Q: My wife and I are from Italy and we plan to visit Cairo this summer for the first time. My wife is a big shopper and I wonder whether there are shops in Cairo, other than Khan Al-Khalili, where we can pick up modern items -- in particular cotton clothes. Are there any sales at that time of the year? A: Aside from the old souq of Khan Al-Khalili, where local traditional Egyptian crafts are sold, ranging from fake Pharaonic statues to mouth-blown glass items, to gold and silver pieces, there are several shopping options in Cairo. There is variety of big and small shops scattered all over the city, making available all kinds of modern items. There are also tens of air-conditioned shopping malls where you can buy many kinds of things, including clothes, silverware, furniture, accessories, make-up, perfumes, toys and food, and all under one roof. In Cairo you can find top quality cotton clothes and, most importantly, at very reasonable rates in comparison to Europe, especially after the floating of the Egyptian pound. The best time to shop in Egypt is between 20 July to 20 August, for that is when the annual Shopping and Tourism Festival takes place. In that period hundreds of shops offer major discounts, ranging from 10 to 50 per cent. As part of the festival, two big shopping exhibitions are held in the Cairo International Conference Centre and in the Fair Grounds in Nasr City, where hundreds of shops display their products. During that period, most hotels offer special rates for shoppers, as does the national carrier EgyptAir. Write to "Holiday FAQs", Travel, Al-Ahram Weekly , Galaa St, Cairo, Egypt, or e-mail [email protected]
