Landing at Cairo International Airport in Cairo gives you an easy home base, with nearby cities and getaways close by. Cairo is loud, warm, and endlessly alive, a city of more than twenty million people stacked along the Nile. Minarets, Art Deco apartment blocks, and tea-house chatter share the same street, and the pyramids sit right at the edge of town.

Standout experiences around Cairo: - Stand at the base of the Great Pyramid and the Sphinx on the Giza plateau - See Tutankhamun's treasures at the Grand Egyptian Museum near the pyramids - Haggle for lanterns, spices, and brass in the Khan el-Khalili bazaar - Walk the mosques and gates of Islamic Cairo along Al-Muizz Street - Visit the Hanging Church and the quiet lanes of Coptic Cairo - Ride a felucca sailboat on the Nile at sunset - Watch the skyline from the gardens of Al-Azhar Park - Eat a bowl of koshary, the rice, lentil, and pasta dish locals swear by - Browse the galleries and cafes of leafy Zamalek island

Day trips from Cairo reach deep into ancient Egypt. The Step Pyramid at Saqqara and the Bent Pyramid at Dahshur are under an hour south, with the old capital of Memphis in between. Fayoum, about ninety minutes away, pairs a desert lake with the fossil-filled valley of Wadi El Hitan and pottery villages like Tunis. Back in the city, start your morning like a Cairene with ful and taameya from a street cart, then stay up late, since dinner at eleven is normal here. Come in the cooler months from October to April, and let Cairo pull you into its pace.