Country Information

Egyptian cuisine combines many of the best traditions of Middle Eastern cooking. There are both large hotel restaurants and smaller specialist ones throughout the main towns. Some of the larger hotels in Cairo and its environs have kitchens serving top-quality cosmopolitan dishes. In the centre of Cairo, American-style snack bars are also spreading. Although Egypt is a Muslim country, alcohol is available in cafe-style bars and many restaurants.

National specialities:
• Foul (bean dishes).
• Stuffed vine leaves.
• Grilled aubergines.
• Kebabs.

National drinks:
• Kahwa (thick, strong coffee).
• Shay bil na'na' (mint tea).
• Karkaday (clear, bright red drink made from hibiscus flowers).
• Aswanli (dark beer made in Aswan).
• Zibib (alcoholic aniseed-flavoured drink).

Legal drinking age: 21.

Tipping: 10 to 12% is added to hotel and restaurant bills but an extra tip of 5% is normal. Taxi drivers generally expect 10%.

As the sun sets, people start spilling onto the streets, congregating in coffee shops and restaurants. Go to any water front - along the Nile in Cairo and Luxor, or the seafronts in Alexandria and Sharm el Sheikh - and you'll find the corniche humming with the chatter of friends cruising arm in arm to catch the breeze. Street vendors selling kebabs, chi-sellers shouldering giant urns and trinket merchants with the latest colourful imports vie for the attentions of passers-by. This is the place to meet the locals, gauge the national mood and share in the jubilations of a local football success.

The chief night-time attractions are undoubtedly the sound and light shows that are held in spectacular fashion in many of the country's archaeological sites. There is nothing quite like coming face-to-face with the spot-lit Sphinx at Giza or watching the entire Temple of Karnak unfold to music at Luxor. The best of these shows is held at the Temple of Ramses II in Abu Simbel.

Sophisticated nightclubs, discos, casinos and restaurants can be found in Cairo, Alexandria and most large towns. The nightlife in Luxor and Aswan often includes barbecues along the Nile or dinner cruises.

The most interesting shopping area for tourists in Cairo is the old bazaar, Khan-el-Khalili, specialising in reproductions of antiquities. Jewellery, spices, brass, copper utensils, cotton goods and Coptic cloth are some of the many special items. There are also modern shopping centres, particularly near Tehrir Square. Haggling is expected, and usually encouraged: goods do not have a fixed price, but are worth whatever the vendor feels happy selling at in balance with whatever the buyer is happy purchasing for at any given moment in time. External factors therefore play their part - including the mood the buyer is in, a row the vendor may have had with his wife in the morning, sales - or lack of sales - made earlier in the day.

There are vendors who are out to cheat the unsuspecting tourist in Egypt, selling fake goods or charging for bogus services. Their hard sell, particularly around the pyramids at Giza, can be highly intrusive and upsetting: if you take photographs of any man on a camel, for example, expect to pay even if you didn't plan on having the person in the frame.

Shopping hours: Winter: Tues, Wed, Fri and Sat 0900-1900, Mon and Thurs 0900-2000. During Ramadan, hours vary, with shops often closing on Sunday. Summer: Tues, Wed, Fri-Sun 0900-1230 and 1600-2000.