Cairo Become a Travel Agent Near Me

Overview

Introduction

Cairo, Egypt, has been called "the mother of the world," "city of a thousand minarets" and "city of victory." Visitors will find it to be a fascinating, intense and often bewildering mixture of old and new. Cairo businesspeople in suits and locals in traditional robes can both be found at sidewalk coffee shops, while minarets and domes share the skyline with high-rise office buildings and hotel towers. Traditional music competes with jazz or Egyptian pop, as well as with the incessant honking of horns.

Cairo's layers of ancient, medieval and modern can be a bit overwhelming. Many things take longer than they should, and nothing works quite perfectly. Expect technology to cut out from time to time. Patience is a virtue: The expression Ma'alesh (which translates loosely as "Don't worry about it") seems to be on everyone's lips—especially when you're in a hurry. If you set reasonable goals, expect things to take longer, schedule fewer tasks, take frequent breaks and drink plenty of water, you'll have a memorable time in Cairo.

On the plus side, scattered amid all the chaos, there are several amazing sites to visit in Cairo, including world-class museums, ancient and, of course, Egypt's iconic pyramids in Giza.

Must See or Do

Sights—The Sphinx and the Great Pyramids of Giza; the Citadel; the exotic Khan el-Khalili bazaar; the Ibn Tulun Mosque; the Mosque of Sultan Hassan; Al Manial Palace.

Museums—Egyptian treasures at the Egyptian Museum; rare Islamic tapestries, carpets and armor at the Museum of Islamic Art; 22 royal mummies at the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization; art and architecture at the Gayer-Anderson House.

Memorable Meals—A nighttime Nile cruise with dinner and entertainment; dining among artists at Somaya's Kitchen; traditional Egyptian fare at Felfela.

Late Night—Middle Eastern cabaret with dance performances by accomplished belly dancers at a five-star hotel; an evening performance of Sufi dance at the Citadel.

Recreation—Horse and camel riding at the pyramids; felucca sailing on the Nile; overnight excursions into the desert around Cairo; sipping tea at a traditional coffeehouse.

Especially for Kids—The KidZania Cairo indoor amusement park, where kids get a chance to act like grown-ups and role-play as the parents sip coffee and check email in the Parents Lounge; Dr. Ragab's Pharaonic Village, which re-creates ancient Egyptian life; Al-Azhar Park, with a small playground and large grassy areas; Cairo Puppet Theatre (performances are in Arabic, but enjoyable for children of all ages and cultures).

Geography

Cairo is divided into quarters and neighborhoods, and knowing where these areas are is the best way to orient yourself. Downtown is on the east bank of the Nile River and spreads out from Tahrir Square. The main road called Corniche el-Nil runs along the eastern bank of the Nile. Islamic Cairo refers to the medieval quarter of the city, east of downtown. The famous Khan el-Khalili bazaar, the Citadel and many prominent mosques are found in this area. Old Cairo refers to the oldest part of the city, to the south of downtown. About 9 mi/15 km northeast of downtown Cairo is Heliopolis, with several chic shopping streets, luxury hotels and the airport nearby.

Technically, all areas west of the Nile are said to be in Giza. Mohandiseen and Dokki districts are just across the Nile from downtown Cairo. The pyramids and the Sphinx are located in the southwestern part of Giza, about 7 mi/10 km from downtown.

There are five islands in the section of the Nile that runs through Cairo. The two main islands (for tourist purposes) are Gezira and Roda. Gezira Island is the site of many luxury hotels, restaurants, museums and landmarks, with Zamalek, a cosmopolitan and relatively upscale neighborhood, at its northern end. Just south of Gezira Island, and west of Old Cairo, is Roda Island, usually called el-Manial. Two other islands to the south, Qorsaya and Dahab, are mostly farming villages, and Warraq to the north is beginning to be populated.

Some maps employ the Arabic words midan (square) and sharya (street). This guide uses the English equivalents. Also, you should be aware that transliteration of Arabic into a Latin alphabet yields many variations. Place names may be spelled in a variety of ways, for example, with either an el- or an al-.

History

Ancient Egyptian civilization stretches back several thousand years, but the city today known as Cairo did not exist during the time of the pharaohs. The first developments in the area were Persian and Roman fortresses built in Babylon (the area referred to as Old Cairo). A city called Fustat was founded near there following the Arab conquest of Egypt in AD 642. The foundations of modern Cairo were laid in 969 when the Fatimids, a Shiite dynasty from Tunisia, founded El-Qahira.

