Egypt Guide
Cairo
Getting around
Getting around Cairo is relatively straightforward; Midan Tahrir is the main transport hub, with several other terminals in the centre connecting up to the city. The metro is simple to use and taxis are inexpensive. Familiarize yourself with Arabic numerals and you can also use buses and minibuses, which reach most parts of the city. Street names are posted in English (or French) and Arabic in central Cairo and Zamalek, almost everywhere else in Arabic only, or not at all.
Cairo's metro works like nothing else in the city - it's clean and efficient, with a well-enforced ban on littering and smoking. Trains run every few minutes from 5.30am to midnight; outside of the rush hours they're no more overcrowded than in other cities around the world. The front carriage of each train is reserved for women; worth keeping in mind if you're a lone female traveller. Stations are signposted with a large "M"; signs and route maps appear in English and Arabic. Tickets are purchased in the station (£E1 flat fare, cheaper during Ramadan); twin sets of booths cater for passengers heading in opposite directions, sometimes with separate queues for either sex.
The most common type of taxi is the black-and-white four seater (Fiats or Ladas), which in peak hours may carry passengers collectively. Don't confuse regular cabs with larger special taxis (usually Peugeot 504s or Mercedes), which cost three times more and prey on tourists. If you do ride in a special, establish the price - and bargain it down - before you get in. A second type of taxi is the pricier limousines, usually Mercedes or Peugeot 406s. Operated by firms such as Limo Misr (02/685-6125) and Target Limousine (02/588-0095), they are stationed at five-star hotels and at the airport, with fixed fares (£E66 from the airport to downtown, for example) and rentable by the day as well as for set routes. A limo for the day (12 hours and 100km) costs £E340. New in town is a third kind of taxi, Cairo Cab. Bright yellow in colour, Cairo Cabs, amazingly, actually use a meter. They are also generally more expensive than ordinary taxis, with a flagfall of £E3.50, plus another £E1-odd per kilometre, and a £E5-per-hour waiting fee. Drivers of metered cabs will have their own scams for increasing fares, wuch as taking the scenic route or making sure to get caught up in heavy traffic, while the meter ticks away.
Cairo's buses mainly operate from 5.30am to 12.30am daily (6.30am-6.30pm & 7.30pm-2am during Ramadan). Fares are cheap enough to be affordable for everyone, so buses are usually full and overflow during rush hour, when passengers hang from doorways. Buses should have route numbers in Arabic numerals on the front, side and back. Bus stops are not always clearly signposted (look for metal shelters, plaques on lampposts or crowds waiting) and buses often just slow down instead of halting, compelling passangers to board and disembark on the run. Except at terminals, you are supposed to enter through the rear door and exit from the front. Conductors sell tickets (the flat fare on most routes is 25pt, 50pt on longer routes, £E1 on newer, more comfortable vehicles and £E2 on air-conditioned buses) from behind a crush-bar by the rear door.
Minibuses run along many of the bus routes, supplemented by privately run green minibuses on new routes. Besides making better headway through traffic and actually halting at stops (usually the same stops as used by ordinary buses), minibuses are far more comfortable than ordinary buses and never crowded. Tickets (25pt-£E1) are bought from the driver.
River-taxis (aka waterbuses) are the most relaxing way to reach Old cairo. They leave from the Maspero Dock outside the Television Building, 600m north of the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities. Boats run every hour from 7am to El Gama'a Bridge in Giza, continuing early morning (7-8am) to Old Cairo; you can buy tickets (50pt flat fee) at the dock.