# Cairo: map, what to do and when to go

In Cairo, pyramids, medieval mosques and modern avenues coexist on both banks of the Nile. Egypt's capital gathers about 23 million people in the Arab world's largest metropolitan area, near the delta.

Canonical: https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/cairo/
Language: en. Extended author commentary and itinerary notes may remain in Portuguese. Dates below belong to individual sources; this is not live availability.

## Direct answer
- **Cairo: Do I need to take a horse ride to see the pyramids?** No: the plateau is covered with the internal transportation and on foot, and whoever accepts a horse or camel is usually charged, when it's time to get off, a fee that wasn't part of the price.
- **Cairo: Which airport terminal does each airline arrive at?** Terminal 3 handles EgyptAir and Star Alliance; Terminal 2 takes much of the European traffic.
- **Cairo: How far are Saqqara, Dahshur, and Memphis?** Memphis is about 20 km south of Cairo, Saqqara about 30 km, and Dahshur about 40 km; by car, it's 45 to 70 minutes.

## Giza and the new museum
Reach the Giza plateau at 8am with your ticket bought and the entrance confirmed on it; the main entrance is on Fayoum Road. Send the location to your driver before leaving.
- Giza pyramids and the Sphinx
- Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM)

## Islamic Cairo on foot
Start at the Mosque of Ibn Tulun (876–879) and climb the spiral minaret; also step into the Gayer-Anderson house museum, right next to it.
- Saladin's Citadel and the Mosque of Muhammad Ali
- Mosque of Ibn Tulun
- Sultan Hassan and Al-Rifai
- Al-Muizz street
- Khan el-Khalili and Al-Fishawi
- Al-Azhar Park and Bab Zuweila

## River, Copts, and Tahrir
Take metro Line 1 to Mar Girgis and visit the Hanging Church, Abu Serga, the Ben Ezra synagogue and the Coptic Museum, all within a 300 m radius.
- Egyptian Museum, Tahrir

## Giza pyramids and the Sphinx
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/cairo/#g-lugar-piramides-de-gize
Guizé
Three 4th Dynasty pyramids (about 2560–2510 BCE). Khufu's stood 146.6 m tall and today measures about 138.5 m, without its limestone casing. The Sphinx, about 73 m long, is carved from a single rock outcrop. Entry to the plateau is about EGP 700, with an extra fee to enter the Great Pyramid's chamber (2026).
Check access

## Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM)
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/cairo/#g-lugar-grande-museu-egipcio
Guizé · Half a day or more
Opened to the public in November 2025 about 2 km from the pyramids, with over 100,000 pieces and Tutankhamun's complete collection displayed together for the first time. Foreign admission is about EGP 1,450; entry requires a scheduled time slot, via the website, a kiosk, or the on-site counter. Set aside 3 to 4 hours.
Check access

## Egyptian Museum, Tahrir
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/cairo/#g-lugar-museu-egipcio-de-tahrir
Cairo · One to two hours
A neoclassical building from 1902, the oldest archaeological museum in the Middle East. It lost Tutankhamun and the royal mummies to the new museums, but still holds tens of thousands of pieces in hand-labeled wooden cases.
Check access

## Saladin's Citadel and the Mosque of Muhammad Ali
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/cairo/#g-lugar-cidadela-de-saladino
Cairo · One to two hours
A fortress begun in 1176 on the Muqattam spur, seat of the Egyptian government until 1874. Muhammad Ali's alabaster mosque (1830–1848) copies the Ottoman model from Istanbul; from the terrace you can see the whole city as far as the pyramids on a clear day.
Check access

## Mosque of Ibn Tulun
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/cairo/#g-lugar-mesquita-de-ibn-tulun
Cairo
Built between 876 and 879, it's Cairo's oldest mosque preserved in its original form. It covers about 26,000 m², has a courtyard 92 m on each side, and an external spiral-ramp minaret, unique in Egypt; the Gayer-Anderson house museum leans right against it.
Check access

## Sultan Hassan and Al-Rifai
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/cairo/#g-lugar-sultan-hassan
Cairo · Up to half an hour
Two mosques facing each other, separated by a passage. Sultan Hassan's madrasa-mausoleum (1356–1363) has 36 m walls and is the peak of Mamluk architecture; Al-Rifai, finished in 1912, holds the tombs of the royal family and Iran's last shah.
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## Al-Muizz street
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/cairo/#g-lugar-rua-al-muizz
The north-south axis of Fatimid Cairo, about 1 km between the Bab al-Futuh and Bab Zuweila gates, restored and closed to traffic along most of its length. It lines up over 30 monuments from the 10th to the 19th centuries, including the Qalawun complex (1285).
Check access

## Khan el-Khalili and Al-Fishawi
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/cairo/#g-lugar-khan-el-khalili
Cairo
A market opened in 1382 over a former Fatimid cemetery, today split between the tourist sector and the surrounding streets of metalwork, textiles, and spices. Café Al-Fishawi has run in the alley since the late 18th century and was a haunt of Naguib Mahfouz.
Check access

## Coptic Cairo
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/cairo/#g-lugar-cairo-copta
Cairo
Inside the Roman fortress: the Hanging Church, from the 7th century, built over a tower; Abu Serga, over the crypt where tradition places the Holy Family; and the Ben Ezra synagogue, where the Cairo Geniza, with about 280,000 medieval documents, was found in 1896.
Check access

## Al-Azhar Park and Bab Zuweila
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/cairo/#g-lugar-al-azhar-park
Cairo
A 30-hectare park opened in 2005 over five centuries of accumulated rubble, with a straight-on view of the Citadel. 500 m away, the minarets of the Bab Zuweila gate (1092) can be climbed and give the best view of the medieval city.
Check access

**Cairo: Do I need to take a horse ride to see the pyramids?**
No: the plateau is covered with the internal transportation and on foot, and whoever accepts a horse or camel is usually charged, when it's time to get off, a fee that wasn't part of the price. Also be wary of a stranger pointing you to another entrance: since 2025 the main access is via Fayoum Road, and your ticket states which one to use.

**Cairo: Which airport terminal does each airline arrive at?**
Terminal 3 handles EgyptAir and Star Alliance; Terminal 2 takes much of the European traffic.

**Cairo: How far are Saqqara, Dahshur, and Memphis?**
Memphis is about 20 km south of Cairo, Saqqara about 30 km, and Dahshur about 40 km; by car, it's 45 to 70 minutes.

**Cairo: What's the currency, and how much is the pound worth?**
The currency is the Egyptian pound (EGP), which has floated since March 2024: about 47 to 50 to the dollar and 55 to 58 to the euro in 2026.

**Cairo: What's the best time to visit?**
Come between November and March, Cairo's winter, with highs of 19 to 24 °C, lows of 9 to 12 °C, clear skies, and a few millimeters of rain.


## In the Nilo app
- Plan these 3 days on the map: https://nilopelomundo.com/en/app/guide/cairo/?utm_source=llm&utm_medium=markdown&utm_content=door-itinerary
- Mark your hotel on the map: https://nilopelomundo.com/en/app/map/cairo/?utm_source=llm&utm_medium=markdown&utm_content=door-stay

## Full editorial guide (Portuguese)
https://nilopelomundo.com/llm/cairo.md