Cairo · Egypt
Egypt's medieval capital: Coptic churches inside a Roman fortress, Saladin's Citadel and the Mamluk mosques of Islamic Cairo. Climb to the Hanging Church, hear the call to prayer roll across the Citadel, then bargain for brass lanterns in Khan el-Khalili.
Independent guideTickets and experiences hand-picked by our editors.
Tours
In the centre, the 4-hour private tour with over a thousand reviews. Either side, a full day with nine stops and a private guided day that adds Sultan Hassan. Every card opens a full tour page.
Most stops
★ 4.56 hoursFree cancellationNine stops in one day, from the Hanging Church and Ben Ezra to Sultan Hassan and the Muhammad Ali Mosque. The base price buys a car and an audio guide; a live guide costs extra.
Most booked
★ 4.84 hoursFree cancellationThe quickest private way to see all three faces of Old Cairo: the Coptic churches, the Muhammad Ali Mosque on the Citadel and the bazaar. Guide and tickets are options.
Top rated
★ 4.96 to 8 hoursFree cancellationA full private day with a guide: the Citadel, Sultan Hassan and Al-Rifai, three Coptic churches, Ben Ezra Synagogue and the bazaar. Entry fees and lunch are options.
Budget
★ 4.66 hours
Coptic
★ 4.64 hours
Night
★ 4.84 to 5 hours
Shortest
★ 5.02 to 3 hours
Walking
★ 4.85 hours
All-in
★ 4.86 hours
Cave Church
★ 4.96 hoursCompare
Three questions sort it out. Do you want a guide, or just a driver? Are the entry fees in the price? And do you want the Coptic quarter, the Citadel, the bazaar, or all three?
| Tour | Where | Entry fees | Best for | Length | From | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Private 4-Hour Coptic Cairo, Citadel and Khan | Coptic Cairo, Citadel, Khan el-Khalili | Optional add-on | A first look at all three quarters | 4 hours | $14 | Book |
| Full-Day Coptic and Islamic Cairo Tour | Coptic Cairo, Citadel, Sultan Hassan, Khan | Not included | The most stops for the money | 6 hours | $20 | Book |
| Private Citadel, Coptic and Islamic Cairo Day | Citadel, Sultan Hassan, Coptic Cairo, Khan | Optional add-on | A full day with a live guide | 6 to 8 hours | $60 | Book |
| Private Day in Islamic and Coptic Cairo | Coptic Cairo, Citadel, Sultan Hassan, Khan | Optional add-on | Budget private day, audio guide | 6 hours | $15 | Book |
| Guided Day with Entry Fees Included | Coptic Cairo, Citadel, Sultan Hassan, Khan | Included | No options to untangle | 6 hours | $85 | Book |
| Citadel, Cave Church and Khan el-Khalili | Citadel, Cave Church, Khan el-Khalili | Optional add-on | Citadel plus the Cave Church | 6 hours | $82 | Book |
| Coptic Cairo and the Cave Church | Coptic Cairo, Cave Church (Mokattam) | Free sites | Churches and the Cave Church | 4 hours | $15 | Book |
| Khan el-Khalili and Al-Muizz Street | Al-Azhar, Al-Muizz Street, Khan el-Khalili | Free sites | A short bazaar visit | 2 to 3 hours | $15 | Book |
| Islamic Cairo Walk with Al-Azhar Mosque | Al-Muizz Street, Al-Azhar, Khan el-Khalili | Not included | Walkers, medieval streets | 5 hours | $25 | Book |
| Night Tour: Khan, Dinner and a Felucca | Nile felucca, Khan el-Khalili, El Fishawy | Included | An evening with dinner | 4 to 5 hours | $39 | Book |
Private tours price per person by group size: the from-price is the largest-group rate, and a couple or solo traveller pays more per head. Official 2026 entry for a foreign adult: Citadel EGP 550, Sultan Hassan and Al-Rifai EGP 220, Coptic churches free. Free cancellation up to 24 hours before on every tour.
Before you book
"Old Cairo" on a tour listing means two places. Coptic Cairo is the Christian and Jewish quarter in the south, built inside the walls of the Roman fortress of Babylon: the Hanging Church, Abu Serga, Ben Ezra Synagogue and the Coptic Museum, all within a few minutes' walk. Islamic Cairo is the medieval city to the north-east, from Saladin's Citadel on its hill to the mosques of Al-Muizz Street and the lanes of Khan el-Khalili.
The difference matters when you pay. Coptic Cairo is easy alone: the metro stops at its gate and the churches are free. Islamic Cairo is spread over several kilometres of Cairo traffic, and its mosques, madrasas and gates make little sense without someone to read them for you. That is where a driver and a guide earn their money.
