The upper platform
The Nile, downtown, the Citadel and the minarets of Islamic Cairo in one view.
Mohamedusrii — CC BY 4.0 · Ahmedsantos — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Nicola — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Zienauto — CC BY-SA 4.0
A concrete tower on Zamalek island, a hundred and eighty-seven metres high, built between 1956 and 1961, and the tallest building in Africa when it was finished — still the best place to see Cairo whole. Its form is deliberate: an openwork shaft echoing the stalk of the ancient Egyptian papyrus, crowned by a flaring head like a capital. It was designed by Naoum Shebib and is a good example of Egyptian architecture in the 1950s, when it was looking for a modern language with a pharaonic root. A well-known story circulates in Egypt about how it was paid for: that the money was an American bribe offered to Nasser, which he spent on the tower so that it would stand as a rebuke. The story is very widely told and comes up in any conversation about the tower, though historians dispute the details. From the upper platform you see the Nile below you, downtown, Zamalek and Giza, the Citadel and the minarets of Islamic Cairo to the east, and on a clear day the Giza pyramids on the western horizon. Clear days are not common, between dust and pollution. At the top are a revolving restaurant and a café; both are expensive and the food is ordinary — the view is the product, not the table. The best hour is the one before sunset: you see the city by day and then as lights. An hour covers it, and there is a single lift, so the queue can be long in the evening.
The Nile, downtown, the Citadel and the minarets of Islamic Cairo in one view.
An openwork papyrus shaft — 1950s architecture with a pharaonic root.
The city turning from daylight to a grid of lights in half an hour.
Zamalek Island, Cairo
Only on a clear day, and those are few. Dust and pollution close the western horizon most of the year; the best chances are after winter rain or early in the morning. Do not make seeing the pyramids the reason for going up — treat it as a bonus if it happens.
The view is the same as from the platform and the restaurant adds only a seat. Prices are high and the food ordinary by most accounts. If you want to sit, have something in the café; for a good dinner, Zamalek below the tower offers better for less.
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