The neighbourhoods
Roushdy & Sporting
EGP 15,000–22,000 / month for a 1-bedThe central-eastern districts most foreign residents land in — walkable streets, cafés, good restaurants and reasonable proximity to everything
Commute: 10–25 minutes into the centre; close to Sidi Gaber station
- The best balance of walkability, amenities and price in the city
- Largest concentration of foreign residents and English-speaking services
- Close enough to the sea without paying the seafront premium
- Traffic on the main arteries has worsened since the rail suspensions
- Older buildings vary a lot in maintenance
- Prices have risen with demand from Cairo buyers
San Stefano, Gleem & Stanley
EGP 22,000–40,000 / month for a 1-bedThe premium seafront — towers, the San Stefano complex, the tiered bathing cabins under Stanley Bridge, and the highest rents in the city
Commute: 20–35 minutes into the centre along the Corniche, longer in summer
- Direct sea frontage and the newest apartment stock in the city
- Best concentration of upmarket retail and restaurants
- Genuinely striking views, which is what you are paying for
- The most expensive rents in Alexandria by a wide margin
- Landlords often prefer lucrative summer short lets to annual contracts
- Sea air is corrosive — window frames, railings and AC units age fast
Smouha
EGP 14,000–24,000 / month for a 1-bedInland, modern and planned — wide streets, the sporting club, private hospitals and the closest Alexandria comes to a new-build district
Commute: 15–30 minutes to the centre; well placed for the southern and inland roads
- Newer buildings with more reliable utilities and parking
- The city's main private hospitals are here
- Quieter and better organised than the older coastal districts
- Inland, so no sea breeze and further from the Corniche
- Car-dependent compared with Roushdy or Sporting
- Less character than the older city
Kafr Abdo
EGP 18,000–32,000 / month for a 1-bed; villas well aboveQuiet villa-lined streets on rising ground behind Roushdy — consulates, old money and the calmest good housing in Alexandria
Commute: 15–25 minutes to the centre; walkable down into Roushdy
- The quietest and greenest of the desirable districts
- Excellent housing stock, including genuine villas
- Walking distance to Roushdy's amenities without its noise
- Expensive and with limited apartment supply
- Few shops or cafés within the district itself
- Steep for a coastal city, which matters more than it sounds
Sidi Gaber & Cleopatra
EGP 10,000–18,000 / month for a 1-bedThe districts around the main railway station — mid-priced, dense, extremely well connected and the practical choice for Cairo commuters
Commute: Sidi Gaber station puts Cairo about two and a half hours away; central for the city
- Best rail connection in the city, which matters if you travel to Cairo
- Noticeably cheaper than Roushdy for a similar location
- Dense amenities and everyday shopping
- Busy, noisy and heavily trafficked
- Older housing stock with variable maintenance
- The tram that once served these streets is out of service for a multi-year rebuild
Bahari, Anfushi & Downtown
EGP 6,000–12,000 / month for a 1-bedThe oldest Alexandria — the fishing quarter by the harbour, the Ottoman and colonial-era centre around Mansheya, and the cheapest rents in the city
Commute: You are at the western end; 25–45 minutes east to Roushdy and beyond
- By far the cheapest housing, in the most interesting streets
- The fish market, the citadel and the real Alexandria on your doorstep
- Genuinely walkable in a way the eastern districts are not
- Housing stock is old and often poorly maintained
- Dense, noisy and with a large share of frozen old-rent tenancies
- Furthest from the private hospitals, international schools and modern retail
How renting works in Alexandria
Property Finder and Bayut Egypt carry the formal market, with OLX and Aqarmap covering the broader and cheaper end, but a large share of Alexandria's stock never reaches a portal and moves through simsars — local brokers who know what is actually available on a given street. Commission is typically around a month's rent. Landlords commonly ask for several months in advance, and on the premium seafront foreigners are sometimes quoted in dollars, which is a negotiation you should take seriously given the pound's trajectory. One structural point to understand before you sign: Egypt runs two entirely separate rental regimes. Anything let after 30 January 1996 falls under Law 4 of 1996, where rent, duration and renewal are whatever the parties agree and the lease simply ends on its stated date — no rent control, no automatic renewal, no statutory security of tenure. Older contracts sit under the frozen old-rent regime of Law 49 of 1977 and Law 136 of 1981, with nominal rents and effectively inheritable tenancies, and that stock is unusually concentrated in Alexandria. Law 164 of 2025, in force from 5 August 2025, raises those frozen rents on a schedule and winds the old contracts up over seven years for homes and five for commercial premises. It does not touch post-1996 leases, but it is already reshaping supply and landlord expectations across the city.
