Choosing how to get around Egypt is key to making the trip a success… or turning it into an Odyssey. The right means will allow you to travel comfortably and quickly between different cities and monuments within the country, but the wrong one will cause delays in journeys, which may also fall below the standard of quality you expect. The truth is that there is a great variety of means of transport in Egypt, but not all of them will be suitable for your type of trip. Therefore, take note of all the options available to you and consider your decision carefully. And remember that Egipto Exclusivo can take care of even the smallest detail regarding your travel arrangements.
In this list of possibilities on how to get around Egypt, the first option we list is the one directly offered by Egipto Exclusivo: the private vehicle with driver. And we show it to you first because it is the most recommended from all points of view: both for utility and for safety, comfort and time saving.
This is a solution that combines the best of rental cars and private taxis. From the former, it takes the freedom to have it freely available and for the journeys that are needed, even long distance ones. And from the latter, it takes the convenience of avoiding the wheel, handing it over to a professional and expert driver on Egyptian roads, where it is not always easy to drive.
In addition, this option is very popular with those looking for how to get around Egypt completely, that is, traveling between the different tourist destinations. But also for those who plan to make different urban or short trips as day trips. And even for essential journeys in every trip, such as transfers from/to the airport.
One of the main advantages is that the vehicles managed by Egipto Exclusivo are high-end, with careful cleaning and air conditioning in perfect working order. No less important is the driver’s experience and intuition to avoid traffic jams, a situation that is the order of the day in large cities such as Cairo.
Also noteworthy as an advantage is the variety of models. In this sense, we have cars that have a capacity of 4 passengers plus the driver. But in circuits around the country, minivans for 7 or 9 people are very popular, including the driver. In the latter case, the space is ample and the seats are especially comfortable so that their occupants can complete long distances without problems.
Our agency has models of all types, which adapt to the needs of those looking for how to get around Egypt alone, as a couple, as a family or even in a small or medium group. And we adapt to any requirement: we have total availability for the schedules, with professionals who will speak your language.
If you are looking for freedom of movement, there is nothing like getting around Egypt with a rental car. But that freedom will always be conditioned by the location of the office where the vehicle is rented, its opening hours, the possibility or not of delivering it to a branch different from the one where it was picked up and other conditions specified in the contract.
In Egypt, being a tourist power, the main multinational car rental companies operate, such as Sixt and Europcar. They are present in cities as important as Alexandria, Aswan, Dahab, El Gouna, Hurghada, Luxor, Marsa Alam, Sharm el Sheikh and, of course, Cairo. And in them, the offices are always in strategic areas, especially large communication hubs such as airports, train stations or in the vicinity of large holiday resorts.
However: making a decision such as getting around Egypt in a rental car has implications that you should be aware of. The most important of all is the one caused by the cultural shock you will experience behind the wheel : driving through the big cities, especially Cairo, has nothing to do with driving through the streets of a Western city. The traffic rules de facto are different when it comes to giving way, overtaking, parking or respecting the safety distance.
The traffic jams you will experience in those same cities and in the capital will test your patience, especially during rush hour. The state of the roads, especially the secondary network, is something that you should also value, since some insurances do not include in their coverage the incidents that occur on roads in poor condition. And that is something that, for many, greatly influences the decision on how to get around Egypt.
Although congestion is noticeable in large cities, outside of it traffic is generally quite calm. The main highways are located in the vicinity of large cities, where they reach a width of four lanes in some cases. The most important is the toll road that connects Cairo with Alexandria, known as the ‘Desert Highway’ (215 km), as it goes into it bordering the Delta to quickly connect these two large cities.
Also noteworthy are other important highways: the coastal road (280 km), which connects Alexandria with Port Said, the one that connects Port Said with Ismailia parallel to the Suez Canal, the one that connects Cairo with Suez, the ring roads of the capital and the axis that connects Cairo with Asiut through the Eastern desert but parallel to the Nile River, maintaining several lanes in each direction.
