Airlines EgyptAir (2-3 daily flights to Cairo; tel 482-5701), BA (tel 482-1565) and Olympic (tel 482-7295) are on Midan Ramleh; Air France (tel 483-8901) at 22 Sharia Salah Salem; Lufthansa (twice weekly flights to Frankfurt; tel 483-5983) at 9 Sharia Talaat Harb. Foreign airlines without an office are represented by local travel agents; most are open Sat-Thurs 9am-4pm.

 

American Express 34 Sharia el-Moasker el-Romani, Roushdi (tel 541-0177 or 543-7343, fax 545-7363), will cash and sell Amex travellers' cheques, and deal with lost cards and cheque refunds.

Arabic language courses Can be arranged through the British Council.

Banks/exchange/ATMs Private exchange bureaux (known as Forex) on the north side of Midan Ramleh offer the best rates for cash; for travellers' cheques try the Bank of Alexandria, 59 Sharia Sa'ad Zaghloul, 23 Sharia Talaat Harb and 26 Sharia Salah Salem (Mon-Thurs & Sun 8.30am-2pm; Ramadan 10.30am-1pm); the National Bank of Egypt in the Montazah Sheraton (daily 10am-2pm; ATM accepts MasterCard) or the Hotel Cecil (Mon-Thurs & Sun 8.30am-8pm, Fri & Sat 9am-noon & 4-7pm); or Thomas Cook. The Egyptian British Bank has ATMs (accepting Visa, Cirrus, Electron, Plus and MasterCard) at its branch at 47 Sharia Sultan Hussein (opposite the duty free shop) and the El Salamlek Palace Hotel; and there's another ATM accepting Visa, MasterCard, Cirrus and Plus at the Banque Misr on Sharia Talaat Harb.

Bookshops There's some evidence of Alex's old literary cosmopolitanism at Mostakpal Library bookshop at 32 Safiya Zaghloul; the Al-Ahram bookshop at 10 Sharia Al-Haia - stocking a good range of books on Egypt as well as English-language classics - and El-Ma'aref (between Midan and Sharia Sa'ad Zaghloul, next to Délices), which offers foreign novels and text books. There's also a secondhand book-stall next to the Amir cinema on Safiya Zaghloul which does trade-ins. Foreign newspapers are sold outside the Ramleh telephone exchange.

Consulates Britain, 3 Sharia Mena, Roushdi (Mon-Thurs & Sun 8am-1pm; tel 546-7001); Germany, 5 Sharia Mena (Mon-Thurs & Sun 10am-noon; tel 545-7050); France, 2 Midan Orabi (Mon-Thurs & Sun 9am-1pm; tel 483-5513); Ireland, 236 Sharia Kafr Abdou, Kafr Abdou (Mon-Thurs & Sun 8am-1pm; tel 546-0081); Israel, 207 Sharia Abd es-Salem Aref, Roushdi (Mon-Thurs & Sun 9.30am-12.30pm; tel 586-0492); Italy, Sa'ad Zaghloul (Mon-Thurs 9am-12.30pm; tel 483-0095); Spain 101 Sharia el-Horreya, el-Shallalat (Mon-Thurs & Sun 9.30am-12.30pm; tel 493-9185). (Australia, New Zealand, the US and Canada have no consular representation; other consulates are listed in Alexandria Night and Day.

Cultural centres American Center, 3 Sharia Phara'ana (library Mon-Wed & Sun 10am-6pm, Thurs 10am-4pm; Ramadan Mon-Thurs & Sun 10am-3pm; Lehrer News Hour Mon-Thurs noon-1pm; CBS News Mon-Thurs & Sun 10.30-11am; tel 482-4117); British Council, 9 Sharia al-Batalssa (Mon-Wed & Sun 10am-7.30pm, Sat & Thurs 9.30am-3.30pm; Ramadan daily except Fri 9.30am-3.30pm; library membership £E25; tel 482-9890); French Centre, 30 Sharia Nabi Daniel (Mon-Thurs & Sun 9am-1pm & 4-8pm; tel 492-0804); Goethe Institute, 10 Sharia al-Batalssa (Mon-Thurs & Sun 10am-1pm & 4-7pm; tel 483-9870); Russian Centre, 7 Sharia al-Batalssa (Mon-Thurs & Sun 10am-1pm & 5-7pm, Fri 10am-1pm; tel 482-5645).

Film processing Kodak film is sold and developed opposite the Rialto Cinema on Safiya Zaghloul; other places can be found on Sharia Sa'ad Zaghloul.

Hospitals The private Al-Madina al-Tibaia, Sharia Ahmed Shawky, Roushdi (tel 543-2150 or 543-7402), and Al-Markaz al-Tiby, 14th May Road, Smouha (tel 548-6521), are accustomed to dealing with foreigners. For non-emergencies, ask your consulate or hotel to recommend a doctor.

International calls The 24hr exchange on Midan Ramleh has direct-dial phones and sells phonecards; the exchanges on Midan el-Gumhorriya and Sharia Sa'ad Zaghloul (both daily 8am-11pm) work on the pre-booking system. Speedy connections can be obtained at any of the top hotels, which charge 50-70 percent above the normal rate.

Internet cafés Alex has no less than four Internet cafés: Access Cybercafé (tel 425-5766; www.cyberaccess.com.eg) in the Zahran Mall, Smouha; Click-it Internet (tel 311-7520) next door; Netserv (tel 587-2269; webmaster@netserv.com.eg), 678 Tariq al-Horreyya, Loran; and SatNet, 603 Tariq al-Horreyya, Zizina (tel 312-9985). All charge between £E8-12 for an hour.

Passport office To renew your visa, go to the office at 25 Sharia Talaat Harb (Mon-Thurs, Sat & Sun 8.30am-2pm & 7-9pm, Fri 10am-2pm; tel 482-7873), which is least busy in the evenings.

Pharmacies Khalil, on Sharia el-Ghorfa el-Tigarya, off Midan Sa'ad Zaghloul (Mon-Sat 9am-10pm, Sun 10am-10pm; tel 480-6710). There are others on Safiya Zaghloul and Nabi Daniel streets.

Post offices Midan Ramleh (daily 8am-3pm), Sharia el-Ghorfa el-Tigarya (same hours) and Masr Station (daily 8am-5pm). The poste restante service is unreliable, so ask if you can have mail sent c/o the Hotel Cecil. There's an Express Mail Service available at the Masr Station branch.

Swimming pools If you can't gain access to the Alexandria Sporting Club, non-residents are sometimes allowed to use the pools at the Ramada Renaissance (tel 549-0935) or Montazah Sheraton (tel 540-1331). Phone to check before turning up.

Teaching English Holders of RSA or Trinity TEFL certificates may be able to find work in private schools, for £E1500 a month plus something towards the cost of renting a flat. Make enquiries at the British Council or ask around the expat community.

Thomas Cook 15 Midan Sa'ad Zaghloul (tel 484-7830, fax 483-4073). Can change money and travellers' cheques, give cash advances on MasterCard and deal with stolen ones. Daily 8am-5pm.

Tourist police Above the tourist office (tel 483-3378); in the Maritime Station (tel 480-0100); at the entrance to Montazah gardens (tel 547-3814); in the Greco-Roman Museum (tel 482-8912). All except the last are open 24 hours.