Cairo isn't a gentle city. Home to more than 16 million Egyptians, Arabs, Africans and sundry others, the 'Mother of the World' is an all-out assault on the senses. Chaotic, noisy, polluted, totally unpredictable and seething with people, the sheer intensity of the city will... Read the overview

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Cairo has only two seasons: summer and 'not-summer'. Given the choice, you're far better off visiting during 'not-summer', a period that stretches roughly from September to April or May. January and February (10-20°C/50-68°F) can be overcast with the occasional shower, but the months immediately either side are comfortably warm, with daytime temperatures leavened by breezes. Between March and April, Cairo is occasionally subject to the khamseen, a dry and very dusty wind storm which blows in from the parched Western Desert at up to 150kph (93mph). During summer the city is insufferably hot (35-38°C/95-100°F) and grimy, though the relatively low humidity makes the heat just bearable. Well-heeled Cairenes tend to sit out the summer on the coast in Alexandria.