Cairo/Garden City

Garden City is a well-planned and leafy district of central Cairo, immediately south of the very centre of the modern city at Midan Tahrir. In 1905 the agricultural architect Jose Lamba was asked by the owners of the Nile Land and Agricultural Company to design a new city. His vision was of a leafy suburb with a layout drawn up more using a compass than a ruler, unlike the rectilinear grid system used in other suburbs like Ma'adi and Zamalek. Lambas preferred an Art Nouveau style with smaller roads and uneven lines, interspersed with triangles often leading the walker back to where they started.

Garden City is the location of several large hotels and embassies, including the British and American missions. There's not much to do here, but it's a reasonable place to stay, close to downtown, but in a quiet and high security area. This was the elite neighbourhood of Cairo in the 1930s and 1940s, and it's still considered posh. Its biggest landowner is the Vatican with 12 of the original 273 plots, and it hosts the De La Mere de Dieu College for Girls.

By taxi
If you want to take the taxi to Garden City most taxi drivers will know Qasr al-Aini street. This street runs from the south of the district to Tahrir Square and through the heart of Garden City. The international hotels are located at the well-known Corniche el-Nil, though if you state your destination to the taxi driver as the Four Seasons, other ritzy hotel, the driver expects you to pay more. Same goes for taking a taxi from Garden City to elsewhere. It is best to catch a taxi at some spot other than a hotel.

Local bus or micro bus
From the terminus at Abdel Mon'em Riyad behind the Egyptian Museum on Tahrir Sq you can take a bus or a micro bus with the destination Qasr El Aini to Garden City.

By Metro
The best metro station for this area is Sadat Station at Tahrir Square downtown since Lines 1 and 2 intersect there, and by following the Corniche you won't get lost. Sayida Zeinab Station and Saad Zaghloul Station on Line 1 may be closer to your hotel, but those curvy streets will impede direct progress and may get you lost altogether.

Eat
The international hotels have several restaurants offering different cuisines from around the world. Local koshary (pasta, rice, lentil, chick peas, onions, garlic and tomato-chili sauce) is sold widely in small shops for a few Egyptian pounds. These koshary shops might not look very inviting but the food is usually good and addictive.

Beware of the red chilli sauce which is served in a small plastic bag with your koshari. It is akin to Tabasco sauce and very hot. Always eat from busy fast food outlets to ensure a quick turn around of food which can easily 'go off' in the extreme heat of summer. Buy food that is 'piping hot'. Most of these shops can be found on Kasr-El-Ainy street.

Drink
Qasr el-Ainy Street is dotted with several coffee shops serving shisha, coffee, tea and refreshments. Otherwise, the five-star hotels are your best bet, all the big ones have at least one bar.

Mid-range
Garden City is short of mid-range options

Splurge

 * Semiramis Intercontinental Hotel is on the Corniche on the boundary between Garden City and Downtown, see Downtown for listing.
 * Semiramis Intercontinental Hotel is on the Corniche on the boundary between Garden City and Downtown, see Downtown for listing.
 * Semiramis Intercontinental Hotel is on the Corniche on the boundary between Garden City and Downtown, see Downtown for listing.
 * Semiramis Intercontinental Hotel is on the Corniche on the boundary between Garden City and Downtown, see Downtown for listing.