2025/10/31
Using Cairo Metro
For some reason Google Maps was not showing the Nasser Metro station in the correct location (it was showing entrances which are not yet in use, but not the entrances which are in use).
But once I managed to find out where the actual entrance near my hotel was (luckily it turned out to be very close), the usage turned out to be actually very easy.
First thing when entering the metro is to go through security check. This means that if you have a bag, then you put it through the scanner (similar to the airport scanners). Now, in Cairo everybody gets very familiar with these scanners, because they are also in the entrance of all major museums and also on some cafes. So they are basically everywhere. But it mostly for the show, I’m pretty sure half of those do not even work properly. So you just put the bag in on one side and take it back from another side.
Once inside you have to buy a ticket. A kind of treaded this, because online comments were telling about how there are so many people in the queue that you have to fight for the service… But actually there are many times during the day when there is no competition at all.
Also, there are 2 main ways to get tickets for the tourists. One is to buy single-use tickets (which are about 5 EGP and you can buy as many as you want in one go). The other is to buy a “wallet type card” and to charge some money on there. Such card costs 80 EGP and you can pre-charge up to 200 EGP. Now, this 80 EGP might seem like too big extra cost if you only plan to do a few trips during your visit. But if you are a person coming from Tokyo or London like me, then you are just way used to always using pre-paid card on the metro.
This is the machine which allows you to buy your very own Cairo metro card and it has English interface as well and you can pay with card as well (though I used cash):
Once your card is charged, then just go through the gate exactly as you would in Tokyo, London, Paris or NW.
My first trip ever was from Nasser station to Heliopolis station. Internet was writing that there is a big shopping mall (western style) there. But when I stepped out from Heliopolis station, then there was just nothing. It was basically no man’s land… or just middle of a normal Egyptian housing district. Houses and houses. On the first floor there are usual small shops. I saw an interesting shop “Your 1st car” there, which has a bunch of cars🙂 Even though the Cairo’s traffic is totally crazy, it is just universal that young people want to have cars (or motorcycles). Another interesting thing was to see a “kindergarten”. It was kind of a first floor of apartment building, but with a tiny front garden area… so of course there are many young families in Cairo who are interested in kindergarten services as well.
Becoming familiar with Cairo metro usage set me up nicely for next day’s Great Pyramid’s experience🙂
Bazaar Khan el-Khalili
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khan_el-Khalili
It would be nice if metro would go near to very touristy area like Khan el-Khalil city block. But it does not. So for me the way to get there was to first take the metro to Bab El Shaariya station and to walk from there 15 min to Khan el-Khalil.
Now, this 15 min walk (following Google map) was one of the most authentic Egypt experiences I had. It was at Friday evening around 19:00 and in Egypt Friday and Saturday are weekend days. So on Friday evening a lot of local Egyptians are going out… and the place is super packed.
And you need to move on toward narrow streets, but on both sides of the street there are small vendor stalls. It can be really anything… for example tourist oriented golden accessories… or someone selling simple flour and beans. Or someone having a stall to just sell water and juice. Or pots and pans.
But most people are not buying from these stalls, but are just walking on… and at the same time on this narrow street there are some vendors trying to move new stock. Like for example a batch of fresh bread. They make it freshly many times a day and then deliver to nearby places. But all this is made colorful by local young guys just rallying on the same narrow streets with their motorbikes in both ways. So you try to keep progressing on your chosen path… while dodging these fast motorbikes… other walking people… and occasional vendor pushing a big cart with merchandise… Very chaotic, very Cairo-like. Totally recommended.
And when destination Khan el-Khalil is reached, then you are kind of transported to a bazaar straight out from Arabian movies. Accessories, earrings, golden and silver ornaments, exotic lamps, oils, exotic textiles… you have small specialty shops for everything…
It is not just one or ten shops. It is a whole city block with over 100 shops. Really a lot. I probably had the energy to look at 1/10th of the whole market. I was offered crocodile skin bags or real Luis Vuitton camel skin wallet… but unfortunately I did not need either of those right now and only took some pictures from the market.
There are very many people who really like these kinds of bazaars, so many Cairo tours include a stop on this bazaar and big tour buses bring endlessly people to this bazaar. So there are a lot of tourists here as well.
But on the Friday evening when coming from Bab El Shaariya direction there were a lot of local people just hanging around in the area as well. There are many coffee shops in the area and a few religious mosques as well. So I was not sure if people came to listen to the sermon from the mosque or for the coffee shop… or maybe they wanted a perfect combination of those two.
