There is the Cairo the tourists see and endure: the obvious sites, the gift shops, the perfume sellers, the papyrus shops and the fake antiquities…and there is the REAL Cairo with a thriving cultural scene - over 70 modern art galleries in Zamalek and Downtown alone, film makers, writers, fantastic architecture from the Belle Epoque and Art Deco periods and the continuing modern use of the ancient neighbourhoods of Old Cairo made famous by the Nobel Prize winning author Naguib Mahfouz.

Guided by Samia and her friends, experts revealing Cairo’s hidden places, galleries, museums and overlooked sights. Wander the streets in safety and enjoyment with a guide on hand.

Have the chance to meet and chat with local artists and film makers.

The tour includes visits to galleries, cool buildings and artists’ studios. And of course the incredible historical sites such as the Pyramids and Sakkara add to the weave of stories that is the Cairo of today.

We have chosen an upmarket 4 star hotel with wonderfully big rooms on Zamalek island for this tour. Near to the tree lined Nile, and being away from a main road, this is a great place to relax. As mentioned, lovely big rooms, all en-suite…Other places to meet include the two excellent restaurants and the bar.

Wed 18 Feb: Pick up at the airport where we fast track you through customs. We then travel to our fab four-star hotel in Zamalek. An introductory talk with drinks at the hotel, dinner available for earlier flights and if needed. Zamalek, a former island of farms, now the coolest neighbourhood of Cairo…

Thur 19 Feb. The Pyramids are a must…These ancient wonders, along with the Sphinx and the Sphinx Temple help define Cairo- ancient and modern, and no matter how many times we have been there is always something new to discover here. We follow with lunch nearby and then a visit to the much applauded Grand Egyptian Museum. A welcome dinner at the hotel afterwards.

Fri 20 Feb We make use of the Friday morning calm to take a downtown Cairo cinema tour with an architect guide. People may not know but Cairo is the Hollywood of the Middle East, and some of these classic cinemas are amazing! Samia remembers going to see Gone with the Wind and standing outside the cinema while Papa Noel handed out Christmas presents! This is also where some of the highly acclaimed art films of Yusef Chahine were first screened. A chance also to see downtown galleries. Lunch at classic restaurant Felfela then out to Sakkara to see the incredible Serapeum and the almost modernist Djoser temple. Dinner in a restaurant in Zamalek.

Sat 21 Art around Zamalek Island. We visit the extraordinary Museum of Mohamed Khalil- an early collector of Renoir, Gaugin and Van Gogh. We then have lunch at Granita- an excellent restaurant inside the All Saints cathedral and near the famed Gezira Club, an expanse of green dominating the island. Next we will start working our way through the superb art galleries of Zamalek- followed by dinner at the Hotel or other Zamalek location – meet artist at gallery.

Sun 22 Feb Cave Church. An extraordinary sight in Cairo, found in the Moquattam hills where much rock for the pyramids came from. The huge cave was dug out slowly over time in the area where poor Christians lived and could not afford a cathedral building and is filled with art and sculpture. This will be followed by lunch at Al Azhar park- a reclaimed area paid for by the Aga Khan- crafts in Moquattam/ meet artists - dinner at Ikonos Zamalek with a Cairo artist.

Mon 23 Feb Street photography in Old Cairo. We visit the Qait Bey restoration project and take a photography tour from there. Lunch will be at the Gamaleya hotel- a place of refuge in the teeming streets of Old Cairo. We’ll have a tour of the old neighbourhood (offered by Gamaleya hotel) and the Gayer-Anderson Museum- the site of a scene from the James Bond film The Spy who Loved Me! Dinner at the hotel- where we meet a Cairo film producer.

Tue 24 Feb We visit the interior and gardens of the Omar Khayyam Hotel which was built as a palace for Empress Eugenie to celebrate the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869. The grounds used to cover 60 acres. This was Agatha Christies favourite hotel! We then visit the Mahmoud Mokhtar museum– a fabulous gem of a place dedicated to the father of modern sculpture in Egypt. After that have a leisurely packed lunch on a Felucca, a wonderful way to see the middle of Cairo from the Nile, followed by free time for shopping or relaxing and a last celebratory dinner at the hotel.

Wed 25 Feb A last chance for those whose flights are later in the day to look at some little known galleries with some free time to shop- airport.

February 18th - February 25th 2026

8 days, 7 nights

£2250pp (everything included except flights and most alcoholic drinks).

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Booking, payment and other terms and conditions.

Booking & Paying For Your Arrangements 

A booking is made with Samia’s Egypt when you pay us a deposit (or full payment) and we issue you with a booking confirmation. We reserve the right to return your deposit (see the tables below) and decline to issue a booking confirmation at our absolute discretion. A binding contract will come into existence between you and us as soon as we have issued you with a booking confirmation that will confirm the details of your booking.

