Cairo
The core of this luxury hotel is a lavish palace built by Khedive Ismail to house Empress Éugenie when she visited for the opening of the Suez Canal in…
Must-see attractions in Egypt
Madrassa & Mausoleum of Barquq
Cairo
Sultan Barquq seized power in 1382, when Egypt was reeling from plague and famine; his Sufi school was completed four years later. Enter through the bold…
Madrassa & Mausoleum of An Nasir Mohammed
Cairo
Sultan An Nasir (‘the Victor’), was both despotic and exceedingly accomplished. His madrassa was built in 1304 in part with a Gothic doorway An Nasir…
Cairo
One of several formal gardens in the Gezira area that are popular strolling spots for couples in the evening. This one’s small, but adjacent to the Nile,…
Cairo
The only one of its kind in the Middle East, this interesting museum features textiles from ancient Egypt and the Roman, Coptic and Islamic eras. The…
Khanqah-Mausoleum of Farag Ibn Barquq
Cairo
Built by a son of Sultan Barquq, whose great madrassa and mausoleum stand on Bein Al Qasreen, this tomb complex was completed in 1411 because Barquq…
Cairo
This petite mosque, the oldest in Egypt with a stone facade, was built in 1125 by one of the last Fatimid caliphs. Several features appear here that…
Mosque-Sabil of Suleiman Silahdar
Cairo
This 19th-century complex, built by Mohammed Ali's chief of armoury, combines a baroque-styled kuttab (Quranic school) and sabil (public fountain) at…
Cairo
Downtown’s two main streets, Sharia Talaat Harb and Sharia Qasr El Nil, intersect at the roundabout of Midan Talaat Harb, where cars whizz around a statue…
Cairo
Just south of the Coptic Museum on Sharia Mar Girgis (the main road parallel with the metro), a stone facade inscribed with Coptic and Arabic marks the…
Sabil-Kuttab of Abdel Rahman Katkhuda
Cairo
The Sabil-Kuttab of Abdel Rahman Katkhuda is one of the iconic structures of Islamic Cairo, depicted in scores of paintings and lithographs. Building this…
Cairo
This traffic-clogged area of park, markets and transit hub is the transition point from European-built Cairo, particularly its theatre and entertainment…
Cairo
To get away from the chaos of Cairo, do as the locals do and escape to Wadi Degla on the southern outskirts of the city. Set off on a hike through the…
Cairo
The section of Sharia Al Muizz north of Khan Al Khalili’s gold district is called Bein Al Qasreen (Palace Walk), a reminder of the Fatimid-era palace…
Marsa Alam
North of Marsa Alam, Elphinstone has steep reef walls covered with soft corals and is washed by strong currents that make it ideal for spotting sharks –…
Alexandria
Kom Al Dikka was a well-off residential area in Graeco-Roman times, with lovely villas, bathhouses and a theatre. The area was known at the time as the…
Cairo
One of the few well restored examples of Cairo's once vibrant hammam (bathhouse) culture, the Hammam Inal dates from 1456. The marble-clad central room is…
Aswan
Situated just north of the old Aswan Dam, the island of Seheyl was sacred to the goddess Anukis. Before the dam’s construction, the Nile would rush…
Luxor
Hidden in the hills between high limestone cliffs, and reached only via a steep staircase that crosses an even steeper ravine, this tomb demonstrates the…
Luxor
The tomb of Tuthmosis IV (1400–1390 BC) is one of the largest and deepest tombs constructed during the 18th dynasty. It is also the first in which paint…
Marsa Alam
Founded in 275 BC by Ptolemy II Philadelphus, Berenice was one of the most important harbours and trading posts on the Red Sea coast from about the 3rd to…
Cairo
The city’s oldest intact, functioning Islamic monument is easily identified by its high walls topped with neat crenulations that resemble a string of…
Cairo
Through a gateway to the south of the main entrance of the Mosque of Ibn Tulun, this quirky museum gets its current name from John Gayer-Anderson, the…
Cairo
This Roman Catholic basilica's architecture is based on Istanbul's famous Aya Sofya; but on a more modest scale. Baron Empain is buried here.
Siwa Oasis
This small hill, at the northern end of Siwa Town, is honeycombed with rock tombs peppered with wall paintings. Its name, Gebel Al Mawta, means 'Mountain…
Church of St Sergius & Bacchus
Cairo
This is the oldest church inside Coptic Cairo's walls, built in the 11th century with 4th-century pillars. It honours the Roman soldiers Sergius and…
Tomb of Tawosret/Sethnakht (KV 14)
Luxor
Tawosret was the wife of Seti II and after his successor Siptah died, she took power herself (1188–1186 BC). Egyptologists think she began the tomb for…
Luxor
The second-largest tomb in the valley, Merenptah’s tomb has been open since antiquity and has its share of Greek and Coptic graffiti. Floods have damaged…
Luxor
Hassan Fathy’s mud-brick village lies just past the railway track on the road from the ferry to the Antiquities Inspectorate ticket office. Although built…
Tombs of Menna, Nakht & Amenemope
Luxor
The beautiful and highly colourful wall paintings in the tomb of Menna and the tomb of Nakht emphasise rural life in 18th-dynasty Egypt. Menna was an…
Luxor
Originally intended to be much larger, KV 2 was cut short at 89m on the early death of the pharaoh (1147 BC) and a pillared hall was converted to be the…
Aswan
Completed in 1902, the Aswan Dam was a feat of engineering for its time and the largest dam in the world, measuring 2441m across, 50m high and 30m wide…
Tombs of Ramose, Userhet & Khaemhet
Luxor
The tomb of Ramose, a governor of Thebes under Amenhotep III and Akhenaten, is fascinating because it is one of the few monuments dating from a period of…
Alexandria
The Eastern Harbour is dominated by the bulky walls of Fort Qaitbey, built on a narrow peninsula over the remains of the legendary Pharos lighthouse by…
Alexandria
The 19th-century Montazah palace is off-limits, but the surrounding lush gardens are prime strolling territory. There’s an attractive sandy cove here with…
Tombs of Khonsu, Userhet & Benia (Nos 31, 51 & 343)
Luxor
The tomb of Benia is the most colourful of this trio. Benia was a boarder in the Royal Nursery and chief treasurer during the reign of Tuthmosis III…
Giza
Immediately south of the Great Pyramid is this fascinating museum with exactly one object on display: one of Cheops' five solar barques (boats), buried…
Siwa Oasis
The 26th-dynasty Temple of the Oracle sits in the northwest corner of the ruins of Aghurmi village. Built in the 6th century BC, probably on top of an…
Cairo
At the very southern tip of Roda, inside the Monastirli Palace compound, the Nilometer was constructed in AD 861. Like others built millennia before, it…
Aswan
The modern annexe of the museum has reopened with a delightful collection of objects, from weapons, pottery and utensils to statues, encased mummies and…