- 1
Decide how far east you are prepared to live, then search that band
Alexandria runs about seventy kilometres along the coast on a small number of parallel roads, and with the Raml tram and the Abu Qir line both out of service those roads are carrying more than they were built for. A flat in Montaza and a flat in Bahari are in the same city only technically. Fix your acceptable commute band first, in minutes at your actual travel time, and only then compare neighbourhoods within it.
- 2
Search the portals, then find a simsar for the street you want
Property Finder and Bayut Egypt cover the formal and higher end; OLX and Aqarmap are broader and cheaper. But a large proportion of Alexandria's flats are let through neighbourhood brokers and word of mouth and never appear online at all. A simsar working the specific district you want will show you stock the portals do not have, for roughly a month's rent.
- 3
Handle the summer question explicitly, before you discuss the number
From July, seafront flats earn far more as short lets to Cairenes than as annual tenancies. Some landlords will not sign a twelve-month contract at all over the season, and others price the annual rent as though they were giving up the summer. If you are house-hunting in spring, either sign early, accept an inland address, or expect the seafront conversation to be about the calendar rather than the rent.
- 4
Establish the currency and the advance
On the premium seafront foreigners are sometimes quoted in dollars. A dollar-denominated rent transfers all the depreciation risk to you, and whether you pay in dollars or pounds — and at which rate — is a real negotiation rather than a formality. Several months in advance is a common ask; a longer lease or a visible employment contract is your leverage to reduce it.
- 5
Inspect for the things a coastal city does to buildings
Salt air corrodes metalwork, window frames and air-conditioning units, and seafront buildings age faster than their photographs suggest. Winter brings named storms — the nawwa — that flood low-lying streets and stretches of the Corniche, so ask directly what happens to that street in a heavy one and think hard about ground-floor and basement flats. Check summer water pressure on your specific floor, whether the lift has a backup, and whether the building has a generator.
- 6
Get a written contract, in your name, and register it
A written and ideally registered lease protects you and is often needed for residence paperwork and for opening a bank account. Landlords sometimes prefer not to register; treat reluctance as informative. Remember what your lease is: a Law 4 of 1996 contract in which the written term is the only protection you have and there is no statutory right to stay on when it expires. Negotiate the renewal terms into the document itself, because nothing in the law will supply them.
Upfront cost
Commonly two to six months' rent in advance depending on the landlord and the district, plus around a month's broker commission. Less standardised than most markets, so it is genuinely negotiable — and the advance is usually easier to move than the headline rent.
Where to search
Insider tips
- Settle the currency question before you discuss the number. A dollar-denominated rent transfers all the depreciation risk to you, and on the premium seafront foreigners are still quoted that way.
- Ask what the street does in a nawwa. Alexandria genuinely floods in winter storms, drainage is limited, and no listing will mention it — but every neighbour will.
- Assume salt air has aged the building faster than it looks. Check railings, window frames, the AC units and anything metal on a seafront flat before you fall for the view.
- Test the commute at the hour you would actually travel. With the tram and the Abu Qir line both suspended for reconstruction, the parallel roads are worse than any map or older guide will suggest.
- Use a simsar for the district you want rather than searching portals alone. A large share of Alexandria's good flats never reach a listing site.
- Remember the working week is Sunday to Thursday. If you are commuting to an office, model the traffic on those days rather than on a Friday.
Avoid these
- Agreeing a dollar-denominated rent without thinking about depreciation risk.
- Signing a spring lease on the seafront without settling what happens over the summer short-let season.
- Taking a ground-floor or basement flat on a low-lying street without asking about winter flooding.
- Paying a large advance without a written, ideally registered, contract in your own name.
- Assuming any statutory protection at renewal — a post-1996 lease under Law 4 of 1996 gives none, and the written term is all you have.
- Choosing an eastern seafront address for the view and then discovering that work, hospitals and schools are all forty minutes back west.
Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.