Cairo City Exploration After the Night Train | Egypt Family Travel

Julie

2025-04-28

Cairo City Exploration After the Night Train | Egypt Family Travel

Discover our family’s journey exploring Cairo after a night train with our baby. Tips on Cairo Metro, koshari food, bus booking, and museum adventures!

Main Journey

Late Arrival in Cairo: Welcome to the Chaos

We thought we’d reach Cairo at 7 AM.
Reality? Our night train dragged in around 9 AM.
Guess it kept losing time throughout the night — classic Egypt vibes.
The Cairo train station was a sea of people. Sweetie in my arms, backpacks stacked on us, we fought our way out.

Instead of taking an expensive taxi, we braved the Cairo Metro — just 1 Egyptian Pound per person!
Finding the Metro was surprisingly easy thanks to huge “M” signs everywhere.

Metro Misadventures: Wrong Line, Heavy Bags

Our destination was “Sadat” station… or so we thought.
Turns out there are two lines at Sadat, and we accidentally took the wrong one!
We ended up at Naguib station — sweaty, tired, and lugging Sweetie plus our mountain of bags.

Change of plans: we aimed for the famous Dahab Hostel.
A manageable 800m walk… but after a sleepless night and no breakfast, it felt like a marathon.

Hostel Hopping: Finding a Place to Rest

Finally reaching Dahab Hostel, we learned it was fully booked.
Argh! With no strength left to search, we went downstairs to Vienna Hostel on the 3rd floor.

The room wasn’t great, but we bargained the price down to 200 Egyptian Pounds.
Not cheap for Egypt, but we just needed a place to crash.

No breakfast included. No extra night stay here.
We decided to make the most of Cairo in just one day.

Events

Searching for Cairo’s Best Koshari

Our first mission: food.
We headed to Abou Tarek, the legendary koshari place.

We ordered two medium koshari bowls.
Think rice, pasta, lentils, chickpeas, topped with tomato sauce and crispy onions.
Add garlic sauce and spicy sauce, and you’re in food heaven.

Sweetie loved it too — the texture is like pasta, and kids usually love that.
One bowl? Just 20 Egyptian Pounds. Cheap, filling, and oh-so-Egyptian.

Celebrating 100 Days of Travel: Costa Coffee Treat

Today marked our 100th day of world travel as a family.
Originally, we thought about a fancy dinner.
But given Egypt’s food reputation and our tight budget, we decided instead:
let’s splurge at a café!

At Costa Coffee, we ordered a giant iced Americano and a mid-sized tiramisu.
Price? 95 Egyptian Pounds. A splurge here but worth every drop.

That first sip of iced coffee after a night train?
Heaven. Absolute heaven.

Booking the Bus to Dahab

Before heading to the Cairo Museum, we needed to book our next step:
the night bus to Dahab.

At Torgoman Bus Station, we found out — no direct bus to Nuweiba.
We’ll take a bus to Dahab first, then another to Nuweiba.

Bus to Dahab: 140 Egyptian Pounds per person
Departure Time: 11 PM
Company: East Delta

Done and booked!

Finally: Cairo Museum Time

Instead of squeezing into a crowded Metro again, we walked 2.2km to the Cairo Museum.
Surprisingly, Cairo’s heat wasn’t as brutal as in Luxor or Aswan.
Even Sweetie seemed comfortable.

And then… there it was.
The pink building packed with treasures, history, and chaos.

What would the Cairo Museum reveal to us?

Tips for Traveling with a Baby

1. Metro is Cheap but Plan Carefully

The Cairo Metro is affordable and easy to find — but lines can be confusing.
Double-check your destination to avoid extra stress with a baby.

2. Always Have Backup Accommodation Plans

Popular hostels fill up fast. Always have a second (or even third) option ready, especially when traveling with a little one.

3. Walk Short Distances If You Can

Taxis are pricey, and Cairo traffic is chaotic.
If your destination is under 2-3 km, walking might actually be faster and less stressful.

4. Choose Kid-Friendly Foods

Koshari turned out to be Sweetie-approved!
Local, mild dishes similar to pasta are usually safe bets for toddlers.

Local Travel Tips

1. Bargain at Hotels

Don’t be shy to negotiate hostel prices — it’s almost expected in Cairo.

2. Watch Out for Paid Water

At cheap restaurants, water jugs aren’t free.
It’s safer (and sometimes cheaper) to buy sealed bottled water.

3. Save Big Meals for Other Cities

If you want to splurge, save your budget for places like Sharm El Sheikh where the food is generally safer and tastier.

4. Always Confirm Bus Routes

Bus stations in Egypt can be confusing.
Always ask (and double-check) where the buses are heading to avoid last-minute surprises.

Travel Reflections

1. Embracing Flexibility

Wrong metro, full hostels, last-minute bus bookings — Cairo taught us to roll with it.
Traveling with a baby means flexibility is survival.

2. Celebrating the Small Moments

A simple iced coffee after 100 days of travel felt like pure gold.
Sometimes, it’s the little celebrations that mean the most.

3. Grateful for Endurance

Walking 2.2 km after a sleepless night was brutal, but arriving at the Cairo Museum felt like a victory.
This journey keeps showing us how much strength family love can bring.