There is a train from Cairo to Luxor or you can go by road, air, or water. Tourists normally take the night train from Cairo to Luxor, the night train is much more expensive than the day train. We wanted to take the train during the day. You can, of course, fly, go by road, or even travel by boat we’ll talk about those options too.
Tourists can take the day train from Cairo to Luxor and it’s better for two reasons, to save a few hundred dollars on tickets and to see the Nile Delta in daylight as you travel south.
Do you think Egypt was going to make saving money easy?
Not exactly, but we found the way to do it eventually and the train to Luxor was one of the best I’ve ever been on.
We’re safely arrived in Luxor in the most beautiful, and cheap, apartment (AirBnb works pretty well in Egypt but using Booking dot com or Agoda instead often saves you huge cleaning fees), and give or take one very sick child, yesterday worked out just fine. The day train allowed us amazing views and a glimpse into country Egypt, we were able to see how Egyptian farmers and smallholders live today.
The filth and pollution of Cairo gives way to peaceful green fields, mud-brick houses and towering sandy cliffs beyond as the train line follows the Nile Valley to the south or Upper Egypt.
Cairo to Luxor
Cairo is 504 km (314 miles) from Luxor. The road distance is 614.4 Km. Options for getting to Luxor from Cairo include boat, plane, night bus, night train or day train.
The drive from Cairo to Luxor takes approximately 8 hours. More on all of these options below.
We can tell you all about the day train and the struggle to get tickets as foreigners.
Why Luxor?
- Luxor is on the site of Ancient Thebes and its necropolis.
- It’s really pretty here on The Nile.
- The Valley of The Kings and The Valley of the Queens are on the west bank
- The Colossi of Memnon (Pharaoh Amenhotep) are there.
- King Tutankhamun’s tomb, among others, is open to visitors
- Karnak Temple is on the east bank.
- There is plenty more to see and do here, a week wouldn’t be too long to stay.
Cairo to Luxor by Train
So far our Egypt trip has been a fascinating delight. We found an amazing little guest house overlooking the pyramids in Cairo, we’ve ridden camels to the sphinx, watched the sound and light show every night from our rooftop, toured the Egyptian Museum and Citadel of Cairo with a helpful guide, explored the ancient souks of Old Cairo and toured the places Jesus visited as a baby in Coptic Cairo.
We’ve had no fears relating to safety, other than in the crazy choking traffic. Most days we’ve ridden with our driver, Ibrahim going as far as the older pyramids at Saqqara and Memphis, south of Cairo.
Nothing has gone wrong, nobody has hassled us or ripped us off more than we were happy to be ripped off and everyone is having a fantastic time wallowing in Egypt past and present.
Long may that continue, but getting those train tickets was a headache and waking up on train day with a sick child wasn’t ideal.
They have a saying here
” It will cost you 5LE to get on a camel, 500LE to get off the camel”
We’ve been helped every step of the way by the Egyptian people and have had zero problems with touts.
Sure, they’re all out to make a buck and we are chief buck providers but it’s been nowhere near as intimidating or annoying as others describe. We’ve paid more than rock bottom for most things but we’ve been happy to pay.
There are very few western tourists but from what we’ve seen plenty of other nationalities are still visiting. We’ve seen coach loads of Chinese, Indians, Romanians, even Tanzanians.
It’s really interesting how diverse tourist nationalities are here and sure, some will get ripped off.
We met a British family who were charged $100 for a few photos on a camel. They were lovely folk and took it well, but they paid it, nobody forcibly extracted their money from their wallet.
If you think you’re being charged a fair price, pay, if not politely walk away. You need to bargain over everything and keep a sense of humour but stay smart, always ask the price first and if you feel uncomfortable with it, say no.
It’s about everyone being happy at the end of the day so don’t let it spoil your holiday and enjoy meeting the Egyptians, have a cup of tea and a shisha, they’re cool.
That said, we’ve only been here a week and Luxor is said to be the hassle capital of the world. If you come here as a single woman, you’re braver than me, but I do wander around alone and have had no problems.
The picture of the Nile, above, I took a 10-minute solo walk from our Luxor apartment while the men of the family stayed in their sick beds. Yep, 3 men down this morning.
Airbnb seems to work well for Egypt, we’ll be using them later in our trip too.
Cairo to Luxor, Buying Train Tickets
Tourists are not really allowed to buy day train tickets from Cairo to Luxor, but we found a way to do it. We’d done our research and already knew that it was hard, if not impossible, for tourists to buy tickets for the day train, but still we had a go.
