Finding your bearings in Egypt

Navigating in Egypt is...complicated.

For a long drive from Cairo to Alexandria, for example, Google maps or any other GPS based map app will work well. Once you are in the 'depths' of the city or the outskirts, the map apps are better than average but you should supplement them with directions from the locals. Your mileage may vary and you may have to chat with multiple people before arriving at your destination.

Also, be aware that Egypt's government will change road configurations relatively frequently. Your GPS may be telling you to make a u-turn but the u-turn is gone or was moved a kilometer further down. If you are not familiar with driving in Egypt, take Uber or Careem.

If you plan to take an unguided walking tour, avoid having a big map as it simply draws a lot of unwanted attention. I suggest taking photos of your maps as everybody else in Egypt is staring at their phones too. You will more easily blend in and also find the zoom feature a benefit.

To avoid or minimize getting lost, utilize the map app's GPS to 'pin' your departure point. If you have trouble finding your destination, at least you have a better chance of getting back to where you started.

While google maps are useful you need to be wary of the following.

1- some people/users pin location markers on the maps that are up to half a mile off centre.

2- many roads/streets are misnamed OR you will find a number of streets in one local with the same name, this is because the database is either incomplete or poorly populated.

3- if you are using the locator to find your destination remember that Arabic names, when translated to English rely heavily on phonetics, so if you enter a destination name, spelt as what you think sounds right, you may get a "not found" response while in fact, it's there.

4-  When given a destination, always ask for at least three major landmarks nearby to narrow down your search of the address when you get there. (Banks, Hospitals, schools, clubs etc ..)

5- traditionally, Egyptians are very helpful and most speak English adequate enough for this purpose, but the downside is they will never own up if they don't know, so be sure to ask more than one person.

Paragraph 2 is very true, many unplanned and spontaneous changes are made by the traffic department, just uppon a whim, or where the headache is coming from. What is a two-way street one day can be a one way tomorrow without any prior or post announcement.