• A bazaar stall lit at night, hanging lanterns and rows of alabaster figurines spilling onto the pavement.

    Hurghada's Mamsha at night

    The pedestrian promenade where Hurghada gathers after sunset.

    HurghadaMamsha, Hurghada

    €€ Mid-rangeTerrace
  • Summer open-air cinemas

    Screenings on rooftops and in gardens, from June to September.

    CairoCairo and the coast

    BudgetFamily-friendly
  • Cairo's rooftops

    The city has started looking at its roofs — and putting bars on them.

    CairoDowntown, Zamalek, Garden City

    €€€ High endRooftop
  • The forecourt and the hanging obelisk, before the museum's triangulated façade.

    The Grand Egyptian Museum in the evening

    The world's most awaited museum, visited once the coaches have gone.

    GizaGiza plateau

    €€€ High endHistoric venue
  • Manasterly Palace

    An Ottoman pavilion at water level on the Nile, now an Arabic music hall.

    CairoRhoda island

    €€ Mid-rangeHistoric venue
  • A mosque strung with lights at night, a dense crowd filling the square in front of it.

    The mawlid of Sayyid al-Badawi

    Off the beaten track

    Egypt's largest Sufi gathering: a week of sleepless nights in Tanta.

    The Delta and the north coastTanta

    BudgetWhere locals go
  • A large golden curtain lit from within, above the rows of empty red seats of a darkened hall.

    The El Gouna Film Festival

    A week of Arab and international cinema, on the Red Sea.

    HurghadaEl Gouna

    €€€ High endPaid entry
  • The Cairo Jazz Festival

    Three days of concerts, with Egyptian bands and guests from all over.

    CairoCairo

    €€ Mid-rangePaid entry
  • The tents lit from within, once the sun has gone.

    A night in the White Desert

    Unmissable

    Sleeping among the chalk mushrooms, under one of the world's darkest skies.

    The oases and the Western DesertFarafra

    €€€ High endBooking advised
  • A hand plucks the strings of an oud, above the carved rosettes of its soundboard.

    The ahwas of Mohamed Ali street

    Off the beaten track

    The street of instrument makers and wedding musicians, and its waiting cafés.

    CairoMohamed Ali street, Cairo

    BudgetWhere locals go
  • Two whole grilled fish with lemon wedges on a metal plate.

    The Greek Club

    A terrace above Qaitbay fort, with the whole bay in front.

    AlexandriaAnfoushi, Alexandria

    €€ Mid-rangeSea view
  • Sailboat masts silhouetted against an orange sky as the sun sets over a marina.

    The tables of Marina

    The north coast's marina and its summer terraces.

    Marsa Matrouh and SiwaMarina, north coast

    €€€ High endSea view
  • Two hands cut into a tomato-topped toast beside a glass of beer on a dark table.

    Amphitryon

    A Greek brasserie in Heliopolis, open since between the wars.

    CairoHeliopolis

    €€ Mid-rangeHistoric venue