Salah al-Din (Saladin) gained control over the city in 1171 and established the Ayyubid dynasty, which converted the country from Shiite to Sunni (orthodox) Islam. The Mamelukes, a group of soldier-slaves, seized power from the Ayyubids in 1250. Power changed hands again in 1516 when Egypt became part of the Ottoman Empire. Trade with Europe flourished during this period. Beginning in the 1600s and continuing to the mid-1700s, Cairo was the center of commercial and intellectual exchange. However, a series of devastating plagues and famines in the late 1700s weakened the country economically and socially.

The iconoclastic Muhammad Ali took power in 1805, establishing the country's first royal dynasty. He battled the Ottoman rulers in Istanbul and gained nominal independence for Egypt in 1840. After vying with the French for political and economic control of Egypt, Britain eventually gained the upper hand in the late 1800s. Central Cairo was renovated with wide tree-lined boulevards and pleasant gardens and buzzed with social activities during "the season," which lasted December-March when many wealthy Europeans enjoyed luxury hotels, balls and socializing. This glamorous period came to an end when World War II's battles reached Egypt's Mediterranean shores.

The end of the war brought Cairo prosperity, as well as a tremendous population explosion, which began to tax urban resources. In the 1970s, President Anwar Sadat's policies created a plethora of government-owned businesses, which dominated the economy. Legal reform and a privatization program during the 1990s led to increased foreign investment and the availability of more foreign goods. Today, Cairo is the largest city in the Middle East and Africa, as well as the political and cultural capital of Egypt.

Cairo, like the rest of Egypt, gradually grew increasingly polarized between the secular government of Mubarak's ruling party and Islamic fundamentalists, including the often violent and outlawed Muslim Brotherhood. The surprise in the election of 2005 was not that President Hosni Mubarak won a fifth term but that candidates sympathetic to the Brotherhood won 76 seats in Egypt's parliament, the Majlis.

Part of the mass public protests called the Arab Spring, or the so-called "Egyptian Revolution," involved more than 40,000 citizens protesting the Mubarak government corruption, mass poverty and high levels of unemployment. The demonstrations led to the ouster of Hosni Mubarak in February 2011. A series of subsequent elections from November 2011 to early 2012, and Mubarak's trial, brought more violent demonstrations to Cairo, almost bringing tourism in the city to a standstill.

In 2012, Mohamed Morsi, a senior leader in the Muslim Brotherhood, was elected president, making him the first democratically elected president in the country's history. Alarmingly, Morsi's fundamentalist Islamic government wanted to institute many strict traditional Islamic practices. Consequently, Morsi faced strong and sometimes violent opposition, leading to even more protests and eventually resulting in his overthrow from office in July 2013 by his own appointed military leader, General Abdel Fatteah el-Sisi. In May 2014 another new government was elected, albeit with a low voter turnout, with the landslide victory of former army chief Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.

President el-Sisi has been in office since the 2014 election, having won a second term in the 2018 general elections. Unlike his predecessors, el-Sisi has taken many bold initiatives. While some have made positive impacts, he has been a very controversial leader, both domestically and internationally.

In Cairo, there's been a tremendous amount of construction and expansion, particularly into suburban areas to the east and to the west of Giza, while the city center continues to fall into disrepair.

Potpourri

As a megacity (a city with more than 10 million inhabitants), Cairo is the largest city in Africa and the Middle East.

Cairo was briefly ruled by the British, specifically from the fall of the Ottoman Empire in the late 1880s until after WWII in 1918.

If you decide to rent a camel and driver to tour the Great Pyramids, be sure to agree on a price first (bargain until the price is £E 15-£E 20 per hour). And don't be fooled by unscrupulous camel drivers who offer free rides. It might not cost you to mount the camel, but the driver will ask for payment before you dismount.

The James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me was partially shot in the ceremonial reception hall of the Gayer Anderson Museum and on its rooftop terrace.

It has been calculated that the stones used for the Cheops Pyramid would be enough to build a city for 120,000 inhabitants.

For historic hotels, look no further than the acclaimed Mena House. This lavish property by the Giza Pyramids has hosted author Agatha Christie, British prime minister Winston Churchill and countless tycoons and royalty.

"The Mummy's Curse" originates in Cairo and was a heavily used phrase commonly heard after the excavation of King Tut's tomb. Lord Carnarvon, the man who funded the Tut excavation, died suddenly and the lights in Cairo suddenly went out, hence the phrase.

Location