Cairo & Giza

Cairo and Giza are where most Egypt journeys begin, and where the country's oldest secrets still stand in the sand. On the Giza plateau at the city's edge rise the last surviving wonder of the ancient world, the Great Pyramid, its two companions and the enigmatic Sphinx, now joined by the vast Grand Egyptian Museum unveiling Tutankhamun's complete treasure.

But this sprawling metropolis of some twenty million is far more than the pyramids. It layers medieval Islamic Cairo's mosques and the labyrinthine Khan el-Khalili bazaar, the ancient churches of Coptic Cairo, Nile-side corniches and feluccas, and a street-food and café culture all its own. Chaotic, exhilarating and endlessly deep, Cairo rewards both the monument-hunter and the wanderer who simply lets the city carry them.