I am relocating to Cairo in a week or so. I am in professional sport and will be running an academy based there. I will be paid what seems to be a fairly considerable amount of money on their/Egypt standards, just under $100K USD per year. What are the nicest, cleanest, safest, most modern and if possible the most quiet places to live in Cairo, perhaps with international "flavor" and not necessarily an expat community.?. I have also heard that buying a car can be a very very expensive endeavor there. Is this accurate and what brands seem to be more expensive/less expensive? While I have your attention, as far as outfitting my home/apt/condo, what household items are expensive and what are typical and reasonable? Is there an area that I can live where I don’t necessarily need a car at all? Where I can walk to and from everything I need conveniently? Is it realistic to hire a driver/car service for daily trips to and from work? Thanks for your feedback. Bill
Hi Bill,
Well, you have to be one hell of a sports coach to make $100K, that is a lot of money here. Anyway, let me tackle your questions;
1- The most important thing is for you to live near your work cause Cairo is a big city and is very congested. You dont want to spend several hours a day driving to and back from work, so find out where the academy is located and will provide you with the best neighbourhood where u can reside. If you prefer not to get into the details then the logical order is as follows;
- Maadi – clean, green, pubs, restaurants, lots of expats, expensive.
- Zamalek – central location, lots of restaurants etc
- El Sheikh Zayed – new suburb, a little far from everything but quiet, clean, beautiful new homes and a great community.
- Buying a car can be expensive cause of the high customs. Egypt is one of the most expensive countries when it comes t buying a car, but u will more than make up for it cause gas is 25 cents. Buying a car can be tricky, imported cars are the most expensive, it really boils down to your budget. Below are a few examples for how much brand new cars cost in U.S$
- Toyota Corolla 1.6l = $25,000
- BMW 320 2.0L = $61,000
- Hyundai Elantra= $16,000
I am including a link below to a site that has the prices for most cars available in the market, go through the site and choose based on your budget.
You will need a car, trust me on this one, public transportation system is terrible her. It is one of those countries where u must have a car. It would be a good idea to hire a driver, I would highly recommend u do so cause it will save u the hassle of driving in the busy streets and finding a place to park, driver wont cost u much, should be around $200 a month.
On the household front, you should try and rent a furnished apartment. Most apartments that are listed for rent are usually fully furnished, furniture is rather expensive here and there is no Ikea yet. In general most stuff except for consumer goods are more expensive because of custom duties. So, anything imported will be on the expensive side, locally produced stuff will be cheap. You will be surprised at how cheap food and beverages are cheap here.
Hope the above covers your question, feel free to add more, I am sure u have tons.
Best of luck
in Cairo, everyone needs a car .
a nice , clean place to live in would be the closest to your work.
Heliopolis , New Cairo, Qatamiya , are pleasant clean areas to live in.
a good car can be Toyota , 2009, it is worth 135, 000 LE .
or
you can buy a used car from a garage .
household items have to suit yout taste .
buy the necessary things 1st , then little by little you can get the rest .
or
you can get a furnished apt close to your work .
by this you wouldnt buyb an apt or furniture .
if it is in a busy area , you might use a taxi to get around .
References :
i live in cario and the uk and from my knowlege heres sum answers to what u was asking
1. clean and safe area is al rehab…its a massive community with muslim and non muslim people living there. it has gates to enter the area and security so that shud do u fine
2.cars are soo exspensive over there, everyone drives a banger, because of the prices..anyway u have to b a proffesional rally driver to drive out there. its like wacky races and theres no rules.
3.household items are cheaper, b careful egyptians love the tacky appeal but in the large mall city stars, theres sum really nice furniture shops, and most supermakets like careefour sell cookers, microwaves ect.
4.taxis are cheap as dust, but they will try to rip u off bcoz ur a foriener, i stil get it even tho am totally veiled, they can tell by my shoes lol.
hope this helps…egypt is lovley…jus dont drink the water
References :
Hi Bill,
Well, you have to be one hell of a sports coach to make $100K, that is a lot of money here. Anyway, let me tackle your questions;
1- The most important thing is for you to live near your work cause Cairo is a big city and is very congested. You dont want to spend several hours a day driving to and back from work, so find out where the academy is located and will provide you with the best neighbourhood where u can reside. If you prefer not to get into the details then the logical order is as follows;
- Maadi – clean, green, pubs, restaurants, lots of expats, expensive.
- Zamalek – central location, lots of restaurants etc
- El Sheikh Zayed – new suburb, a little far from everything but quiet, clean, beautiful new homes and a great community.
- Buying a car can be expensive cause of the high customs. Egypt is one of the most expensive countries when it comes t buying a car, but u will more than make up for it cause gas is 25 cents. Buying a car can be tricky, imported cars are the most expensive, it really boils down to your budget. Below are a few examples for how much brand new cars cost in U.S$
- Toyota Corolla 1.6l = $25,000
- BMW 320 2.0L = $61,000
- Hyundai Elantra= $16,000
I am including a link below to a site that has the prices for most cars available in the market, go through the site and choose based on your budget.
You will need a car, trust me on this one, public transportation system is terrible her. It is one of those countries where u must have a car. It would be a good idea to hire a driver, I would highly recommend u do so cause it will save u the hassle of driving in the busy streets and finding a place to park, driver wont cost u much, should be around $200 a month.
On the household front, you should try and rent a furnished apartment. Most apartments that are listed for rent are usually fully furnished, furniture is rather expensive here and there is no Ikea yet. In general most stuff except for consumer goods are more expensive because of custom duties. So, anything imported will be on the expensive side, locally produced stuff will be cheap. You will be surprised at how cheap food and beverages are cheap here.
Hope the above covers your question, feel free to add more, I am sure u have tons.
Best of luck
References :
http://www.contactcars.com/NewCars_All.asp
Dude, next time use bullet points for your questions. My mind ran out of breath just trying to read your post!
Anyway, best place to live, designed by western standards is Al rehab, same as a previous user recommended.
You won’t need a car here (I live in Al-Rehab) if you live close to the supermarket or or market. Hell, I don’t live close to either, I just walk or take the bus (free, or 1 pound, depending on your location).
Hiring a car/taxi would be a good idea, costs about 25 pounds or more depending on where your work is, they can come on as short a notice as 15 minutes.
If you decide to live in Al-Rehab, here’s my phone number, call me and I’ll show you around, the supermarkets, internet cafes, food court, shopping malls, and everything.
010/2885685
References :