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Egypt
Where dusty, old walls once stood as plain as the day they were built, there now is a plethora of colour, design and empassioned messages.
If you are visiting Cairo then take the time to visit Tahrir Square as well as the streets surrounding it and you will find a wealth of exciting street art adorning the city's previously sandy walls.
From Midan Tahrir walk up Mohamed Mahmoud street, beside the old American University of Cairo buildings, and then zig-zag around the streets to the east of the square to see the ever-changing canvases.
As you travel around Cairo, or Egypt, itself, keep your eyes open for street art, as it is now prevalent in every community and district.
To avoid drawing unwanted attention to yourself or mis-understandings around the sensitive issue of the revolution and politics in Egypt, using large DSLR cameras to take photos should be avoided. Follow the advice of the British Embassy regarding visiting Tahrir Square, especially on Fridays, as it is often used for large gatherings.
Midan Tahrir, Mohamed Mahmoud street and the area between and around these streets.
Google map: bit.ly/Q3oq75
Bikya is a cafe, bookstore and arts venue that manages to balance a relaxed atmosphere with being cool and quirky.
The books are all second-hand and are a real mix between the dusty old and the hardbacked new. The contrast between the modern decoration and traditional building is where the 'quirky' comes in to it, and the varied seating means you can have a brief visit or browse more leisurely while you grab something from the cafe.
Bikya occaisionally hosts live music, but also exhibits the work of local artists on the walls, and you can buy CDs and locally crafted products.
There are two branches of Bikya, one downtown and the other in the southern suburb of Maadi.
23 Dr. Zaky Hassan St.، NASR CITY، Nasr City, Cairo Governorate, Egypt
+20 2 24046688
Google map: bit.ly/PxjVUc
Bikya (new Maadi branch)
40 El Hadeyek Street (off Road 9, near McDonalds)
Nearest Metro: Sayarat El Maadi
* Alip is our Been there local for Cairo. Her homepage is here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/articles/cairo-local-alice-allsop.jsp and you can follow her tips directly here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/travellers/alip
Townhouse Gallery isn't just a gallery but is really a hub for artists and arts activities that runs across a number of streets just off Talat Harb.
You can use the Townhouse Gallery website to find out what is going on; maybe an exhibition, or a gig, but the cafes that spill on to the streets and the open-fronted artist's studios are worth a visit in themselves.
www.thetownhousegallery.com
Hussein El Me'mar Pasha Street
+202 2576 8086
Google map: bit.ly/N11u8M
* Alip is our Been there local for Cairo. Her homepage is here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/articles/cairo-local-alice-allsop.jsp and you can follow her tips directly here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/travellers/alip
On A Caravan is an arts festival that takes place in Cairo and aims to bring together artists from the East and West.
The festival includes an art exhibition of pieces created under a common theme (2012's theme is 'The Road Ahead'), as well as other music, film or literature events that also aid cultural understanding.
On A Caravan 2012 festival in April/May 2012 www.oncaravan.org/exhibition4/index.htm
On A Caravan main website www.oncaravan.org/index.htm
Events take place in Maadi a suburb in southern Cairo. Take the Metro to El Maadi station and then walk up Port Said Street, or ask a taxi for Port Said Street (5LE).
Google map: bit.ly/I2Ayyp
* Alip is our Been there local for Cairo. Her homepage is here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/articles/cairo-local-alice-allsop.jsp and you can follow her tips directly here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/travellers/alip
Egypt is open for business. Go NOW while there are so few tourists! Sad for the Egyptians who are desperate for tourism to pick up again, great for us as there were so few people at all the famous sites - Valley of the Kings, Abu Simbel etc. No trouble, no problems. We also had a brilliant guide whose name was Amin. The crew on the boat were wonderful as was the food. Longwood Holiday agents were also very efficient.
Over the last few years they have been gradually renovating Al-Muizz street in the heart of Islamic Cairo.
Al-Muizz street is over a kilometer long, but the northern stretch from the busy Al-Azhar street to the old gate of Bab Al-Fotouh is the place to be.
Walk this section of the street at night and the mosques and madrassas are lit up beautifully. Young couples and families will be sitting on the benches and you can join them or the late-night shoppers from the Khan El Khalili.
Walk and talk; the renovation has been controversial in its manner and style - see for yourself and decide.
You can get in to many of the mosques along the street and sometimes the 'key master' will even let you climb the tower to give an amazing view of the historic district.
