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Language: Arabic is the official language although English and French are widely spoken, especially in the tourist areas.
Currency: The unit of currency is the Egyptian Pound (EGP), which is divided into 100 piastres. Most credit cards are accepted in major hotels and restaurants. Visitors are advised to take travellers cheques in US Dollars or Pounds to avoid additional exchange rate charges. Banks are usually closed on Friday and Saturday, but private exchange bureaux, called 'Forex', are open daily and banks in major hotels are open 24 hours. Cairo branches of the Egyptian
British Bank and Banque Misr now have ATMs available that accept Visa, MasterCard and Cirrus and are quite common in the main tourist areas.
Time: Local time is GMT +2 (GMT +3 from last Friday in April to last Friday in August).
Electricity: Electrical current is 220 volts, 50Hz. European-style two-pin plugs are standard.
Communications: The international access code for Egypt is +20. The outgoing code is 00 followed but the relevant country code (e.g. 0027 for South Africa). The city code for Cairo is (0)2. There are high surcharges on international calls from hotels; it is cheaper to phone long-distance from the 24-hour Post, Telephone and Telegraph (PTT) offices that are available in the major cities. For international directory phone enquiries dial 120. The local mobile phone operators use GSM 900 networks and have roaming agreements with all major operators. Internet cafes are available in the main tourist areas.
Duty Free: Travellers arriving in Egypt do not have to pay customs duty on 200 cigarettes or 25 cigars or 200g tobacco; alcoholic beverages up to 1 litre; perfume for personal use and 1 litre of eau de cologne; and goods for consumption to the value of LE 100. Prohibited items include narcotics and drugs.
Tourist OfficeEgyptian Tourist Authority, Cairo: +20 (0)2 684 1970 or www.egypt.travel
EmergencyEmergencies: 122 (Police); 123 (Ambulance),
Embassies
Egyptian Embassy, Washington DC, United States: +1 202 895 5400.
Egyptian Embassy, London, United Kingdom: +44 (0)20 7499 3304.
Egyptian Embassy, Ottawa, Canada: +1 613 234 4931.
Egyptian Embassy, Canberra, Australia (also responsible for New Zealand): +61 (0)2 6273 4437.
Egyptian Embassy, Pretoria, South Africa: +27 (0)12 343 1590.
Egyptian Embassy, Dublin, Ireland: +353 (0)1 660 6566.
United States Embassy, Cairo: +20 (0)2 797 3300.
British Embassy, Cairo: +20 (0)2 794 0852.
Canadian Embassy, Cairo: +20 (0)2 791 8700.
Australian Embassy, Cairo: +20 (0)2 575 0444.
South African Embassy, Cairo: +20 (0)2 359 4365.
Irish Embassy, Cairo: +20 (0)2 735 8264.
New Zealand Embassy, Cairo: +20 (0)2 461 9178.
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