neejas

My brother, sister, mom and I will be traveling the end of August from Dallas to Cairo for two weeks. Scheduling has us going to Egypt during a really hot time of year. I have an itenary of what we'll be doing each day. We'll be in Cairo for 5 full days. Any suggestions on other things to do or see while in Cairo, also great places to eat? I understand there is a tall landmark tower on Gezira Island where you can dine on the 65th floor restaurant and gaze out on the Nile. Maybe go see how papyrus is made. Any suggestions/comments welcomed.

Day 1---Arrive in Cairo in afternoon. Staying at the Cairo Marriott. Relax from flight.

Day 2---Visit the Egyptian Museum. Any suggestions on a great restaurant with local flavour?

Day 3---Visit the Great Pyramids of giza and the Sphinx. What about the pyramids of Sakkara? We'd like to see the sound and light show at the pyramids. And any suggestions on how hot the temperatures will be?

Day 4----Take a tour of Alexandria. Quaitbay Castle. Maybe Alexandria Library and National Museum or Montaza Palace. Return to Cairo.

Day 5---Cairo's Coptic Quarter. Check out some of the bazaars.

Day 6---Fly from Cairo to Luxor to take a Nile river Cruise

Days 7-13--Crusing the Nile, Quena, Luxor, Esna Kom Ombo, Aswan

Day 14-Fly back into Cairo and to our Hotel. Resting for trip back home.

Day 15--Fly home to Dallas.

Grcxx3

It will be REALLY, REALLY hot in August = so just be prepared....sunglasses, sunscreen, hat, loose cotton clothing.

Definitely go to see Saqqara - the Step-Pyramid, the Bent Pyramid, and the Red Pyramid (which you can go into). The Giza pyramids and the Sphynx will only take a few hours.

The only thing I really see missing from your days in Cairo is a visit to the Citadel or some of the other famous mosques. That could be done along with your visit of Coptic Cairo.

There is a restaurant at the top of the Cairo tower (can't remember the official name of the thing), but I'm not sure how good the food is. I think there is also a revolving restaurant at the top of one of the other main hotels along the Nile.
Can anyone help me with this one??????

thit_cho

Day 2 -- there is a cafe on the square outside the Egyptian museum that Mahfouz used to frequent until he was stabbed outside the cafe -- that would qualify for local flavor. Its written about in the Loney Planet.

Day 3 -- you could combine with visit to Saqqara (a must) and Memphis (less interesting, but worth seeing)

Some other sites in Cairo that are must-sees, in my book:

1. Camel market -- about 20 minutes outside Cairo -- very few tourists but very interesting and photogenic

2. Cities of the Dead -- get a taxi to drive you through the cemetaries in which lots of locals live

3. Mohammed Ali mosque and Citadel -- you could also visit this area on your Day 2 -- a full day in the Egyptian museum would be too much, so you may want to combine with visit to the Citadel and surrounding mosques

gail

Anyway you can morph this schedule to include Abu Simbel?

neejas

Thank you all for the replies so far. I'm taking some brief notes in my travel guide book from my travel agent. I'll need to purchase some travel books on Egypt and Cairo. Thanks for advice on the Egyptian Museum, we can include the Citadel possibly on that day.

Day 13---We have a choice to fly to Abu Simbel from Aswan with a return flight back to Aswan the same day. Or we can explore more of Aswan. Day 12--We'll be seeing Aswan High Dam and the Temple of Philae on the island of Agilika. Also we plan on an excursion to cruise the Nile on a traditional felucca sailboat on Day 12 as well.

We'll definitly be carrying lots of water, sunscreen and choosing light weight clothing. Probably extra lip balm as well.

The Camel market sounds exciting as well. Like to bring home some pictures to show of us on a camel with the pyramids in the background.

So far thanks Grcxx3, thit_cho and gail.

gail

Do not miss Abu Simbel - it is somewhat of an annoyance to get there, but well worth it. Bring and drink lots of water - even in April 2001 when we were there it was the hottest place I have ever been - in August...

Alex8

Aswan is very small. Definately take the trip to Abu Simbel. It is stunning, beautiful, and gives even more understanding to Ramses II. Also it is amazing how UNESCO took this temple apart and put in back together.