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Commercial district of Cairo, Egypt
Photo: Flickr user: Tinou Bao https://www.flickr.com/photos/tinou/, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Downtown Cairo is the commercial heart of the modern city of Cairo. In addition to hosting the Egyptian Museum, Downtown is the convenient location of many smaller hotels, retail outlets, travel agencies and restaurants. Its central location makes it a natural "jumping off point" for exploration of the city.
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The museum is in a pink neoclassical building on the northern edge of Midan Tahrir. It's the product of the Egyptian Antiquities Service, established by the Egyptian government in 1835, to try to curb the looting of antiquities sites and artefacts. It opened in 1858 with a collection assembled by Auguste Mariette Pasha, the French archaeologist employed by Isma'il Pasha. After residing in an annex of the Bulaq palace in Giza from 1880, the museum moved in 1900 to its present location. It's a glorious ramshackle treasure-house that evokes Dylan Thomas' famous line about "The museum which should have been in a museum!" While many of the treasures have since been moved to the new Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza, this is still a rich collection and well worth seeing.
Collections are showcased on the lower floors in the Silver Museum, the Arms Museum, the Royal Family Museum, and the Presidential Gifts Museum, and the Historical Documents Museum was added in 2006. The palace, designed in the 1800s by a French architect, is worth seeing including the fountain courtyard.
An art gallery
Established in 1858 under authority of Khedive Tawfiq, the museum showcases pieces from mosques, homes, and palaces in Islamic Cairo.
This museum holds a plethora of historical exhibits relating to all things postal, from the history of the post system dating back to the time of the Pyramids to extensive stamp collections.
For readers of Alaa al Aswani's best-selling book The Yacoubian Building. You can see the Yacoubian Building on Talaat Harb St where it still stands and where the story was based, although in the book it is referred to by its old name of Soliman Pasha St.
Champollion Palace
Now derelict, this once beautiful building is worth a look for its beautiful architecture, baroque and classical archways. Built in 1896 by designer Antonio Lasciac from imported Italian marbles and stone. This once beautiful palace and gardens are a reminder of the 'Glory days of Cairo'. The building was nationalized by President Nasser, and eventually transformed into Al Nassareya Boys School, which quickly destroyed the beautiful building.
At the eastern end of Ramses Station, this museum houses an amazing collection of steam locomotives, including that used by Empress Eugenie during her opening of the Suez Canal in 1863.
El Fatah
Completed in the early 1990s, this beautiful mosque is worth taking a look at.
This large synagogue opened in 1899 and was built in a style evoking ancient Egyptian temples.
A fantastic way to spend an afternoon with the kids. The Cairo Puppet Theatre puts on a variety of shows including myths, fairy tales and fun children's stories.
Lectures are held every Wednesday evening at 6PM during the academic year, open to all visitors, admission free.
Local take-away with incredible good pizza and Egyptian dishes. Pizza is for LE25.
There are big crowds and queues outside but for good reason. The staff makes a real effort to speak English to help you order and receive vour food after waiting. Both the sharwama and the rice are tasty.
Fast food restaurant, done Egyptian style. Usually very busy packed with locals, but very good food at a very non-tourist price. Good fuul and falafel. Large restaurant on 26th July St, just off Talaat Harb St, in downtown Cairo. They also offer a large schawerma 'Doner kebab sandwich' .
Koshary is a filling pasta, tomato sauce, dried onions, chickpeas, lenses dish, and this restaurant is quite famous beyond Cairo for it and its speedy waiters. Rice with mild seems to be quite famous in combination (after) koshary.
Popular koshari chain, serves koshari in various sizes though the small (1.4 kg/3 lb) is a good size portion. You can add hot sauce or a lemon sauce. Eat-in or takeaway.
Decent and inexpensive Koshari.
On Midan Tahrir Sq. Delivery 19066. Free Wifi.
The place is nostalgic of good old times. It's cozy and a bit quirky. Nice decorations. The crunchy bread slices are unique. It's a woman-run business. The shrimp stuffed fillet is delicious.
مطعم وكافيه اولدش
Tasty Egyptian meals. Besides the Oriental breakfast, they also offer English breakfast. Cozy, romantic, stylish place.
مطعم وحديقه الجريون
This is a warm and charming old-school restaurant. Serving traditional plates like mixed grill, fatoush and tahine salad, etc. Serves alcohol (beer) and shisha. Mains are around US$10 and soups & salads are US$3. Old songs are played. Many foreigners. Doesn't accept Visa.
Mostly frequented by liberal and leftist Egyptians rather than Greeks, this is one of the best restaurants in Downtown Cairo. The Greek food offered is limited and the menu often erratic, but the dishes they do have in supply are very good and cheap. Alcohol (including imported spirits) is served and it's possible to just have a drink. Some of the best Kofte in Cairo. Closes down completely during Ramadan.
Serving fondues, and other traditional Swiss dishes, pizza, salads and patisseries, this is one of the better continental restaurants in Downtown Cairo.
An old-school restaurant, it's been around since 1962, serving Egyptian food.
Modern coffee chain, serves salad, sandwiches, etc.
Modern coffee-chain that also serves sandwiches, salads, etc. Wi-Fi available, credit cards accepted.
Modern coffee chain that also serves desserts and some sandwiches
Ramsis Hilton
Exotic Indian dining experience.
Reportedly the best Thai food in Cairo.
Lots of coffee shops and lots of atmosphere.
The cafes in the shaded alleys to the east and rear of the wrongly named Champollion Palace provide a lovely shaded respite from the noise of the city.
