Caïro

[vakman]

Good evening

Are here any members who stayed in Cairo for a trip?

I am thinking about
St.Regis
Or one of the 2 four seasons.

Any experiances with these hotel?
And other tips for Cairo.

Thanks.

[omar10213245]

Cairo is crowded, noisy and the smog is unbelievably bad. Go down to Hurghada, a red sea coast resort town about a 5 hr drive south of Cairo, if you want to experience a relaxing time in Egypt

[piratfisk]

Haven't been to Cairo, but two colleagues have. They both said "the food was good, but the city itself is a dump."

[Watchdoyouwant?]

Other than the Egypt Museum and the Pyramid complex, I did not enjoy Cairo. No disrespect, but the other posters' comments are apt.

Luxor (a distance away) and Petra (a greater distance away) were far more impressive in my opinion.

[Calatrava r]

Enjoy your trip and hopefully it is better than the others posters had.

[vakman]

Wel I am only going for a weekend to visit the piramids.

Crowded and noisey are part of the experience i think.

[Maleg]

Originally Posted by vakman

Wel I am only going for a weekend to visit the piramids.

Crowded and noisey are part of the experience i think.

When I went to Cairo you could see the the air. It smelled of burning rubber and tasted metallic. A decidedly unhealthy environment. Traffic is worse than India, which is saying something. I stayed at the Semiramus Intercon on the Nile and had a pleasant stay.

The pyramids themselves were a disappointment compared to other antiquities in the world. Merely a pile of stones surrounded by sand and throngs of onlookers. None of the interesting egyptology resides with the pyramids. Those items have all been long removed. The best are viewed in western museums, but the Egyptian museum downtown is worth the visit.

[Sjmoore11]

My advice is get in, see the pyramids, and get out. I have to say it’s one of the least favourite cities I have visited.

The Nile Ritz Carlton seemed very nice. I stayed at a cheap hole in the wall nearby but spent a couple of dinners and evenings at the Ritz.

[vakman]

Yes thats the idea, going from friday til sunday.

[Xenophon]

I've been to Cairo a couple of times and it's one of my favourite cities in the world being so vibrant and colourful. It's a blend of Africa, Asia and Europe and fantastic but don't expect a sanitised Disney World experience. I recommend a visit to the Khan-al-Khalili the largest covered market in Africa and while you're there have a coffee and shisha at Al Fishwari's cafe which has been open 24 hours a day for well over 150 years. I stayed in a private residence so can't really say which hotel is best. Enjoy your trip, I'm jealous

[Jackie Daytona]

Always wanted to visit Egypt and see the pyramids. I would love to take a cruise down the Nile hitting multiple sites. No real helpful insight, just wishing you a great trip. Sounds like it would be really neat.

[BNA/LION]

We are going on the Viking Pharaohs and Pyramids Nile River Cruise later this year and they have us book at the Sheraton Ciaro Hotel & Casino for a night before we board the ship.

Check to see if the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) is open. Scheduled to fully open early Spring. If we are Lucky it will be open before we go.

Have Fun and Enjoy your trip!

[ejell]

We did a 3 week trip to Egypt in October. In Cairo we were at the Mariott omar khayyam casino. The hotel was pretty mid but it wasn't too expensive and was in a great location. The other hotels mentioned here were probably nicer.

It was incredibly easy and cheap to get around using uber. We did a food tour around tharir square, I would have to look up the company but it was pretty good.

It is loud, busy, dirty. For being such a large city I was not surprised and didn't think it was beyond what I had expected. Being bothered by people really only happened in the bazaar, if you've been in the middle east it's nothing new.

We had a good experience at the pyramids however, we had a large enough group to hire a company to take us with an Egyptologist and enough people to keep the scammers at bay (a guy in a suit with a Mac 10 under his jacket). Others have not had such a good experience there.

The Roof Garden at the top of the Carlton Hotel isn't bad, there are probably better ones however it was nice and the art deco hotel was cool.

We spent a few days in Hurghada as another poster had mentioned, it was fine. Egypts version of resorts that you might find in Mexico that are instead full of Germans and Russians. We had a good time. Go up north of the city to El Gouna instead if you can, very nice and great restaurants. May not be a spectacular time to be on the Red Sea however I doubt you would have any issues.

Spent a few days in Luxor and that was much louder busier than I would have thought. We stayed at djorff palace on the West side of the river and that was fairly quiet.

We did a nile cruise on the Nour El Nil (light of the Nile) which was pretty relaxing as they use sailboats that are followed by small tugs that pull you into ports, or just along the shore.

We didn't get to spend much time in Aswan but seemed like a pretty chill city. Would have liked to have spent more time there.

[vakman]

Thanks for the info. We are going in May only have to make a choice for the hotel.

[vakman]

It was great! Really liked the crazy trafic and it was going back 50 years in time.
Didn’t feel unsafe also.

[Maleg]

Originally Posted by vakman

It was great! Really liked the crazy trafic and it was going back 50 years in time.
Didn’t feel unsafe also.

Where did you stay?

[Cru Jones]

We stayed at the Sofitel Cairo Nile El Gezirah in December 2022. I had a positive experience.

The Pyramids + Egyptian Museum make for a very memorable couple of days. Yes the city is dirty and noisy, but that's part of the experience.