Cairo, Egypt

Irish expat John O’Ceallaigh is a Dubai-based journalist and a regular visitor to Cairo

Often bewildering, wildly energetic, and mercurial, Cairo can be overwhelming – but have your concierge secure a reputable guide and the treasures this city yields are truly astounding. Most obviously, there’s the majesty of Giza’s Pyramids. Their origins, and more than 100,000 artifacts tracing over 5,000 years of Egyptian history, are cataloged in the gargantuan Grand Egyptian Museum. It opened after years of delays last November. And everywhere else you go, Cairo seems to casually unspool its remarkable heritage. Less than a mile long, Al-Mu’izz Street is dotted with grand palaces, mosques, and mausoleums that together chronicle centuries of intricate Islamic architecture. For a more languid introduction to the capital, a private Nile sunset cruise aboard a felucca, a narrow wooden sailboat, feels timeless and romantic. 

Securing first place in this year’s Middle East and North Africa’s 50 Best Restaurants awards, Khufu’s dazzles with its unobstructed views of the Pyramids. Appropriately, the breakfast and lunch menus deliver elevated interpretations of Egyptian classics – try the silky mulukhiyah soup, which is made from jute leaves and shimmers an arresting sea green. An island in the center of the Nile that is speckled with embassies and galleries, Zamalek is home to the original Zooba – the celebrated Egyptian street-food specialist delivers a fresh take on favorites like taameya, fava bean-infused falafel generously drizzled with tahini. No prizes for guessing the specialty at Le Steak, set in a riverboat on the edge of the Nile. Settle into one of the French restaurant’s lobster-red banquettes for a reliably relaxed evening. 

A walkable district with a hundred different personalities, Downtown Cairo’s development was inspired by Haussmann’s renovation of Paris. Amble slowly and you’ll spot Belle Epoque, Art Deco, and modernist beauties among its many landmark buildings. En route, make a pit stop at Café Riche, a gathering place since 1908 for Egyptian artists and intellectuals. Grandly conceived as a standalone “City of the Sun” at the turn of the last century, Heliopolis has long been subsumed into the metropolis, but still retains a distinct identity. Flamboyant and incongruous, its Baron Empain Palace is a fairy-tale-like, Indian-style mansion the color of treacle. 

Also in Heliopolis, Fair Trade Egypt sells ethically produced, artisan-made Egyptian homewares with prices clearly marked for a calm, haggle-free shopping experience. Often overlooked, the ornate Manial Palace Museum is a former princely home bursting with eclectic Rococo, Islamic, and Persian influences – a revelation for aesthetes that’s typically crowd-free. An easy day trip from the city, Saqqara features its own spread of pyramids and mausoleums of Ancient Egyptian royalty.