El-Orman Garden is a 30-acre botanical garden established in 1875 beside the Giza Zoo, containing one of the most diverse collections of mature trees in Egypt. Many of the specimens are over a century old — towering Araucaria pines, spreading ficus trees, and an impressive palm collection — and the garden has the peaceful, slightly unkempt quality of a Victorian pleasure ground that has outlasted its original purpose.
For visitors who need a break from the relentless sun and the crowds of the pyramid plateau, El-Orman is a shaded, quiet alternative. The garden is at its best in spring when the flowering trees are in bloom. On Friday mornings it fills with local families; weekday mornings it can be almost empty. Combined with a visit to the adjacent zoo, it makes for an easy half-day that shows a different side of Giza from the ancient monuments.