Royal Palaces of Cairo: Baron, Abdeen & Manial

Cairo's royal and aristocratic past is easily overlooked next to the pharaohs, but it left some remarkable buildings. Your private car and guide collect you from your hotel and drive first to Heliopolis, the garden suburb founded by the Belgian industrialist Baron Édouard Empain in the early twentieth century. His palace, inspired by Hindu and Cambodian temples, is covered in carved elephants, dancers and mythical creatures, and has been carefully restored.

Next comes Abdeen Palace in downtown Cairo, built for Khedive Ismail in the 1860s and 1870s and for decades the seat of Egypt's rulers. Its museums display royal weapons, silverware and gifts presented by foreign heads of state.

The last stop is Manial Palace on Roda Island, built by Prince Mohamed Ali Tewfik, who blended Ottoman, Persian, Moorish and European styles in rooms lined with tilework and carved wood, all set in shady gardens of rare trees. The tour takes about seven hours, ending back at your hotel.