Hi, thanks for the question, yes, one day we went in the early morning traffic from the hotel to the British Embassy (which I'd call downtown on the river and where the hotels are in the area...) that took 45 minutes and was a distance of around 11 miles (19 Km). Rush hour in Cairo is between 7 and 9 AM and 5 to 7 PM. Roughly 8 Million people commute into the city each day to work (during the day, Cairo has 20 million people), mostly by car or shared minibuses. We went at 7 AM and as mentioned took 45 to 50 minutes which was typical. Traffic is a nightmare in Cairo and besides the Metro (subway) there is no public transport (I'd not suggest using the metro or the buses personally).

The main road that the Heliopolis is on is terrible for traffic and is one of the main known roads for congestion further into the city.

I'd personally stay here even still, knowing what you get for the money and 'peace' when not in traffic but that's me. The pollution nearer the city centre was dreadful and I'd not want to think about my lungs in the hotels by the Nile in the city centre but again that is me and the pollution is bad everywhere in the city but more so in the city centre.

If one is a nervous passenger, then it would likely be best to stay in the centre as the Uber driving style and general driving style in Cairo is 'adventurous' to say the least and not for the faint hearted if they had to do it every day.

Hope that helps. The fare to go downtown with Uber though for that city centre drive was the equivalent of 50 cents. Yes, 50 cents UK so money is not the issue, time and fear factor are in my opinion.

Hope that helps, thanks for asking.