Pictures in Cairo
 

I would be visiting Cairo shortly and wanted to know if there are good view points/spots to take great pictures, examples like whole city, sunrise and sunset pictures besides ofcourse the touristy locations Any suggestions wold be more than welcome
thanks

You can get some excellent panoramic shots of Cairo from the Citadel. You'll find dawn and dusk in Egypt are bathed in a beautiful golden light, which makes for some wonderful photos...

Take a felucca ride just before sunset. You'll get wonderful pictures of the Nile & surroundings & the sunset and have a very relaxing sail.

Forget about sunrise and sunset at the Citadel. It's closed at those hours.

You can do sunset pictures from lots of places-

-Al Ahzar Park
-The desert behind the Pyramids from the back of a camel or horse
-The cornishe up in Moquattum
-Like Sunshine said, from the river in a falouka

Sunrise is a little more difficult to do, but can be done in the desert, but don't hold your breath hoping for the pyramids to be in the same picture.

Whenever you hope to do this though, do cross your fingers for decent weather as haze in the AM can block everything and smog in the PM can do the same.

Good luck

Thanks guys

Also where could I get a felucca ride and what should I expect to pay

You can find feluccas on the Corniche, just north of the liquor-free Hyatt. I think I (over) paid 50 LE the last two times, but with the inflation here prices are going up and if we are rich enough to go to Cairo, we're rich enough to pay 50 LE.

Debbie, are there other places in Cairo where you can take a felucca ride in Cairo besides here & Maadi?

I always use the guys in Maadi and I pay them LE35 per hour, but I also tip the captain besides that, so the total is probably close to the LE50/hr that you may have paid.

I prefer Maadi as there is less concrete that will get in your sunset photos. There is a lot more green down that way and it should photograph well.

For tourists, have a taxi take you to the TGIF in Maadi on the Cornish. From there, walk north about 100 meters. There are a couple places that have sidewalks going down to the river and faloukas on the river. OR someone will offer you a falouka ride, and you can follow him.

Casual Cairo is correct -- Maadi has more green, but some people seem to prefer getting right in the middle of the city for their felucca.

Maadi also is at least a half hour from downtown on a good day at a good time. And an hour or more on a bad day or during rush hour.

I guess it depends on how much time you have and whether you want green or the downtown Cairo with the bridges and the concrete.