You climb to the Citadel, the limestone fortress Saladin founded in 1176 to guard Cairo against crusader armies, and the city spreads out below you. At its center stands the Mosque of Muhammad Ali, its alabaster walls and slender Ottoman minarets dominating the skyline for almost two centuries. Your Egyptologist walks you through the layers of rulers who held this hill and into the great domed prayer hall. On a clear day you can pick out the Giza pyramids on the horizon. Modest dress is needed inside the mosque.

Down in Coptic Cairo, the oldest Christian quarter in the country, you reach the Hanging Church, so called because its nave is suspended over the gatehouse of the Roman fortress of Babylon. Parts of it date to the 7th century, and inside are inlaid screens, icons, and a wooden ceiling shaped like an ark. Your guide leads you through the narrow lanes nearby, past other ancient churches and the spot tied to the Holy Family's time in Egypt. It is calm, shaded, and easy to walk.