Are you headed to Cairo on your Egypt trip? Of course, you are. Most travelers enter Egypt through Cairo International Airport or Sphinx International Airport, but many quickly head out to explore other parts of Egypt, barely giving Cairo a chance. And that’s a shame, because Cairo is totally worth spending more days in.
In this travel guide, we will introduce you to Cairo, Egypt’s hustling and bustling capital city, and reveal to you the best way to spend 4 days in Cairo. This Cairo 4 days itinerary is the ideal plan to get the best of Cairo’s history and culture, while not tiring you too much.
Key Takeaways
- Spend 4 days exploring Cairo’s top sights like the Egyptian Museum, Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM), and the Pyramids of Giza at a relaxed pace.
- Visit Old Cairo to experience both Coptic and Islamic history, including churches, mosques, and the famous Khan El-Khalili Bazaar.
- Stay in central areas like Downtown Cairo or Zamalek for easy access to attractions and a good mix of busy and calm atmospheres.
- Plan for Cairo’s traffic by allowing extra travel time and focus on one or two major sights per day to avoid rushing.
- Key Takeaways
- 5 Things You Need to Know to Book Your Stay in Cairo
- Full Cairo 4 Days Itinerary for Cairo & Giza w/ Costs
- Where to Stay in Cairo
- The Bottom Line
- Frequently Asked Questions
5 Things You Need to Know to Book Your Stay in Cairo
Before you arrive to Cairo, there are a few things you should know to make your experience so much easier. After all, Cairo is a huge, busy city that can be hard to navigate. Luckily for you, we have visited Cairo several times and happen to know exactly how to get around Cairo without losing your mind.
These are five tips and tricks that will help improve your stay in Cairo massively:
- Getting into Egypt: Note that upon arrival to Egypt, you have to obtain a visa on arrival. The visa on arrival allows you to stay in Egypt for up to 30 days. To get your visa on arrival, you will have to fill out an arrival card with your personal information, buy a $25 visa sticker, and then have it stamped by one of the immigration officers.
- How to Get to Cairo: As a foreign tourist, you will probably arrive to Cairo via Cairo International Airport or Sphinx International Airport in Giza. Public transport from the airports is pretty much inexistent and people use ride hailing apps instead. To get to Downtown Cairo, we recommend downloading Uber or InDrive and ordering a ride from there for 200 EGP to 600 EGP.
- How Much to Budget for Cairo: The average tourist would spend about $90 per day while visiting Cairo. If you are on budget, you can spend much closer to $25 per day, while high spender will be closer to $450 per day. For more insight into how much your budget for your Cairo trip should be, check out our article ‘Is Cairo Expensive to Visit?’.
- Where to Stay in Cairo: Cairo is a huge city and accommodations are spread all throughout the city. While the hotels with pyramid views might be enticing, we highly recommend staying in Downtown Cairo for the best base for exploring the city or Zamalek for a central, yet calm, location for your stay.
- How to Plan Your Cairo Visit: When planning your visit to Cairo, account for the dynamics of the city. Cairo is a huge city with traffic reaching suffocating levels during rush hours. Choose 1-2 major sights per day and leave time in-between activities to account for delays and transfers. Consider booking a tour package, if you don’t want to worry about the details of your itinerary.
Full Cairo 4 Days Itinerary for Cairo & Giza w/ Costs
With the groundwork in place, it is now time to ask ourselves: What is the best way to spend 4 days in Cairo? Our full Cairo 4 Days Itinerary for Cairo & Giza not only reveals how to best spend your time in Egypt’s capital city, but also gives you the chance to expand and contract it to explore Cairo at your own pace.
Please note: In the following, we will give costs in the local currency, the Egyptian Pound (EGP). For an easier conversion, you can use the following rates $ 1 US-Dollar (USD )= 47 EGP; 1 Euro (EUR) = 55 EGP (last updated: November 21, 2025).
