Layover guide
Weather in Cairo
Summer days sit near 35C, and June, July and August are rainless.
All of Cairo
June, July and August normals give mean daily maxima of 34.6C, 34.8C and 34.5C, with mean monthly rainfall of zero. Overnight means stay above 21C, so the heat does not clear after dark.
Winter is mild rather than cold. January normals are 19.0C by day and 9.7C overnight, and February is close behind at 20.3C and 10.3C.
The whole year averages under 25mm of rain. The wettest month, March, normals at 5.7mm.
April and November are the workable months for anything on foot, at 28.2C and 24.7C mean daily maximum.
Figures are the 1981 to 2010 climate normals for Cairo Airport, supplied by the Egyptian Meteorological Authority to the WMO.
The rest of Cairo
The whole guideGetting out of the airportThe meter is not the default in a Cairo taxi, so fix how you are paying before the doors close.Ride-hailingUber and Careem both run in Egypt, and the app price is the whole point: it is settled before you get in.Local laws that catch crew outCameras and drones are what put visitors in a police station, and your passport belongs in your pocket, not the hotel safe.Staying connectedRoam on your own SIM and the customs question does not arise. Buy an Egyptian SIM and your handset enters a scheme with a clock on it.Eating near the crew hotelsCash first, alcohol only where it is licensed, and in Ramadan the daylight hours change how everything runs.What to buyThe allowances are published and modest, and the currency limit is the one that catches people on the way out.