
Universities in Cairo: Ain Shams University, The American University in Cairo (AUC) (first Private university in Egypt), The Russian University in Cairo, Arab Academy for Science & Technology and Maritime Transport, Al Azhar University - One of the oldest universities in use today, British University in Egypt (BUE), Canadian International College (CIC), Cairo University, German University in Cairo (GUC), Helwan University, Misr International University (MIU), Misr University for Science and Technology (MUST), Nile University, Sadat Academy for Management Sciences, Sekem University, Modern Sciences and Arts University (MSA), Modern Academy In Maadi (MAM), Nahda University (NUB).
The best time to visit Cairo is during the winter from November to March, when daytime highs generally stay below 25°C, with nighttime lows around 10°C and occasional rain showers clearing the air. (Don’t bother packing an umbrella: even the rainiest months of the year rarely top 5 mm.) The brief spring from March to May can be pleasant, but summer temperatures, on the other hand, can reach a searing 38°C, which is compounded by the city’s terrible pollution which is at its worst in the fall before the rains.
Today’s Cairo is a city with at least 17 million inhabitants, where the rich and impoverished live side by side and skyscrapers and fast food restaurants nestle up to world heritage.
Originally, Cairo was the designated name of the city on the eastern bank of the Nile, and this is where you’ll find both the modern Downtown, built under influence of French architecture, today the center of commerce and popular life, as well as historical Islamic and Coptic sights. Outside the core on the eastern bank, you’ll find the modern, more affluent suburbs of Heliopolis and Nasr City near the airport, and Ma’adi to the south.
In the middle of the Nile is the island of Gezira and Zamalek, more Western and tranquil than the rest of the city. On the western bank is lots of modern concrete and business, but also the great Giza pyramids and, further to the south, Memphis and Saqqara. The city might seem like a lot to handle, but give it a try, and you might come to love it.
Transportation in Cairo comprises an extensive road network, rail system, subway system and maritime services. Cairo is the centre of almost the entire Egyptian transportation network. The subway system, called “The Metro” locally, is a fast and efficient way of getting around Cairo. It can get very crowded during rush hour. Two train cars (the fourth and fifth ones) are reserved for women only.
An extensive road network connects Cairo with other Egyptian cities and villages. There is a new Ring Road that surrounds the outskirts of the city, with exits that reach to almost every Cairo district. There are flyovers, and bridges such as the Sixth of October bridge that allows straight, fast and efficient means of transportation from one side of the city to the other.
Cairo traffic is known to be overwhelming and overcrowded.Traffic moves at a relatively fluid pace. Drivers tend to be aggressive, but are more courteous at intersections, taking turns going, with police aiding in traffic control of some congested areas. Cairo International Airport, Ramses Railway Station, Ahmed Helmy Bus Stop, Abbood Bus Stop, Cairo Metro, Cairo Tram, Cairo Transportation Authority CTA, Cairo Taxi, Cairo Yellow Cab, Cairo Nile Ferry.
Over the ages, and as far back as seven thousand years, Egypt stood as the land where civilizations have always met. The Pharaohs together with the Greeks and the Romans have left their imprints here. Muslims from the Arab Peninsula, led by Amr ibn al-A’as, introduced Islam into Egypt. Khedive Mohammad Ali, with his Albanian family roots, put Egypt on the road to modernity. If anything, the cultural mix in this country is natural, given its heritage. Egypt can be likened to an open museum with monuments of the different historical periods on display everywhere.
Egypt is a predominantly Muslim country so say nothing that might be perceived as an insult to Islam or the Egyptian culture. Women should wear modest clothing. Do not enter a mosque with shoes on. This is extremely disrespectful. Also, avoid walking in front of persons in prayer. As well, do not make any comments on Egyptian heroes like Gamal Abdul Nasser because you might end up in a heated argument.
President Mubarak inaugurated the new Cairo Opera House of the Egyptian National Cultural Center on October 10, 1988, seventeen years after the Royal Opera House had been destroyed by fire. The National Cultural Center was built with the help of JICA, the Japan International Co-operation Agency and stands as a prominent feature for the Japanese-Egyptian co-operation and the deep-rooted friendship between these two nations.
