15 insider tips and things you should know before going to Cairo

12.01.2024 - 00:01 / lonelyplanet.com

I spent the first 30 years of my life in a small town in the Nile Delta, three hours away from Cairo.

Later, I moved to the capital and married an Englishman. All of a sudden, I was weighed down with the responsibility of being a fountain of knowledge about my adopted city for my new spouse. It’s rare to find an Egyptian who admits their ignorance, so I had to educate myself, which I did by pounding the streets.

One evening, I was walking in Old Cairo with a friend when he stopped abruptly by a nondescript wooden door. “This is where Napoleon lived,” he said, gesturing to a small metal star halfway up the door. “That’s his sign. Napoleon chose this spot so he could be in the middle of the bustle but remain incognito.” It sounds like every independent traveler’s dream.

Brushing the oppressive weight of colonial history aside for a second, if Napoleon could do it, so can you. And here’s how.

Uber, Careem and Didi are all ride-sharing apps and using these will help you avoid arguing over fares with taxi drivers (especially at the airport). Alternatively, the metro is quick and cheap (and clean – here's looking at you, Line 3). You can buy a multitrip card from any station.

Time is a famously flexible concept in Cairo. Be ready for things to be delayed or changed at the last minute, or for a surprise wedding to cause a sudden postponement. Keep in mind that your plans might need to be more fluid than you had thought. 

Join the locals on the table or bench at the fuul (fava bean paste)cart and order plates, not sandwiches, and you'll get more bang for your buck. Say “etwassa!” ("be generous") when you place your order and you’ll get an extra spoonful.

You’ll find Paris-style kiosks serving coffee on every street corner. Ask if they have a rammala – a gadget that uses hot sand to brew Turkish coffee to perfection. Your cardamom-spiced coffee will arrive in a paper cup adorned with a wonky yet inspirational quote to set you up for the day.

Dehydration is not likely to be an issue for you in Cairo because you can't move for the amount of fresh juice shops. Try any of the energizing cocktails on offer, or go full Egyptian and down an ice-cold pint of sugarcane juice, a common local pastime. Insist that your juice comes with no ice, as it is likely to have been made with tap water, and “no (extra) sugar” depending on your preference for sweetness.

Romantic travelers can display affection towards their partners, but doing so in public is essentially prohibited in Egypt by the “Public Morality” law, and is not recommended. You could expect to receive anything from cheers to scorn and even intervention by a concerned citizen or officials, with the potential to end in jail (the response to LGBTIQ+ people is likely to be