The most interesting shopping area for tourists in Cairo is the old bazaar, Khan-el-Khalili, specialising in reproductions of antiquities. Jewellery, spices, brass, copper utensils, cotton goods and Coptic cloth are some of the many special items. There are also modern shopping centres available, particularly near Tehrir Square. Haggling is expected, and usually encouraged: goods do not have a fixed price, but are worth whatever the vendor feels happy selling at in balance with whatever the buyer is happy purchasing for at any given moment in time. External factors therefore play their part - including the mood the buyer is in, a row the vendor may have had with his wife in the morning, sales - or lack of sales - made earlier in the day. Whatever factors impinge on the sale, it is important to enjoy the process of agreeing a price and the human interaction it brings, and not feel that it is a device employed by the vendor for charging above the going rate. There are people, however, who are out to cheat the unsuspecting tourist in Egypt, selling fake goods or charging for bogus services. Their hard sell, particularly around the pyramids at Giza, can be highly intrusive and upsetting: if you take photographs of any man on a camel, for example, expect to pay even if you didn't plan on having the person in the frame.

Shopping hours: Winter: Tues, Wed, Fri and Sat 0900-1900, Mon and Thurs 0900-2000. During Ramadan, hours vary, with shops often closing on Sunday. Summer: Tues, Wed, Fri-Sun 0900-1230 and 1600-2000.