When you need a break from city life, try horse racing at the Gezira Club or visit the Zoo and the Botanical Gardens. Take a trip down the Nile in a felucca or ride on horseback from the Giza Pyramids to Sakkara. Just outside Cairo is the Haraniyya village which is famous for its beautiful tapestries.

Cairo comes alive at night, which is the best time to shop, eat delicious Middle Eastern cuisine, or simply watch the world go by from a pavement cafe. You can dine in a floating restaurant on the Nile, sample an apple flavored shisha water pipe at a coffee-shop or see oriental dancers and cabarets.

The splendid Opera House complex houses several galleries (including the Museum of Modern Art), restaurants and concert halls. Listening to Arabic music under the stars, in the open-air theater, is a magical experience.

At El-Ghuriya, in the heart of Islamic Cairo, you can watch folk musicians and whirling dervish dancers. And don't forget the most essential after dark experience, the Sound and Light show at the Pyramids, a dramatic fusion of light and music recounting the story of antiquity.

With its layers of history and density of streets, one could spend months walking around Cairo and still not manage to see - or even find - all of its mosques and minarets, Coptic churches, souks, small museums and other places of interest. Even the top attractions will require several days to visit.

Some sections of the city are attractions in themselves: the narrow streets of Old Cairo and Islamic Cairo are lined with ancient homes and buildings that can provide hours of fascinating (if frenetic) wandering.

The Khan al-Khalili, the city's main market (see the Shopping section), with its silk and spice merchants, haggling and steady stream of Cairenes from all walks of life, is one of the best places to soak up the local colour of Cairo. People-watching is one of the most rewarding activities. Western women may feel self-conscious at the many sidewalk cafés, as Egyptian women do not frequent them (apart from those in the market), but there are plenty of restaurants with outdoor dining that afford a respite from the bustle of the streets and the chance to watch the world go by.

The Egyptian Museum of Antiquities is located downtown near the central square, Midan Tahrir. To the north is Bulaq, a district with interesting mosques and medieval back streets along the Nile, which butts up against the modern offices of the World Trade Centre.

To the south, is the suburb of Garden City, a tree-lined former British enclave in the wartime years. Most of the main attractions are situated in Old Cairo, the Coptic quarter where the Coptic Museum and Hanging Church are located, and Islamic Cairo, a huge maze-like medieval quarter peppered with domes and minarets that lies to the east of central Cairo and downtown.

The towers of Bab Zuwayla, the Citadel, the Gayer Anderson House and the Islamic Art Museum are among the sights here. Note that most museums are closed during midday prayers on Fridays.

Our Arabic language course also allows you plenty of time to discover the culture of Cairo.