People are friendly but dont let them fool you or overcharge you. Use the new capital taxis known as Taxi al A'sema, which are clean, reasonably priced and have air conditioning. The Egyptian Pound is worth about a tenth of a UK Pound and Egypt is much cheaper than the UK so bear that in mind.

Preferably use bottled drinking water like Schweppes, Nestle, Aqua and Baraka. University students like to practice their English so don't be baffled if they try to talk to you. You will know them because they use complicated vocabulary compared with street vendors who may try to rip you off in their simple English. I am an Egyptian who lived in England some years ago and adored the Brits I hope you have a wonderful time in Egypt.

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Remember that most taxi drivers who operate on the street, not from the tourist hotels, don't own their cars. They might make 120 Egyptian pounds a day and give half to the car owner. A kind tourist who pays 50 Egyptian pounds instead of 20 for the trip might mean the driver can buy a kilo of meat for the family at home.

Cairo is hard for middle-aged fathers who have to work all hours to pay for tuition for their kids. Remember that the next time you think you are being fleeced and pay extra to the decent ones. They deserve it.

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I urge you to take as many taxi rides as you can. They're much more fun and better value than any theme park ride or virtual arcade game. Basically, they weave at breakneck speed in and out of traffic, creating a third and fourth lane when there are only two. The first ride will be disconcerting and have you calling out for your mother, the second will see you addicted.

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No meters. You're meant to know how much a journey costs, and if you don't, you'll get ripped off. Also, be sure to memorise the numbers in Arabic from 1 to 10, so that you can haggle more effectively.

The rough rule of thumb for knowing how much a certain journey should cost - roughly, a trip from Zamalek to Tahrir would be about 5 Egyptian pounds. This isn't a long journey and takes maybe 10 minutes, depending on traffic. 5 Egyptian pounds is about 50 pence. Longer journeys, especially to tourist destinations, will always give inflated prices, but try to haggle them down. You can also pre-agree the prices for longer journeys, but it's trickier for quicker inner-city taxi rides.

Further, when you get a taxi from the airport, it's very important to disregard the first couple of drivers who offer you their taxi, so that you build some credibility. 50 Egyptian pounds isn't that bad, especially for westerners just arriving, to get a taxi to your hotel in the city, but if you can get it lower, so much the better. The reason it's more expensive from the airport isn't just the distance (it's maybe forty minutes) but also the fact that the taxi driver has to pay a couple of entry fees and bribes in order to be inside the airport area at all.

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We managed to see quite a lot of Cairo in one day by hiring a taxi.The driver waited for us while we took our time visiting various places and then we returned to where he had parked and continued. All in all it only cost us 120 Egyptian pounds (around 15 euros?) for 5-6 hours' worth. He was also very friendly and all too willing to show us places. He even invited us to his house for dinner

Cairo centre

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