Cairo for The Night Owls: a Friday-to-Monday weekend

The bazaar is at its liveliest after dark, lanterns lit, shopkeepers hawking; wander with a hot tea and no destination until the evening call to prayer.

Mirrored café open all night; order a shisha and a pot of mint tea and stay long after the lanes thin out.

Live bands most nights in a long Agouza room, with a cover charge that includes the first music set; things start around ten and run past two.

Late lunch on mezze and slow-cooked dishes in the old Zamalek townhouse after a slow morning; the lamps and brass make it a cave.

Visit the pyramids late in the day when the heat eases and the tours leave; the golden hour comes about five.

The Sphinx speaks in light and sound on the plateau after dark, the show running in English at a fixed night slot.

The Zamalek institution for midnight pizzas and sandwiches with open doors late; join the after-theatre crowd.

Coffee at the top of the tower, 187 metres up, before the sun goes down on the Nile and the city starts to glow.

Old Downtown restaurant with a wood-lined room for grilled fish, a cold Stella and the evening buzz off Talaat Harb.

The Downtown bar with a door that opens at the sound of a bell, mirrors, dark wood and sea-food plates; drinks run late.

A breakfast of ful and taameya, or a koshary bowl, after the last night; the Downtown stalls are open and the air is cool.

Sleep it off on the lawns, then walk the park above the old city, hardly anyone there before the weekend crowd comes.