Getting Around Alexandria: A Practical Transport Guide

Getting around Alexandria is a mix of the century-old and the app-driven. The city's famous tram — one of the oldest networks in Africa — still trundles along the coast, shared microbuses cover every gap for a few pounds, and Uber and Careem make door-to-door trips painless. The whole city strings out along the Corniche, so once you know which mode suits which hop, a compact, walkable core is easy to reach.

Alexandria is long and thin, wrapped around a Mediterranean bay for more than 30 kilometres, and almost everything a visitor wants sits within a narrow band along the seafront. The second city of Egypt has no metro, but it makes up for it with a dense, layered street-transport culture: historic trams, swarms of microbuses, cheap street taxis, and modern ride-hailing all running in parallel. The single most useful thing to grasp before your first full day in Alexandria is that the Corniche is the spine — orient yourself by it, and the rest of the network falls into place.

Arriving from Cairo and Borg El Arab airport

Most visitors reach Alexandria by train from Cairo, and the airport handles the rest. The express service covers the 220 km in about 2.5 hours, while Borg El Arab International Airport sits roughly 45 km southwest of the centre. Sorting the arrival leg first saves you improvising after a long journey.

The train is the classic approach. Frequent services run from Cairo's Ramses (Misr) Station to Alexandria's Misr Station, and the air-conditioned Spanish-built "Talgo" trains are the most comfortable option; a standard express costs a few hundred pounds and takes around two and a half hours. A private car transfer runs about US$60–90 by the desert road and drops you at your hotel door, which is worth it for groups or heavy luggage. For the return leg, book a day or two ahead in the spring and autumn high season.

From the air, Borg El Arab International Airport (HBE) is the city's gateway, about 45 km and 45–60 minutes from downtown. A pre-booked hotel car or an official airport taxi is the simplest way in — agree the fare before loading your bags, since these are not metered. Ride-hailing usually undercuts the taxi rank, and a cheap shared shuttle bus runs to the city centre if you are travelling light.

Riding the Alexandria tram

The tram is Alexandria's signature ride and one of the oldest networks on the continent, dating to the 1860s. It is slow, cheap, and atmospheric — perfect for a scenic hop, less so for a tight schedule. A single ride costs only a few Egyptian pounds, making it the best-value way to travel between central districts.

Two systems meet at Raml Station (Mahattet el-Raml), the downtown hub a short walk from the Bibliotheca Alexandrina and the eastern Corniche. The historic blue trams of the Ramleh line head east along the coast toward the residential suburbs, while the yellow city trams loop through the western and central neighbourhoods, passing near landmarks such as Pompey's Pillar. Recently modernised yellow cars have joined the fleet, but the experience remains gloriously old-fashioned: expect frequent stops, crowded carriages at peak times, and conductors selling paper tickets on board. Keep small coins ready, hold your bag close in a busy car, and treat the tram as sightseeing at walking pace rather than a way to beat the clock.

Microbuses: how the city actually moves

Where the tram is too slow and taxis feel like a splurge, Alexandria runs on microbuses — shared minivans that swarm the main avenues for a handful of pounds a seat. They are the cheapest way to cover distance and the mode most locals rely on, but they take a little confidence to use.

A microbus follows a set corridor rather than posted stops: you flag one heading your direction along a main road, call out your destination so the driver can confirm his route, and pass your fare forward hand to hand. There are no printed timetables or route maps, so the learning curve is real — the trick is to know the name of the district or landmark you want and to watch where locals get on and off. They are fast and astonishingly cheap, especially for the long run along the Corniche toward the Qaitbay Citadel or out to the seafood village of Abu Qir. If the informality feels daunting on day one, save the microbus for later in your stay once you have the geography.

Taxis and ride-hailing

For door-to-door convenience without deciphering routes, Alexandria has both traditional street taxis and full ride-hailing coverage. Uber and Careem are the low-stress choice; the classic yellow-and-black street cabs are cheaper if you agree the fare first. For most visitors, the app is worth the small premium.

The city's yellow-and-black taxis are everywhere and easy to hail on the street. Older cabs may not use the meter, so state your destination and settle the price before you climb in; a short central hop is inexpensive, and rounding up the fare is customary. The simpler route, though, is ride-hailing: both Uber and the regional app Careem work well across the centre and along the Corniche. You see the fare up front, skip the negotiation entirely, and pay by card or cash — a genuine advantage if you don't speak Arabic. The one caveat is that a car can be slower to reach you in the far eastern suburbs or during the evening crush, when the seafront road clogs.

