View of the Citadel from Al-Azhar Park

Getty Images/iStockphoto

Al Azhar Park

Top choice in Cairo


With funds from the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, what had been a mountain of garbage, amassed over centuries, was in 2005, almost miraculously, transformed into the city’s first (and only) park of significant size. Cairenes stroll through a profusion of gardens, emerald grass and fountains, or sit beside the lake or on the terraces of one of the restaurants, admiring the superb views over Cairo. It’s most fun on weekends, when families day-trip with picnics.

Depending on your outlook, the park is a gorgeous respite or a middle-class playground. This was offset slightly when the Bab Al Mahruq entrance, through a medieval gate in the old Ayyubid walls, finally opened in 2009. This granted easier access for residents of the lower-income Darb Al Ahmar district. You can enter here before 6pm, but after dark you can only exit through the main park gates on Sharia Salah Salem (taxis wait but overcharge; microbuses go to Ataba for LE2). If you enter from Darb Al Ahmar, check out the ongoing excavations of the Ayyubid walls – one major achievement was the rediscovery of Bab Al Barqiya, which had long ago been lost under the trash heap.

In addition to a couple of small cafes and the open-air theatre El Genaina, the restaurant Studio Masr in the northern section of the park capitalises on the views across the medieval city and beyond. The Lakeside Cafe, on the other side of the park, has a tranquil lake-edge setting.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Cairo attractions

1. Bab Al Mahruq

0.1 MILES

The western entrance into Al Azhar Park is through the medieval gate of Bab Al Mahruq in the old Ayyubid walls.

2. Mosque of Aslam Al Silahdar

0.11 MILES

As the closest monument to the Bab Al Mahruq entrance to Al Azhar Park, this mosque makes a good landmark for finding your way there. The 14th-century…

3. Mosque of Al Maridani

0.23 MILES

This 1339 building incorporates architectural elements from several different periods: eight granite columns were taken from a Pharaonic monument; the…

4. Mosque of Qijmas Al Ishaqi

0.25 MILES

This remarkable mosque, built in 1481 by Prince Sayf Al Din Qijmas, above a row of shops, is one of Cairo's best examples of Mamluk architecture. Its…

6. Blue Mosque

0.29 MILES

Built in 1347 and well restored in 2015, this building is highly touted by would-be guides, but it’s nothing like its Istanbul namesake. It’s classic…

7. Khayrbek Complex

0.33 MILES

Emir Khayrbek, governor of Aleppo under Sultan Al Ghouri, defected to the Ottoman side in 1516, which effectively ended Mamluk rule. He then became the…

8. Beit Zeinab Al Khatoun

0.36 MILES

Beit Zeinab Al Khatoun is a small but interesting Ottoman-era house with a rooftop affording superb views of the surrounding minaret-studded skyline. The…

  • placement: superzone
  • path: Destinations/POIs/superzone
  • possible size: [970, 250], [970, 90], [728, 90], [1, 1],
  • targeting:
    {
      "url": "egypt/cairo/attractions/al-azhar-park/a/poi-sig/1014326/355225",
      "destination": "Cairo",
      "continent": "Africa",
      "country": "Egypt",
      "city": "Cairo",
      "position": "superzone"
    }