Cairo

Cairo is the Arab world's largest city and one of the oldest continuously inhabited places on earth — and it feels that way. Islamic Cairo's medieval alleyways and minarets, Coptic Cairo's ancient churches, and the overwhelming Egyptian Museum could fill a week before you even reach Giza. But the pyramids are the thing — seeing them for the first time from the plateau, the desert stretching west behind them, is one of travel's genuine unmissables. The Egyptian street food culture is underrated: ful medames and ta'ameya (Egyptian falafel) for breakfast at a hole-in-the-wall, koshari from a koshary shop for lunch, grilled kofta in the Khan el-Khalili bazaar at night. Cairo rewards visitors who lean into the chaos rather than trying to manage it.