Thus, the joint efforts of Japanese and Egyptians has given rise to a unique landmark which celebrates the rich and diverse cultural life not only of Egypt but of neighboring nations in Africa and the Middle East as well. Egypt is proud to be the only state in the region which built two opera houses within a bit more than a century.
The Khedivial Opera House or Royal Opera House was the original opera house in Cairo, Egypt. It was dedicated on November 1, 1869 and burned down on October 28, 1971. After the original opera house was destroyed, Cairo was without an opera house for nearly two decades until the opening of the new Cairo Opera House in 1988.
Egypt’s love of the arts in general can be traced back to the rich heritage bequeathed by the Pharaohs. In modern times, Egypt has enjoyed a strong cinematic tradition since the art of filmmaking was first developed, early in the 20th century. A natural progression from the active theatre scene of the time, cinema rapidly evolved into a vast motion picture industry. This together with the much older music tradition, raised Egypt to become the cultural capital of the Arab world.
For more than 500 years of recorded history, Egypt has fascinated the West and inspired its creative talents from play writer William Shakespeare, poet and dramatist John Dryden, and novelist and poet Lawrence Durrell to film producer Cecil B. de Mille. Since the silent movies Hollywood has been capitalising on the box-office returns that come from combining Egyptian stories with visual effects.
Egypt has also been a fount of Arabic literature, producing some of the 20th century’s greatest Arab writers such as Taha Hussein and Tawfiq al-Hakim to Nobel Laureate, novelist Naguib Mahfouz. Each of them has written for the cinema.
With these credentials, it was clear that Cairo should aim to hold an international film festival. This dream came true on Monday August 16, 1976, when the first Cairo International Film Festival was launched by the Egyptian Association of Film Writers and Critics, headed by Kamal El-Mallakh. The Association ran the festival for seven years until 1983.
This achievement lead to the President of the Festival again contacting the FIAPF with the request that a competition should be included at the 1991 Festival. The request was granted. In 1998, the Festival took place under the presidency of one of Egypt’s leading actors, Hussein Fahmy, who was appointed by the Minister of Culture, Farouk Hosni, after the death of Saad El-Din Wahba. Four years later, the journalist and writer Cherif El-Shoubashy became president.
For 29 years, the home of the Pyramids and Nile has hosted international superstars like Nicolas Cage , John Malkovich, Morgan Freeman, Bud Spencer, Gina Lollobrigida, Ornella Mutti, Sophia Loren, Claudia Cardinale, Victoria Abril, Elizabeth Taylor, Shashi Kapoor, Alain Delon, Greta Scacchi, Catherine Deneuve, Peter O’toole, Christopher Lee, Irene Pappas, Marcello Mastroianni and Omar Sharif, as well as great directors like Robert Wise, Elia Kazan, Vanessa Redgrave, Oliver Stone, Roland Joffe, Carlos Saura, Ismail Merchant and Michel Angelo Antonioni, in an annual celebration and examination of the state of cinema in the world today.
The Cairo Geniza is an accumulation of almost 200,000 Jewish manuscripts that were found in the genizah of the Ben Ezra synagogue (built 882) of Fostat, Egypt (now Old Cairo), the Basatin cemetery east of Old Cairo, and a number of old documents that were bought in Cairo in the later 19th century. These documents were written from about 870 to as late as 1880 AD and have now been archived in various American and European libraries. The Taylor-Schechter collection in the University of Cambridge runs to 140,000 manuscripts; there are a further 40,000 manuscripts at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America.
Inaugurated in May 2005, Al-Azhar Park is located adjacent to Cairo’s Darb al-Ahmar district. The Park was created by the Historic Cities Support Programme (HCSP) of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC), an entity of the Aga Khan Development Network, and was a gift to Cairo from His Highness the Aga Khan. It is interesting to note that the city of Cairo was founded in the year 969 by the Fatimid Imam-Caliphs who were ancestors of the Aga Khan.