Egyptian pounds, about 20 US cents: the metro fare from Tahrir to Mar Girgis, the station right outside the Coptic quarter. No tour needed for that part.
Not in compact Coptic Cairo. In Islamic Cairo, yes: the sites are far apart and full of stories.
Citadel EGP 550, Sultan Hassan and Al-Rifai EGP 220, the Coptic churches nothing.
Shoulders and knees covered. Women need a scarf in mosques, and shoes come off.
Friday midday, when mosques close to visitors for the noon prayer.
Your day
Four hours covers the highlights at a trot. Six to eight lets you step inside Sultan Hassan and linger on Al-Muizz.
Your driver and guide wait in the lobby with a sign. Central Cairo and Giza hotels are usually included.
8 to 9 a.m.The Hanging Church, Abu Serga and Ben Ezra, inside the walls of Roman Babylon. All free to enter.
1 to 1.5 hoursThe Muhammad Ali Mosque and the terrace view over the city, then Sultan Hassan and Al-Rifai below.
1.5 to 2 hoursLanterns, spice stalls and mint tea at El Fishawy, with Al-Muizz Street and Al-Azhar a short walk away.
1 to 2 hoursPlan your trip
Official tickets, what tours really cost, the dress code and getting around: one tab each.
Where it happens
Pickups: hotels in downtown Cairo, Zamalek and Giza (extra from the airport, New Cairo and Nasr City on several tours)
Old Cairo is not one spot. Coptic Cairo sits by the Nile in the south, next to the Mar Girgis metro station. The Citadel crowns a spur of the Mokattam hills to the east, with Sultan Hassan and Al-Rifai at its foot. Al-Muizz Street, Al-Azhar and Khan el-Khalili form the old walled city further north. A private tour links all three by car, which is the main thing you pay for.
Around your trip
Timing, what guests wish they had known, Fridays and Ramadan, and the fine print.
The city of a thousand minarets
Pick the quarters you want, then pick your date.
Check availabilityGuest reviews
★★★★★As a solo female traveller this was an easy way to get a good introduction to Cairo. The driver, Mahmoud was excellent and very kind. The guide, Ehab was extremely knowledgeable and explained everything in detail.
★★★★★Interesting and informative tour of early churches in Cairo. [...] I was moved by what I saw, especially at Church of Saint Simon.
★★★★★A very educational tour of mosques & churches (& 1 synagogue) in Cairo. Ahmed, our guide, was very good & took his time explaining the historical significance of all of the sites we went to [...]
★★★★★We managed to see a lot of things in 4 hours on our tour of Old Cairo, the Citadel and the souk. Our guide, Ahmed, explained the historical significance of the places we visited thoroughly and added lots of interesting anecdotes!
★★★★★Ahmed was an excellent tour guide. The experience exceeded expectations, from the pick up to the dinner and market treats. We saw things we would not have otherwise seen [...]
★★★★★Ishaq was a great guide and explained the history of each place really well. I was really impressed by the Muhammad Ali mosque in particular. We were able to take our time and never felt rushed.
★★★★★Abdu, our guide was amazing. He took us on a thorough tour of Islamic sites / the market, and was able to answer all our questions. It felt like we were spending our time with a friend, rather than a guide.
★★★★★It was the highlight of our Cairo trip! Abduo was the best guide you could wish for. Looking around the architecture of old Cairo with a knowledgable guide was amazing.
★★★★★I loved this tour! What a peek into life in Cairo - the streets were chaotic and overwhelming and we LOVED it.
Slower, on foot
A shared three-hour walk down Al-Muizz Street with every entrance and the koshary included.
Three hours on foot down Al-Muizz Street from the Bab al-Futuh gate, into Bayt al-Suhaymi and the Qalawun complex, with zalabya, koshary and every entrance fee included.
Small groupEntries includedStreet food
The guide
Cairo is a modern megacity of more than 20 million people, but its old heart is still there, layer on layer. Here is how to read it before you book.
Long before the Arab conquest, the Romans kept a fortress called Babylon at a crossing of the Nile. Its round towers still stand by the Mar Girgis metro station, and the Coptic community built its churches into and around the walls. The Hanging Church takes its name from sitting on top of the old gatehouse; you climb a flight of steps to reach it. Next door, Abu Serga keeps the crypt where tradition says the Holy Family sheltered, and Ben Ezra Synagogue is where scholars found the Cairo Geniza, a vast hoard of medieval Jewish manuscripts. In 641 the Arab army camped just north of here, and the Mosque of Amr ibn al-As, the first in Egypt, still marks the spot.
