There’s an increasingly popular worldwide trend in gift-giving: buying someone an experience, instead of a thing. Meaning basically you buy someone an actual activity that you can either do together or they can do themselves, instead of, oh I don’t know, a mug for example.
The great thing about experience gifts is that they’re perfect for those people who already seem to have everything, or someone who prefers to ‘do’ instead of ‘have’.
So that special person that you want to gift an experience to -- what do they enjoy? Are they athletic? A foodie? Someone who loves art or history?
Wherever their interests may lie, Cairo offers an array of fun experiences all across the board. We pulled together some of our most recommended experiences, based on factors like ease of logistics (no lengthy travel/overnight stay needed), price (nothing ridiculously expensive) and the overall fun factor.
So instead of dropping a money bomb on some inanimate object that they may or may not secretly hate, try creating a memory with some of Cairo’s best experiences.
1. Rent a private yacht to cruise the Nile
A good experience gift for:
Someone who likes romantic or chill settings
Someone who likes privacy and getting away from it all
Everybody knows about feluccas, but you can really ramp up the experience by renting out your own private Nile yacht for as many hours as you want.
The M/Y Christina yacht has been in business since 1992, and their staff knows exactly how to provide great service.
Christina gives you the option of bringing your own food and drinks (they provide plates, cutlery, glasses and even ice), or can do catering for you. They have a great sound system where you can hook up your own music as well.
As for seating, you have the whole yacht at your disposal -- front deck, back deck and inner saloon if it gets too chilly. They also have two different bathrooms (is anything worse than having a boat trip ruined because of your bladder?!).
The yacht takes anything from one person to 25 (covid 19 edit: currently only up to 15 people because of the 50% capacity rule), so it’s up to you if you want to gift someone a more private, one-on-one cruise or something where you can invite friends.
To reserve: M/Y Christina Yacht
2. A snow day at Ski Egypt
A good experience gift for:
Someone who likes to be active
Someone who likes doing new things
Ski Egypt is Africa’s first ski resort with the world’s largest indoor snow park, and buying someone a one-day ticket or even a set of skiing lessons is a great option for someone who’s either never experienced snow, or alternately, has experienced it and misses it.
Activities you can do at Ski Egypt: skiing for both beginners and more advanced skiers, snowboarding, tube runs, bobsledding, zorb balls and ice caves.
For more information: Ski Egypt
3. Gianaclis Vineyard and Wine Tasting Tour
A good experience gift for:
A wine lover
Someone interested in the history and heritage of Egyptian winemaking
If you thought you or your wine-loving friend needed to go all the way to Napa Valley or Bordeaux to take a walk through vineyards and sample different wines with complementing cuisine, you were luckily wrong.
Gianaclis Vineyards is almost 130 years old, and where many local Egyptian wines are made until today (Ayam, Leila, Cape Bay, Omar Khayyam, Grand Marquis, Chateau De Granville and Valmont).
Gianaclis offers private tours and wine tasting sessions; they’ll pick you up in central Cairo in a VIP luxury bus, so you don’t have to worry about driving and can just sit back and relax.
Once at the vineyard, a wine consultant will take you through a guided vineyard tour that culminates in a wine tasting and light lunch.
For prices and reservation: Gianaclis Egypt
4. “Walk Like An Egyptian” Walking Tour
A good experience gift for:
A non-Egyptian friend interested in getting to know Cairo
An Egyptian local who’d love to learn more about the hidden gems of Cairo
There’s so much interesting history in Cairo that we locals just waltz by daily without even noticing slash knowing -- and some non-Egyptians don’t even know that there’s waaaay more to see in Cairo than just the pyramids, museum and Nile.
If you have a person in your life who loves Egyptian history, art and architecture, then booking a private tour or a group walking tour with Walk Like An Egyptian might be right up their alley.
These highly-recommended tour guides offer all sorts of cool walking tours in Cairo, and you can request private tours to the sights of your choice as well. They also offer outside-of-Cairo tours (even to lesser-visited destinations like Rasheed and Minya) and take care of everything from transportation to accommodation.
For pricing, booking and more details: Walk Like An Egyptian
5. Kayak on the Nile with the Nile Kayak Club
A good experience gift for:
Someone who enjoys sports and being outdoors
Someone who has good physical fitness
You don’t need to be part of a rowing team to try kayaking down the Nile -- the Nile Kayak Club offers weekend kayaking sessions in Cairo, ranging from a 1 hour introductory course around Dahab Island near Maadi, or a 3 hour “Cairo Crossing” ride for the more advanced.
If you have someone in your life who likes being active and trying new things, then book them a session and see them paddle off into the sunset.
Nile Kayak Club also arranges kayaking trips between Luxor and Aswan for the hardcore kayakers.
For more information and pricing: Nile Kayak Club
6. A Farm Picnic at Sara’s Organic Food Farm
A good experience gift for:
Someone who enjoys being out in nature
Someone who believes in the farm-to-plate movement and eating clean
Sara’s Organic Food is an organic, pesticide-free range of seasonal fruit and vegetables found in Cairo’s high-end retail markets, and they make the farm-to-plate concept quite literal with their monthly open-air picnics and harvest festivals on the farm.
All you need to do is book a place in the upcoming picnic, and you’re guaranteed a full, stress-free day on a scenic farm. They provide vegetarian snacks, daily picks from the field, freshly baked bread and dips, and you can bring any food you need to complete your picnic.
They also have sporadic dinners and brunches with guest chefs.
To book a spot or for more info: Sara's Organic Food
7. A Day Trip of Sandboarding, BBQ and Safari in Fayoum
A good experience gift for:
Someone who likes adventure activities
Someone who likes mini-trips
The Sandboarding Cairo Club regularly arranges day trips from Cairo to Fayoum for a day of sandboarding, safari and BBQ. They take care of transportation (the group meets in Dokki and moves from there) and all other logistics.
The program includes:
-Transportation via 4x4 vehicles
-Visiting Wadi El-Rayan waterfalls
-Safari
-Sandboarding at the Magic Lake
-BBQ lunch
-Campfire & roasted marshmallows
-Unlimited water & soft drinks
-All tickets and permits
For booking and more info: Sandboarding Cairo Club
8. Downtown Food Tour with Bellies En-Route
A good experience gift for:
Foodies
Visitors to Egypt who want to experience authentic Egyptian food
Whether the person you want to gift is an Egyptian food aficionado or an adventurous Egyptian food virgin, this Downtown food tour is guaranteed to hit the spot.
Bellies En-Route’s seven stop food tour through Downtown Cairo avoids tourist traps and intertwines different aspects of Egyptian history and culture as well.
You can book a spot in an upcoming tour (available any day except for Friday), with a maximum group of 6 people. You can also book a private tour.
Price Includes:
Food/beverages at all 7+ stops (veg. option available)
A local, English speaking tour guide telling you about the stories of the food and landmarks of Downtown
Unlimited mineral (bottled) water
Generous tipping of waiters at all the restaurants
Non-alcoholic drink at the last stop
A list of all the foods is sent 48 hours after the tour ends
A guarantee that your belly will be full!
Price Excludes:
Tipping your guide
Any alcoholic drinks
Transportation to and from the meeting point
Any food/beverages not already part of the route
For booking and more info: Bellies En-Route
You might also like: 7 Extreme Adventure Experiences in Egypt For Adrenaline Junkies
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