Day 1: The Egyptian Museum & Downtown Cairo
For your first Cairo day, start right in the heart of the city by paying a visit to the (Old) Egyptian Museum. The Egyptian Museum of Cairo located right next to Tahrir Square in a building from the early 20th century houses the largest collection of Egyptian antiquities in the world, among them some well-preserved royal mummies, and serves as a great introduction into your journey through Ancient Egypt.
The Egyptian Museum opens every day at 9 a.m. Foreign adults pay an entrance fee of 550 EGP, students 275 EGP and children under 6 years enter for free. Plan to spend at least two to three hours in the museum and come early to avoid the masses.
Once you are done at the Egyptian Museum, you can head right over the street into Downtown Cairo’s shopping streets. There, you will not only find plenty of Egyptian food options for lunch, but also some fascinating antiques and book stores along with souvenir stores offering authentic, handmade Egyptian souvenirs. Our personal favourite, Markaz, is located just 10 minutes by foot from the Egyptian Museum and offers some of the most beautiful bags, shawls, pillow cases, tableware and jewelery.
If you haven’t gotten enough yet, we recommend heading to Koshary Abou Tarek for dinner to experience Egypt’s national dish: Koshary. Koshary, a filling mix of carbs such as rice, pasta and lentils is topped with two sauces and roasted onions. At Abou Tarek, an Egyptian classic, you will not only get a filling dinner for less than 50 EGP, but a full show by the servers bringing your dinner.
More Things to Do in Downtown Cairo
- Watch the Nile at Qasr El Nil Bridge
- Escape the chaotic streets at Cinema Radio
- Try Egyptian sweets at Abdel Rahim Koueider
- Try Egyptian beer and wine at Café Riche
- Book a Nile River Cruise for dinner
Day 2: The Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) & The Great Pyramids of Giza
After easing into Cairo on your first day, the second day of your Cairo trip will be a lot more action-packed and exhausting. Once again, we start early to head out to the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) in Giza. For a smooth ride, we recommend ordering an Uber directly to the entrance of the museum.
The Grand Egyptian Museum is Egypt’s newly opened flagship museum that drew the world’s attention upon its official opening on November 1. It houses no less than 100,000 ancient artifacts displayed in state-of-the-art galleries stretching from the massive Grand Hall through the Grand Staircase into 12 extensive main galleries. The massive collection of the Grand Egyptian Museum includes the mask of King Tutankhamun and the Khufu Ships among others.
The Grand Egyptian Museum opens daily, except Saturdays and Wednesdays, at 8:30 a.m. Foreign adults pay an entrance fee of 1,450 EGP, students 730 EGP and children under 6 years enter for free. Plan at least three to four hours to see the main galleries of the museum and make sure to book you ticket for a corresponding time slot in advance.
From the Grand Egyptian Museum, a walkway brings you straight to the gates of the Great Pyramid of Giza, the highlight of your visit to Cairo. The Great Pyramid of Giza is one of the seven wonders of the old world, representing the greatest architectural marvel of the ancient Egyptian civilisation. The Great Pyramid of Khufu shares the Giza pyramid complex with the Pyramid of Khafre and the Pyramid of Menkaure along with some smaller pyramids, the valley temple and the iconic Great Sphinx.
The Giza Plateau opens daily at 7 a.m. Foreign adults pay an entrance fee of 700 EGP, students 350 EGP and children under 6 years enter for free. Note that entry into each pyramid is only possible at an additional cost.
More Things to Do in Giza
- Get a panoramic view of the Giza Plateau
- Have dinner with a view of the Giza Pyramids
- Watch the Pyramid Light Show
- Visit the Saqqara Step Pyramid (First Pyramid of Egypt)
- Visit the Dahshur Pyramid Complex (Bent Pyramid and Red Pyramid)
Day 3: Old Cairo (Islamic Cairo & Coptic Cairo)
While Ancient Egypt dominates the imagination of most tourists visiting Egypt, there is much more to this country than “just” ancient pyramids and mummies. To learn more about Cairo’s medieval history, head to Old Cairo on your third day in the city.
