Cairo Travel Forum

I might have the chance to live in Cairo for 3 months, teaching English to a family and living with them. It would be in Helwan.
Can anybody tell me if this area is generally safe and a desirable place to stay?
I would be travelling as a single female with my daughter. Would this pose any problems?
Anything you can tell me would be great!

All of Cairo is perfectly safe.

Helwan is a southern neighborhood of the city, quite far from the centre. Most rich Egyptians and expatriates live closer to the center, either in Zamalek/Garden City (where all the night and cultural life is), or in Maadi (also a southern suburb, but posher than Helwan and closer to the centre).

Living in Cairo is a great experience, you should go for it.

Helwan is a separate Muhafatha (county or state). It is linked to Cairo with metro so commuting should not be a problem. The metro link to Cairo is 30 minutes and cost you 1 Egyptian Pound. Helwan like all of Egypt is very safe

It is hard to answer a non specific question. I recommend reading about Egypt, you can start by reading a travel book or history books to get to know the city and country.

good luck

Agree with the previous posters: Helwan is quite baladi, though safe, and easy enough to get in to central Cairo. Having your daughter with you will be fine - Egyptians adore kids! Do as much reading as possible before you come, so you know what to expect (think welcoming, organised chaos, pollution, exotic ...). A good online resource is the interactive trip planning guide NileGuide: www.nileguide.com/destination/cairo. It's aimed more at tourists, but has loads of information on what to see and do, where to eat etc etc, as well as other basic information about Cairo.

You're gonna have a great time!

Helwan is a safe place to live in as all the previous posters had guranteed and i agree, but since Helwan isn't a classy suburb i doubt that a family there can afford to hire an english teacher for 3 months. So make sure that u r going to have a reliable job.