1 Week Trip Report
Lush tropical vegetation, trees hundreds of years old, the air crisp with morning fog- all in the middle of Cairo. There's a place tourists never hear about, but ex-pats and nomads adore. Penthouse rooms are available, with the pyramids a 40-minute ride away. After living in Maadi for a week, this is what you should know...
Airbnb lists plenty of options, most of them more expensive. However, to live in the best part of Cairo with wi-fi good enough for video calls, then add in penthouse views. $158 a week was a great value.
Maadi has housed embassies, universities, and foreign businesses forever. Thanks to this prestige, it has grown to be the greenest space in Egypt. It was common to hear English and Arabic spoken interchangeably at cafes. There were even moments of French and Spanish being listened to. Despite not delving into the social scene, I could see it as a great place to be.
Pants, long sleeves, and jackets were standard for the middle of February. At no point did the jacket come off as heating isn't a thing. Combine this all with morning fog, and you'd never imagine it to be Cairo.
While Maadi is high quality, it comes with a price tag. The week's total cost, including two private tours, one of the Pyramids and another of Old Cairo, came out to $479. That was eating out twice a day with a $33 cosmetics resupply thrown in.
Worth it? Definitely. If the pyramids are a splash in the bucket, Maadi is the pitcher that pours it in. Meaning, don't blow it trying to backpack it. Instead, savor the mystery by staying in modern-day Maadi.
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