My love letter to Egypt
Egypt is the most remarkable melting pot of Cultures, History, Architecture, Artistry, World Cuisines & Grandeur. Traverse through thousands of years of history all the way from the Ancient Egyptians, through Macedonian, Mesopotamian, Roman & Arab rule to Modern day Egypt in all of it’s beauty & charm.
I was so incredibly fortunate to have visited Egypt & it was such a deeply profound experience, that I will always be grateful to have had. As with every country, Egypt does have some issues. In order to really maximise your enjoyment, it is important to plan ahead, know what to look out for (read on for detailed explanations) & take appropriate precautions. All of the major sites are well policed & very safe, so don’t let cultural differences deter you.
Modern day Cairo
Cairo was established as the Capital in 969, however it’s historic roots stretch much further back all the way to the building of the Ancient Babylon Fortress & the early Coptic Orthodox Church. In addition to sharing some stories, This guide to Cairo will include everything you need to know about Tourist Sites, Staying Safe, Food & Drink, Getting Around & Money.
It is important to call out that Cairo is absolutely chaotic, if you want an authentic hustle & bustle experience you should look to stay in Downtown Cairo. It is very busy, very loud & the roads are mayhem (the lanes on the roads are little more than decorative splashes of paint), but you get an intimate cultural experience. Otherwise, if easily overwhelmed, you would be best staying a little further out.
From the moment I stepped out of the airport terminal I was already causing mayhem, there were lots of news reporters, people playing Bongos & a taxi rank which is carnage. Here was me thinking they had rolled out the red carpet & I was now a small time celebrity. However, it turned out there was a homecoming celebration for the Egyptian Paralympic athletes returning. I was so focused on the bedazzling lights in front of me that I didn’t realise I had inadvertently cut off the Paralympic team queued up behind me. I felt awful when I realised what I had done, I am hoping I wasn’t plastered all over the Arab news channels! Little did I know, this was the first of many sticky situations I would get into 🤷♂️
Tourist sites ☀️
Cairo has a plethora of extraordinary Tourist sites, I spent over 10 days in Cairo & sadly was unable to see everything I wanted to. If you click the name of the place, it will take you to a specific guide for that site, with all of the information you need to make the most of your visit. Must visit sites; The Egyptian Museum in Cairo (this is where I got an AK47 pointed at me 😂), The Cairo Tower, The Great Pyramids (technically in Giza, but including in this post), Al Azhar Park, Coptic Cairo Complex & Zamalek district.
If you have a lot of time, it is worth considering additional stops, including Armenian Orthodox Patriarchate, Al Azhar Mosque, Al Horreya Garden, Korba District, The Cairo Opera House & Aquarium Grotto Garden.
Some places that I wish I had been able to see were the Citadel Saladin, Cave Church, Museum of Egyptian Civilization, Abdeen Palace (I did rock up but it was closed due to a public holiday) & Khan Al-Khalili Bazaar.
Food & Drink 🍻🍷🍲
Cairo has some of the most incredible food anywhere in the world! Depending on your level of adventurousness with cuisine, you can be trying anything from amazing Shawarma all the way through to Cow brains! Click here for recommendations, along with photos & addresses.
There are lots of really nice bars in Cairo, but it is important to note that it is a very religious country & as such not everywhere will have alcohol. As a consequence, the bars on the streets have blacked out windows, however there are some awesome rooftop bars that I highly recommend. Click here to find out more.
Keeping Safe 🥷🏼
Whilst it pains me to have to write a section like this, I feel like it’s really important to be objective & give you an honest view. As is clear from my post, I love Egypt, the culture & the people. However, some parts are very poor & unfortunately there are some people with nefarious aims. It is a tiny % of the people you will meet, but a tiny % of a big population, is still a big number.
Not everyone is trying to scam you, but a lot of people are trying to sell you things & whilst that in of itself is not a bad thing, it can be a little overwhelming as it is pretty full on depending on where you are.
My general advice for keeping safe is do not take directions from anyone who isn’t a Police officer. Don’t walk great distances between sites (I did, which got me into some sticky situations). Plan out where you are going that day & organise your travel plans. Unless you see a specific store you want to go into, don’t let someone stop you in the street & invite you to their shop etc. Then finally (this was the hardest for me, as I feel it’s very rude), but you have to be comfortable walking away from people in the street & ignore them. Whether they are selling, offering to take you on tours or asking what country you’re from.
Having said that, taking those reasonable measures & planning ahead can minimise those types of interactions you would rather avoid. So please don’t be deterred, I am a man who hasn’t won a fight since I was around 9 years old & that was against a bin & I survived the trip solo. Just keep your wits about you, like a Ninja!
All things money💰
When I visited, the exchange rate was £1 GBP to 63 EGP, which meant that things were very inexpensive. Some places accept card, but not all, so you definitely need to have cash. Some places do not accept cash (i.e the Pyramids ticket office), so you need to ensure you have a card with you too. I used Starling, it was free to join & they didn’t charge any exchange fees, giving you the current market price.
You can bring money into Egypt, but they say no more than 5,000 Egyptian, although nobody asked when I landed. There are cash machines everywhere so withdrawing local currency is easily done. I would look for National Bank of Egypt ATMs & buildings (the badge is green & yellow). These banks have armed police & workers monitoring the cash machines, so it’s all very safe.
Tipping or “Baksheesh” is a part of the culture, if you receive good service you should tip. For good service I tipped around 2/300 Egyptian which seemed to go down well, however you can always tip more. I was on a bit of a budget unfortunately!
Getting around 🚕
There are lots of ways to get around Cairo, I decided to walk most places to get a feel for the city. However, it would have been a better option to use public transport. Uber is ridiculously cheap & saves time haggling with street taxis.
Otherwise, the metro is pretty modern & the new line 3 is lovely!
Thanks for taking the time to read my post & hope you found it useful. I originally wrote this 1 year ago & it was my first ever article. I wanted to come back to it & do a slight re-write now that I understand WordPress reader, categorisations & tags a lot better. Additionally, I have more subscribers who could benefit from the information. If you have found it useful or entertaining I would love it if you followed along, I will shortly be posting about Latvia, Estonia & Finland, where I will be sharing some epic travel fails!
Tyler's Travel Tales 