Faiyum

Once the home of a mysterious crocodile god, whom the Greeks of Faiyum decorated with gold trinkets and honorific gem pendants, this Nile-side city is now a place split between its intriguing past and a promising future as a market hub. Most visitors and Faiyum tour guides will be concerned with the former, which is found mainly in the out-of-centre village of Tunis. Filled with independent galleries and pottery workshops, and complete with boho hotels that channel the historic vibes of ancient Egypt, this is one of the best places to stay – it's also just a stone's throw from the vast salty Lake Qarun. Then comes the buzzing, bazaar-heavy modern side of Faiyum. This bustling district of over half a million people is the trading hub for one of the most fertile stretches of the Nile; so expect to see juicy produce by the mounds in the weekly market. It's also the best base point for trips to the Wadi Al Rayan, the ancient site of Hawara, the whale skeletons at Wadi al Hittan, the Lahun Pyramids closer to the river, and the famous network of millennia-old canals built by the ancients.