Cairo Money and Shopping

Full Cairo Travel Guide »    Cairo Interactive Map »    Print This Article »

Midan Talaat Harb

ATMs are conveniently located in various places throughout Downtown. A more secure option are the ATMs in the five star hotels. There also are numerous places that handle currency exchange, or you can try any major bank such as HSBC or Commercial International Bank for currency exchanges or redeeming travelers cheques. There also are a number of Citibank www.citibankegypt.com branches in Cairo.

Foreign currencies can also be exchanged for Egyptian pound in all the Egyptian banks like Banque Misr www.banquemisr.com/sites/engbm/Pages/default.aspx , National Bank of Egypt www.nbe.com.eg/en/exchangerate.aspx?x=1&lang=en, Banque De Caire www.bdc.com.eg/html/main.htm, Arab African Bank www.aaib.com/ , The United Bank www.theubeg.com/wps/portal/enub, or the large branches of Bureau De Change.

• The Khan El-Khalili bazaar is a giant souq in Islamic Cairo. The merchants here are ravenous and skilled, so don't fall for the hard sell and be prepared to haggle. This is a great place to buy rustic glassware and perfume bottles. Be choosy.

• Zamalek has a number of small, but high-end shops, along with shops selling crafts, jewelry and other items. Fair Trade Cairo in Zamalek is a great shop selling high quality crafts made by local artisans. Nefertari, also in Zamalek, has wonderful organic cotton linens, skin care products, and the like. There is also Nomad, that has a small, charming second floor showroom in Zamalek, as well as Nagada, and Khan Misr Taloun.

Diwan, in Zamalek, is a very nice primarily English-language bookstore.

• Midan Talaat Harb and surrounding streets, including Talaat Harb Street, are home to countless shops, selling everything from shoes and books to sweets.

• The Midan Ataba area in Downtown Cairo is home to large bookseller markets, where you can find inexpensive books, as well as electronics and clothing markets.

• www.citibankegypt.com
• www.banquemisr.com/sites/engbm/Pages/default.aspx
• www.nbe.com.eg/en/exchangerate.aspx?x=1&lang=en
• www.bdc.com.eg/html/main.htm
• www.aaib.com/
• www.theubeg.com/wps/portal/enub