Al-Azhar Mosque is the finest building of Cairo’s Fatimid era and one of the city’s earliest surviving mosques, completed in AD 972. It’s also one of the world’s oldest universities – Caliph El-Aziz bestowed it with the status of university in AD 988 (the other university vying for “oldest” status is in Fes) and today,
See One of the World’s Great Collections in the Egyptian Museum
See One of the World’s Great Collections in the Egyptian Museum
2021-10-05T10:24:28+02:00
Cairo Attractions, Things to do
The absolutely staggering collection of antiquities displayed in Cairo’s Egyptian Museum makes it one of the world’s great museums. You would need a lifetime to properly see everything on show. The museum was founded in 1857 by French Egyptologist August Mariette and moved to its current home – in the distinctive powder-pink mansion in Downtown Cairo
Marvel at the Pyramids of Giza
The Pyramids of Giza are Cairo’s number one half-day trip and a must-do attraction on everyone’s itinerary. Right on the edge of the city, on the Giza Plateau, these fourth dynasty funerary temples have been wowing travelers for centuries and continue to be one of the country’s major highlights. Despite the heat, the dust, and the
Day Trip to Abu Simbel
If you have time for only one day trip from Aswan, pick a visit to Abu Simbel. Built by Ramses II, and saved from destruction by a remarkable UNESCO rescue project in the 1970s, Abu Simbel is not only a triumph of ancient architecture, but also of modern engineering. The mammoth scale of the Great Temple
Sail on a Felucca
The quintessential way to sightsee in Aswan is by taking to the river on a felucca (traditional lateen-sail boat). You’ll have no problems finding a captain willing to take you on a river tour. Felucca captains hang out along Aswan’s Nile-side corniche all day, touting for customers. A typical short tour of around two hours sails
Explore Elephantine Island
Peppered with palm tree plantations and sloping villages of colorful mud-brick houses, Elephantine Island is Aswan’s major tourist attraction. At its southern end are Aswan Museum and the Ruins of Abu, Aswan’s most ancient settlement, which contains the Old Kingdom Temple of Khnum and the Temple of Satet. The museum building, in a beautiful late 19th-century villa, is partially open, with
