Cairo, khan el Khalili, juices

The first thing you need to know is how to get from the airport to your hotel. The best option is to arrange a pick up service with your hotel. If you have not booked a hotel room, you can try to take a taxi to the city center, but you have to know this is the worst way to start your travel in Egypt. Taxi drivers will try to charge you as much as they can, and will try to take you to one of their "recommended" hotels. If you need to negotiate with a taxi driver at the airport make clear you are talking about Egyptian pounds, because most of the times when you try to pay them, they will say they were talking about US dollars (that's 3 times the price in Egyptian pounds!). Fortunately taxi divers in the city of Cairoare much more friendlier.

The second thing you need to know is how to move around Cairo. Traffic is so chaotic in this city, that renting a car is an option I cannot recommend. You better use public transports. I knew buses were not recommended either, but I wanted to experience a bus ride. Now I am sure: you shouldn't take local buses. They are dirty and it is almost impossible to know where they are going. If you don't want to waste your time, don't take a bus.

I can only recommend taxis and the underground. Underground is usually overcrowded, but it is easy to use and cheap. The name of the stations is written in English. The only inconveniences are the heat and the crowds.

 khan el Khalili, sweet potatoes

The best way to get around is the taxi. The only problem is that you need to know the price of the ride before stopping the cab. I cannot recommend asking your hotel for the price of the ride, because they will try to earn a commission. In most travelguides you will find the price of the common rides (most of them between 3 and 5 Egyptian pounds).

When you know the price, you should go out the street and stop a taxi (do not get one of the taxis at the entrance of your hotel if you are staying in a 5 star hotel, because they will charge you the double), and negotiate the price before getting in. Once you get to your destination you should pay exactly what you negotiated. The driver will usually ask for a baksheesh (=tip), in my opinion you shouldn't give it, unless there is an exceptional reason to increase the initial price. It is even more recommended to stop a taxi, say your destination, get off once there, and pay the price you think is fair, and leave. If you do this, the taxi driver usually will protest (you are a tourist and you are supposed to pay more, after all). But if you paid the right price, forget about him. If you think you underpaid him, pay him half pound more.