Cairo

1. 8:00a◆The Giza Pyramids at opening

   On the plateau as the gates open, before the heat and the buses — the Great Pyramid of Khufu, the only surviving Ancient Wonder. Buy the extra ticket to go inside one (claustrophobic, unforgettable).

2. ~10:30a✦The panorama & a camel

   Out to the desert viewpoint where all three pyramids line up, then a short camel or horse ride across the sand for the classic frame.

3. ~11:30a◆The Great Sphinx

   Down to the Sphinx and the Valley Temple — the lion-bodied guardian, smaller than imagined but no less arresting, carved from the living bedrock.

4. ~1:30p●Egyptian lunch

   Koshari — the national bowl of rice, lentils, pasta, and chickpeas under spiced tomato sauce and crisp onions — or grilled kebab and kofta with fresh baladi bread.

5. ~3:30p◆Saqqara & the Step Pyramid

   The Step Pyramid of Djoser — the world's oldest stone pyramid and the prototype for Giza — with vivid tomb reliefs at the necropolis, far quieter than Giza.

6. 8:00p✦9 Pyramids Lounge, on the plateauAnchor table

   Dinner with the floodlit pyramids filling the view — Egyptian mezze and grills at the plateau's own restaurant. Cairo has no Michelin guide, so the marquee table is this once-in-a-lifetime setting; book a pyramid-view table.

Giza demands the early start — go at opening, dress for sun, and agree any camel price firmly before you mount. Saqqara in the afternoon gives you pyramids without the crowds; it's the connoisseur's stop.

1. 9:00a◆The Grand Egyptian Museum

   The vast new museum by the plateau — the complete Tutankhamun treasures together for the first time, the towering Ramses statue, and the grand staircase of kings. Allow several hours; book ahead.

2. ~1:00p●Lunch near the museum

   Refuel with mezze — ful medames (slow-cooked fava beans), taameya (Egyptian fava falafel), and baba ganoush with warm bread.

3. ~2:30p◆The Citadel of Saladin

   The medieval fortress over the city, crowned by the alabaster Mosque of Muhammad Ali — the hazy panorama from its walls takes in the whole sprawl to the pyramids.

4. ~5:00p✦Khan el-Khalili bazaar

   The great medieval souk — brass and lanterns, spices and perfume oils, and a mint tea at the centuries-old El Fishawy café in the alley. Haggle gently.

5. ~7:30p●Old-Cairo dinner

   A rooftop in Islamic Cairo amid the minarets, or grilled pigeon (hamam mahshi) stuffed with spiced rice — a Cairene delicacy — at a classic grill.

The Grand Egyptian Museum is a half-day in itself — book timed tickets and pace it. Islamic Cairo is best in the late-afternoon light; the call to prayer across the minarets at dusk is the city's most stirring sound.

1. ~9:30a◆Coptic Cairo

   The ancient Christian quarter — the Hanging Church suspended over a Roman gate, the Ben Ezra Synagogue, and the lanes of one of the oldest continuously inhabited corners of the city.

2. ~11:30a✦Al-Muizz Street

   A walk down the open-air museum of medieval Islamic architecture — a thousand years of mosques, madrasas, and merchant houses along one storied street.

3. ~1:00p●Lunch in Zamalek

   The leafy island district — a modern Egyptian café or a Levantine spread, a calmer pocket between the river's two channels.

4. ~4:00p✦A felucca on the Nile

   The timeless thing to do in Cairo — drift on a lateen-sailed felucca as the sun lowers over the river that made it all possible. Charter one by the hour.

5. ~7:30p✦A dinner cruise or river-side table

   Dinner on the Nile — a sailing dinner cruise with the city lights on the water, or a grand riverside terrace with mezze and grills.

Cairo's traffic is legendary — keep this day on the relatively walkable island and old quarters and let the river set the pace. The sunset felucca is the city at its most peaceful; agree the price and time first.