Where to stay in Cairo: the best areas and hotels

Downtown Cairo was laid out in the nineteenth century to look like Paris, and under the grime its boulevards and belle époque façades still do. Tahrir Square and the salmon-pink Egyptian Museum are at its western edge, the bazaar of Khan el-Khalili and the mosques of Islamic Cairo a short taxi ride east, and the Nile Corniche runs down the side.

Along that riverbank, and in leafy, embassy-filled Garden City just to the south, stand most of the city’s famous five-stars. Expect rooftop or terrace pools above the water, spas, a dozen restaurants under one roof and balconies made for watching the river turn gold. The Pyramids are around half an hour away when the traffic behaves. For a first visit, this is the most convenient base in the city.

Zamalek occupies the northern half of Gezira, a long island in the Nile, and it feels like a different city: quiet streets shaded by banyan trees, old villas housing embassies and art galleries, bookshops, bakeries and many of the best restaurants and bars in Cairo. The Opera House and the Cairo Tower are at the southern end of the island.

Two landmark hotels bookend the island, one built around a nineteenth-century royal palace with gardens and a casino, the other a circular tower at the very tip with water on three sides. Across the bridges on the west bank, in Dokki and Giza, are good-value five-stars and all-suite hotels within walking distance of the Opera House. You are a few minutes from Downtown and, usually, a little closer to the Pyramids.

The Pyramids stand on a desert plateau at the western edge of the city, where the suburbs of Giza stop abruptly and the sand begins. Stay here and you can be at the gates when they open, before the heat and the coaches arrive, and then spend the afternoon in the vast new Grand Egyptian Museum a couple of kilometres away.

The most storied address is a nineteenth-century hunting lodge turned palace hotel, whose gardens end almost at the foot of the Great Pyramid. A large modern resort sits directly opposite the museum, and the lanes nearby are full of small guesthouses with rooftop terraces and startling views. Further west, the satellite city of 6th of October has golf resorts with big pools. Central Cairo is a long drive, so don't plan to commute daily.

Heliopolis was built in the early 1900s as a garden city in the desert, and its arcaded boulevards and the eccentric Baron Empain Palace still give it an air of its own. Today it is a prosperous, relatively orderly district north-east of the centre, and its great advantage is the airport, between two and ten minutes away depending on the hotel.

The hotels are big and well equipped, with several pools, a long list of restaurants and, in a couple of cases, direct access to Citystars, one of the largest shopping malls in the country. They make sense at the start or end of a trip, or between a flight and a Nile cruise. Downtown is about 15 to 20 kilometres away.

Maadi, a few miles upriver from the centre, is the leafy suburb where many of Cairo’s expatriates live. Its streets are shaded by big old trees, there are cafés and restaurants on every corner, and the pace is noticeably slower. The hotels line the Maadi Corniche, so rooms and suites come with wide views over the Nile, and some offer apartment-style suites and generous deals for families with children. It is a restful base if you have seen the sights before or are staying a while.

New Cairo is exactly what it sounds like: a planned city of compounds, universities, malls and business parks on the desert plateau east of the old capital. There are no ancient sights, but there is room, and the hotels use it. Think landscaped grounds with lakes and waterfalls, three or more outdoor pools, spas and a choice of restaurants.

It works for families who want a pool day between sightseeing trips, and for anyone visiting the offices nearby. The airport is reasonably close. The Pyramids and Downtown are not, so save this for a stay where relaxing comes first.