Which one to choose in Cairo
Al-Azhar Mosque vs Al-Hakim Mosque
Two temples in Cairo. Al-Azhar Mosque has no online ticket listed; Al-Hakim Mosque has 1 ticket or tour to book. The table and the two notes below put them side by side; the full pages have what to see, the ticket and the timing for each.
Cairo, Egypt
No ticket for al-Azhar is sold online, and none is needed: entry to the mosque is free for visitors of any faith outside prayer times. At the main entrance shoes are removed and left with an attendant, and women whose clothing does not cover arms, legs and hair are given a robe and headscarf; a small tip for these services is customary. Unofficial guides sometimes offer to show you round, so agree any fee before you start, or politely decline.
Many visitors come on a guided tour of Islamic Cairo. Half-day and full-day tours typically link the mosque with Khan el-Khalili bazaar across the road, al-Muizz Street, the Citadel of Saladin and the Mosque of Muhammad Ali, and sometimes the mosques of Sultan Hassan and al-Rifai.
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Cairo, Egypt
There is nothing to buy in order to enter the Al-Hakim Mosque: it is a working mosque, run by the Dawoodi Bohra community, and visitors walk in free of charge outside prayer times. The only cost at the door is a small tip for the man who looks after shoes, and perhaps a few pounds if someone lends you a scarf or offers to show you up to the roof.
What is sold online is a guided walk through Islamic Cairo in which this mosque is the anchor. On that kind of outing a local guide meets you near Bab al-Futuh or at your hotel, explains the Fatimid city as you walk south along al-Muizz Street, and takes you inside the mosque with some context on the caliph who finished it and the community that rebuilt it.
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