Captivating Cairo

See the pyramids in Giza, wander the Khan el Khalili shopping streets, see the churches of Coptic Cairo, head to the top of the Cairo tower for the best views of the city, eat a romantic dinner on one of the many floating restaurants of the River Nile.

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This is the hotel where Michael Palin stayed on his TV travels... The bar is authentic British colonial, perfect for kicking back and relaxing with your guide book before joining the meleee in the streets nearby. Situated in a quieter street near metro connections, this is a conveniently central locale and yet can still be an escape from the traffic. The small lobby is uninspiring, but the lift is a gem. Some rooms are pretty basic and it is worth reserving in advance to get one with private facilities. It's also OK to check the room first - the first they showed me was quite dingy with toilet across the hall - the one I eventually moved into was larger and came with its own bathroom.

The most familiar image of them all, and nonetheless incredible for all of that! A bus up Pyramids Road for a few pence gets you past Sainsburys to the pyramids; do a deal and get yourself a camel, and you're ready. 2700 years old (unreal), the pyramids look stunning from a distance. It's really close up that you begin to appreciate the feat of engineering undertaken by the Ancient Egyptians, when you appreciate the sheer size of the blocks that form the Great Pyramid of Cheops. The Sphinx, with its damaged nose, is less impressive, and the site of the ever-encroaching Cairo is a sacrilege in the Unesco World Heritage world, but you can't have it all. And the camel was fun...

Cross the river into Gezira, and the feel of the place changes. A few minutes walk from Tahrir bridge is the Cairo tower, where a few dollars gets you a ticket to view the whole of Cairo and the silvery trail of the River Nile. Despite Cairo's fearsome reputation for smog, I was lucky enough to see the faint outline of the distant pyramids - small, hazy, but still enough to excite the traveller. I spent a few hours exploring the rest of the island, and the area of Zamalek to the north. This is ex-pat country, with clusters of embassies interspersed with KFC and Pizza Hut. Sooner or later though, you just have to get out to those Pyramids...

This is the place to immerse yourself in Cairo's bustling splendor. The area known as Khan el Khalili is renowned for the bazaars and cafes that fill it. The most famous street is the Muski. I started in the square known as Midan el Husseinn overlooked by the mosque, before plunging in and fighting my way through the crowds. You can buy anything, from tourist tat, to authentic spices and hubbly-bubbly pipes, to underpants that your grandmother wouldn't be seen dead in. To get away from the tourist touters and persistent sales pitch, slip down any side street. A firm "no, thank you" is enough to get the salesmen to back off--after all there are plenty more people around to buy their goods. Petty crime is an issue--keep a firm hand on wallets, cameras and so on, and don't wear flashy jewelery. But, it is pretty safe--I travelled as a blonde woman alone and got very little hassle.