Shari'a Al-Muizz Il-Din Allah
Al-Muizz street crosses Al-Azhar street at the foot bridge near Midan Hussein.
If you want to get off the beaten track a bit in the Cairo area then Casual Cairo Detours will help you do exactly that.
The tours they organise give a unique insight into Egypt as they use local guides and drivers along with their expat English-speaking guide who accompanies each trip.
Their tours allow you to see and experience parts of Egypt that most travellers would find very difficult to access on their own.
They are really friendly and offer the perfect way of seeing more of Cairo and the delta area.
www.casualcairodetours.com/
+2(02) 2415 2726
Alip is our Been there local for Cairo. Her homepage is here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/articles/cairo-local-alice-allsop.jsp and you can follow her tips directly here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/travellers/alip
Muhamed Ali Street in central Cairo is a great street for just walking along. The first part of the street (as you walk from Midan Attaba) seems dedicated to sign-makers and mobile phone accessories, but get beyond this and you will find the workshops of the amazing craftsmen who make the country's most famous musical instrument; the Oud.
The craftsmen are very welcoming and are often happy for you to watch them work (sanding the wood, or gluing and binding the body of the instrument) or to show you the double-stringed tuning of the finished pieces.
Muhamed Ali Street runs from the base of the Citadel and the mosques of Sultan Hassan and Al Rifai, to Attaba Square. The Oud Workshops are at the Attaba end of the street. If you cannot find the street sign, then you can ask a local, or look for the shops as described on a one-way street (traffic flowing towards you).
Google map: bit.ly/zZT1MF
* Alip is our Been there local for Cairo. Her page is here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/articles/cairo-local-alice-allsop.jsp and you can follow her tips directly here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/travellers/alip
Handmade gelato in Cairo is a real treat. The picture window in Stavolta means you can see the kitchen where they experiment with flavours, that vary each week depending on what is in season. Date with roasted almond, hibiscus, gooseberry and coconut have featured, but these go brilliantly with regular flavours like dark chocolate and cheese cake. They offer free tastings but at 10LE for a scoop it's easy, and fun, to experiment!
www.stavolta.net/
Stavola, 39 st, 231 Maadi, Cairo
Google map: bit.ly/xZHR8B
Maadi, Cairo
Take the Metro to El Maadi and then take a taxi to 'Degla' or walk if you have a map of the Maadi area.
Not that you're coming to Cairo for pizza, but if you do, then you should make a trip to the southern suburb of Maadi and find La Rosa. Their pizza is the best Italian thin-crust and their steak is cooked to perfection (and at 60LE it is half the price you'd pay in the UK). Excellent service and you can bring your own alcohol.
La Rosa
19, Road 231
Maadi, Cairo
Google map: bit.ly/w8C6oN
02-25167337
Take the metro to El Maadi and then take a taxi (ask for 'Degla, shareeya miteen w'wahed w'talateen' / Degla Road 206) or make the 15-20 minute walk if you have a map of Maadi.
If you fancy eating a burger in Cairo, then there is only one place to go; Lucille's.
Lucille's is in the southern suburb of Maadi and has the best burgers in Cairo (or the world if you are to believe Time magazine
www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1639839,00.html). The burgers taste amazing, with the chilli burger being a meal and a half.
To drink, try their homemade ice tea, which is served with syrup on the side so you can make it as sweet as you like. On weekends (Friday and Saturday) a proper breakfast of pancakes and biscuits is served all day alongside their burger and southwest menu.
www.lucillesrestaurants.com
Lucille's, 40, Road 9, Maadi, Cairo, Egypt
+20 (0)2 23592778
Google map: bit.ly/A9vUkY
Take the Metro to El Maadi and then walk south along Road 9 and you will find Lucille's on your right after about 10 minutes.
A popular downtown club that hosts live music and DJs every night, has a very decent drink and bar menu and good atmosphere. The website is great for directions (!) and listings. A top venue that hosts live music nearly every night.
It’s worth saying that, despite the name of the club, the music on offer is not all jazz!
www.cairojazzclub.com/
197, 26th July St.Agouza
+202 3345 9939
Google map: bit.ly/urs2Qj
What to tell the taxi?
197, 26th July St. Sphinx square
* Alip is our Been there local for Cairo. Her page is here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/articles/cairo-local-alice-allsop.jsp and you can follow her tips directly here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/travellers/alip
The church of Saint Samaan is beautiful and any visit to it will be a moving one. The huge cave that holds the church has been carved out of the Moqattam hills that overlook Cairo on the eastern edge of the city.
