Riding in the desert
Despite the pitfalls we've mentioned under "The Pyramids of Giza", riding in the desert is a fantastic experience. Unless you relish haggling, authorized stables are a safer bet than footloose Bedouin operators; in either case, check to see that your horse is in good condition. Stables behind the Sound and Light grandstand near the Sphinx include AA (tel 385-0531), which is good for children, Eurostables (tel 385-5849) and MG Stables (tel 385-1241). For Omar Stables (tel 385-0301), ask for Mohammed or Adel Omar in the Pyramids Bazaar opposite the Mena House. All of the above charge £E20 an hour. Children and adults can take riding lessons (£E10 for 30min) at Heliopolis Racing Club (9am-5pm; tel 245-4090).

Felucca sailing
Something as restful as sailing on the Nile in a felucca can hardly be termed an activity. Since the boatman does all the work, the only effort involved is negotiating rental rates. Most of the feluccas moored along the river bank opposite the Helnan Shepheard and the northern tip of Roda can seat eight people and charge £E20-30 per hour. Bring a picnic and lots of mosquito repellent. For rather less cost, you can join one of the boats just south of Maspero Dock, which do round trips to the Nile Barrages at Qanatir (£E5). Shorter jaunts are available on boats from the quay just north of Tahrir Bridge on Gezira Island (£E2 for 30min). For an even cheaper no-frills ride on the Nile, catch a river-taxi (25pt) from the Maspero Dock to Giza or Old Cairo or, on Fridays and Sundays, up to Qanatir (£E1.50).

Parks
Cairo is incredibly densely populated, with green spaces few and far between. Even in prosperous Mohandiseen, local residents are forced to make use of the central reservations of the main boulevards for sitting out or picnicking. Downtown, the nearest thing to a park you will find is the Andalusian Garden (50pt), complete with Cleopatra's Needle-style obelisk, on the east side of Gezira Island just south of 6th October Bridge. By 6th October Bridge on the other side of the island, Gezira Youth Club is used by locals and residents as a park. The adjoining Gezira Sporting Club has a massive green space - the largest in Cairo - but keeps its fees high and its doors resolutely closed to non-members. However, Saiyida Park , in Saiyida Zeinab (on Sharia Qadry, one block off Sharia Bur Said; daily 8am-10pm), is a public landscaped garden in traditional Arabic style not far from the Ibn Tulun Mosque, a very welcome green lung in one of the most crowded parts of town, and an excellent place for a breather after a day's sightseeing in Islamic Cairo.

Further afield, the grounds of the Agriculture Museum in Aguza (Tues-Sun 9.30am; 20pt) are rather more enticing than the museum itself, and there is also the Japanese Garden in Helwan (daily except Tues 9am-6pm; £E1). Other options are Galabaya Park in Zamalek, El-Urmen Gardens and the zoo in Giza, and Merryland in Heliopolis, all dealt with under "Kids' Stuff".

Swimming pools
Swimming pools take on an extra allure in Cairo, whose only "public" pool is the spa at Ain Helwan (daily 8am-3pm; £E2). The Heliolido (tel 258-0070) off Midan Roxi is open to members only, but offers monthly memberships for £E250 (open July-Sept). The nearby Heliopolis Sporting Club (tel 417-0010) on Sharia Merghani has a larger pool and admits foreigners over the summer (bring your passport), but the entrance fee (£E20) doesn't include use of the other facilities. The Olympic-size pool at the Ahli Club by the Opera House on Sharia Om Kalthoum is for more serious swimmers and also has women-only sessions - monthly membership costs US$50.

Hotel pools are more accessible, the best being the Semiramis InterContinental (£E84), Cairo Marriott (£E63) and Atlas Zamalek (£E28.50). The rooftop pool of the Fontana Hotel, off Midan Ramses, is cheaper for dipping (£E10) but hardly big enough for a swim.

Hammams
A totally different experience is available at traditional hammams (bathhouses), whose nondescript facades conceal gloomy warrens of sweatrooms and tubs. Some baths serve men in the morning and women in the afternoon; others assign them separate days, or only admit one sex. With no mixed bathing, Egyptian women can ignore taboos and talk frankly; foreigners may be adopted into their circle, which usually includes children being scrubbed. For men, baths are something of a centre for gay prostitution, and have been since Ottoman times, so many avoid them for that reason, although you can generally go there just for a bathe without being hassled. Egyptians pay £E3-5, but foreigners are likely to be charged £E10. Ask around Islamic Cairo . The oldest, dating from 1261, is the Hammam al-Sultan, four doors north of Barquq's complex on Sharia al-Muizz (daily 10am-6pm).

Nearer to the Northern Walls are the eighteenth-century Hammam al-Malatyah (on Sharia Amir al-Gyushi) and the harder-to-find Hammam al-Tanbali (near the El-Geish end of Bayn al-Haret, 1km east of Ramses). Around the Bab Zwayla are the As-Sukayna and Al-Muayyad baths - both Mamluke - and the rather grubby Ottoman Hammam al-Sukkariyya. A medieval facade halfway down Sharia es-Silah screens the modernized Hammam Bashtak (daily: women noon-5pm; men 7-10pm; Ramadan men only). For a cleaner, more expensive and less traditional venue, around £E25 buys a sauna at the El-Gezirah Sheraton, a saun a and Turkish bath at the Nile Hilton, or both plus Jacuzzi at the Ramses Hilton.

Sports: Participatory and spectator
Keeping fit in Cairo is difficult but not impossible. The expat Hash House Harriers (tel 350-5577) is one of several clubs organizing street running , best done on Gezira, Roda or the west bank Corniche, before 8am or after 10pm to avoid heavy traffic and air pollution. Alternatively, by paying £E1.50 to enter the Youth Club under the Giza side of the 6th October Bridge, you can "stray" into the Gezira Sporting Club - just keep away from the built-up area near the running track, where guards check for tickets.

Although the Gezira Sporting Club's extensive facilities are only available to members and guests, anyone can use the gymnasiums in the Ramses Hilton (£E25), Nile Hilton (£E54) and Atlas Zamalek (£E10 per day) hotels; or call the Community Services Association, 4 Road #21, Ma'adi (tel 350-5284), which runs a fitness centre with a weight room.

Of the city's spectator sports, football is the most exciting. During the season (Sept-May), premier league teams Ahly and Zamalek take on challengers like Mahalla and Masri at the Cairo Stadium or the Maoulin el-Arab ground, both in Medinet Nasr (Fri, Sat & Sun; £E3-15; kickoff is at 3 or 4pm). Riot policemen with machine guns are regularly in attendance at matches since football riots, though infrequent, can be extremely bloody.

The Saturday Egyptian Mail gives details of horse racing at both the Heliopolis Hippodrome Course and the Gezira race track, from mid-October to mid-May. Races start at 1.30pm every other Saturday and Sunday; the international ones and the local derby are both enjoyable. From November to April, Cairo's bridges provide a fine view of rowing races every Friday.