13 hours in Cairo
On April 9th I'll have to spend 13 hours in Cairo due to an Egypt Air flight stop.I'm arriving from a Athens at 6pm and my next fly leaves next day at 9am. So my 13 hours are at night....What do you suggest? Staying in the airport? Going to a hotel in dowtown and have the chance to give a look to the city? Are there souks open at night?Thanks
1
I'm assuming you're going to be on your own and don't know people in Cairo. Your options are kind of limited - I don't think the Khan al-Khalili market, which is the main one of touristic interest, stays open very late, though if you go there straight from the airport you'll certainly find shops still open.There are plenty of cafes and restaurants where you can spend time, and you can find the details in guidebooks. Fishawi cafe in Khan al-Khalili, one of the most famous, near Midan al-Hussein, reputedly stays open 24 hours, though I've never had occasion to check whether that's in fact the case or not.
There are plenty of other cheapish open air cafés, less historic but just as atmospheric in their own way, in the Borsa area of downtown Cairo, and these often stay open until 2 am or even later.
One option would be to stay in one of the old city hotels, around Midan al-Hussein, so you could go straight there, dump your bags, and then wander around the old city for an hour or two: then, when you got tired of that, head downtown for some food and downtime in a café or bar.
2
It's a pity that you will spend 13 hours at night, you can not visit the famous Prymids. However, Cairo at night is beautiful, it's worthy pay a visit at night. You better hire a taxi to Cariro when you landing at night.Cairo by night is a magical, mesmerizing place of lights, music, dancing and food. Pay a visit to a traditional coffee house, enjoy the sheesha, cruise the Nile by night, or partake of the amazing Cairo nightlife!
Taxi driver knows the best places for visiting.
3
I'd advise you to book a room in one of downtown's cheap hotels, and drop your suitcase there. After that you can take a taxi for Khan Al Khalili and have dinner at Naguig Mahfouz restaurant and then tea and sheesha at the famous Cafe Fishawi as suggested above. Some shops stay open until midnight. You can also walk along Al Muizz street in the direction of Bab Al Futuh gate, the islamic monuments will be illuminated at night, some of them are open until midnight against a small tip or even sometimes for free - the official opening hours are often flexible.Alternatively you can go for a drink in one of Zamalek's posh bars and restaurants, such as La Bodega, Abu El Sid or Sequoia.
In any case you can ask the taxi to drive you from downtown to Zamalek so you can see the Nile and Tahrir square, and then to Khan Al Khalili.
4
Keep in mind that in the evening both downtown and Khan Khalili streets get totally cramped up, so I would rather book a hotel outside the downtown where I can take the Metro from to the bazaar. That solved, you will have time till midnight to enjoy the city. I would prefer wandering around Khan Khalili to see a glimpse of the local life..5
#4 just to be precise the metro does not run to Khan al-Khalili, nearest station is Ataba which is a 15 minute walk (quite unpleasant if you're not used to Cairo traffic) or LE5 taxi ride away.
