A Cycling Fan's Guide to Cairo: Where to Stay and What to Do

Cairo is an unforgettable place to watch sport, but it is a huge city and planning matters. This guide is for fans, families and team staff travelling to the velodrome in Nasr City, whether for a championship, a continental event or a training camp.

Where to stay

There are accommodation options for every budget across Cairo, but for a track meeting the north-east of the city makes most sense.

Area	Why stay there	Distance to velodrome
Nasr City	Closest to the stadium complex; business hotels and malls	Very close
Heliopolis / Citystars	Modern hotels around the Citystars complex, one of the biggest malls in the region; near the airport	Short drive
Downtown and Garden City	Nile views, museums and nightlife; big international hotels	About 30-60 minutes depending on traffic
Zamalek	Leafy island neighbourhood with cafes and galleries	Longer in traffic
Giza	Pyramid views	Far; best for sightseeing days

During the 2021 championships, the event's planning centred on the Citystars area of Heliopolis, which has several large hotels within easy reach of both the airport and the venue. It remains the most practical base for anyone whose main focus is the velodrome.

Getting to the track

• Use Uber or Careem, or a hotel car, and leave early. Evening sessions coincide with Cairo's rush hour.
• The Cairo Metro's Line 3 serves Nasr City and the stadium area.
• Agree a pick-up point after the session, because finding a car outside a busy stadium can take time.

Between sessions

Track meetings usually run in the afternoon and evening, leaving mornings free. Ideas close to the north-eastern districts:

• Baron Empain Palace in Heliopolis, the extraordinary mansion built by the Belgian founder of the district.
• Heliopolis's Korba quarter, with arcaded early twentieth-century streets and cafes.
• Al-Azhar Park and Islamic Cairo, a short drive away.
• Citystars, if the heat is too much: shops, cinemas and indoor entertainment.
• A morning at the pyramids or the Grand Egyptian Museum, if you start very early.

See the full list of sights in our Cairo visitor guide.

Cycling in and around Cairo

Cairo's traffic does not make it a city for casual road riding, but there is a growing cycling scene. Group rides head out early in the morning, often on the desert highways and new roads east of the city, before the heat and traffic build. If you bring a bike, ask local clubs or bike shops about group rides rather than setting off alone. Egyptian road racing has a long history in North Africa, and the velodrome gives the country's young riders a track to train on at home.

Evenings out

After racing, Cairo comes alive. The Nile corniche, Zamalek's bars and the rooftop terraces of downtown hotels are all popular. Some of the big hotels also have casinos, which admit visitors with foreign passports. See casinos in Cairo and Egypt for how that works, and live betting at velodrome events if you like a flutter on the racing itself.