# Moving to cairo



## paolop

Hi,

I have secured a job with an Egyptian company and am moving to Cairo in August. This is a bit of a dream come true for me as I am a passionate Egyptologist in my spare time and have lost count of the number of times I have visited Egypt. I have a very good expact packing including car and driver and an accomodation allowance. The company will be sponsoring my visa. The reason for this post is to firstly introduce myself and then ask a few quations.

1. Reading various threads Zamalek appears to be a good place to live, my office will be in heliopolis, how bad will the commute be?
2. Are there any good expat clubs that people could recommend, I have picked up some useful info from a few threads but wondered if people have any other info.
3. Any general advice for someone such as myself?

I look forward to contributing to this forum!

Paolo


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## Lanason

Dear Paolo,

Welcome to the forum and welcome IN Egypt. 

If you work in Helopolis, and have a family you should live on the East side of town - Rehab, Katameya, Sherook IMHO
If you are alone rent a flat in Roxy or Heliopolis

Expats clubs are BCA Heliopolis or Maadi, or the ACE club.
you could join one of the Sporting Clubs but the good ones are mega expensive

General advice = as I havent got a clue what your like, is impossible :eyebrows:


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## paolop

Lanason said:


> Dear Paolo,
> 
> Welcome to the forum and welcome IN Egypt.
> 
> If you work in Helopolis, and have a family you should live on the East side of town - Rehab, Katameya, Sherook IMHO
> If you are alone rent a flat in Roxy or Heliopolis
> 
> Expats clubs are BCA Heliopolis or Maadi, or the ACE club.
> you could join one of the Sporting Clubs but the good ones are mega expensive
> 
> General advice = as I havent got a clue what your like, is impossible :eyebrows:


Thanks for the info and fair enough on the last point!

I know that this is not the best time (probably a huge understatement) to be moving to Egypt but the opportunity presented itself at this time.


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## Lanason

paolop said:


> Thanks for the info and fair enough on the last point!
> 
> I know that this is not the best time (probably a huge understatement) to be moving to Egypt but the opportunity presented itself at this time.


The more info you wish to share, the better we can give your the benefit of our experiences:clap2::clap2:


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## paolop

Lanason said:


> The more info you wish to share, the better we can give your the benefit of our experiences:clap2::clap2:


Of course, no problem.

Well I am planning to move here with my wife, we are having a child later on this year so she wont be joining me full time until early next year. I have worked abroad in both Europe and the US so I am not new to the whole expat thing although I have never lived in Egypt. I have a smattering of Arabic and am taking lessons as I am a strong beleiver in immersing myself in the culture of the country I am living in, additionally my new company is Egyptian and whilst there are a few foreigners I will need to have a certain level of arabic.
I will be heading up a company of casual dining restuarants in Egypt and I have over 25 years experience in the field, latterly as national operations director of a large company based in the UK. As I mentioned on my first post I am very much into the history of Egypt having made numerous trips to visit various monuments.
I am looking to get as much advice as I can by drawing on peoples experiences before actually arriving in Egypt. My next goal is to make as many friends (both expat and locals) as I can.


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## Lanason

Casual dining restaurants ?? Is it a well known brand?

Any way i suggest you live in Heliopolis then consider moving out after 6-12 months to a city a bit further out. 

Let me know when you arrive and I can help with some introductions


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## paolop

Lanason said:


> Casual dining restaurants ?? Is it a well known brand?
> 
> Any way i suggest you live in Heliopolis then consider moving out after 6-12 months to a city a bit further out.
> 
> Let me know when you arrive and I can help with some introductions


Thanks very much, thats reall appreciated.

The company has 5 brands two of which are international and very well known, I will give more info when I can.
My new company are going to put us up in one of their flats when we first arrive so we have a bit of time to look around.


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## MaidenScotland

Only hours ago a friend and I were chatting about restaurants and mainly Zamalek as every week sees another eating place open,


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## paolop

MaidenScotland said:


> Only hours ago a friend and I were chatting about restaurants and mainly Zamalek as every week sees another eating place open,


true, I was in cairo last month and there certainly seem to be a few their, my company has an outlet there.


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## mamasue

Lanason said:


> Casual dining restaurants ?? Is it a well known brand?


Let me guess.....Yum! Brands???


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