Dubbed “Umm El Dinya” (Mother of the World) by Egyptians and Arabs, Cairo is one of the most brash and chaotic cities in the world. Yet in 2010, 14 million tourists, a million-and-a-half of whom were British, booked flights to Cairo to discover one of the world’s great ancient civilisations.
The hustle and bustle of modern Cairo’s busy streets teeming with hordes of people and honking cars is perfectly juxtaposed by the serene felucca boats sailing along the Nile and horses galloping amid the gargantuan pyramids. And while most tourists who book flights to Cairo do so to visit the Great Pyramid of Giza – the last surviving wonder of the ancient world – there’s a lot more to see and do in this exhilarating metropolis.
Six-hundred-year-old Khan al-Khalili is one of the first stops on any tourist’s must-see list. This labyrinthine bazaar offers bargain hunters the chance to haggle for hours while magpies can pick up everything from silver and precious stones to waterpipes and spices. After all that shopping recharge your batteries at the famous Feshawi’s coffeehouse and enjoy some strong Turkish coffee or an icy karkadey (hibiscus juice).
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