The speed limit is another issue related to how to get around Egypt by car. These limits are 50 km/h in the city, 90 km/h on secondary roads and 100 km/h on highways . And remember that in areas very distant from the big cities, gas stations are not abundant. So if your journey is long and away from urban centers, it is advisable to fill up the tank every time you see a service station.
For the great road trippers, a great trip through the desert and the land of the pharaohs represents a dream, an adventure that you want to live at least once in your life. Therefore, we incorporate a section dedicated to how to get around Egypt by motorcycle, as it is a means of transport with many particularities to take into account.
For example, you have to start by warning that bringing your own motorcycle from home can be a real Odyssey. And not precisely because of the route, but because of the bureaucracy that must be followed to enter the country with it. If that is your intention for a rather personal and romantic reason, you must arm yourself with patience since you will have to complete different permits and re-register your iron horse to be able to circulate on Egyptian soil. A bureaucracy that is not immediate and sometimes involves days of waiting. In any case, if you want us to lend you a hand with it, you can contact Egipto Exclusivo: we will try to speed up the procedures and resolve other details that may be useful for your great motorcycle route.
But being honest, it will be much easier for you to rent a motorcycle already in Egypt. Tourism and everything that this sector moves around it has renewed the catalog of experiences available to customers . And as more and more people wanted to discover the country motorized and on two wheels, the possibilities of renting a motorcycle have also increased a lot. In the main cities you will find specialists in this service, and even in some holiday resorts. In this case, our agency can also process this service for you so that when you arrive you have everything ready. And you will discover that if you have a road-tripping soul and you like to travel kilometers through immense landscapes full of peace, there is nothing like getting around Egypt and its desert with a good motorcycle!
In all cities and practically in all towns there is a taxi service, as it is very rooted in Egyptian culture. However, you should know that the taximeter system is not implemented in all cities, so you will have to negotiate the price before leaving. Not only that: before getting into the vehicle in a big city, you must indicate your place of destination to the taxi driver, as he could reject the service for reasons such as the state of traffic.
There are very common routes where the price of the journey is more or less fixed in advance, so there is little room for negotiation. But it is very natural to carry out a ‘give and take’ when the journey is interurban, since the taxi is not only used within the city but also outside of it. And therefore, it can represent a solution to the question of how to get around Egypt.
On the other hand, sharing a taxi is a situation that may surprise you but it is the most natural thing, especially on urban routes. In these cases, the traveler pays for his seat and, in order to leave, he often has to wait until the vehicle is completely full. In these cases, it is also possible to pay for two or more additional seats to leave them free, with the intention of starting the trip as soon as possible or making the journey more comfortably.
Finally, we incorporate an option already very implemented in the world: Uber and its Arabic version, Careem. It is a good solution for those looking for how to get around urban Egypt, as it is not available in all cities. It is available in Cairo and Alexandria, as well as in holiday places with a lot of foreign tourists, such as Sharm el Sheikh, although it is most likely that more destinations will be progressively incorporated into this catalog of cities.
The taxi is not the only option for this type of journey, but there are many alternatives, although in practice they are reserved for local citizens. Microbuses and vans are striking, a kind of hybrid between the taxi and the bus, as they often carry out more or less regular routes similar to those of collective transport but at a more economical price. They are always shared trips with a dozen people. But it is not always well seen that a foreign tourist takes this means of transport, so in those cases it would not solve the question of how to get around Egypt for tourism.
Another increasingly popular option is ‘tuk tuks’. Although in reality this is a transport solution that emerged in Southeast Asia, it has also reached other busy tourist destinations where traffic can become chaotic by car. Therefore, it was soon introduced in the country and is currently one more option in the theme of how to get around urban and tourist Egypt, at least for short journeys. Its drivers usually belong to the most humble and hard-working class, so it can be an interesting way to make contact with the local population.
