Egyptian Museum, Citadel & Old Cairo Guided Tour

The Egyptian Museum of Antiquities

The Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square opened in 1902 and was the first purpose-built national museum in the region. Its halls are arranged roughly in time order, so a guided visit becomes a walk through 3,000 years of history, from the Old Kingdom statues of the pyramid builders to the unusual, elongated portraits of Akhenaten from Amarna.

Our Egyptologist leads you to the key pieces, such as the Narmer Palette, the seated statue of Khafre and the gold of the Tanis royal tombs, and explains the stories behind them. Plan on about two hours inside. Egyptian Museum opening hours are generally from morning to early evening, and mornings are the quietest time for a visit.

The Saladin Citadel

Salah El Din, known in the West as Saladin, began building the Citadel in 1176 on a spur of the Muqattam hills to defend Cairo against the Crusaders. For nearly 700 years it was the seat of Egypt's rulers, from the Ayyubids and Mamluks to Muhammad Ali, and its massive walls and gates still dominate the skyline.

Inside the walls you find several mosques, palaces and museums, and terraces with some of the best views over Cairo: on a clear day you can see minarets stretching to the horizon and even the pyramids of Giza. A Cairo Citadel tour takes about 1.5 hours, including the Muhammad Ali Mosque at its heart.

The Mosque of Muhammad Ali

The Mosque of Muhammad Ali, built between 1830 and 1848, crowns the Citadel with its great central dome and two slender Ottoman minarets, among the tallest in Cairo. Its walls are faced with alabaster, which gives it the popular name Alabaster Mosque. Inside, hanging lamps and a vast domed prayer hall create a calm, luminous space.

In the courtyard stands a copper clock tower presented by King Louis-Philippe of France in exchange for the obelisk of Luxor Temple, now in Paris. Visitors should dress modestly and remove their shoes inside. For many travellers this mosque is the most photogenic stop of a Cairo day tour.

Old Cairo and the Coptic Quarter

Old Cairo, often called Coptic Cairo, grew around the Roman fortress of Babylon, parts of which still stand. The Hanging Church takes its name from being built over the fortress gatehouse; its foundation is very old, though much of the present building comes from later rebuilding. Nearby, the Church of Abu Serga is traditionally linked to the Holy Family's stay in Egypt.

A few steps away the Ben Ezra Synagogue is famous for the Cairo Geniza, a vast archive of medieval documents found in the 19th century. How to get to Old Cairo? Metro and taxis serve the Mar Girgis area, but a guided tour links it smoothly with the Citadel and the museum. Allow about 1.5 hours for its quiet lanes.