Due to nature of variable pricing adopted by many of our suppliers our own prices are continuously reviewed but typically the lowest prices will be offered to those who book the earliest. However, once we confirm your booking, we guarantee your tour price regardless of any subsequent cost increase in travel arrangements.

Payment can be made by credit card (excluding AMEX) debit card, or bank transfer (in Sterling GBP only and the client is responsible for all bank charges). For bank transfers originating from bank accounts outside the United Kingdom an additional fee of £15 is payable. There is no charge levied against payments made by consumer debit and credit cards. If another type of card incurs a processing fee we will inform you and pass that fee on to you.

Fitness And Health

All tours involve a fair amount of walking often over uneven cobbled streets, hillsides or steps. Participants on all tours should be able to walk or stand for at least sixty minutes without aid or requiring a rest. If you have any concerns in this regard, please contact us for advice. We will refuse to carry anyone who has failed to notify us of any disability requiring assistance during the period from booking the tour to its departure. 

If for any reason the Tour Manager and/or the Tour Guide deems a client unfit to participate in any activity, the client must accept that decision as final and no compensation of refunds will be given.
Should the client fall ill, test positive for an infection or be injured during the holiday, the client must inform the Tour Manager and/or the Tour Guide immediately. The client is responsible for adhering to any local or self-isolation requirements and must contact their insurance company.

Travel/Trip Insurance

To participate in any of our tours you must ensure that you have adequate insurance to at least cover medical expenses and emergency repatriation. We strongly recommend that you and all members of your party be adequately insured at time of booking to cover cancellation and curtailment up to the cost of the holiday for each participant. You must provide us with details of your insurance policy at least four weeks prior to departure.

Passport & Visas

For many countries, your passport needs to be valid for at least six months beyond your date of return. In Egypt the visa is usually acquired on entry and we do that with you when you arrive. The cost of a visa is included in the prices of our tours. You are responsible for checking your passport in valid. We will not be liable for any failure by the Client to discharge these responsibilities and the Client will have to reimburse us for any costs they incur as a result of such failure on the part of the Client.

Booking Terms

IF YOU CHANGE OR CANCEL
If you or any other member of your party has to cancel your confirmed booking, the following charges apply dependent upon the period of notice that you give:

Cancellation period before departure   Charge as a proportion of total invoiced cost
85 days or more                                  10%
84 days to 64 days                              30%
63 days to 43 days                              50%
42 days to 29 days                              70%
28 days to 15 days                              90%
14 days to 0 days                               100%
All non-refundable supplements or upgrades will incur in a 100% cancelation charge regardless of when they are cancelled.

Your cancellation takes effect from the date we receive your written confirmation. The balance of the tour price is due no less than 84 days prior to departure. If we do not receive this balance in full and on time, we reserve the right to treat your booking as cancelled by you in which case the cancellation charges above will become payable. If you are forced to return home early or choose to do so where you have no reasonable cause for complaint, we will not refund the cost of any services you have not used or be liable for any associated costs you may incur.

If you wish to change any part of your booking arrangements after our confirmation invoice has been issued, we will do our best to assist, but cannot make any guarantees. Where we are unable to assist you and consequently you do not wish to proceed with the original booking, we will treat this as a cancellation by you.

If you are prevented from travelling it may be possible to transfer your booking to another suitable person providing we receive your request in writing. Should you make such a request less than 85 days prior to departure, our cancellation charges will be applied to the original booking. 

IF WE CHANGE OR CANCEL THE TOUR

It is unlikely that we will have to make any changes to your travel arrangements, but we do plan arrangements many months in advance. Occasionally, we may have to make changes and we reserve the right to do so at any time. Most of these changes will be minor and we will advise you of them as soon as possible. In exceptional circumstances this may include a change of guide/historian.

We reserve the right to cancel a tour no less than 15 days prior departure in the very unlikely event of an unforeseen reason such as but not limited to: war, riot, civil strife, terrorist activity, industrial dispute, natural or nuclear disaster, pandemics or diseases, fire, flood, adverse weather conditions or the threat of any of these.

If we have to make a major change or cancel a tour, we will tell you as soon as possible and if there is time to do so before departure, we will offer you the choice of: i) accepting the changed arrangements, ii) receiving a refund of all monies paid to us; or iii) accepting an offer of alternative travel arrangements of comparable standard from us, if available (we will refund any price difference if the alternative is of a lower value). Any non-refundable accommodation or travel booked by yourself is made at your own risk and will not be compensated by us in the event of the tour being cancelled.

DIETARY REQUIREMENTS
Any dietary requirements must be informed at the time of booking. We will make best efforts to accommodate such requirements and will inform hotels and restaurants. However, it is the responsibility of the client to ensure that such requirements are confirmed with the tour manager, hotel or restaurant upon arrival.

This contract and any matter arising from it are governed by the law of England and Wales and are subject to the jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.