Historic Cairo Mosques: Tickets, Hours and Dress Code

Egypt's Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities sells tickets to several of Cairo's mosques through the same price list it uses for tombs and museums. That makes them look like museums, but UNESCO's Historic Cairo listing describes a district that still works as a city, with neighbourhoods, crafts, trade and "religious traditions" inside the protected area. The mosques you pay to enter are also places of worship. Dress, timing and photography follow from that.

Which Cairo mosques charge foreign visitors, and how much?

The ministry's English ticket price list (the latest we could find; its file is dated 5-11-2024) puts the main mosques into three groups. The individual monument pages, read in September 2026, show the same prices.

Egyptians enter Sultan Hassan and al-Rifa'i free, according to the ministry's Sultan Hassan page. Al-Azhar Mosque does not appear on the ministry's price list, and we did not find an official page giving visitor hours for it.

A worked example

Two foreign adults who see the Citadel, then Sultan Hassan and al-Rifa'i, then Ibn Tulun pay 2 × (550 + 220 + 0) = EGP 1,540. If one of them is a student with a valid card, the total is (550 + 220) + (275 + 110) = EGP 1,155. For how to pay at ticket windows and what to carry in cash, see our guide to paying in Egypt.

What each ticket actually gets you

Sultan Hassan and al-Rifa'i face each other across Salah al-Din Square below the Citadel. Sultan Hassan was built between 1356 and 1362 for the Mamluk sultan Hasan ibn al-Nasir Muhammad. The ministry notes that it housed teaching for all four Sunni schools of Islamic law, each with its own court and iwan off the central courtyard. The al-Rifa'i Mosque opposite was finished in 1912 and is a royal burial place. Khedive Ismail, Kings Fuad I and Farouk and the last Shah of Iran are buried there, so parts of it are tombs as well as prayer space.

The Citadel ticket is an area ticket. The ministry's Citadel page lists the Muhammad Ali Mosque, two older mosques and several museums inside it. The Muhammad Ali Mosque dates from 1848 and is built in an Ottoman Turkish style. Its nickname, the Alabaster Mosque, comes from the stone panelling on its walls, and its twin 84-metre minarets are the tallest in Egypt, per the ministry.

Ibn Tulun is the free option with the most history. The ministry's page dates it to 876–879, built by the Abbasid governor Ahmad Ibn Tulun as the main mosque of his new capital, al-Qata'i. Its spiral minaret echoes a mosque in Samarra, Iraq. It is in the Sayyida Zaynab district, south-west of the Citadel.

The Egyptian Tourism Authority dates the Mosque of Amr ibn al-As to 641, the year Islam arrived in Egypt. It is in Old Cairo, a separate trip from the Citadel area.

What should you wear to a mosque in Cairo?

Egypt's official tourism site, Experience Egypt, is direct: for mosques, churches and other places of worship, "bring a headscarf and dress modestly; shoulders and legs must be covered." It also suggests carrying a scarf or light cardigan, because visitors are expected to cover arms and legs at mosques, churches and synagogues. The UK Foreign Office's Egypt advice, updated 4 August 2026, gives the same message: dress modestly, "especially in rural areas, mosques and souqs."

In practice that means long trousers or a long skirt, and a top with sleeves, for everyone. Women should bring their own headscarf. None of the ministry pages we read say whether loan cover-ups are handed out at the entrance, so don't count on them.

Mosque prayer areas are carpeted and entered without shoes. The ministry pages we read did not describe shoe storage or any shoe-minding charge, so a small bag to carry your shoes and a pair of socks for hot stone courtyards are sensible.

Can you take photos inside Cairo's mosques?

The tourism authority's rules allow photos inside indoor sites only with the flash turned off, and professional lighting or equipment that blocks the road needs a permit. Two of its other rules matter more in a working mosque. It says photographing children "is forbidden", and that Egyptian citizens can be photographed only with their written permission. People praying are local residents, so keep them out of your frame.

The US State Department's Egypt page adds that photographing police stations, military barracks and some other sensitive buildings is illegal. The Citadel contains a Police Museum and a Military Museum, so read the signs before photographing anything that looks official. The UK advice also notes that it is illegal to encourage people to convert to another religion, which rules out handing out religious material at any site.

Timing around prayer, Fridays and Ramadan

The ministry lists the same hours every day of the week for Sultan Hassan, al-Rifa'i and Ibn Tulun. It does not say whether visitors are paused during prayers, including Friday's midday congregational prayer. Friday afternoon, or any other day, is a safer choice for a long visit. If you arrive when prayer is starting, wait at the edge or come back later rather than walking through.

During Ramadan, the UK advice says eating, drinking or smoking in public in daylight is culturally insensitive. Carry water for the heat, but drink it out of sight rather than in a mosque courtyard.

The US State Department rates Egypt at Level 2, "Exercise increased caution", as of 15 July 2025, and lists religious sites among possible terrorist targets. That is a reason to check current advice for your nationality before you go, not to skip the district.

Before you set out, check that you have a scarf, covered shoulders and knees, a way to pay at the Sultan Hassan and Citadel ticket windows, and a plan to reach the Muhammad Ali Mosque before 16:00.