Moqattam is home to a large Coptic Christian community who collect the city’s rubbish and sort it by hand for recycling. There are various charity projects running in the area to help this marginalised community make a fair living. The Association for the Protection of the Environment (APE) is one of them, and they can organise visits into the area to see the church and their workshops where they produce recycled paper and cloth goods.
www.garbagedreams.com/
www.ape.org.eg/
cavechurch.com/home/index.asp
* Alip is our Been there local for Cairo. Her page is here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/articles/cairo-local-alice-allsop.jsp and you can follow her tips directly here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/travellers/alip
Egypt may not be known for its beer, but if you visit Egypt you may want to try a local Stella (not Artois) during the course of your stay. If you want to drink it where the locals drink, then you’ll need to find a ‘baladi’ bar (‘baladi’ roughly translating as ‘local’ in Egyptian). Some of these bars are real ‘spit and sawdust’ places, but they’ll all offer you a beer and a glimpse into drinking beyond your hotel bar. The Stella Baladi Map will help you find your way around.
www.stella1ofus.com/category/stella-nightlife/baladi-cairo-bar-map/
* Alip is our Been there local for Cairo. Her page is here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/articles/cairo-local-alice-allsop.jsp and you can follow her tips directly here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/travellers/alip
There are so many restaurants in Cairo with international influences that you could easily visit for a week and not sample any traditional Egyptian food, but you’d really be missing out.
If you are out and about exploring in Cairo and want a quick, cheap and filling meal then Egyptian fast food is the way to go.
Cheap, simple dishes that are popular are ‘koshary’ (with its layers of rice, macaroni, pasta and lentils this is a carb-overload, but very filling and served with a little tomato sauce and with lemon and spicey sauce on the side) and ‘shawerma’ (marinated kebab meat served in a wrap or roll). You should also try falafel (‘tameya’), stuffed vegetables (‘mashi’) and 'fuul' (fava beans) which are often served in round flat bread ('aish baladi').
Arzak and Gad are both chains of Egyptian fast food restaurants. There are branches of both all over Cairo and they serve Egyptian fast food (and 'traditional' fast food of burgers and fries if you're feeling less adventurous).
Most restaurants will have a counter where you place your order, pay and are given a receipt. Take this receipt over to the serving counter to pick up your food. Some branches will also have a second 'back' room with table service, AC and bathrooms.
www.arzakegypt.com/home.asp
Maadi Grand Mall, 12 Road 257, Maadi, Cairo, Egypt
+20 2 5195282
Google map: bit.ly/v7Qcdo
Gad restaurants: bit.ly/ttEkNY
There are so many restaurants in Cairo with international influences that you could easily visit for a week and not sample any traditional Egyptian food, but you’d really be missing out.
Starters that you should look out for include dips like babaganough (aubergine) and tahina (sesame) which will come with the round Egyptian flatbread known as ‘aish baladi’ (in many places this will arrive steaming to your table as it is probably cooked on site). You should also try falafel (‘tameya’) and stuffed vegetables (‘mashi’).
A classic main you might try is ‘molokheya’, which is a broth made with greens that is often served with a meat and rice. Many places will serve a range of grills including ‘shish tawook’ (chicken), ‘shish kebab’ (lamb) and ‘kofta’ (minced meat on a skewer).
Cheap, simple dishes that are popular are ‘koshary’ (with its layers of rice, macaroni, pasta and lentils this is a carb-overload, but very filling and served with a little tomato sauce and with lemon and spicey sauce on the side) and ‘shawerma’ (marinated kebab meat served in a wrap or roll).
For dessert you might try ‘om ali’ which is pudding rice, bread and raisins in sweetened milk.
If you're visiting the Khan El Khalili you'll be hounded to visit one of the many cafes on the main square, but venture in and you'll find the Khan El Khalili Restaurant (and Naguib Mahfouz Cafe). This is an excellent restaurant with attentive service and good food. A real haven from the hustle and hassle outside. They accept credit cards (a rarity in Egypt), and in the cafe area musicians play traditional music.
