Late arrival in Cairo

Look up www.hostelworld.com and you will find the King Tut Hostel. It is clean and in the middle of Downtown Cairo...about 20 to 30 mins walk from the museum. They will probably do a pick up for you if you contact them.....not a problem with a taxi.....they have to log out of the airport with the policeman and register with him where is passenger is going.

Hi Axela,

Try Htel & Hostel Luna,
Hotel Luna offere a private transfer service from the airport to Hotel Luna. The cost is LE 60. (Sixty Egyptian pounds) (one way) up to a maximum of 3 persons.
Hotel Luna also offers a free transfer from the airport to the Hotel (one way one time) for any stay of four nights or more in total.

If you take a taxi make sure you insist that the driver takes you exactly where you want to go. Have the name and address of the hotel written down to show him. I arrived in Cairo late at night as well and the driver wouldn´t take me where I wanted to go and insisited on taking me to a hotel where he obviously got paid commission. Besides that, I had no other problems travelling around Egypt as a single female traveller except from the usual hassel from men. They are very insistant and it gets annoying. Anyway, have a great time, you´ll love it!!

Cairo is like New York, it never shuts down. You'll have no problem getting a taxi from the airport at 2:30 in the morning!

Hi there, spent three weeks in Egypt over the summer. Like you, i arrived in cairo in the middle of the night. Pretty sure it's the norm. When you leave the customs walk through area, don't apeak to anyone. I was met by smiling well dressed men that were impossible to shake. They are there trying to be your personal travel guide! I just resorted to being very short and a little rude. Ouside the airport, i really wanted to be in control but just resorted to signalling one of the taxi drivers skouts. They grab your bag without warning and bring it to the car. It sounds mannerly but those skouts want paying when they get to the car...no amount is enough. The streets are pretty empty at that hour so it should be a swift journey into the humid city. Make sure you ask the tai driver the amount before departure. Aprox 30Egyptian Pound (5euro)should be the Maximum. I didn't love it in Cairo. Go very early to Pyramids to get tickets to enter into the main one. Then leave soon enough. Watch yourself at the pyramids as there are loads of fellas trying to give you deals for horses and camels...forget it!
Beat of luck

You'll be better off arranging a pickup through your hotel. Most of the international flights arrive in the early hours of the morning so you won't have a problem with that. I used Luna when I was there. I believe the cost was 65LE although I forget if they included it because I stayed for 4 nights. The hostel was OK. The location is good if you are planning on doing downtown things (ex: train station 20 min walk, subway 5 minute walk and the Egyptian Museum about 10 min). I would recommend them however I had a slight problem when I stayed there. The maid either stole or threw away my tooth brush which I had left out on my sink. It makes no sense to me. They also threw out 2 half filled bottles of water that I had been saving. However after I checked out I left my luggage at the hostel for the day and when I returned they informed me that I had left my watch in my room and they were holding it for me.

I did a pyramid tour with them. I paid 225LE and I had my own driver (it was just me and the driver) for about 8 hours. We went to Dashsur, Memphis (waste of time), Saqara and Giza. I chose to do it in that order as I didn't want to go inside the great pyramid. My experience at Dashur, visiting the Red Pyramid, was one of my best experiences in Egypt. It was empty -- I was the only person there. It cost 20LE to get in and that included going inside the pyramid. After that the Great Pyramids were a huge let down as they were so crowded and full of hassle. Plus the fact that I was dropped off and picked up in front of the KFC didn't help matters!

Thanks so much for all the advice!