By Bus
Cairo is thoroughly served by a network of lumbering sardine-cans-on-wheels and smaller shuttle-size minibuses. They’re good for slow but cheap trips to the Pyramids or from the airport, but elsewhere you can travel more efficiently and comfortably by metro and/or taxi. Signs are in Arabic only, so you’ll have to know your numerals. There is no known map of any of the city’s bus routes. Major bus hubs are Midan Abdel Moniem Riad, behind the Egyptian Museum, and Midan Ataba.
Metro
The metro is blissfully efficient, inexpensive and, outside rush hours, not too crowded. Given the impossible car traffic in Cairo, if you can make even a portion of your journey on the metro, you’ll save time and aggravation. Metro stations have signs with a big red ‘M’ in a blue star. Trains run every five minutes or so from around 6am until 11.30pm.
Microbus
Cairenes use the private microbus (meekrobas) – a small van with 12 or so seats – as much as the public bus. No destinations are marked, which can make them hard to use at first. But they’re quite useful for major routes: from the Giza metro to the main gate of the Pyramids and to Midan Al Remaya (for long-distance microbuses); and from Midan Ataba to Sharia Sayyida Aisha for the Citadel, and to Midan Al Hussein for Islamic Cairo.
River Bus
It’s of limited utility, but it’s scenic; the river bus runs from the Corniche near Downtown Cairo to Giza, by the zoo and Cairo University. The Downtown terminal is located at Maspero, 250m north of the Ramses Hilton, in front of the big round TV building. Boats depart every 15 minutes.
Taxi
Outside the mid-afternoon rush, taxis are readily available and will come to a screeching halt with the slightest wave of your hand. For hailing off the street, the whole Cairo cab experience has been transformed by new white taxis with meters and even, on occasion, air-con.
Careem & Uber
If you prefer not to hail off the street, both Uber and Middle East–based Careem (www.careem.com/cairo) operate taxi services in Cairo and are often much cheaper than standard taxis.
