Wednesday, August 1, 2012

One Day Visit To Cairo

By Mohamed Elyousefi


The following are the standard/most popular places to visit in Cairo:

- Giza Pyramids

- Saqqara Pyramids + Memphis + Dashur Pyramids

- Egyptian Museum

- Citadel and Mohamed Ali Mosque* *

- Old Cairo area for the old churches and Jewish Synagogue

- Ibn Touloun Mosque and Gayer Anderson Museum (2 renovated Islamic Houses) - not standard, but well worth the visit.

Ibn Touloun Mosque

If there is a time, you can add the Khan Khalili Bazaar, it stays open till late, and is a very interesting area for monuments as well as shopping.

The best way to do this "in one day" is to hire a private tour guide (in advance) who will also provide the transportation. Traffic is very heavy in Cairo and this makes it hard to get from one area to another, Saqqara is outside Cairo and not easy to reach.

For just one day you must choose from these places, as to do them all you would be "on the run" and this is not enjoyable. You can choose one of the following for a full day tour:

- Cairo museum + Pyramids of Giza and Sphinx

OR

- Pyramids of Giza + Memphis + Pyramid of Sakkara and surrounding Mastabas

OR

- Citadel of Saladin, Old Cairo area + Ibn Touloun and Gayer Anderson house

The Khan Khalili Bazaar it is open till late (around 10 or 11 pm), so evenings are very suitable for such a visit.

The Egyptian Museum, opens till late, so this could be your last place to visit, doors close at 7pm, but to buy and entry ticket you have to be there earlier, so be there before 5.30pm at least. It is very busy in the mornings with tour groups so, it really is better to go later in the day if you can.




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