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Layover guideCairo · CAI

Getting out of the airport in Cairo

The meter is not the default in a Cairo taxi, so fix how you are paying before the doors close.

Baron Maddock / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 4.0
All of Cairo

Many taxis in Egypt have no working meter, and back seats are rarely fitted with seat belts, per the Government of Canada, which advises agreeing the fare beforehand. Either settle the whole fare before you set off or use an app that prices the trip upfront.

Cairo has three terminals and your airline decides which one you land at. Uber handles Terminal 1, Terminal 2 and Terminal 3 as separate pickup and dropoff points and drops you curbside at the terminal you specify when requesting the ride, so give the driver the terminal, not just the airport.

Treat the transfer as a range rather than a number. The Government of Canada says road conditions are often poor, that the rate of car accidents is one of the highest in the world, and that drivers generally have little regard for traffic regulations, which is not a basis for planning a fixed door-to-door time.

The UK Foreign Office advises female travellers to exercise caution when travelling alone in taxis, particularly at night, and to share the details of the driver, the trip and a live location with a friend.

Uber's airport pickup uses flight-tracking technology, which Uber says will notify you in the event of flight cancellations or significant delays.

  1. Government of Canada: Egypt travel advice and advisories · checked 2026-09-03
  2. UK Foreign Office: Egypt travel advice, safety and security · checked 2026-09-03
  3. Uber: Cairo International Airport (CAI) · checked 2026-09-03

The rest of Cairo

The whole guide
Ride-hailingUber and Careem both run in Egypt, and the app price is the whole point: it is settled before you get in.Local laws that catch crew outCameras and drones are what put visitors in a police station, and your passport belongs in your pocket, not the hotel safe.Staying connectedRoam on your own SIM and the customs question does not arise. Buy an Egyptian SIM and your handset enters a scheme with a clock on it.WeatherSummer days sit near 35C, and June, July and August are rainless.Eating near the crew hotelsCash first, alcohol only where it is licensed, and in Ramadan the daylight hours change how everything runs.What to buyThe allowances are published and modest, and the currency limit is the one that catches people on the way out.