Saladin began the Citadel in 1176, and Egypt was ruled from this hill for about 700 years. The domes you see on every postcard belong to a latecomer: Muhammad Ali's mosque, finished in 1848 in an Ottoman style, with 84-metre minarets and a French clock that Louis-Philippe sent in exchange for the obelisk now in the Place de la Concorde. Below the walls, the Mosque-Madrasa of Sultan Hassan, built from 1356, is the one architects rave about: a single courtyard with four huge vaulted halls, one for each school of Sunni law. Al-Rifai opposite looks as old but was finished in 1912 and holds royal tombs.
The Fatimids founded Cairo proper in 969, a walled city with Al-Muizz Street as its spine. Walk it from the Bab al-Futuh gate in the north and you pass the Qalawun complex, the madrasa of Sultan Barquq and Ottoman merchant houses like Bayt al-Suhaymi, until the lanes thicken into Khan el-Khalili, a bazaar since 1382. Al-Azhar Mosque, founded in 970, is across the main road. The street is free to walk; one EGP 220 ticket opens nine of its monuments. Go late in the afternoon and stay for dusk, when the facades are lit and the cafes fill.
Start early. The Coptic quarter is calm before 10 a.m., the Citadel terrace is cooler, and you avoid the worst of the traffic between districts. Skip Friday midday for the mosques, and in summer save the bazaar for the evening. Four hours is enough for one taste of each quarter; give it a full day if Sultan Hassan and Al-Muizz matter to you, and they should.
Guides
In-depth guides to the questions people ask most before booking. See all guides.
Tour pricesWhat a couple really pays, with options and tickets decoded.Coptic CairoMetro, free churches, the museum and the Cave Church.
Citadel ticketsEGP 550, card only: what the ticket covers and when to go.
Al-Muizz and the KhanThe unified ticket, a walking route and how to bargain.Guide or DIYMetro, driver, audio guide or Egyptologist: which fits.Mosque dress codeScarves, robes, shoes and when mosques close.From the blog
Ticket changes, Ramadan dates and news from the old city. All posts.
FAQ
Straight answers to what people ask most about touring Old Cairo.
Listings start at $14 to $20 per person, but that is the rate for a larger group on the cheapest option, often a car and driver with no guide and no tickets. A couple or a solo traveller pays more per head, so enter your party size on Viator to see your real price. Tours with a guide and every entry fee included start at $82 to $85. The price guide breaks it down.
Usually only if you pick that option. A foreign adult pays EGP 550 at the Citadel (the Muhammad Ali Mosque is included) and EGP 220 for Sultan Hassan and Al-Rifai together, about $15 in all. The Coptic churches and Ben Ezra Synagogue charge nothing. The night tour and the street food walk include every entry.
Yes, easily. Take Metro Line 1 to Mar Girgis: the station sits right outside the Coptic quarter, and the fare from Tahrir is EGP 10. The Hanging Church, Abu Serga and Ben Ezra are free; only the Coptic Museum charges (EGP 280). See the Coptic Cairo guide.
For most people, yes. The Citadel, Sultan Hassan, Al-Azhar and Khan el-Khalili lie kilometres apart in heavy traffic, and the buildings make far more sense with someone explaining them. A driver alone solves the logistics, not the history. Compare a guide, a driver or going alone.
Shoulders and knees covered for everyone, and a scarf over the hair for women. Shoes come off at the door, so wear a pair that slips off easily, and keep a few small notes for the shoe-keeper. Details in what to wear in Cairo's mosques.
Yes, except during the noon prayer, roughly 11:30 to 13:30, when visitors are kept out. On a Friday, see the churches or the Citadel walls at midday and save the mosques for the afternoon.
Four hours gives you one stop in each quarter at a brisk pace. A full day of six to eight hours lets you go inside Sultan Hassan, see three churches and Ben Ezra, and walk part of Al-Muizz Street. Keep an evening for Khan el-Khalili, which is at its best after dark.
It is crowded rather than dangerous: keep your phone and wallet in a front pocket. The real risk is the bill. Commission shops, "free gift" lures and fake papyrus are the classic traps. Offer 30 to 50 percent of the first price and be ready to walk away. More in the Al-Muizz and Khan el-Khalili guide.
At the Citadel you must: the ticket office has been card-only since 2023. Carry small Egyptian pound notes anyway, for shoe-keepers, toilet attendants and tips. One guest's advice: bring some 50s for the toilets.
The Monastery of St Simon the Tanner, carved into the Mokattam cliffs above the Zabbaleen district, where Cairo's Coptic rubbish collectors live. Its main church seats about 20,000 and entry is free. Taxis sometimes refuse the drive in, so most visitors go with a tour such as Coptic Cairo and the Cave Church.
Every tour on this site cancels for a full refund up to 24 hours before the start.
Ready to book
Hotel pickup on every private tour, and free cancellation up to 24 hours before.
More: Coptic Cairo and the Cave Church · the night tour with a felucca · a street food walk
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