And Other Life Saving Tips for Traveling Around Egypt
Whether you’re taking a camel ride around the Great Pyramids of Giza, Exploring the vast temples in Luxor and Aswan, or relaxing in El Gouna by the beautiful red sea, there’s always something incredible to see! We experienced more than enough modes of transportation around Egypt on our last trip. Here, we’ll focus on one of the most popular travel routes on taking the day train from Luxor to Cairo. In this post we’ll focus on describing our experience for budget traveling between these most popular destinations. We’ll also give you our best budget tips using other transportation options to Egypt’s best cities!
The Train Between Cairo and Luxor
No trip to Egypt is complete without visiting the most famous cities of Cairo and Luxor. Traveling between them can be a bit tricky but there are a few options to choose from. My favorite is the day train which is also the cheapest option. The entire ride is about 10 hours, but only cost around $15 USD! You also get to see a majority of the country you might have otherwise skipped. It may be a long journey, but the hassle free ride is worth it if you have the time to spare.
Buying Your Day Train Tickets
It seems like the Egyptian government purposefully complicates buying tickets for foreigners traveling around the country. You can try your luck reserving train tickets online here, but it wouldn’t allow US citizens to purchase for whatever reason. Regardless, I was determined to take the day train and save hundreds of dollars instead of the night train. We simply went to Luxor Station ourselves and purchased the Express AC train to Cairo for the next day in order to reserve our seats. Make sure to go to the ticket booth at the far right. We ordered them ourselves but asking someone fluent in Arabic to order the tickets for you might be easier. Be sure to reserve your tickets the day before to guarantee your spot on the train and so they don’t sell out!
The Day Train from Luxor to Cairo Experience
We reserved our train ride for 9am with a 7pm arrival time in Cairo, but there were times as early as 6am available. We took a taxi from our hotel to Luxor Station with our tickets in hand and headed to platform 2. There are carts on the train selling snacks, but we made sure to bring our own for the long ride. Be sure to keep your ticket handy since they checked ours a couple times. The train itself was actually much better than expected. The seats reclined, there were restrooms onboard, and the air conditioned cabin made for a fairly comfortable ride. Besides a few ticket checks, we were not hassled for ID or anything else like some of the other transit options. Departing from Ramses Station, Cairo’s main train station, is a similar journey. Due to the coronavirus, the trains were much less crowded than usual.
The Night Train
The night or sleeper train is primarily targeted towards tourists due to its steep price tag. Of course you’ll get your own cabin to sleep in as the train takes you between Cairo and Luxor overnight and saves tons of time. On the other hand for budget travelers this might be way too expensive. Unless you want to maximize the most amount of your time, I would suggest taking the day train.
Other Transportation Options Across Egypt
Depending on where you’re going, there are lots of options for getting between cities. Here’s some of our other best transportation budget traveling tips!
Bus
Another cheap option for traveling between distant cities is coach buses. The most popular is the GoBus. We booked our trip from Cairo to El Gouna online. The entire 5 hour journey was around $25 USD and made a pit stop at a food court halfway through. It was moderately comfortable as far as bus standards, with the only downside being the multiple check points between states. We got stopped several times by authorities at the borders, where they asked to see identification. Make sure to have your passport on you as well as a printed out ticket.
Private Taxi
This option is a bit faster and more comfortable than the bus ride, but is much more expensive. We booked our private taxi via Whatsapp. They will require a bunch of documents like passports, hotel information, and flight info so be sure to reserve this a few days ahead of your departure. Our private taxi took us 5 hours from El Gouna to Luxor, but we got stopped at check points maybe every 40 mins. It’s a bit worrisome when armed guards are shouting in Arabic, but the driver should handle all of the interactions so you won’t need to do anything else.
Nile Cruise
This is a great option if you have plenty of time and money on your hands since they are usually all inclusive experiences. A popular route is between Aswan and Luxor which typically takes 3 days. For a longer excursion, try the 12 day cruise from Cairo to Luxor. You might want to save this one for after the Egypt covid cases are all cleared up.
Taxis
For traveling within a city, taxis are usually the best options. The drivers will always try to overcharge you, so be sure to negotiate what you think is a fair rate. Keep as many small bills as you can too. We found getting our hotel concierge to call a taxi for us locked us in with a great rate and front door pick up. Some hotels also offer airport pickup which is extremely convenient. From Cairo air port to downtown was around $20 USD, so be sure not to let any taxis rip you off. A fair price for getting around the city is usually not more than 50 to 100 Egyptian pounds. Uber is also available to use but only in Cairo!
Booking Private Tours
Another option many haven’t considered is booking a private day tour to visit your destinations. From Cairo, there are many tours that will bring you to Alexandria, Hurghada, and even Luxor! if you are interested in staying there overnight, you can just adjust your drop-off location with your driver.
You can also rent a car with an international driver’s license, but I would highly advise against it since the traffic in Cairo is extremely chaotic. Flying is another option, but it can be expensive and unreliable with the current limited operating availability. Each transportation method has its own unique experience. Egypt is a huge country so I hope this helps you travel between all of the awesome cities! Thanks for reading and keep leveling up!
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