4 days in Cairo – the “must-do’s” and 12 unusual things to do!
Last updated on May 17th, 2026 at 05:36 am
Forget NYC – Cairo never sleeps!! Cairo isn’t just a gateway to ancient wonders – it is a vibrant and chaotic city of 20 million, with its very own slice of the Nile river, that always has something for you to see. Someone said to me – “its where history collides with grit” and that is absolutely the truth. If you can go with the flow, and the haggling, you can have a good time experiencing the city over a few days. Below, I have given you the “must-do” sights as well as 13 more unusual things to do in this crazy city of Cairo!
First a few important links to use when you plan your trip. Yes, they are affiliate links, but I use them all for my travels, and if you do too it will help me keep producing this content. Cheers!
Plan for your trip
Flights – use skyscanner or booking.com to find and book your flight – I often find the same flight for a lot cheaper than booking direct with the airline!
Insurance – Use EKTA or SafetyWing. TBH I usually use EKTA – they accept any nationality, any age and its ok if you are already traveling – which is perfect for me!
Accommodation – use booking.com or for a hostel – Hostelworld. I use both.
Internet – buy a yesim eSim or Airalo before you go. I use both depending on where I am going.
Buses, trains, ferries – 12Go is my first option for buses, ferries and trains
Car rental – use DiscoverCars – they are my ‘go-to’ car rental site
Hiking – I use AllTrails for online and offline hiking trails – it means you know exactly where you are on the trail and makes getting lost a lot harder!!
Tours and Activities – book with Viator, GetYourGuide, or Eatwith. My top recommendations for the must see’s in Cairo are:
1. Cairo Guided Half-Day Tour of Giza Pyramids, Sphinx
2. Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) Private Tour with Egyptologist Guide
3. Salah El Din Citadel and Old Cairo Bazar Guided Tour
4. Cairo Private Felucca Ride on the Nile with Pickup and Drinks
Thanks so much if you use one of these links – it costs you nothing but helps me keep writing!
So now for the best things to do in Cairo – 10 usual and 13 unusual things to do in Cairo city…..
The usual things to do in Cairo – the must-do’s!
1. Get out to the Giza Pyramids and the Sphinx
The No. 1 item on anyones list is to get out to see the Giza Pyramids and the Sphinx with your own eyes. The Giza pyramid is, after all, the only remaining ancient wonder of the world!
There is now a bus system around the pyramids and the sphinx which makes life a lot easier than 20 years ago when I last visited! And really you can do this in a half day. I do recommend you take a tour guide or tour because it cuts down a lot of the haggling, scamming and hassle, and you learn a lot more than you might otherwise, but that is not to say you can’t just uber out to the new entry gate and go it alone.
I was there during the Iran war so there were a lot less tourists than normal apparently. So I would suggest going early to beat the crowds and the heat!
Be aware of camels and their owners – there are set prices advertised for rides, and don’t fall into the trap of taking photos and being expected to pay money for them. There are lots of scams – a guide definitely makes that easier and ultimately will probably save you money!
These tours to the pyramids are highly rated:
- Cairo Guided Half-Day Tour of Giza Pyramids, Sphinx
- Pyramids & Great Sphinx Private Tour with Camel Ride
- Cairo 8 Hour Private Tour of Pyramids & Grand Egyptian Museum
2. Check out the new Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM)
The Grand Egyptian Museum is connected to the Giza pyramids via a new bridge, so it’s easy to go between the two and combine them into a full day out in Cairo.
The Grand Egyptian Museum is Cairo’s newest and largest museum – it opened in Nov 2025. It houses over 100,000 artifacts – including the complete Tutankhamun collection. Of course the prized possession being the Golden Burial Mask of Tutankhamun.
The building itself is also really impressive. You could spend a day here if you are an enthusiast and want to read everything, but most people spend 2-3 hours.
Don’t miss seeing the Khufu Boats Museum when you are there too. You can see the reconstructed 4,500-year-old funerary boat of King Khufu – built to carry him on his eternal journey with the sun god Re. It is made of Lebanese cedar and absolutely impressive!
I went to the museum with an Egyptologist which made it much more interesting as I could just learn by listening – I find it much easier than trying to read everything!
If you are like me then this Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) Private Tour with Egyptologist Guide is a good option. Another highly rated options is this New Grand Egyptian museum and King Tut treasure half day tour!
Or you can combine a tour with the pyramids on this Cairo 8 Hour Private Tour of Pyramids & Grand Egyptian Museum.
3. Shop and eat in the Khan el Khalili Bazaar and El Moez Street
You can pretty much shop ’til you drop! This is a great place to visit day or night – its a bazaar full of vendors selling their Egyptian wares in the laneways surrounded by Islamic architecture. El Moez St (within) is a UNESCO World Heritage site. You can buy anything from t-shirts to Christmas decorations, spices, mugs and dishes, gemstones, artwork, and even hookahs!
