Cairo & the Pyramids
Egypt
The last standing wonder of the ancient world, on the edge of a megacity
Photo by Osama Elsayed on Unsplash
Photos by Dario Morandotti, Michael Starkie, simon and Adrian Dascal on Unsplash
Best time to visit all of Egypt
October to April
Climate month by month
The next sixteen daysOpen-Meteo
Average high and low · °C
Rainfall · mm per month
Best months to visit This month · wettest 6mm in Dec
Where it is
30.04°N, 31.24°E Open in Google Maps
Things to do
Weeks of it- Go inside the Great Pyramid if you are not claustrophobic
- Spend a full day at the Grand Egyptian Museum
- Walk Islamic Cairo from Bab Zuweila to Al-Azhar
- See Saqqara and Dahshur, quieter and older than Giza
- Take a felucca on the Nile at sunset
Cairo & the Pyramids travel tipsthe general rules
Currency budget Egypt
Very cheapThe pound has devalued repeatedly, so exchange in small amounts as you go. Bank branches and hotel desks give the official rate; the airport gives the worst. Bring clean, unmarked dollar or euro notes, because torn ones are refused.
ATMs & cards
CIB, Banque Misr and QNB machines inside bank branches. Machines at the pyramids and in Khan el-Khalili charge heavily and run empty. Carry small notes — tipping (baksheesh) is constant and nobody has change.
Avoid these
- machines at the pyramids and in Khan el-Khalili
- airport arrivals machines
Use these instead
- CIB
- Banque Misr
- QNB
- Bank of Alexandria
Use machines inside bank branches. Ask for small notes — baksheesh is constant and nobody has change for a 200.
Wherever you are: if the machine offers to charge you in your home currency, decline. That is dynamic currency conversion and the rate is set by the ATM's operator, not your bank.
Safety all of Egypt
Reasonably safeViolent crime against visitors is rare and the tourist sites are heavily secured. The daily friction is relentless hustling at the pyramids — unofficial guides, camel handlers who take a photo then demand payment, and drivers who take you to a papyrus shop instead. Book official guides, agree every price beforehand, and be firm rather than polite. Women travelling alone report persistent harassment.
Where to walk, and where to pay attention (7 areas)
Comfortable, including after dark
- Zamalek
- Maadi
- Garden City, Cairo
- Giza Pyramid Complex — with the tourist police present
Worth more attention
- Giza Pyramid Complex — the camel and horse touts, who take a fee to get on and a much larger one to get off
- Crossing the road in central Cairo, where traffic does not stop and pedestrians are killed every year
- Unlicensed taxis — use Uber or Careem
Our own assessment, not a sourced index.
Entry & visa Egypt visa rules
e-Visa requiredup to 30 days$25 single entry
Also available on arrival at the airport for the same price, paid in cash dollars. If you are only visiting Sharm el-Sheikh or Dahab, a free Sinai-only permit covers up to 15 days but does not allow travel to Cairo.
Other passports
Visa required in advance
How to get it: Apply at visa2egypt.gov.eg — the only official site — or buy the sticker at a bank window in the arrivals hall before immigration.
Entry rules change often and depend on your passport, not where you live — the official page above is the authority, and the airline checks before you board.
Health & emergencies all of Egypt
Good but costlyRequired to enter
- Yellow fever certificate, but only if you are arriving from a country where yellow fever is present
Jabs worth having, and what happens if you need a doctor
Worth having
- Hepatitis A
- Typhoid
- Tetanus up to date
- Rabies for longer stays
- Hepatitis B for extended stays
Getting treated
Private hospitals in Cairo are decent and cheap by European standards, and the international ones have English-speaking staff. Public hospitals are basic and overcrowded. Insurance is worth having; private facilities want payment up front.
Do not drink the tap water and avoid ice outside good hotels — stomach illness affects a large share of visitors. Summer heat at the pyramids is a genuine medical risk. Rabies is present in street dogs.
Orientation, not medical advice — entry rules change and what you need depends on your own history. Check with a travel clinic four to six weeks before you go.
Food tip
Very goodKoshari is the national dish and costs almost nothing — Abou Tarek is the famous one. Ful and taameya for breakfast. Skip anything raw and unwashed, and drink bottled water only.
Nightlife
Nile-boat bars, rooftop terraces over the city, and a nightlife that starts very late because the days are too hot to do anything in.