Another proposal to take into account is the horse-drawn carriages. However, their journeys are offered more as tourist routes through places of interest. They are common, for example, in the temple of Horus in Edfu or in the center of Luxor. But they are not usually used for normal urban travel. And much less for an interurban journey.
If you are sure that you want to travel in a means of collective transport, there is nothing like getting around Egypt by bus. At least, if you want to travel between different cities or regions. It is the means of public transport that best connects the main cities of any size, as the railway network does not cover the entire territory of the country. One of its main advantages is the price, as its ticket is very cheap, even in those considered high-end.
In addition, the fleet of vehicles has been greatly renovated in recent years, with coaches that more than meet the requirements: air conditioning, television, toilets, comfortable seats equipped with seat belts, manageable curtains to protect each site from the sun, etc. Because the journeys are very long in some cases, night buses are very common, in which the most backpackers will be able to take a nap.
Go Bus and Blue Bus are the two main companies that facilitate how to get around Egypt by bus. They connect about twenty cities and, in the case of the largest ones, they stop at different stations. One of the most interesting things for foreign tourists is that they have a website in English where it is possible to buy the ticket in advance and without complications.
The main drawbacks of this option are the punctuality of the journeys, which sometimes suffer delays at the last minute and are harmed by traffic jams in large cities, especially in those cases with a point of departure or arrival in Cairo.
And of course, all cities have a network of urban buses, more or less extensive depending on their size. Therefore, we recommend consulting the page dedicated to each tourist destination to inform you of this public service, as the price and the number of lines varies in each case.
Lovers of great railways will not find anything like getting around Egypt by train. The bustle of people in the stations or the integration of the railroads into the landscape are some of the reasons given by the defenders of this means of transport. However, they cannot always argue comfort as an advantage in this country, as not all passenger convoys here offer high quality standards.
Regarding conventional or daytime trains, it is very rare to see tourists on them. The two main lines are Cairo-Alexandria and Cairo-Aswan, which operate with somewhat more modern trains. But on most lines, the age of the convoys is compounded by scarce services, excessively high occupancy, and manifestly improvable conditions. Speed is not their strong point either, and since the distances to be covered are often long, it is always recommended to use first class ( darga ula).
In any case, it never hurts to know what the railway network of Egypt is like. It encompasses about 5,000 km of tracks and largely maintains the layout put into operation by the British in the 19th and early 20th centuries. This state railway map largely reproduces the natural drawing created by the Nile River in the Egyptian geography.
The center of the system is represented by the capital, Cairo. And from this city, different lines depart to the north, covering the entire Delta, where the network forms a spider web that integrates the main cities of the area. Those who are looking for how to get around Egypt by train, should take into account other railway lines located in the north of the country but that do not run through the Delta. There are three, mainly:
To the south, another railway line extends parallel to the course of the Nile, where the main cities of Upper Egypt are located, with Aswan being the southern end of this axis. And along this central railway line, some secondary lines arise, like limbs. These are the lines that reach, in a westerly direction, the oases of Fayum, Bawiti, Kharga, and Baris. And to the east, the only existing line is the one that connects Qena and Safaga.
The state railway company is Egyptian National Railways (ENR), but its website is not exactly very intuitive and is conceived more as a space for consulting schedules and routes, but not for the acquisition of tickets online. Therefore, this means is often relegated to the background by travelers, who see the bus as the best solution to how to get around Egypt by public transport.
While the daytime and state network has significant gaps, night trains can be a very good option for tourists looking for how to get around Egypt by rail. They cover long distances and, since their journey takes place at night, it allows their occupants to rest during the journey.
The main company that offers this service is Ernst and its wagons have individual or double cabins. It schedules daily routes between Cairo and Aswan, with stops in Giza and Luxor, making it a very interesting service for those interested in traveling this way through Upper Egypt. The duration of the complete route ranges between 11 and 14 hours, depending on the number of stops made.