During the development of the park, a part of the 12th century Ayyubid wall was discovered and subsequently restored. The wall had originally been built by Salah al-Din al-Ayubbi as a defense against the crusaders. The discovery prompted additional research into the nearby historic neighborhood of Darb al-Ahmar, and eventually led to a major project encompassing the restoration of several mosques, palaces and historic houses. The HCSP also established social and economic programs to provide a wide range of assistance for local residents.
Cairo International Airport (IATA: CAI), is well served by EgyptAir, the national carrier, and others such as British Airways, Air France, KLM , Singapore Airlines and Lufthansa. The airport has four public terminals and a fifth (would be the biggest) one under construction in addition to a private jet terminal, which may or may not open sometime in 2009. Terminal 1 (aka the “Old Airport” or “Domestic Terminal”) is used by EgyptAir for all flights, domestic and international, while most but not all other airlines use Terminal 2 (”New Airport”). The two are 3 km apart and a free shuttle bus runs between the two every 30 minutes, 24 hours a day.
The airport is located on the north-eastern outskirts of the city at Heliopolis. Getting to downtown Cairo can be a pain. LE 40 is a good price by taxi, although it can be quite difficult to negotiate this price if you are not an Arabic speaker. Refuse to pay the “ticket” (airport parking fee) for the driver.
For the adventurous, catch a public bus to Midan Tahrir or Midan Ramses. Walk 5 minutes out of Terminal 1 to the big undercover bus station, and ask a local, but don’t catch the notorious (non-aircon) green buses. Rides are just under LE 2. It takes around 1 - 1.5 hours to reach downtown. To get from downtown to the airport, board an aircon bus at the bus terminal just north of the Egyptian Museum (under the highway bridge). Runs every 30 minutes, takes about an hour, costs 2 Egyptian Pounds, drops you off at Terminal 1. To get to Terminal 2 (international departures) take the free shuttle.
Cairo’s main railway station - Ramses Station (Mahattat Ramses) - is located on Midan Ramses. Trains run to Cairo from most other regions and cities within Egypt. Trains in Egypt don’t generally run on schedule, as a matter of fact they run consistently at least 15 minutes late, if not later. Train service is available from Ramses Station to Alexandria, while service to Luxor and Aswan is available at the Giza Railway Station. Trains also depart to the canal cities, but buses are much faster.
Alexandria is served by a large number of departures through the day. Among the best trains are the Espani (Spanish) which has a morning service from Cairo at 9am. The Espani and Turbine (Turbo) are the best services, going non-stop to Alexandria and taking 2 hours and 40 min. The next best service is al-Fransawi (French), which stops at the major Delta cities on the road. It is best to purchase tickets in advance to be assured of a seat. Online purchases are not available, so you need to either go to the train station and buy your ticket there or go through a travel agency who can arrange this for you.
Sometimes it is possible to buy train tickets in the morning, for a train later the same day or if not busy, you might get on the next train. The Express (French) and Turbo trains to Alexandria have first and second class, all air conditioned. Refreshments are available for purchase on the train. First class is recommended, but second class is also reasonably comfortable.
Driving in Cairo is not recommended, nor necessary. The traffic is, at the least, overwhelming for the common traveler. Road signs, lanes, right-of-ways, etc. are not adhered to. The driving has a consistency, but not in any official way. Parking houses or official parking spots are rare, but many places people work to look after parked cars. A small tip is expected for this service.
Getting in and out of Cairo, the roads to and from Fayoum and the desert cities in the southwest and Alexandria, Delta and Marsa Matrouh in the north-west are through the Giza and pyramids area, the road to Beni Suueif and Upper Egypt (Aswan, Luxor) is in the south, after Maadi and Helwan. North from Heliopolis are the road to the canal cities (Port Said, Ismailiyya, Suez) and Sinai. Ein al-Sukhn and Hurghada is best reached by the tolled road after New Cairo City.
Buses arrive to Cairo from virtually all over the country. The two main destinations are Midan Ramsis and Turgoman, but vehicles also sometimes stop at other destinations, notably abbasiya. From Midan Ramses and Turgoman it’s a quick 5 LE taxi cab ride to downtown, 7-10 LE to Zamalek.
