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).
Photos: Wikimedia Commons contributors.
Greater Cairo is vast; with more than 20 million people (2018), it's the largest metropolitan area in Africa and the Middle East.
Cairo is on the Nile, and has ancient origins in the vicinity of the Pharaonic city of Memphis. The city started to take its present form in 641 CE, when the Arab general Amr Ibn Al-Ase conquered Egypt for Islam and founded a new capital called Misr Al-Fustat, "the City of the Tents". The legend is that Al-Ase, on the day he was leaving to conquer Alexandria, found two doves nesting in his tent. Not wanting to disturb them, he left the tent. Upon returning victorious, he called his soldiers to pitch their tents around his, and this became the site of the new city in what is now Old Cairo.
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. Cairo is home to Africa's first and largest metro system. While modern and sleek, the three lines are all too limited in scope.
Cairo is a vast metropolitan cityscape. It includes an array of modern skyscrapers, mosques, bazaars and ruins of associated ancient monuments outside the city. Cairo has an overwhelming array of attractions, listed under their individual districts along with transport and other practicalities. Some highlights: Pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx. The oldest and only surviving monuments of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, it is the country's most famous tourist attraction.
Have a coffee, mint tea or Cola at El Fishawy's coffee shop in Khan El-Khalili. Smoke a shisha water pipe (try the "double apple" flavor) and watch the world go by. Great cheap entertainment. Ride a felucca along the Nile River. A great way to relax and enjoy a night under the stars in Cairo. Feluccas are available across from the Four Seasons Hotel in Garden City. Pay after your ride, or you may get much less than you bargained for.
Individual listings can be found in Cairo's district articles Cairo has an enormous number of restaurants, catering to most needs. Ironically though, one may want to avoid any restaurants listed in popular guidebooks. Egyptian restaurants have a habit of after being listed, cooking up a special English menu with vastly inflated prices. That said, 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 sheesha.
Individual listings can be found in Cairo's district articles 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, ´ahwa, 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.
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: The place you're going to is closed, why don't you take my tour? (Taxi drivers may use this. You can avoid this by using Uber or Careem.) You need help crossing the street? Come, let me help you! Let me show you my shop, it's just on this corner. No this corner, no this corner, etc. Let me show you how to get to the mosque - no baksheesh, just LE100 to get in and go up to the roof.
Guide content from Wikivoyage contributors (CC BY-SA) — abridged; the full article has much more.
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In Jul, Cairo typically sees ~40°C daytime highs and 0 rainy days.
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