Cairo
A mini-empire taking up the better part of a block, El Omda offers numerous ways to put grilled meats into your system. At the takeout joint on the corner, get a shish tawouq (marinated chicken grilled on skewers) sandwich with spicy pickles.
Or else you can sit down in the old-style ‘Oriental’ restaurant around the corner to your left, or head upstairs to the neon-lit cafe and get a shisha with the trendy crowd.
7.02 MILES
The last remaining wonder of the ancient world; for nearly 4000 years, the extraordinary shape, impeccable geometry and sheer bulk of the Giza Pyramids…
1.75 MILES
One of the world’s most important collections of ancient artefacts, the Egyptian Museum takes pride of place in Downtown Cairo, on the north side of Midan…
12.95 MILES
Covering a 7km stretch of the Western Desert, Saqqara, the huge cemetery of ancient Memphis, was an active burial ground for more than 3500 years and is…
2.91 MILES
This museum, on the edge of Islamic Cairo, holds one of the world’s finest collections of Islamic art and is Egypt's (and one of the entire Middle East's)…
3.45 MILES
Founded in AD 970 as the centrepiece of the newly created Fatimid city, Al Azhar is one of Cairo’s earlier mosques, and its sheikh is considered the…
3.3 MILES
Sharia Al Muizz, as it’s usually called, named after the Fatimid caliph who conquered Cairo in AD 969, was Cairo's grand thoroughfare, once chock-a-block…
3.82 MILES
This museum, founded in 1908, houses Coptic art from the earliest days of Christianity in Egypt right through to early Islam. It is a beautiful place, as…
12.35 MILES
The Mastaba of Ti was discovered by Auguste Mariette in 1865. This grand and detailed private tomb is not only Old Kingdom art at its best but also one of…
0.75 MILES
The pleasant Gabalaya Park & Aquarium has landscaped gardens with aquariums set in rocks (though not many actual fish). It’s a great central spot to…
1.01 MILES
The several galleries here host rotating contemporary exhibitions, but it was closed for restoration when we were last in town.
1.01 MILES
This museum has been closed for renovation for the past few years. When it reopens, it’s worth a peek for its collection of colourful plates, tiles and…
1.08 MILES
The core of this luxury hotel is a lavish palace built by Khedive Ismail to house Empress Éugenie when she visited for the opening of the Suez Canal in…
1.11 MILES
Shuttered for years, the Aisha Fahmy Palace was built in 1907 for Egyptian aristocrat Ali Fahmy, who was King Farouk's army chief. Reopened as an arts…
1.37 MILES
This 187m-high tower is the city’s most famous landmark after the Pyramids. Built in 1961, the structure, which resembles a stylised lotus plant with its…
7. Museum of Modern Egyptian Art
1.45 MILES
This vast collection of 20th- and 21st-century Egyptian art is set in the green, well-groomed Gezira Exhibition Grounds, across from the Cairo Opera House…
1.49 MILES
Mukhtar (1891–1934) was the sculptor laureate of independent Egypt, responsible for Saad Zaghloul on the nearby roundabout and the Egypt Reawakening…