Talisman Hotel

Activities

• The Nile and the Egyptian Museum are both less than a 10-minute walk away. The latter is unmissable, though you cannot enter with cameras, which must be left in a booth at the gates. Tickets do not include entry to the royal mummy room
  
  
• If you want to cruise the Nile on a felucca, head down to Dok Dok in Garden City and be prepared to haggle
  
  
• Pick up the metro and head four stops south to Coptic Cairo, the Christian centre of the capital. Then lose yourself in local streets and find sheep and cattle on mud-impacted roads. It won’t be long before you’re drinking tea with the locals
  
  
• Head over to old Cairo, the Islamic quarter, for a thousand years of history. It was the seat of the Fatimid dynasty, which dates to 969AD. You’ll find lanes and alleyways, magnificent mosques, the odd palace and Khan al-Khalili, Cairo’s most famous souk
  
  
• Visit the Pyramids at Giza, on the southwest fringe of the city. Get here early to avoid the crush of other tourists and the heat of the sun. It is possible to hire camels or horses, then approach across the desert, avoiding the crowds
  
  
• The Step Pyramid of Djoser (Zoser, 30km south of Cairo) is the oldest on the planet and attracts far fewer tourists than those at Giza. It is infinitely more satisfying, too, and can easily be coupled with a visit to Memphis, which, 5,000 years ago, was the first capital of Egypt