Alex is easily reached from Cairo , with a choice of train, bus, service taxi or plane. Buses and service taxis offer two routes to Alex, travelling by the flat and dreary Desert Road past the turn-off for Wadi Natrun, or by the hazardous, congested Delta Road, which is much slower though the distance is roughly similar (about 225km). Remember that transport can get booked up during "the season" (mid-June to late Sept), so reserve seats unless you're prepared to use service taxis.

 

The best buses from Cairo , which do the journey in three hours, are operated by the Superjet company. The fastest trains , A/C Spanish and Turbini services, take just over two hours and both leave three times daily. There is also the slightly slower French service that has nine daily departures, takes forty minutes longer and costs thirty percent less. Service taxis do the run in about three hours, their advantage being that they leave all through the day, as soon as they're full; in Cairo both car- and minibus-taxis cluster outside Ramses Station, on Koulali Square and around the Ahmed Helmi bus terminal, their drivers bawling " Iskandariya! Iskandariya! ".

Getting to Alex from other parts of Egypt , buses and/or service taxis are your best bet. Transport from the Delta and the Canal Zone is fairly regular; from the Nile Valley, daily buses run from Beni Suef.