Ibn Tulun Mosque
Credit: Anton Aleksenko
CAIRO
MORE THAN PYRAMIDS
The Great Pyramid of Giza and the Great Sphinx may dominate many travelers’ images of Cairo, but Egypt’ s capital offers far more than a backdrop for antiquity. And getting there is easy with nonstop flights from Washington Dulles to Cairo on EgyptAir. Built along the Nile, the sprawling metropolis is constantly in motion. Cars crowd the streets, vendors call out to passersby as music drifts from shops, while minarets rise above the skyline. Professor Nermine Sabry, Cultural Attaché and Director of the Egyptian Cultural and Educational Bureau in Washington, says the energy barely changes after dark.“ Three in the morning in Cairo is exactly like three in the afternoon,” she says. That collision of ancient history and everyday life is part of Cairo’ s appeal.
ANCIENT EGYPT, REFRAMED
The Grand Egyptian Museum offers visitors a new way to experience Egypt’ s ancient history. Located near the Giza pyramids, the journey begins even before entering the galleries. An 87-ton granite obelisk of Ramesses II is positioned above its base at the entrance, allowing visitors to walk underneath and observe hieroglyphic cartouches engraved on its underside. Inside, a massive statue of Ramesses II greets visitors as the Grand Stairs ascend past 59 statues, columns, sarcophagi, and other grand artifacts.
The museum’ s biggest draw may be its Tutankhamun Galleries, which display more than 5,000 artifacts from the young pharaoh’ s tomb. The galleries go beyond his famous golden treasures to explore his family and identity, everyday life, and burial and journey into the afterlife. Twelve Main Galleries broaden the story further, taking visitors from prehistoric Egypt through the Graeco-Roman era.
Cairo’ s other major museums offer different perspectives. The historic Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square offers a more traditional encounter with the country’ s archaeological collections, while the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization spans a much broader timeline. Its Main Gallery moves from prehistoric Egypt through the Pharaonic, Greek, Coptic, and Islamic periods into the modern era and popular heritage.
WALKING THROUGH ISLAMIC CAIRO
Outside the museums, Cairo’ s streets hold centuries of history. The Mosque of Ibn Tulun, built in the ninth century, is one of Egypt’ s oldest preserved mosques. Constructed from mud and baked brick, it
FLYWASHINGTON. COM 14 AUTUMN / WINTER 2026