Alexandria

Introduction

Sunset in Alexandria

© wouterrr

In the whole world are about 44 cities with the name of Alexandria but Alexandria in Egypt is the oldest and biggest. It is the mother for all the other Alexandrias. Before Alexander the Great came to Egypt it was a small Egyptian village but now about 5 million people live here. Two years ago it was chosen as the most beautiful Arab city, and sometimes it is called the second capital of Egypt.

Events and Festivals

Alexandria International Film Festival

Held annually in November, the film festival has been happening since 1979 and is one of the most highly anticipated events in Egypt. The goal is to broadcast the works of unknown artists, expand the culture of film and to connect movie makers from every region. There is a competition for various categories in which Mediterranean films are preferred, but international delights are also screened.

Weather

Alexandria has roughly 150 mm of rain a year, still quite dry to support crops but one of the wettest cities in the country.
Most of the rain here falls between November and February, during the cooler months. Temperatures are still around 20 °C during the day and slightly above 10 °C at night. In summer, temperatures are roughly 10 degrees higher, both during the day and night. With southern winds though temperatures can reach 44 °C in summer as well. These high temperatures (also in Cairo) mainly occur during spring and early summer when hot, dry and dusty winds (Khamsin) blows from the Sahara.

Getting There

By Train

Alexandria is about two and a half hours from Cairo by train and you can take the train in the morning and go back to Cair in the afternoon. Check the Egyptian National Railways website for more details about prices and schedules.

Sleep

Upscale

Keep Connected

Internet

Internet access is easy to find and cheap. Most cities, such as Greater Cairo and Luxor, and even smaller tourist sites, such as Edfu, boast a plethora of small internet cafés. The price per hour is usually EGP 2-10 depending on the location/speed. In addition, an increasing number of coffee shops, restaurants, hotel lobbies and other locations now provide free wireless internet access. Free wi-fi (Mobilnil) is also available at modern coffee shops such as Cilantro and Costa Coffee, where you obtain access by getting a 2-hour "promotional" card from the waiter, and if you go into almost any McDonald's, you will have access to a free WiFi connection.

Phone

See also International Telephone Calls

The international telephone code for Egypt is 20.

Egypt has a reasonably modern telephone service including three GSM mobile service providers. The three mobile phone providers are Mobinil, Vodafone and Etisalat. Principal centers are located at Alexandria, Cairo, Al Mansurah, Ismailia, Suez, and Tanta. Roaming services are provided, although you should check with your service provider. Be aware that using your home SIM card can be very expensive, especially when using internet services but also calling is much more expensive. Try to get a local SIM card for your cell phone instead. Also, it is possible to purchase tourist mobile phone lines for the duration of your stay, which usually costs around EGP 30.

Post

Egypt Post is the national postal service in Egypt. Services are generally reliable, affordable though pretty slow, even if you send post domestically. International letters and postcards take days, if not weeks if send to the US or Australia. They do have express mail services though, but these are relatively expensive. Opening hours of post officies are mostly from 8:30am to 2:00pm or 3:00pm daily except Friday, when all of them are closed. The central ones might keep longer hours, generally until 8:00pm. You can buy stamps here, or at certain newspaper kiosks. In touristic areas, these are available at many shops as well. For parcels, it's much better to use international courier services such as DHL, TNT, FedEx or UPS.