Cairo holidays

Don’t miss the bargain-hunter’s paradise of Khan el-Khalili Bazaar, a web of narrow alleyways crammed with haggle-happy copper, gold and silver sellers.

Cairo Festival City Mall is the go-to spot if you’re after familiar faces from home. The likes of Marks and Spencer, H&M and Zara all have a presence here.

Head to the Citystars Mall on the edge of Cairoif you’re looking for some new designer threads. This place is dripping with upmarket stores, including the likes of Calvin Klein, Armani and Ralph Lauren.

Head to one of the many ahwas across the city for laidback nights. These traditional coffee shops are where the locals go to smoke shisha and drink Arabic blends. Alcohol doesn’t play a big part in Egyptian nightlife, but most of the major hotels serve well-known branded drinks in their bars.

Cairo’s liveliest nightspots are dotted all over the city and some of them stay open ‘til sunrise. You’ll find a small cluster in the Downtown district.

This bean stew dish is typically served at breakfast, and you can grab it from street stalls and restaurants across the city. It consists of fava beans stewed with tahini and seasoned with garlic, cumin, and lemon, and it’s often served with bread and salad.

This dish is a national favourite, and it’s a mix of rice, lentils, macaroni, chickpeas, fried onions and a spicy tomato sauce.

This dish has been an Egyptian favourite for centuries. The main ingredient is pigeon, which is stuffed with a mixture of wheat or rice, onions, cinnamon, cumin, and nuts, then grilled or roasted until the skin is a crispy golden-brown colour.

This dessert translates to ‘Ali’s Mother’, and while the origins of the name are up for debate, it definitely has a warm and homely feel to it. The dessert itself is a bread pudding made of pastry blended with nuts, raisins, coconut, cinnamon, cream and plenty of sugar. It’s pretty similar to bread pudding in the UK, but it’s a bit lighter and milkier.

This traditional street food is a mix between a pie and a sandwich. Pitta bread’s stuffed with minced meat and flavoured with a mix of peppers, onions, parsley and chillies. It’s then roasted in a wooden oven and served crispy with pickled vegetables on the side.