Cairo–Alexandria desert road, also known as the Cairo–Alexandria freeway and the Cairo–Alexandria highway, is the main highway

Highway

A highway is any public road. In American English, the term is common and almost always designates major roads. In British English, the term designates any road open to the public. Any interconnected set of highways can be variously referred to as a "highway system", a "highway network", or a...

 that connects Cairo

Cairo

Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...

 to Alexandria

Alexandria

Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...

, the two largest cities in Egypt

Egypt

Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

. It is 220 km long. The Road is dark at night – no lights – but it has a lot of traffic signs that help the driver to know the way. It begins at Giza, at the northwest corner of Cairo's ring road, and ends in Alexandria El Kilo 21.

It contains a lot of rest houses, among which the Master rest house (Cairo–Alexandria direction) and Omar Oasis rest house (Alexandria–Cairo direction).

An alternative route is the Cairo–Alexandria agricultural road through Tanta; it is sometimes called the Tanta–Alexandria road.