Bus Travel

If you want to travel between Cairo and Alexandria by bus, Super Jet and the West Delta Bus Company run air-conditioned deluxe buses every half hour from around 5 am to midnight. Buses depart Cairo from Maydan Abdel Monem Riyad under the overpasses in front of the Ramses Hilton and take up to three hours, depending on traffic. Or you can depart from Almaza Station in Heliopolis or the station in Giza. They drop you off behind Sidi Gabr railway station in an Alexandria suburb, where they in turn depart for Cairo. The railway station is between Downtown and Montazah, so you need to take a taxi from the station to get to either place.

Although most local bus routes are too convoluted to bother with, a constant stream of minibuses makes the Corniche run night and day. Flag them down anywhere, using a hand signal to point the direction you want to go, then pile in. They are shockingly cheap and, if anything, too fast. There are two catches to minibus travel: first, you have to know the name of the district to which you are traveling (Manshiya, Sporting, Montazah, and so forth), because you need to shout it in the window to the driver, who lets you know if he goes there. Second, you have to know what your destination looks like so you can tell the driver to stop. It's easier than it sounds, and your fellow passengers always help out.

Contacts

Go Bus. Alexandria, Alexandria. 02/2342–5143; 03/363–2870; 02/19567; gobus-eg.com.

Super Jet. Alexandria, Alexandria. 02/2575–1313; 03/543–5222.

West Delta Bus Company. Alexandria, Alexandria. 02/2579–9739; 02/2575–9751; 03/480–9685.