Cairo scored an African first in 1987: it became the first city on the continent to have a fully-fledged metro and is still only one of three African cities with a metro (the others being Algiers and Lagos).

Find hotels near metro stations

Cairo's metro is now an indispensable part of the public transport system, transporting tens of thousands of people daily from outlying settlements to the city centre and back. Visitors and tourists will also use the metro, although it doesn't go to all the tourist attractions and will thus be more of a complement to taxis, Uber or walking.

Metro lines in Cairo

You will use 3 metro lines in Cairo, with a fourth under construction, as well as significant parts of the third line.

• Line 1 (officially marked in blue, but also red on various websites) - runs north-south and can be used to get from the centre to the Coptic Quarter or to the main train station (Al-Shohadaa station), for example. It also runs through the central Tahrir Square (Sadat station).
• Line 2 (officially marked in red, also yellow or orange on various sites) - runs from the northern suburbs through the centre to Giza. You can use it to go to the main train station (Al-Shohadaa station), Tahrir Square (Sadat station), towards the pyramids (Giza station, where you have to change to a bus or minibus and take it another 15 km or so) or to the Cairo Tower
• Line 3 (officially marked in green, on various sites also in turquoise) - runs east-west and is still under construction. It's not very attractive for tourists yet, at most for shorter trips within the centre, to the modern Heliopolis district or to Zamalek Island. In the future it will also lead to Cairo's main airport.

Map of Cairo Metro

The official Cairo Metro website provides an indicative map of the metro, but it also shows sections that have not yet been built, some of which are only in the plans and not even under construction yet. It can thus be more confusing than helpful.

We have therefore created our own map of the current metro network in Cairo.

Metro tickets

How much does a metro ticket cost in Cairo? Where are tickets sold? Read in this chapter.

There are no time or day tickets in Cairo. You always pay for one ride, you don't have to pay again when you change trains. Tickets are sold only at ticket offices, of which there are several at each metro station.

Fares are divided into three tiers:

• 1 to 9 stations - 6 egp
• 10 to 16 stations - 8 egp
• 16 and more stations - 12 egp

At each station, you will find a map showing in colour which ticket you need to get to your destination.

When touring Cairo, in the vast majority of cases you can get by with a £5 fare.

The ticket office worker will give you a yellow ticket with a magnetic strip, which you insert into the turnstile when you enter the metro and take back (it comes out of the turnstile after about a second). When you leave the station, you have to insert the ticket into the turnstile again, where it stays.

You don't have to pay the exact amount at the ticket office, the operator will also change it into larger bills. Say the name of the station you are going to. You can also buy stock tickets at one station, they don't have to be used right away.

Timetables and intervals

All subway lines run from about 5:15 to 1:00, but during Ramadan they don't start until between 5:45 and 6:00 and end at 2:00.

Intervals vary between 4 and 10 minutes throughout the day, shorter always in the morning and afternoon, longer in the late evening.

Metro stations and trains

In the central part of Cairo, the metro is underground; on the outskirts of the city it comes to the surface as an elevated railway. Metro stations are marked with a red M and usually have no added services such as toilets or shops.

Each metro station has a ticket office and a security frame that you must pass through to enter. However, there is no need to take off the belts and metal things like in airports, you just need to pass through the frame.

The metro trains are clean and spacious and also air-conditioned.

Carriages for women

There are special women-only carriages lined up in each train set, and always in the same place. Therefore, a pink sign on the platform with the words "Ladies" may indicate the exact area where the women-only carriage stops.

Two women-only carriages are always lined up. One has red (or rather pink) stickers above the door, indicating that it is reserved for women at all times when the subway is running. The other car has green stickers, indicating that men can use this car after 20:00.

While men are not allowed in these cars, women have a free hand in choosing their car. They can travel in the women-only carriages as well as in all other carriages together with men.