Stay in a centrally located hotel in Cairo to explore as much as you can on foot. One of the reasons I recommend Dahab Hotel is that the Egyptian Museum is in walking distance, and it's generally pretty convenient.

Local buses are an interesting experience. Very cheap at 25 piastres-50 piastres (4-8 cents), with the actual fare depending on whether or not you have exact change. However, it's hard to know where to get off, buses are crowded and hot, and they do not stop to let you off. I don't mean they come to a rolling stop, I mean grab your stuff, jump off and hit the ground running. There didn't appear to be marked bus stops anyway, so either ask someone for help or just run off when you see a recognizable landmark.

The metro (75 piastres) is clean and efficient—the first and sometimes second cars are women-only. I didn't find any problems in the regular cars though, and plenty of women rode the other cars. The metro is a good way for getting to Coptic Cairo, and also goes to Giza. Once in Giza you are actually in the town, so if you are going to the pyramids you need to take a taxi.

Taxis are weird. It's best to already know the approximate fare (ask locals), have it in hand, and give it to the driver after you get out at your destination. Don't bargain when you get in, don't let the driver guilt you into paying more. I paid 5EP for both the train station (Ramses) and bus station from Dahab Hotel, which is pretty generous...if you have exact change you should be able to get away with 4EP, maybe even 3EP. From the parks at Gezira, our group of 3 paid 5EP to go to Islamic Cairo. I paid 5EP from Giza to the Pyramids because that was the approximate fare listed in Lonely Planet, but the driver complained a great deal which made me wonder if I should have bumped it up a couple pounds—he was asking for 10, however, which was ridiculous, and as I'd already left the car and he wasn't going to follow me, we left it at 5.

Trains are good and relatively cheap. The best way to get to Aswan and Luxor also goes to Alexandria. Foreigners ride in first or second class, which should be pretty similar—I think the seats in second class are marginally smaller and don't recline as far. I wish I knew that before I chose first class for all my rides—I could have saved some money. A/C is very cold on these trains, but they're otherwise quite comfortable, considering the ride from Cairo to Aswan is more than 12 hours (less than $10). There is also Nefertiti class, which gives you a private cabin of six seats. These seats don't recline, but if you are alone, you can stretch out and sleep.

Ramses station can be a little confusing if you're headed to Aswan, and like me, you're running really late and panicked about finding the platform. I knew the platform number for Aswan but that didn't help, because for some reason all the signs were skipping over my number. I got on the train barely before departure thanks to kind, helpful locals.

By far, the most soothing way to get around Egypt

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