You don’t need to buy anything – but it is an experience worth taking part in just to enjoy the ambience of the area, people-watch and perhaps have a coffee and food. There is definitely some great street food!
You can take a tour of the area – combined with Coptic / Old Cairo (No 6 below) – Old Cairo and Khan Elkhalili Bazaar, Moez Street and Azhar Tour.
4. See the hieroglyphics, oldest stone building in the world and pyramids in Saqqara
Saqqara is an older site than the Giza pyramids and is huge. It has the oldest surviving temple in Egypt, the Step Pyramid, and the Pyramid of Unas and the Pyramid of Teti – you can go inside both of these and should do to see the stunning hieroglyphics! (This is much better than going inside the pyramid at Giza.)
You can take a tour to see these -either alone or in a combination with the Giza pyramids etc – with a few highly rated options:
- Saqqara , Memphis and Dahsur Day Tour
- Private Day Tour to Giza Pyramids Sphinx Memphis Saqqara & Dahshur Pyramids
- Sakkara, Memphis & Dahshur (Pyramid & Felucca Options)
5. Take in the views from the Cairo Citadel and Muhammad Ali Mosque
In a towering position above Cairo is the Mosque of Muhammad Ali! Its quite stunning inside and has great views over the city and beyond. (No – not the boxer, but an early 19th-century ruler of Egypt.)
Right beside it is the Cairo Citadel which is an old fortification that has been there for hundreds of years. These sights are included in a lot of tours – this is a good one: Salah El Din Citadel and Old Cairo Bazar Guided Tour
6. Check out Coptic Cairo
Coptic Cairo (also known as Old Cairo) is the most historically significant Christian district in Cairo. Here you are going to find several churches that are over 1,000 years old, the remains of a 2,000 year old Roman fortress, and also one of the few Jewish Synagogues in Egypt.
You want to see the Cavern Church of Abu Serga (the Church of St. Serius and St. Bacchus) which has an underground crypt where Jesus, Mary and Joseph took refuge when fleeing from Herod through Egypt. You also should have the Hanging Church, and the Jewish Synagogue of Ben Ezraif which has recently been restored on your list. There is also the Church of St. Barbara and the modern Church of St. George if you have time to visit.
Visiting on a Full Day Coptic Cairo and Islamic Cairo Private Guided Tour is a great option!
7. The Egyptian Museum (Old Museum)
The Egyptian Museum or Old Museum is the original Egyptian Museum in downtown Cairo at Tahrir Square. It is the oldest archaeological museum in the Middle East, and houses more than 150,000 artifacts. A couple of notable features in amongst the 150,000 pieces are the the only remaining statue of Khufu (who built the Great Pyramid) and the Narmer Palette, our first ever depiction of an ancient Egyptian Pharaoh!
Unfortunately there is a lack of information with the exhibits so a guide can be a good idea – to know what you are looking at!! This Cairo Tour to old Egyptian Museum Citadel and Coptic Cairo is a good tour that also includes the Citadel and Coptic Cairo!
8. National Museum of Egyptian Civilization
If you want to see real mummies, then this is the place!
The highlight of the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization (or NMEC) are the royal mummies of pharaohs and queens from Egypt’s New Kingdom Period. You can see the mummified remains of Queen Hatshepsut, Ramses the Great, and 20 other important people that lived in ancient Egypt from the 17th until the 20th dynasty. The most famous mummies are Hatshepsut (Maatkare), Thutmose III (Menkheperre), Seqenenre Taa II.
It is really well laid out with information about each person, and it is nothing short of amazing to look at these people that lived so so long ago!
You need an hour or two, depending on how much you want to read, to see this smaller but absolutely fascinating museum. You cannot take photos of the mummies!
9. Take a felucca ride on the Nile River
You can find Felucca boats on the Nile river all over Cairo – and its great fun to see the city from the relative peace of the water!
You can either take motorised felucca or go on a traditional sailing felucca (powered only by sail and wind). There are plenty of options for a felucca ride:
- Cairo By Night Tour And Felucca Nile Ride (4-5 hours)
- Luxury Felucca on the Nile with Lunch (2 hours)
- Cairo Private Felucca Ride on the Nile with Pickup and Drinks (3 hours)
- Nile Sunset Dinner Cruise, Show & Optional Transfer (3 hours)
- Private Felucca Ride, All You Can Drink (2 hours)
Alternatively you can bargain directly with the driver / owner for a ride on the river – a good spot is across from the Four Seasons Hotel! Or you can try and book a Nile Taxi if you just want to be on a boat on the River Nile!
10. Get a birds eye view from the Cairo Tower
The tallest building in Cairo, the Cairo Tower has a top-floor observation deck with great views of the city – day and night, and if it’s a clear day you can even see the Giza Pyramids, Saqqara, and Dahshur. Its also lit up at night so an interesting landmark in amongst the night lights!
A couple of warning notes though:
You cant go up as a single person – or they may let you up for 5 mins with someone tailing you!! So you need to go with a friend / partner.
The wait queues are really long unless you buy a skip the line ticket (which almost doubles the price). So I think it is best to go as part of a city tour like one of these:
- El-Moez Street Tour & Cairo Tower Revolving Dinner
- Cairo By Night a Magical Evening Tour
- Cairo City Tour & Cairo Tower
Unusual things to do in Cairo
The following list of unusual things to do in Cairo are 13 great options if you have a bit of extra time, or just want to add something a bit local or a bit different to your itinerary!
1. Have a Koshari dinner at Abou Tarek
Abou Tarek is five floors of fast and furious – fast and furious Koshari!
Koshari is the national dish of Egypt and it is the only item on the menu at Abou Tarek. The waiters serve it to you (and half of Cairo) with a mighty flourish – literally!
This is meant to be the best Koshari in Cairo and the number of local people lining up to get in and to receive their takeaways makes that a very fair claim!
What is Koshari? It is Egyptian comfort food, made by mixing chickpeas, lentils, rice, macaroni noodles, and spaghetti noodles, and topping the mixture with tomato sauce, vinegar and garlic sauce, a squeeze of fresh lemon, and as much hot sauce as you can handle.
PS – It is good for vegans – no animal products!
2. Visit the Cairo Marriott Hotel and the Gezirah Palace
Its a palace but a hotel but a palace! The Cairo Marriott contains within it the old (19th century) Gezirah Palace. It is the central building of the hotel and worth seeing – definitely go up the staircase to see the Grand Ballroom too.
If you are not staying, just walk in the hotel as if you are and then check it out. If asked, tell them you are thinking of having lunch there, but its unlikely they will ask!
3. See the Islamic Ceramics museum
The Ceramics Museum is a small but lovely museum – well the pieces in it are lovely! But it is worth visiting just for the architecture of the building alone – its in a beautiful old Palace behind of the Cairo Marriott!
Note: Entry is free but guides will expect a tip – and they don’t mind asking for plenty – so negotiate first if you use one!
4. Go deep into the Red Pyramid at Dahshur – and see the Bent Pyramid
Dahshur is another pyramid site which has the Bent Pyramid, the Red Pyramid, and the Black Pyramid! I really enjoyed this (my favorite of the three main pyramid sites) as there were very few tourists and it was very chill as well as a lot of fun to go deep inside both the Red Pyramid and the Bent Pyramid!
The Bent Pyramid and the Red Pyramid were built in between the building of the Step Pyramid and the Giza Pyramid. The bent shape of the Bent Pyramid shows how the ancient Egyptians “had to play around with “practiced” building pyramids – or huge tombs – before perfecting the art and building the Red Pyramid. The Red Pyramid is the first true pyramid, and then the Giza Pyramids which were built later.
There is no public transport to Dashur but you can take a tour – try the
- Memphis, Saqqara, and Dahshur in a Private Day Tour from Cairo, or the
- Private Day Tour to Memphis Sakkara and Dahshur from Cairo
Note that going inside these pyramids is not for everyone – its hot, steep, and you need to be bent over as the roof is very low through the tunnels – but it is pretty cool!
5. Dine out at Le Petit Chef
This is a lot of fun, and if you haven’t been to a “Le Petit Chef” anywhere in the world before, then the one in Cairo is definitely worth the experience. I’ll say no more but the food was very delicious, and its just a bit of quirky fun as well.
We had one 8 year old with us and I would say from this that kids really enjoy it! There is a kids menu that was also very good. There are mixed reviews online, but our experience was great!
6. See the plush interior of Muhammad Ali Palace
No – not the boxer! This is one of the Egyptian leaders of the same name, and this particular palace belonged to the Mohammed Ali leader in the early 1800’s. You get to see what is left of the original palace and grounds – its quite a lovely blend of Arabic, Ottoman, and European architecture – and was known as the Egyptian Versailles!
7. Visit the Cave Church of St. Simon – and go ziplining if you want!
This church is like a huge amphitheater in the side of Moqattam Mountain. It seats 20,000 people! Next to it is a smaller church fully within a cave – pictured below. They are not stunning, but are interesting. I particularly liked the stone cross you can see in the picture.
You can also go ziplining here – strange but true!