- Zamalek — the island, and its bars and clubs
- Downtown Cairo — the old baladi bars, and the cafés
- Khan el-Khalili — the shisha cafés, and El Fishawy
Closing: 03:00.
A beer in a bar: EGP 60–120
A shisha and a mint tea at three in the morning in a downtown café is the actual Cairo night, and costs almost nothing.
Getting around
Easy- UberWorks here
- CareemWorks here
- inDriveWorks here
- DiDiWorks here
- BoltNot here
- From the airport
- Cairo airport to Zamalek EGP 250–400
- Against a taxi
- Far cheaper than a white taxi, whose meter is a suggestion, and removes the argument at the end.
Time zone and your working day
Africa/Cairo — 7 hours ahead of you
1 hour of overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are — 09:00–10:00 your time, 16:00–17:00 theirs.
No overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are. Working from here means one of you keeps odd hours — their day starts at 02:00 on your clock.
office hours both at once night
Their 09:00–17:00 is 02:00–10:00 on yours.
The working week runs Sunday to Thursday here, so Friday is the weekend and Sunday is not.
The difference from the UK, Europe, the US and ten more
Worked out against America/New York, which is where this request looks like it came from.
Internet speedall of Egypt
What these numbers mean
Home broadband — Fair. Video calls and streaming for one or two people — fine for a holiday, thin for a household working. Broadband here runs at 74% of the global median of 130 Mbps.
Mobile data — Fair. Maps, calls and streaming; tethering a laptop works for an hour, not a day. Mobile runs at 47% of the global median of 109 Mbps.
A median is the middle of every connection tested there, old copper and new fibre together — so in a country part-way through laying fibre it sits well below what a fibre line actually delivers, and a rental on one can run several times this number. Half of the connections are slower; a fibre flat is rarely one of them. It says what a place can do, not what your rental does, so every listing on Holistay carries its own measured speed and the date it was tested.
Getting online: Airalo or Holafly — a data eSIM for Egypt, installed before you fly and working the moment you land.
Source: Ookla Speedtest Global Index · measured June 2026
Must-see
Nearby day trips
Say a few words
Arabic
- Helloمرحبا — MarhabaMAR-ha-ba
- Pleaseمن فضلك — Min fadlakmin FAD-lak
- Thank youشكرا — ShukranSHOOK-ran
- Yes / Noنعم / لا — Na’am / LaNA-am / la
4 more phrases
- Excuse meعفوا — AfwanAF-wan
- How much is it?بكم — Bikam?bi-KAM
- The bill, pleaseالحساب — Al-hisabal-hi-SAB
- Welcomeأهلا وسهلا — Ahlan wa sahlanAH-lan wa SAH-lan
Inshallah, meaning God willing, follows nearly any statement about the future and is conversational rather than religious.
Religion
Sunni Muslim, with a Coptic Christian minority
Around 90% Muslim and 10% Coptic Christian, one of the oldest Christian communities on earth. Cover shoulders and knees at mosques and churches alike; women cover their heads at mosques.
Do's and don'ts
Do
- Use your right hand for eating, greeting and handing anything over
- Dress modestly away from resorts — shoulders and knees covered, and a scarf for women entering mosques
- Agree a price before accepting any service, including a photograph with a camel
- Carry small notes for baksheesh; it is expected constantly and is part of how the economy works
Don't
- Do not photograph military or police installations, bridges or airports — this is taken seriously
- Do not show the sole of your foot to anyone, or point with your feet
- Do not show public affection beyond hand-holding; it is illegal in some readings and always poorly received
- Do not accept an unsolicited guide at the pyramids who then demands a fee — say la, shukran, firmly and keep walking
Where to stay in Cairo & the Pyramids
No Holistay rentals in Cairo & the Pyramids yet — the platform is just opening up. Every listing here will have a video tour and the option to negotiate the nightly price directly with the host.
In the meantime, here is Cairo & the Pyramids on the sites that do have the inventory — each search is already filled in:
- Booking.com hotels, guesthouses and apartments — the widest coverage almost everywhere
- Airbnb whole homes and apartments, and the better option for a week or more
How to get there
Fly into Cairo CAI
45 minfrom the airport· 17 km as the crow flies
45 min to Giza, longer in traffic, which is most of the time.
Google Flights · Rome2Rio for the trains, buses and ferries as well as the flights