Before the foundation of Cairo, the Nile Delta already held great strategic importance, but power was concentrated in Memphis a little further southwest. Only after the decline of Memphis, the Romans built a fortress called Babylon that would later grow into Cairo.
The newly founded city of Cairo rapidly grew, first giving rise to Coptic Cairo, an early center of the Christian community, and later to Islamic Cairo, in the form of Fustat, just north of thee old Roman fortress. Today, Old Cairo gives you the chance to learn about two religions that remain central in Egyptian life today: Christianity and Islam.
In Coptic Cairo you can find important Christian sites such as the Hanging Church, the Church of St. George as well as the Coptic Museum and the Babylon Fortress. In Islamic Cairo you can find the Amr ibn al-‘As Mosque, the first mosque in Egypt, the Al-Hakim Mosque, the Salah El-Din Citadel, a medieval Islamic-era fortification and the Khan El-Khalili Bazaar.
Between all these medieval sites of Christian and Islamic heritage, the Kahn El-Khalili Bazaar sticks out the most. This open air market has existed since the 14th century and still serves as a major trade hub in Egypt’s ever-growing capital city. At Khan El-Khalili Bazaar you can find everything from everyday items such as clothing, kitchenware and spices to plenty of affordable souvenirs to take back home with you.
More Things to Do in Old Cairo
- Wander through Qalawun Complex
- Smoke a Shisha at Saheb El Sa’ada
- Have a book bound at Abdelzaher’s Atelier
- Visit the Museum of Islamic Art
- Explore the City of the Dead
Day 4: Cairo Tower & Zamalek
After exploring the ancient wonders of Cairo and getting familiar with its medieval history, it is only right to end your visit to Cairo by exploring its more modern facets. For your fourth and last day in Cairo, head to the man-made Nile island of Zamalek for a laid-back day of window shopping, coffee sipping and view enjoying.
Zamalek, a man-made island developed in the mid-19th century, today houses large sports ground and parks along with an affluent neighbourhood with foreign embassies and boutique hotels built along wide tree-lined streets. In between its imposing embassies and quaint hotels, you can find plenty of local businesses from fashion stores to specialty cafés and even bars.
On select days of the year, the Al-Horreya Garden in Zamalek also hosts the Cairo Flea Bazar, a large open-air market that showcases even more local businesses along with some truly awe-inspiring second-hand treasures.
To round off your slow-paced day in Zamalek and your visit to Cairo, we recommend heading to the top of Cairo Tower to get a bird’s eye perspective of the city. The Cairo Tower is one of Cairo’s most famous attractions, offering visitors panoramic views of Cairo at a whopping height of 187 meters. On top of the Cairo Tower you can not only appreciate the staggering size of Greater Cairo, but also dine in a revolving restaurant to bid farewell to Cairo properly.
More Things to Do in Zamalek
- Visit the stadium of Al-Ahly SC
- Browse local fashion at Maison 69
- Sip specialty coffee at Kavun
- Marvel at the splendour of Aisha Fahmy Palace
- Party on one of Zamalek’s docked Nile boats
You have some more time to spare? Check out these bucket list experiences in Egypt to add to your Cairo itinerary.
Where to Stay in Cairo
With its expansive urban sprawl and attractions dotted all throughout the city, it is no easy task to pick the right place to stay in Cairo. Over the last three years, we have stayed at affordable hostel dorms and quaint boutique hotels in Downtown Cairo as well as Giza’s famous pyramid view hotels.
With our past experiences in mind, there are the best places to stay in Cairo:
Downtown Cairo
Staying in Downtown Cairo not only puts you in walking distance of the Egyptian Museum and plenty of local restaurants and bars, but also serves as a great base to explore other sights in Cairo from. From there, you have fast access to the city’s highway and metro system, albeit with longer delays during rush hours. In Downtown Cairo, you can find many affordable hostel and some boutique and luxury hotels.