8. Visit Garbage City
Driving up to St Simons Church, you go through what I found to be a most fascinating part of the city. It is “Garbage City” which is the area of Cairo where most of the waste is collected, sorted, recycled, reused, and disposed of by the local people in the area.
This is one of the greatest success stories of all time – even if its smelly! It began in the 1940s when Zabbaleen (“garbage people”)—mostly Coptic Christian farmers migrated to Cairo, fleeing poverty. They partnered with local Waahis collectors to manage the city’s waste, developing an efficient recycling community that now recycles up to 90% of collected garbage – and it costs the city nothing. They make their living from it, and interestingly, the food waste – the original interest of the farmers to feed their livestock – is still fed to livestock today!
It is a fascinating place to take a short walk through!
9. Have a cooking class with an Egyptian family
The food in Egypt is varied and fantastic – if you like authentically meeting locals but don’t have much time, then a cooking class with an Egyptian family is a great way to do this – and of course learn as you do it! Try a cooking class with this Eatwith Egyptian family led by Somaya!
10. Get out of the city and see some countryside
There are various options for day tours away from the city and nearby pyramids – its worth trying one! I recommend this Desert Safari, Camel Ride, Magic Lake, & Lunch which involves dune-bashing in a 4WD, sandboarding on the dunes, a camel ride, El Rayan waterfalls, seeing Mudawara Mountains, and the Magic Lake – and you get to swim!
A couple of other options that are highly rated are:
- Full-Day Tour to El Fayoum
- Private Tour to Whales Valley & Wadi El Rayan Waterfalls in El Fayoum from Cairo
11. Walk along the Nile on Mamsha Masr
Mamsha Masr is called “The People’s Walkway” and it is along the Nile – a perfect walking place in the city complete with cafes and sculptures as well as views across the water to the city. Unfortunately for me, it was mostly closed and still under construction along most of it when I was there. I hope that this changes soon as the little bit I did get to walk was great.
12. Go Paddleboarding or Kayaking on the Nile
If you have time and want to do something a bit different, then you can go kayaking on the Nile.
There are a couple of options – either with this 1-hour kayak on the water, or, this 2-hours on the water kayaking trip!
13. Watch the Dancers and the Whirling Dervishes at Wekalet El Ghouri
Wekalet El Ghouri hosts performances of the professional and very talented Al-Tannoura Egyptian Heritage Dance Troupe (whirling dervishes) along with a live band, on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays at 8:00 PM or 8:30 PM. You generally need to arrive a couple of hours early to get tickets – unless you go on this tour with a great guide!
I enjoyed watching this show – its actually quite mesmerizing!!
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: How many days do I need in Cairo?
A: At least three to see the key sights, but you could easily entertain yourself for a week if you go to some of the less visited places and take a day trip to the countryside.
Q: Do I need a tourist visa to visit Cairo?
A: Yes. Get it online at the Egypt Electronic Visa Portal.
Q: Can I drink the water in Cairo?
A: Officially – yes. But I recommend you buy bottled water as it is full of chlorine!
Travel Tips
Getting around – Get the InDrive app as an alterrnative to Uberr – but be aware that even thought it is a little cheaper than Uber, the cars are unregulated and you can get a dodgy one. You need to pay cash with INDrive but can use the app or cash with Uber. The Metro is cheap and good if it is going where you want to go too.
What to wear – modest clothes – men and women. Women you will need to have a head scarf for visits to mosques. Knees and upper arms should be covered for both male and female. I advise the same for females anywhere in Cairo / Egypt.
PDA’s – any displays of affection in public is prohibited in Egypt by the “Public Morality” law, and is not recommended! Egypt is also not gay-friendly.
Expect to bargain – never pay the price asked. It can be outrageous. For example, my experience asking in shop 1 for the price for a small print. Answer was 800. I said no. Eventually when I left he came running after me saying 100, 100. At the next shop for the exact same thing – 50! That was even without bargaining.
Expect people to try and scam you – this is where your guided tours pay – they reduce the likelihood and you can ask your guide to make sure you don’t get scammed! (Make sure you are on an organised tour or have a licensed guide – they should show you their licence (another scam). If, for example you are at the Giza pyramids, know the price for a camel ride, don’t jump on the first camel, don’t start talking or engaging or taking photos without confirm ing if there is a cost and what that is first.
Where to stay in Cairo
Luxury – Four Seasons Luxurious Apartment or The St. Regis Cairo
High End – Nile pearl Cairo Maadi Apartment luxury or Steigenberger Hotel El Tahrir Cairo
Mid Range – The H Zamalek Suites or Yacoubian Suites
Budget – Great Khufu Pyramid View, or Hostgram Hotel Downtown
Backpacker – Villa Layla, or, Meramees Hostel, or, Cheers Hostel Cairo
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