Khan El Khalili Restaurant and Naguib Mahfouz Cafe
5 Sekket al-Badistan
+20 2590 3788
To find the restaurant, stand in the main square of the Khan El Khalili (Midan Hussein) and face the row of cafes. Take the narrow street to the right of the cafes which goes slightly downhill (not the street that goes beside the mosque). Keep going past all the stall holders who will try hard to get you to buy from them. The street will widen slightly and you will see a metal detector in front of a door on your right (this is more obvious then the restaurant sign next to it!) and then you will know you are in the right place.
Google map: bit.ly/rXvhFQ
* Alip is our Been there local for Cairo. Her page is here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/articles/cairo-local-alice-allsop.jsp and you can follow her tips directly here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/travellers/alip
Abou El Sid serves traditional Egyptian food and all their restaurants (there are branches all over Cairo) are decked out to fit the theme. Abou El Sid serves alcohol and shisha.
www.abouelsid.com
157, 26th July Street, Zamalek
Google map: bit.ly/sVzIvC
* Alip is our Been there local for Cairo. Her homepage is here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/articles/cairo-local-alice-allsop.jsp and you can follow her tips directly here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/travellers/alip
The National Protectorate closest to Cairo is on the fringes of the southern city suburb of Maadi, built during the 1920s and now home to a large number of expats. Wadi Degla is an ancient river bed that was gouged out of the rock 60 million years ago, leaving marine fossils and dried waterfalls behind in this desert landscape.
Walk between the high cliffs along the flat valley bed, or take a quick scramble up the right-hand side of the Wadi just after the gate. From the top of the cliffs you get views over the southern and eastern parts of the city, stretching over to the pyramids. At the weekend you’ll share Egypt’s ‘Grand Canyon’ with walkers, joggers and picnicking families.
Get the Metro to El Maadi station and then take a taxi. Ask for Wadi Degla in Zahraa el Maadi. You may need to specify you want the Protectorate, as there is a sporting club housing an Egyptian premiership football team called Wadi Degla as well! Look out for the brown signs to follow when you are on the Autostraad.
Wadi Degla costs 5LE to enter and is open from sunrise to sunset. Bring plenty of bottled water, and don’t forget your binoculars.
The Citadel and the mosque of Mohamed Ali gaze over the dusty city by day and shimmer beautifully in green and gold at night. There is much to see and do in the Citadel complex (it has several museums and re-furbished buildings to visit) but the highlight of a visit really is the view you get over the city.
On a good day you can spy the Cairo Tower and the pyramids in the distance, but don't feel disappointed if the Cairo smog puts their form out of reach as your eyes will be kept busy picking out the colour and movement of daily life as it flits across the grey canvas of the city below you. You can see the cars glistening as they drive along the Autostrad road, and this silvery streak through the city almost looks like a branch of the Nile. See if you can spot the different historic minaret styles that give a clue to the date of each mosque’s construction in he surrounding area.
If you can visit the Citadel on a Friday then do so: although you aren't able to go inside the Mohamed Ali mosque during Friday prayers, you can time a visit to experience the striking sounds of the call to prayer as it rings out across Cairo. To be looking out from the Citadel when the call to prayer goes out in the city of a thousand minarets is breathtaking.
There is no nearby metro station, so you will have to take a taxi to the Citadel. Try to take a "white" taxi as these have meters, which mean you avoid any confusion over payment. Ask for “gamaa Mohamed Ali” (Mohamed Ali mosque) or “il all ail qalla” (Citadel)
Bab Zuweyla is in the heart of Islamic Cairo, but actually marks the Southern gate of the old city (Bab meaning “gate”). The gatehouse has been restored, but the original arch and towers remain inside. You can enter the building to see the old gate, swing mechanism (including what are claimed to be the earliest examples of ball bearings in the world!), pottery and other fragments found by archaeologists. The main reason to visit, though, is to climb the gate towers to get a great view over this historic district of Cairo.
Your first pause for breath is at the top of the gate, where you can walk around at roof-level and peer down onto the streets below as boys cycle with balanced racks of bread on their heads, and women hang out their washing from the windows or on roofs that are also home to the family goat or pigeon coop. Then climb the dark and narrow spiral staircase in either of the two towers, to the first or second balcony and even braving the final few metal rungs if you have a head for heights and nerves of steel. Up here you can see the Citadel and Al-Azhar park, and can continue to marvel at daily life as it goes by like a busy scene in Where’s Wally.
Sharia Mu'ezz li-din Allah Darb al-Ahmar
Google map: bit.ly/vmYJBz
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