Toddler Travel in Cairo

We ventured to Cairo specifically to break up the 16+ hours of flight time from Bahrain to the United States. Cairo gave us the chance to break up the lengthy flights for Milo and explore a new place along the way. However, during our time there we discovered so much more than Cairo being a well placed layover destination. We explored an ancient, bustling, chaotic city with wondrous attractions and surprisingly awesome children’s activities. I was a bit worried about travelling to Cairo as I was doing the first two days of our trip with Milo solo before Adam could get off work and join us, but I LOVED our trip here. Before venturing Adam spoke with friends and learned some ways we could make Cairo an easier place to travel….

Here is what we would recommend:

1. Have a guide. Guides can be very inexpensive in Cairo compared to the rest of the world. But having a guide helped me navigate a confusing airport solo, provided us with a guide for the Pyramids of Giza, and allowed us to circumvent some of the taxi scams by providing us with a driver.
2. Be wary of walking a child anywhere in the city. Curbs are like 2-3 foot cliffs that are not stroller friendly and I did not see any traffic lights in Cairo (making it very challenging to cross a road). I was scared with Milo!
3. Haggle like it is a sport, not like its a frustrating chore. The shop keepers and craft sellers of Cairo are trying to make the most money they can in a challenging economy. Respect and expect the entrepreneurial nature of these people and dive in. It becomes fun (after a couple fails) and we came away really respecting the people making as much money as they could from a still booming tourist industry.
4. Expect Traffic. Lots of Traffic. SO MUCH TRAFFIC.
5. Tipping is a bigger part of the culture than the U.S. – so just expect this for any task that someone might help with.

Favorite Activities (Most to least Child friendly)

1. The Child Museum: This was a sweet children’s museum specifically designed for kids to learn about ancient Egypt. What was extra cool here was everyone gets their own individual guide for the museum. Here Milo got to dig for fossils, play on an indoor submarine and playground representing ancient Alexandria, and he even put mummies together.
2. The Pyramids of Giza: This one is obviously awesome. The pyramids are WAY bigger than we imagined- they feel like actual mountains just jutting up out of the ground. Here we had a cool guide that taught us so much about the pyramids and also took some wonderful photos for us. But really Milo couldn’t get enough of the camels or rocks all around the site. He was so beat after our day of exploring here (plus a bit of jet lag) that he actually passed out at 5pm. Pyramids for the win!
3. The Sphinx: an extension of the magic of the pyramids of Giza and equally as beautiful.
4. The Aquarium Grotto Garden: This was a surprising find- but we found this cool park designed as if it is underwater. It was so cool! It was bizarre, artsy, and endless.. our only disappointment was that it closed earlier than expected (before 5). We could have definitely explored here longer!
5. Al Azhar Park: BEAUTIFUL!
6. Walking Gezira Island
7. Rooftop restaurant experience at Novatel Cairo, El Bourg: This would likely not be on any travel list but we loved this restaurant- There was a tiny dance floor with a DJ and while we waited for our food Milo busted his moves (mostly spinning) on the dance floor. This was perfect- and had some perfect views.

Milo’s favorites:

1. The dance floor at the rooftop restaurant at Novatel Cairo, El Bourg. Milo spent so much time busting moves in the middle of this restaurant- the staff turned the music up for him. Plus the views from this roof top hotel were out of this world.
2. The Child Museum- Milo had his very own tour guide here with interactive exhibits set up just for him.
3. The Slide into the ball pit at the child museum. This set up was meant to represent the underwater archaeological finds in Alexandria, Egypt. It was set up beautifully! But Milo could not get enough of the slide and he rode it 10+ times before moving onto the submarine exhibit.
4. “Pharaohs”: Milo learned this word on our trip and seemed very proud whenever he had the chance to answer the question, “Who lives in the Pyramids”?

Cairo was one of the most surprisingly epic cities we have visited. We had heard a lot about the negative aspects of Cairo before our trip and were cautious about our journey. But, Cairo showed us the intense attachment people can have to their history and culture’s stories, lively nature, and some of the most meaningfully interactive Milo activities we have done. It is a busy bustling city but I would push parents to still venture here with their families as coming here with Milo and learning alongside him was AMAZING.