Mode	Typical fare	Pay with	Best for
Tram	A few EGP	Cash (coins)	Cheap, scenic hops between central districts
Microbus	A few EGP	Cash (small bills)	Longest-value trips along the Corniche and out to Abu Qir
Street taxi	Low, agree first	Cash	Quick point-to-point when no app car is near
Uber / Careem	Metered by app	Card or cash	Stress-free door-to-door, airport runs, after dark
Walking	Free	—	The compact downtown core and the seafront promenade

Walking the Corniche and downtown

The single most rewarding way to see central Alexandria is on foot. The downtown core around Raml Station is compact and flat, and the Corniche promenade links the headline sights in one long, sea-facing walk. Distances between adjacent attractions are often shorter than the wait for any vehicle.

The Corniche is a roughly 15-kilometre crescent tracing the bay from the Qaitbay Citadel in the west to the Montaza Palace gardens in the east, and its western third — from the citadel past Raml Station to the Bibliotheca — is very walkable. Downtown itself, with its faded Belle Époque cafés, bookshops, and the Abu al-Abbas al-Mursi Mosque, is best explored on foot, and a stroll here connects naturally to a descent into the Catacombs of Kom El Shoqafa a little further inland. The Mediterranean setting makes walking a pleasure the coastal breeze keeps a few degrees cooler than Cairo — but the seafront offers little shade, so a hat and water matter in the middle of the day.

What it costs and how to pay

Getting around Alexandria is remarkably cheap, but almost all of it runs on cash in Egyptian pounds. Carry a stock of small bills and coins, and keep the apps for when you'd rather pay by card. Budgeting for transport is a rounding error against the cost of the trip; the real skill is simply having the right notes on hand.

Trams, microbuses, and most street taxis are cash-only, and drivers rarely break large notes, so change money into small denominations early and keep coins for tram fares. ATMs cluster around Raml Station and along the Corniche, making top-ups easy. Site entry fees are separate and also want local currency — the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Qaitbay Citadel, and Kom El Shoqafa each charge a modest ticket, so confirm current prices with your guide. Tipping smooths the edges: small change rounded up for taxi and microbus drivers, and a little extra for anyone who helps with bags.

Timing your days and staying comfortable

Alexandria's transport rhythm is shaped by two things: the midday sun and the evening rush along the Corniche. Sightsee on foot in the cooler morning, use apps or the tram in the heat of the afternoon, and avoid the seafront by car at dusk. A little planning keeps the coastal traffic from eating your day.

The Corniche is glorious and also the city's main artery, so it snarls in the late afternoon as commuters and sea-air seekers converge. Front-load your walking and outdoor sightseeing — the citadel, the promenade, the market lanes — into the morning, and lean on ride-hailing or the tram through the hot early afternoon. Spring and autumn bring the mildest weather and lightest crowds, while summer weekends see Cairenes pour in and traffic thicken. Keep a few habits: carry small change for the tram, note your destination's district name for drivers, download an offline map, and cover shoulders and knees when stepping into a mosque.

Why a local guide still helps

None of this is hard after a day, but a local guide erases the learning curve and unlocks the modes visitors find intimidating — reading microbus routes, knowing the fair street-taxi fare, and timing the Corniche around the crush. In a city where the best transport knowledge is unwritten, that lived experience is worth more than any map.

A good Alexandria guide tells you which corner the Abu Qir microbus actually leaves from, whether the blue or yellow tram gets you closest to a given door, and when the seafront road is best avoided. Pairing a half-day guided orientation with a pocket of small bills is the fastest route to feeling like the city is yours to move through. For a sense of what guided experiences cost alongside your transport, the Alexandria city guide lists typical tour prices, and the wider Egypt country guide sets out guide fees and the essentials in more detail.

Related Guides

• Cairo & the Giza Pyramids: A Practical Guide — tickets, timing, and ride-hailing for the capital, Alexandria's most common onward leg
• Getting Around Buenos Aires: A Practical Transport Guide — how another sprawling seafront city handles trams, buses, and fares

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Change enough money into small bills on day one, download an offline map, and Alexandria opens up along its seafront spine. The tram gives you a slow, atmospheric ride between central districts, microbuses cover the long hops for pocket change, and Uber or Careem close the loop door to door — leaving you free to walk the Corniche from the citadel to the Bibliotheca without ever wondering how you'll get back.

Hero photograph of Alexandria's city trams by Abdelrhman 1990, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons.