If you are in Cairo **right now** (29th March - 1st April inc), there's a free exhibition of photographs from the revolution - only open until (and including) Friday 1st April at the small gallery at the Opera House - just round the corner from the ticket office. Nearest metro "Opera" - walkable from Tahrir. Opening times 10am - 2pm and 430pm - 830pm.
Yesterday (March 28th), I was out and about with 2 female visitors from different European countries. We travelled on buses, microbuses, the metro. We visited Tahrir, City Stars and the Opera House grounds. We experienced almost no 'tourist' hassle (just a bit of 'see our tours' 'where you from' type stuff), and no harassment, unpleasantness of any kind. People were welcoming, helpful and polite.
Things to note:
Ramses railway station (main station in central Cairo) is undergoing a lot of building work. It is open, but is a little chaotic. If you are meeting people there or travelling from there, allow extra time to find your way into the station - you will have to navigate around the construction sites. Also note that we could not find any toilets or any sit-down cafes (though plenty of refreshments for sale on the platform where trains to Luxor leave from) on the station, so do bear this in mind.
The Railway Museum is currently closed, we were told for around 2 months from now.
The Egyptian Museum appears to be open but we were just walking past, not attempting to go in.
The central Tahrir area where the peace camp was has been cleared (which happened on March 9th) and various potted plants have been placed around there.
The Museum of Modern Art and Palace of Arts are both closed. We were told Palace of Arts should be reopening on Sunday 3rd April. Don't know about the Museum.
Not sure whether there is a program operating at the Opera House at the moment, didn't see any posters up and the ticket office was closed by the time we arrived. There is a schedule online http://www.cairoopera.org/ecalendar/index.aspx
As at 4th April 2011, the following were also still shut:
Abdeen Palace
Islamic Museum of Art
Showing posts with label ramses station. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ramses station. Show all posts
Tuesday, 29 March 2011
Monday, 25 January 2010
Cairo Railway Museum
STOP PRESS 29th MARCH 2011 - THE RAILWAY MUSEUM IS CURRENTLY CLOSED as Ramses Station is undergoing a lot of building work. We were informed that it will probably reopen in a couple of months. I hope so, because it would be a shame to lose this treasure.
I have been dying to visit this museum for many moons, and finally, at the start of an extended day out on Saturday, myself and two friends (also female - surprise :D ) decided to visit the Railways Museum situated at Ramses Station (Cairo's main station).
This is one of Cairo's more quirky museums (as is the Agricultural Museum which I must revisit one day, it being almost 5 years since my last visit.) a little off the usual tourist track. If you like trains and other mechanical things, then allow around an hour for a visit - it can be done in less, we actually thought we would be in there for around 20 minutes but were pleasantly surprised!
The entrance to the Museum is halfway down Platform 1 from the main station concourse. Admission is currently 10LE Saturday through Thursday (closed Monday I believe) and 20LE on Fridays.
The opening hours are currently 0800 - 1400. However, this appears to vary sometimes, so maybe aim for 0900 at the earliest. (Some sources say it is open in the afternoon as well but I was certainly not given this impression at any time!)
A catalogue is available, I think it cost me 8LE but I wasn't really paying attention. Visitors are allowed to take a maximum of 3 photographs. I am wishing I had taken the trouble to read the catalogue while there, but actually our time was limited. I shall certainly be making another visit at some point.
The railways in Egypt have an interesting history, George Stephenson himself having been involved in the initial construction in the 1850s. Heavy British influence is evident in the exhibits from the number of items stamped with the names of British manufacturers from the Golden Age of manufacturing.
The museum is on two levels and we went upstairs first. The museum manager and guide are both female. The guide accompanied us on and off for our visit.
The photo shows a shot across the whole first (second for US) floor. There are a variety of exhibits, mainly to do with the railways but also some other transportation-related exhibits. We spent a good half an hour up there peering at everything. There is a scale model of the former Royal train which the guide informs us parts are still used by the President and most of it is in the railway workshops.
Downstairs, there are larger exhibits including the Khedivial engine built in 1862 for Saied Basha and a cut-away diesel engine.
This photograph shows the view across the ground (first US) floor of the museum from the Khedivial engine.
I asked permission from the Manager to take the guide's photo next to the engine and explained I would be posting it on the internet.
Our guide, Madam Nahed El Katteb, has been working at the museum for 20 years. She graduated with a philosophy degree from Zagazig University. Her father was a railway worker and she inherited his love of trains and so chose to join the railways for her career. The day we went was her 18th wedding anniversary!
After inspecting everything and looking at the model layout (awaiting repair), we were taken to the Annex.
This small side building contains one main exhibit, a six-wheeled coupled goods engine supplied by Stephensons between 1865 and 1868. There are a number of other smaller exhibits, signal lanterns and so on in there as well.
This is a fascinating little museum dating back to 1933 and definitely worth a visit.
Egyptian National Railways Museum Page
Egyptian National Railways Wiki page
Other search terms:
railway museum Cairo
Ramses Station museum
Rameses railway museum
Cairo train museum
Egypt railway museum
Egypt train museum
Railway museum Egypt
Train museum Egypt
train museum Cairo
I have been dying to visit this museum for many moons, and finally, at the start of an extended day out on Saturday, myself and two friends (also female - surprise :D ) decided to visit the Railways Museum situated at Ramses Station (Cairo's main station).
This is one of Cairo's more quirky museums (as is the Agricultural Museum which I must revisit one day, it being almost 5 years since my last visit.) a little off the usual tourist track. If you like trains and other mechanical things, then allow around an hour for a visit - it can be done in less, we actually thought we would be in there for around 20 minutes but were pleasantly surprised!
The entrance to the Museum is halfway down Platform 1 from the main station concourse. Admission is currently 10LE Saturday through Thursday (closed Monday I believe) and 20LE on Fridays.
The opening hours are currently 0800 - 1400. However, this appears to vary sometimes, so maybe aim for 0900 at the earliest. (Some sources say it is open in the afternoon as well but I was certainly not given this impression at any time!)
A catalogue is available, I think it cost me 8LE but I wasn't really paying attention. Visitors are allowed to take a maximum of 3 photographs. I am wishing I had taken the trouble to read the catalogue while there, but actually our time was limited. I shall certainly be making another visit at some point.
The railways in Egypt have an interesting history, George Stephenson himself having been involved in the initial construction in the 1850s. Heavy British influence is evident in the exhibits from the number of items stamped with the names of British manufacturers from the Golden Age of manufacturing.
The museum is on two levels and we went upstairs first. The museum manager and guide are both female. The guide accompanied us on and off for our visit.
The photo shows a shot across the whole first (second for US) floor. There are a variety of exhibits, mainly to do with the railways but also some other transportation-related exhibits. We spent a good half an hour up there peering at everything. There is a scale model of the former Royal train which the guide informs us parts are still used by the President and most of it is in the railway workshops.
Downstairs, there are larger exhibits including the Khedivial engine built in 1862 for Saied Basha and a cut-away diesel engine.
I asked permission from the Manager to take the guide's photo next to the engine and explained I would be posting it on the internet.
Our guide, Madam Nahed El Katteb, has been working at the museum for 20 years. She graduated with a philosophy degree from Zagazig University. Her father was a railway worker and she inherited his love of trains and so chose to join the railways for her career. The day we went was her 18th wedding anniversary!After inspecting everything and looking at the model layout (awaiting repair), we were taken to the Annex.
This small side building contains one main exhibit, a six-wheeled coupled goods engine supplied by Stephensons between 1865 and 1868. There are a number of other smaller exhibits, signal lanterns and so on in there as well.
This is a fascinating little museum dating back to 1933 and definitely worth a visit.
Egyptian National Railways Museum Page
Egyptian National Railways Wiki page
Other search terms:
railway museum Cairo
Ramses Station museum
Rameses railway museum
Cairo train museum
Egypt railway museum
Egypt train museum
Railway museum Egypt
Train museum Egypt
train museum Cairo
Sunday, 17 August 2008
Travelling round Cairo on Public Transport - Ramses Station area
STOP - PRESS (3rd November 2011) - The building works at Ramses Train Station are still ongoing, but you can see the improvements. A sit-down cafe WITH WC (toilet, loo) has reopened on the long-distance platform where you catch trains to Luxor. There's a fixed price - I think it's 25pst but I forgot to take a lot of notice!
The pedestrian walkway has completely vanished! I hope they rebuild it as it's by far the quickest way of navigating around that area!
STOP - PRESS (29th March 2011) - Ramses Train Station is currently undergoing a lot of rebuilding work and so the surrounding area is a little chaotic. The station is in use, but allow extra time to get into the station and find your platforms (and buying tickets if necessary!). There appear to be NO WCs on the station at present, and also no sit-down cafes (though refreshments are available on the platform where trains depart for Luxor/Aswan) The pedestrian walkway is also partially dismantled.
At last - my first post in this series - prompted by a gathering we are having in Heliopolis on Friday.
If you are travelling around Cairo on public transport - then the centre of your universe will be the Ramses Station area. Many microbuses from all over Cairo come to this area so you can interchange here, and the Mubarak Metro station which serves both the existing underground metro lines also has entrances here. You can also find the entrance to the TRAM SYSTEM! (known as the Heliopolis Overground Metro or Metro Masr El Geddidah), so its a pretty good place to get familiar with.
There is also a main bus station not far away - but I will deal with that in a later post (when I've figured it out :D )
Here is a schematic approximate diagram of the area (it is not accurate but should enable you to orientate yourself above ground!).
The main Ramses Station has a w.c. for 25pst as indicated! Its not wonderful but anywhere is a palace in a time of need :D. There are also various refreshment facilities, tourist information office etc within the station environment.
Both the two metro lines pass through Mubarak metro station and it has many exits. If you want to arrange to meet people then either in Ramses Station or outside the Fatha Mosque (which has a big paved pedestrian area out front) are good.
The roads around Ramses Station are very busy and also there are barrier fences stretching along them for what seems like miles so unless you are fit and can climb over them, you will have a lot of walking to do unless you negotiate the underground passages (which can be confusing as they branch off and off - the one to Ramses Station is labelled 'Egyptian Railways' and the one to FatHa Mosque is labelled.. FatHa mosque!)
If you come above ground - then you will see a pedestrian walkway as roughly indicated on my diagram with the thick black line. Use it!
The entrance to the tram station is not clearly marked - once you know there's one there, its obvious. Otherwise you might easily walk past without noticing it! You pay for your ticket on the train - ask for where you want - I'm going to Roxy Heliopolis on Friday and I know there's a stop there because I've been before. You also need to know that the stops are not particularly well marked so ask everyone to tell you when to get off! Also check the tram is going where you want (I have yet to find out all its destinations!) and check it goes there.
Westerners don't usually use the tram so people might look at you a bit curiously! Its somewhat rickety but at 25pst who cares! (I think there may be some destinations that are 50pst but I'm not sure).
The pedestrian walkway has completely vanished! I hope they rebuild it as it's by far the quickest way of navigating around that area!
STOP - PRESS (29th March 2011) - Ramses Train Station is currently undergoing a lot of rebuilding work and so the surrounding area is a little chaotic. The station is in use, but allow extra time to get into the station and find your platforms (and buying tickets if necessary!). There appear to be NO WCs on the station at present, and also no sit-down cafes (though refreshments are available on the platform where trains depart for Luxor/Aswan) The pedestrian walkway is also partially dismantled.
At last - my first post in this series - prompted by a gathering we are having in Heliopolis on Friday.
If you are travelling around Cairo on public transport - then the centre of your universe will be the Ramses Station area. Many microbuses from all over Cairo come to this area so you can interchange here, and the Mubarak Metro station which serves both the existing underground metro lines also has entrances here. You can also find the entrance to the TRAM SYSTEM! (known as the Heliopolis Overground Metro or Metro Masr El Geddidah), so its a pretty good place to get familiar with.
There is also a main bus station not far away - but I will deal with that in a later post (when I've figured it out :D )
Here is a schematic approximate diagram of the area (it is not accurate but should enable you to orientate yourself above ground!).
The main Ramses Station has a w.c. for 25pst as indicated! Its not wonderful but anywhere is a palace in a time of need :D. There are also various refreshment facilities, tourist information office etc within the station environment.
Both the two metro lines pass through Mubarak metro station and it has many exits. If you want to arrange to meet people then either in Ramses Station or outside the Fatha Mosque (which has a big paved pedestrian area out front) are good.
The roads around Ramses Station are very busy and also there are barrier fences stretching along them for what seems like miles so unless you are fit and can climb over them, you will have a lot of walking to do unless you negotiate the underground passages (which can be confusing as they branch off and off - the one to Ramses Station is labelled 'Egyptian Railways' and the one to FatHa Mosque is labelled.. FatHa mosque!)
If you come above ground - then you will see a pedestrian walkway as roughly indicated on my diagram with the thick black line. Use it!
The entrance to the tram station is not clearly marked - once you know there's one there, its obvious. Otherwise you might easily walk past without noticing it! You pay for your ticket on the train - ask for where you want - I'm going to Roxy Heliopolis on Friday and I know there's a stop there because I've been before. You also need to know that the stops are not particularly well marked so ask everyone to tell you when to get off! Also check the tram is going where you want (I have yet to find out all its destinations!) and check it goes there.
Westerners don't usually use the tram so people might look at you a bit curiously! Its somewhat rickety but at 25pst who cares! (I think there may be some destinations that are 50pst but I'm not sure).
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