North Africa
Cairo
Egypt
A thousand minarets over the Nile.
The culture
Why we bridge here
Cairo is the largest city in the Arab world and one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities anywhere. It is medieval and modern in the same block: a walled Islamic city, a Nile corniche, and coffee shops that stay open until the small hours.
Cairo lives in the evening. Families walk the Nile at midnight, and the city's music — from Umm Kulthum to the new Egyptian indie and hip hop scenes — is a national conversation. Egyptian Arabic is the dialect the rest of the Arab world understands, and your host will teach you how to use it.
Experience
What you'll do
- Khan el-Khalili bazaar
- Islamic Cairo and Al-Azhar
- The Egyptian Museum
- Felucca sail on the Nile
- Old Cairo's Coptic quarter
After dark
Nightlife
- Nile dinner cruises
- Live Egyptian jazz and Arabic music
- Late-night coffee houses
The bridge
Teaching sessions with your hosts
- Egyptian Arabic basics
- Pharaonic and Islamic history
- Egyptian cooking and the era of Umm Kulthum