Manial Palace Museum

Lonely Planet review

It will take only 20 minutes to walk from the Semiramis InterContinental down the Corniche until you hit the small Manial Bridge. Crossing this, you will come to Sharia al-Saray and one of Cairo's least visited and most eccentric tourist sites, the Manial Palace Museum. The palace was built in the early part of the 20th century as a residence for Prince Mohammed Ali Tawfiq, the uncle of King Farouk, Egypt's last monarch.

Apparently the prince couldn't decide which architectural style he preferred, so he went for the lot: Ottoman, Moorish, Persian and European rococo. Today the palace houses an assortment of collections in five buildings, including a Hunting Museum housing Farouk's huge horde of dusty stuffed hunting trophies - not recommended for animal lovers.

The main palace has large rooms filled with authentic furniture, while the prince's private museum displays some of his manuscripts, clothing, silver objects, furniture, writing implements and other items dating from medieval times to the 19th century. Stroll through the beautiful gardens afterwards, planted with rare tropical plants and marvellous palms collected by the prince on his travels. If you don't want to walk to the museum, a taxi from Midan Tahrir should cost £E3 .