Finally, it is worth mentioning that an ambitious project is already underway to expand and improve this railway network, adding a high-speed line that will be of great utility for those who come to the country for tourism and are interested in how to get around Egypt by train. Some call it ‘the Nile AVE’, as it runs parallel to the river: Aswan will be the southern end of the line and, from Cairo, it would run along the Rosetta branch, reaching Alexandria, which will be the northern end.
Beyond the state railway network, we include two other transport systems in this section on how to get around Egypt by train. The first of these is the Metro, which only exists in the city of Cairo, although it is also planned for the city of Alexandria. The capital’s subway, which combines underground and open-air sections, has two lines, with plans to expand with a third. In total, the network is made up of just over 60 km of tracks and 57 stations, and is also a system widely used by Cairenes due to its low price.
The tram is the other means of urban transport that runs on rails. It is only available in Cairo and Alexandria: while in the capital it barely has some lines complementary to the urban bus and the Metro, in the Mediterranean city it is one of the best ways to get around the center, as it has 20 lines equipped with 140 stations, forming a dense network of 32 km.
Those who are considering how to get around Egypt when making a large circuit, the best option is undoubtedly the plane. The country has about twenty airports and, although not all have intense international traffic, they do have many domestic flights scheduled. Tourists and business travelers especially benefit from them, as it must be remembered that the distances can be very long between two different points. An example is the route between Alexandria, at the northern end, and Aswan, the most important city in the south: almost 1,100 km separate them.
Cairo Airport acts as a true hub, as it serves for many tourists to travel to other destinations from their points of origin, making a stopover here. But once in the country, your circuit can also take you from one city to another, without changing planes in the capital.
Below we show you all the airports with passenger traffic in the country, as well as the cities or monuments they serve. This is key information to understand how to get around Egypt by plane. And it will help you to outline your trip, although we remind you that Egipto Exclusivo can organize a circuit with a completely personalized route for you:
In addition to the plane, there is another way to fly over the country, although it does not solve the question of how to get around Egypt, as it is only a tourist experience and is not conceived as a means of transport. We are talking about the hot air balloon: our agency organizes excursions of this type to see from a very special point of view the desert or some of the most famous monuments of Ancient Egypt, such as the Valley of the Kings in Luxor.
An option that could not be missing on this page about how to get around Egypt is the boat. For many, it makes no sense to visit the country without boarding a boat to sail the waters of the Nile, whether it is a small traditional sailboat or a larger motorboat, thus taking a cruise of several days or an excursion of several hours in a single day.
It is more complicated to use a boat as a mere means of transport, like the ones mentioned above (bus, train, plane, car). In this country there is no concept of the ferry with regular and public lines, despite the fact that the Nile could be a ‘river highway’ free of traffic jams. Therefore, if you want to use a boat to travel between two cities or between two areas of the same large city (such as Cairo), you will have to hire a private service.
In the case of Lake Nasser, there are ferries with scheduled departures and arrivals, but their destination is the neighboring country of Sudan, so it is also not useful as a way to get around the southernmost Egypt.
In any case, our agency can configure a route tailored to your needs, so we can also integrate boat trips to move you from one place to another. And of course, we offer cruises with closed routes, where this means of transport will also become your best accommodation. These are the options:
In all cases, the category of the boats can range from standard to authentic luxury. Egipto Exclusivo is committed to the latter, which has feluccas and dahabiyas with a special history: built by the founders of our agency and designed for tourists who seek the best quality and the utmost care in every detail.
Outside the scope of the Nile, the question of how to get around Egypt by boat also involves private and personalized service companies. In this sense, catamaran routes between several ports on the Red Sea coast can be mentioned, such as Sharm el Sheikh and Hurghada which, thanks to their tourist potential, have first-class marinas.
Before finishing this review of how to get around Egypt, we also mention some unconventional means of transport that you could get on during your trip to this country.