The Turgoman has, from 2007, been renovated into a new, modern indoor station, close to the older one. From Turgoman, hourly services run to the canal cities (2 hrs) and Sharm al-Sheikh. To Sharm, East Delta buses take approximately 8 hrs (80 LE). The Superjet is faster, driving non-stop without a break in approximately 6 hrs. Three of the East Delta services continue to Dahab. A cheaper option to get to Sharem by bus is to take a bus, a train or a minibus to Suez (10LE) and from the main bus station there, take the 11AM or the 13:20 bus to Sharem for only 31 LE.
Services also go to Taba and Nuweiba, leaving three times daily (including one night services) with prices comparable with the services to Sharm. It takes 6 hrs all the way to Nuweiba. To the canal cities, Port Said, Ismailiya and Suez, buses go all the time from Turgoman station, costing 20-30 LE. The travel to all destinations takes a little bit more than two hours.
Uncomfortable, but cheap, microbuses leave from Cairo to a large number of destinations. The main garages are Midan Ramsis and al-Marg metro station (for the north-east and Sinai). They are faster and might as such be an option for shorter trips, but have a terrible toll of accidents. There are also other places these buses leave from depending on your destination, ask locals. Be aware that at least for the Sinai, foreigners are prohibited to use the microbus system.
Cairo is also in every respect the center of Egypt, as it has been almost since its founding in 969 AD. 20% of all Egyptians live there. The majority of the nation’s commerce is generated there, or passes through the city. The great majority of publishing houses and media outlets and nearly all film studios are there, as are half of the nation’s hospital beds and universities. This has fueled rapid construction in the city—one building in five is less than 15 years old.
This astonishing growth until recently surged well ahead of city services. Homes, roads, electricity, telephone and sewer services were all suddenly in short supply. Analysts trying to grasp the magnitude of the change coined terms like “hyper-urbanization”.
The Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, known commonly as the Egyptian Museum, is home to the most extensive collection of ancient Egyptian antiquities in the world. It has 136,000 items on display, with many more hundreds of thousands in its basement storerooms
Khan el-Khalili is for many the most entertaining part of Cairo. It is an ancient shopping area, nothing less, but some of the shops have also their own little factories or workshops.
The suq (which is the Arabic name for bazaar, or market) dates back to 1382, when Emir Djaharks el-Khalili built a big caravanserai (or khan) right here. A caravanserai was a sort of hotel for traders, and usually the focal point for economic activity for any surrounding area. This caravanserai is still there, you just ask for the narrow street of Sikka Khan el-Khalili and Badestan.
The part of Cairo that contains Coptic Cairo and Fostat, which contains the Coptic Museum, Babylon Fortress, Hanging Church, the Greek Church of St. George, many other Coptic churches, the Ben Ezra Synagogue and Amr ibn al-’As Mosque.
The Cairo Tower is a free-standing concrete TV tower in Cairo. It stands in the Zamalek district on Gezira Island in the River Nile, in the city centre. At 187 meters, it is 43 meters higher than the Great Pyramid of Giza, which stands some 15 km to the southwest.
A selected list of Cairo highlights: Pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx. The only remaining monuments of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, it is the country’s most famous tourist attraction. Egyptian Museum, on Midan Tahrir. The world’s premier collection of ancient Egyptian artifacts. Citadel, in Islamic Cairo. A grand castle built by Salah Al-Din. Also parts of the water pipes (Majra Al-Oyouon) are still there, these pipes used to carry the water from the Nile River to the citadel.
Nilometer South end of Roda island, Nile. Dating back to 861, the Nilometer was used to measure the level of the Nile was measured and therefore the tax rates for the farmers fixed. The Nilometer became obsolete when the Aswan Dam was built. Al-Azhar Mosque. One of the pillars of Islamic thought and home to the world’s oldest university. Ibn Tulun, close to Sayidna Zeinab. The oldest, and maybe most beautiful mosque in Cairo. The Coptic Museum, in Coptic Cairo. the “Hanging Church” (Church of the Virgin Mary), in Zabeleen Area (District of Manshiet Nasser) below Mokkatam Hills, not far away from the Citadel.