Zamalek
Zamalek, a man-made island on the Nile River, is an affluent district of Cairo that is primarily know for its quieter vibe, tree-lined streets and boutique stores and cafés. In Zamalek, you can get away from the chaos of Cairo’s streets and visit Cairo Tower, while still being close to the city center and the metro system. In Zamalek, you can find plenty of quaint boutique hotels and some luxury hotels with new ones constantly popping up.
Maadi
For a laid-back residential feel, we recommend staying in Maadi. Similarly to Zamalek, Maadi is a quieter, greener and more organised alternative to Cairo’s central districts. It is a great option for those looking for more Western-style restaurants and bars and an outgoing community of locals and expats. The big downside of Maadi is its distance to the city center. When staying in Maadi, you will have to plan a lot more time to get to any of Cairo’s attractions.
Garden City
As its name already implies, Garden City is yet another centrally located green escape from Cairo’s chaotic streets. Located right on the banks of the Nile, Garden City once again scores with a quieter atmosphere and tree-lined winding streets. Contrary to Zamalek and Maadi, however, Garden City is less lively and mostly home to upscale residences and luxury hotels as opposed to hostels and boutique hotels.
Giza
Located on the West Bank of the Nile River, Giza is technically its own city, though it is part of Greater Cairo. In Giza, you will find plenty of cheap hotels offering pyramid views. While some of these offers are worth it, many of them will lead you to some back alley of Giza’s chaotic urban sprawl. While this is not necessarily a negative, it will mean that you are further away from restaurants and bars and lesser connected to other sights apart from the Giza Pyramids.
For each of Cairo’s best hotel districts, these are the hotels we recommend you to stay in at three different price points:
| District | Affordable Hostels | Boutique Hotels | Luxury Hotels |
| Downtown Cairo | Dahab Hostel | Downtown Antique Hotel | The Nile Ritz-Carlton |
| Zamalek | Zamalek X Hostel | Longchamps Hotel | Sofitel Cairo |
| Maadi | – | – | Villa Belle Epoque |
| Garden City | Hostel Layla | Elegance Grand City Hotel | Four Seasons Cairo at Nile Plaza |
| Giza | Crowne Pyramids View Inn | Galaxy Pyramids View Inn | Marriott Men House Hotel |
The Bottom Line
From its expansive museums and awe-inspiring historical sites, to its lively bazaars and green refuges, Cairo really has it all. With our 4-day Cairo itinerary you will not only experience all facets of Egyptian history from Ancient Egypt to its modern counterpart, but also get the chance to do it at your own pace. Follow the red thread of 1-2 main attractions per day and add extra activities as you like. With that being said, there is little more left for us to say, so we’ll let Cairo tell the interesting stories from hereon.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is 4 days in Cairo enough?
Yes, 4 days in Cairo is enough to get a general idea of Ancient Egypt, Coptic and Islamic Egypt and modern Egypt. To get a more in-depth understanding of Egyptian civilization, however, we recommend staying for a longer time.
What to do in Egypt in 4 days?
Staying in Egypt for 4 days gives you enough time to explore Egypt’s capital, Cairo, including the Pyramids of Giza, the Great Sphinx and the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM). If you are not too exhausted, you can also do a day trip to the coastal city of Alexandria, which is a 2.5-hour ride away from Cairo.
Do and don’ts in Cairo?
Explore the ancient world of Egypt by visiting the Egyptian Museum, the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) and the Giza Pyramid Complex. Avoid paying for camel rides at the pyramid complex, however, as animal welfare organisations have repeated identified serious cases of malnourishment and animal abuse there.
Can you go to Egypt for 4 nights?
Yes, you can absolutely go to Egypt for 4 nights. Whether you visit Egypt for a prolonged weekend or use it as a stopover on a longer trip, the city of Cairo has lots to offer for a 4 day trip. Some of Cairo’s best sights include the Egyptian Museum, the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM), the Giza pyramid complex, Coptic Cairo, Islamic Cairo and the Zamalek district with Cairo Tower.
Wadi Tribe 