This roof-top open-air hotel bar is also a restaurant, but most visitors prefer just to drink or have shisha. Beer (Stella or Saqqara) is LE15. Very popular among backpackers and foreign students. Open during Ramadan. Nice place to sit and have a drink, but poor service.
Ramsis Hilton Hotel
Atmospheric British-style pub with warm cosy atmosphere. Local and imported alcohol, moderate prices.
كافيه وبار الحرية
While noisy and crowded, this classic baladi bar (the Cairene take on a dive bar) is one of very few left in the city centre.
Things are not particularly clean, but the staff is generally nice. Free wifi. Rooms with and without bathroom available. A nice terrace is a meeting point especially in the night.
Dahab Hotel
This low-key, basic hostel is popular with the "no frills" travelers who want a basic room redolent of a Dahab beach experience in the big city and not much else. The Dahab is basically a collection of rooms on a garden rooftop in the Downtown area.
Comfortable air-conditioned accommodation for long or short term stay for work or study. Free WiFi, and laundry and kitchen facilities, are provided. Many rooms have balconies with partial view of the Nile.
Nice clean rooms, Friendly staff and AlTahrir Kosheri is just around the corner. Centrally located but hard to find. Just past the KFC and Radioshack, on the third floor.
Budget style hotel on the lower end of the scale. Lift broken, no bathroom in room. Central Cairo, WiFi is available free of charge
This is a cozy new hostel located directly across from the Egyptian Museum, with views of the Nile. The inside is colorful, with very friendly staff. Many of the rooms come with balconies. Free WiFi. They offer a good continental breakfast with drip coffee.
Friendly staff, breakfast included, internet and printer access, free WiFi, rooms with bathroom and AC. 24h/day rooftop restaurant with a peaceful atmosphere, billard table and satellite TV.
A new hotel in Cairo. Situated in downtown near the Orabi Metro station. Nice clean rooms with high ceilings and large windows. A large common room with a balcony is perfect for hanging out at the end of the day. Free breakfast, wireless internet and hot drinks throughout the day.
It's next to the Egyptian Museum and Nile, and a great place to start exploring the city. The rooms are comfortable and the staff are friendly though somewhat unprofessional. The common room offers fantastic floor to ceiling windows for wonderful views of the city. You may be able to haggle for better prices.
Hotel Osiris is a small, 17-room hotel on the top floor of a building near Bab el-Louk Square, and is a five minute walk from Midan Tahrir. The hotel provides clean rooms, some with private bathrooms.
Walid and his staff are great.
It's on the western edge of Midan Tahrir, close to the Egyptian Museum. It was built on the site of the former barracks of the British garrison of Empire days. This branch of the Hilton chain was the first major international hotel to be built in Cairo after the war. Very convenient for transport connections, for the Egyptian Museum and for Downtown.
Opened in 1987, the Semiramis is one of Cairo's premier hotels. Contains the Bird Cage Thai restaurant and Sabaya Lebanese restaurant.
The outside of the hotel may not be impressive, but this 25-room hotel provides clean, nicely decorated rooms, private marble bathrooms, air conditioning, free internet, and breakfast. The staff is friendly and helpful, providing high-end service.
Housed in a large, modern, purpose-built tower, the Ramses Hilton has great views from its upper floors, but lacks any real character. Still, the standards are what you would expect from the Hilton chain - as are the prices! Contains a business center, fitness center, outdoor pool, various restaurants and bars.
Mostly Arabic bookstore with a range of political literature and other books.
A large iconic Egyptian, 150-year-old department store. Sadly, filled with Chinese and poorly made Egyptian clothing even now since its privatization and takeover by the Gulf Kuwaiti Sultan Centre Company.
This once family-owned department store was nationalized in 1961 and now has the neglected feeling of an East German department store. It has 3 floors and has a grand sweeping staircase, and a glass roofed atrium worth seeing for that alone, if you like old architectural building designs. Sells very cheap fabrics on the 2nd floor where you can buy shirts, blouses, and curtain material and have made up by one of Cairo's many tailors.
The best street to bargain hunt for clothes and other goods. Don't be afraid to haggle; watch how the locals do it.
Located on Midan Talaat Harb, Shorouk has two floors with a good selection of Arabic- and English-language books.
Most famous for its downstairs fast food restaurants. Many cheap clothes stores are also in the vicinity of the mall which is located just above Midan Talaat Harb.
Over 100 new and second hand book stalls all displayed in little Arabesque kiosks. Every type of book and magazine available in many languages. Usually hassle free and sellers are content to let you browse in peace. Always bargain, and the price will come down the more you buy. Very old books and classics up to newly released novels and magazines. A great place to find treasures and find a few books for your trip. Visit Mahmoud at kiosks 83 and 84 for a great selection of used English books and a fair price. Many books are under LE10 each.
Hill House Campus AUC Tahrir
Great bookstore just minutes away from Cairo Museum in the AUC Hill House campus. Excellent selection of new books and all the usual Egyptian authors' works can be found there amongst the latest releases.
Large old mall mainly selling computers, second-hand PCs and laptops, and computer accessories with some clothing and footwear stores and a few airline offices. Toilets on each of the 4 floors.
By metro
Cairo's three metro lines converge in downtown. The Sadat metro station is at Midan Tahrir, right beside the Egyptian Museum.
By bus
The Abdel Mo'nem Riyad bus station: a 5-minute walk from Tahrir Sq and behind the Egyptian Museum has four coach stations:
By taxi
From downtown, taxis from Zamalek should cost around LE5, and from Citadel, Coptic Cairo or Islamic Cairo around LE10.
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Cairo · International · CAI
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