Cairo has an enormous number of restaurants, catering to most needs. Cheap food can be found everywhere in street restaurants and snack stalls. The top notch restaurants are often, but not always, found in hotels and Nile boats. The borders between restaurants and cafes are not crystal-clear in the Egyptian capital. In many places it is perfectly acceptable to just have a drink or shisha. Medium and high-range outlets might have a minimum charge. Cheaper restaurants will normally not serve alcohol as well as some more expensive outlets.
In general, downtown is good for budget eating, while for higher quality eating you should head to Zamalek, Mohandesin or any of the other more affluent parts of town. Most guidebooks and food critics agree that Cairo is not a great culinary destination. Ingredients are often low quality, and even the “best” restaurants might serve questionable dishes. That said, there are still a few good places to eat.
Traditional Egyptian staples are available almost everywhere. In stalls and street restaurants you will find traditional dishes like foul (bean paste), taamiyya (falafel), muzagga (the Egyptian version of the Greek moussaka), kushari (macaroni, lentils, chick peas, and sometimes a tomato sauce), fatayeer (Egyptian pancakes with different fillings) and shawarma (a recent import from Lebanon and Syria — pieces of roasted meat usually wrapped in bread). Cheaper places will only serve up vegetables and maybe beef hot dogs or corned beef. Eggs, fried potatoes and salads are also usually available. Hygiene varies wildly and the best advice is to go for the most visited places. Avoid empty restaurants as the food will be less fresh. Especially downtown you can find many good kushari shops, including many outlets of the excellent Kushari Tahrir chain.
Cairo has a wide range of drinking options from the very traditional to fashionable and modern. At the other end of the scale, almost any street in Cairo has a traditional coffee house, ´ahwe, a traditionally male institution of social life tracing many hundreds of years back in history. Besides that you’ll find everything from fruit stalls to patisseriés and bakeries and modern cafés whipping up all varieties of modern European coffee. In addition to the traditional Turkish coffee and shai, tea, virtually everywhere you’ll find drinks like hibiscus tea, kerkedeeh, served warm or cold depending on season, sahleb, a coconut drink usually served in winter, fakhfakhenna (a kind of fruit salad), sugarcane juice, mango and tamarind juice, Tamr hindi.
Cairo remains one of the best cities in the world to sample the traditional coffee house culture of the region. They are called maqha in Standard Arabic, but in the local dialect this is turned into ´ahwa. The Turkish coffee remains an invariable ingredient in any Cairene coffee house, and water pipe (shisha) and tea is even more popular.
While considered “old fashioned” for a time, these places are again turning fashionable among younger crowds and even smoking a waterpipe is no longer a male-only pastime. Places vary from just a small affair–plastic chairs and tables put out on the street–to more elaborate cafes especially in upscale and tourist areas.
Modern cafes and patisseries are spread out around the city. Typically they serve light food like sandwiches and salad in addition to espresso-based coffees and pastries. Many of these places are chains, like Cilantro, Beanos, Cinnabon, Orangette, The Bakery and Coffee Roastery. Most of these places, including all the chains mentioned above, offer wireless internet connection as well. International chains such as Costa Coffee and Starbucks are also widely available throughout Cairo.
You can walk around the main streets anytime you feel like roaming. It’s fairly safe and you will always find lots of people around smiling and offering to help. Women alone can expect to be the target of an excessive amount of catcalling, but it rarely, if ever, goes beyond that.
You should bear in mind that around the more touristy locations there is an abundance of ‘helpful’ people, but be careful who you go with and under no circumstance let anyone push or guide you anywhere you don’t want to go! If you get lost look for the security and police officers. Many speak a little English, and most know their local area very well, as well as the tourist spots.
Crossing streets is another major challenge in Cairo. Traffic lights, which only exist in a few locations, are routinely disregarded. In downtown Cairo, police officers may be controlling traffic at key intersections at busy times. To cross the street, it’s like playing the video game “Frogger”, hurrying across the street one lane at a time, when there is a small break in traffic. Also, when riding in a taxi, the driver may go quite fast and drive erratically. Cairo has a tremendous range of accommodation, from low-rent budget hotels downtown to five-star palaces along the Nile.
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