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| Home > City Guide - Cairo - Getting There By Road | ||
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Getting There By Road To drive in Egypt, foreign drivers must be at least 25 years old and be in possession of an International Driving Permit, however, driving in Egypt is not really recommended as there are few rules that are either adhered to or enforced. The roads are mostly of very poor quality, with numerous bumps and potholes to avoid. Egyptian drivers overtake all the time and visitors should beware cars coming towards them in their own lane. Flashing headlights means ‘get out of the way’. Night driving is particularly dangerous as headlights are rarely used. Emergency breakdown service(s): No national provider; car hire operators may have local arrangements. Routes to the city: Main routes from Cairo are Highway 1 (Delta Highway) northwest to Alexandria; Highway 11 (Desert Highway) also northwest towards Alexandria and the northwest coast; Highway 2 south alongside the Nile towards Luxor; Highway 3 northeast towards Port Said; and Highway 33 east to Suez. Driving times to the city: From Alexandria – 3 hours; Port Said – 3 hours; Luxor – 10 hours; Aswan – 16 hours. Coach services: Cairo is linked by comfortable, regular and inexpensive coach services to the other main Egyptian cities. Many coaches are air conditioned but there are also older coaches in operation, which can be uncomfortable. Generally, the ticket price reflects the level of comfort to be expected. There are five long-distance coach stations and tickets can only be bought at the coach station itself but can be booked in advance in person. Services are run by several operators serving the different regions of Egypt from the different coach stations. These include the Upper Egypt Bus Company, the East Delta Bus Company and the West Delta Bus Company. Coach terminals are chaotic but agreeable enough, with ticket offices and refreshment stands. The Abdel Mouneem Riyad Terminal is often also called the Ramses Hilton Terminal, as it is close to that hotel on Sharia Gala. From here, there are half-hourly services to Alexandria, several per day to Hurghada, and one per day to Aswan and to Luxor (overnight). Behind here is the Ahmed Helmi Terminal, with several overnight services to Luxor and Aswan, and other daily services to Hurghada and to Middle Egypt. The Sinai Bus Terminal (officially the Abbassiyya Station, near Midan Abbassiyya) has several services per day to Sinai towns, such as Sharm el-Sheikh and Nuweiba, with one per day going via St Catherine’s Monastery. The Koulali Terminal at Midal Ulali near Midan Ramses serves the Canal Zone and towns in the Nile Delta, while the Al-Azhar Terminal, 45 Sharia al-Azhar, operates services into the Western Desert. |
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