Q: I am from Turkey and am travelling to Cairo next month for the first time on my own. I wonder if there are car rental companies in Cairo? Do I have to rent with a driver or can I drive myself? Are there any other alternatives to get around? There are several car rental companies in Cairo. Most of them have offices in Cairo International Airport and in most of Cairo's bigger hotels. You can rent a car and drive it yourself on condition you are at least 25 years old and have an international driving licence, held for at least one year. The cheapest of the big agencies is Budget, which rents cars at $50 per day, in addition to $7 daily accident waiver and 12 per cent tax. A less expensive company, Thrifty Egypt Limousine, rents cars at up to 20 per cent less. Hertz, Avis and Europcar are worth trying too. However, all these companies offer a reasonably priced option of renting cars with drivers. As a first time traveller I advise you to go for this option. Average rates for a driver are around $15 for a 10-hour day in addition to $2 for each extra hour of driving time. Local taxis (black and white cabs) are another alternative. They will be cheaper, but none have air- conditioning. When taking a taxi it is best to negotiate the price with the driver in advance. Fares are determined by market rates rather than by metres. Cairenes normally pay a LE1 minimum, LE3-5 for a downtown hop (for example, Tahrir Square to Al-Azhar, Zamalek or Mohandessin) and more if heading further out especially to a prosperous area (LE8-10 to Heliopolis, for example). Though foreigners can get away with local rates, drivers expect you to pay over the odds -- LE5 minimum, LE5-8 across downtown or the Nile and LE10-15 for journeys further out. If you don't mind public transportation, I recommend two options: the underground metro and air-conditioned buses. Metro trains run every few minutes from 6am to midnight and cover almost all of Cairo at a cost of PT75 for all lines. There are two lines; one connects the northeastern suburb of Al-Marg with the southern industrial district of Helwan; the other Shobra in the north to Giza. Via the metro you can easily access the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square, Old Cairo, including the Hanging Church, Amr Ibn Al-Aas Mosque, Ben Ezra Synagogue and the Coptic Museum, Sayeda Zeinab Mosque, Cairo Opera House in Gezira, the Petrified Forest in Maadi, and other interesting sites. I advise, however, newcomers to Cairo to avoid using the metro in rush hours (7-9.30am and 2.30- 5pm). If you want to travel in comfort and avoid the crowds, air-conditioned buses are an excellent option, though they are slow and they often get stuck in traffic. There are many lines that cover most of Cairo, including the Pyramids and the Sphinx in Giza for LE2. There are terminals in Ahmed Helmi Street, adjacent to Ramsis Square and in Abdel-Moneim Riad Street, near to Tahrir Square, besides other terminals scattered all over the city.
