Cairo/Gezira

Gezira is a district of modern Cairo that occupies the southern portion of the main island in the Nile within Cairo itself; in fact, gezira means "island" in Arabic. Gezira shares the island with Zamalek to the north, a relatively affluent and pseudo-European residential district. While not noted for obvious tourist attractions, Zamalek is a good place to stay and a good place to eat while in Cairo, as the residential nature of the area and presence of many expatriate residents allow tourists to navigate relatively easily.

Understand
Zamalek is unevenly bisected by the major artery formed by Sharia 26 July that crosses SE to NW over two bridges, linking Bulaq (north of Downtown Cairo) with Mohandiseen in Giza via Zamalek.

Get in
Zamalek is best reached by taxi from Downtown or Mohandiseen, which should be no more than LE5. The station of the Cairo Metro Line 2 is on the southern tip of Gezira, adjacent to the Opera House and Gezira Sheraton, but is still a significant walk from the main areas of Zamalek.

Get around
Zamalek is small enough to navigate on foot.

Eat
Zamalek offers some of the best eating in Cairo. There's a large variety of quality restaurants serving everything from Egyptian molokhia to Thailand Red Curry. But also, the green and atmospheric atmosphere on the Nile-Island makes for a perfect dinner setting. Zamalek is also the place to visit if you want to escape Ramadan: many places stay open during day-time and alcohol is served (to foreigners only) at most of the water-holes.



Budget
26 July has a range of stalls serving the usual selection of Arab and western fast food. In addition there is a cluster of fish and seafood cafeterias in the same street between Shagrat-al-Dor and kamal Mohammed.