Never believe everything you read online, always try for yourself. We gave it our best shot but there was no way the ticket woman at the station in Giza would allow us to buy the cheaper day train tickets.
So back to plan B, to get them online. This was plan B because the internet booking system only allows customers to buy 2 tickets at a time, to buy 4 we needed to create 2 accounts for 2 lots of 2 tickets.
Somehow we ended up with 2 seats in first class, 2 in second, but they were tickets for the day train, departing early from Giza station, Cairo.
We boarded at Giza station, all of the trains from Cairo’s Ramses Station stop at Giza and it was closer for us. All 4 of us sat first class and hoped for the best, maybe we’d have to pay for an upgrade, maybe 2 of us would have to move.
First-class was almost empty and when the ticket inspectors arrived they were cool with us sitting together, no extra charge, no problem.
At Cairo’s Giza train station, everyone went out of their way to help out the foreigners, from the first-class waiting room attendant to the station official. Nobody was hassling for tips, they just wanted us as tourists, to have a good experience. We think.
So the journey from Cairo to Luxor by train was fine, all of us sleeping frequently after that 2 am arrival and 4 hectic days of touring Cairo’s many sites.
When we could keep our eyes open we had a fascinating glimpse of rural Egypt. Simple rectangular mud-brick houses and walled compounds, shady shelters made from palm fronds and children riding donkeys.
Fields of alfalfa, wheat, onions and cabbages shaded by sparse date palms with mango orchards dotted between the fields.
After hectic Cairo the simple rural reality was a glimpse into the past, families surviving much as they do in our village in Romania, but in a climate as different as it’s possible to be.
Cairo to Luxor Train Facts
All of the below was correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of publication. Things may have changed so you’ll need to check this for yourself.
The Night Train Cost approx $80-$100 (1800 LE) for a sleeper, payable in US $ only at the station. Departs Cairo Ramses Station. 9 hours. Same price/ same ticket to Aswan. Children 4-9 $70-$85. 5% booking fee online, 2 types of train give you 2 different prices but both are expensive.
The Day Train Cost approx $11.50 First Class ( 202 LE). Bought online, 2 tickets only. We couldn’t buy these at the station, at all. 9 hours give or take. Second class is only a little cheaper, $6.50 and looked OK, first class was superb.
It’s also possible to take the bus or to fly to Luxor in just an hour.
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Cairo to Luxor by Bus
The easiest way for visitors to book the bus or coach from Cairo to Luxor is to use this company. We use them ourselves, we trust them. Check Cairo to Luxor bus availability and price here. The journey is approximately 10 hours and will involve travelling in the dark. We have taken buses like this in Egypt and they were good modern buses, but they do drive too fast for me.
A bus ticket from Cairo to luxor will cost $15 to $30 each, depending on the type of bus. The bus is therefor more expensive than the day train.
Cairo to Luxor by Air
You can fly from Cairo to Luxor, the flight time is about an hour and a ticket should cost roughly $70 US.
Cairo to Luxor by Taxi
You could take a private taxi from Cairo to Luxor, this is an expensive option costing in the region of $350 US. Organise your private taxi journey here.
Cairo to Luxor Day Trip
You can visit Luxor as a day trip from Cairo if you are very short of time. Your day will allow you to see all of Luxor’s main sites, enjoy lunch, and return to Cairo the same day. This is not a cheap option as travel is by plane, but to see Luxor, we think it would be well worth the cost. Book this day trip to Luxor from Cairo here.
Cairo to Luxor Distance
The distance from Cairo to Luxor is approximately 667km by road and 415 miles. The drive time is 8 hours plus depending on traffic. Traffic around Cairo can be very busy.
Cairo to Luxor by Nile Cruise
Most Nile cruises operate between Luxor and Aswan, Luxor is often the starting point for your Nile cruise. We have been unable to find a Nile cruise or boat trip from Cairo to Luxor, Egypt.
More On Train Travel in Egypt with a Sick Child
He was fine when the call to prayer woke us to our sunrise pyramid view in Cairo but the second we decided to go to breakfast he crumbled.
He’d had a bit of a sore throat and blocked nose for a couple of days but suddenly just went down. He couldn’t eat breakfast or even drink juice so we gave him the option of cancelling the train and staying another day.
He wanted to move on so we piled into Ibrahim’s taxi and headed for the station. We were ushered into a clean, cool and empty first-class waiting room where he seemed to get worse, nausea adding to his problems.
By train time he’d vomited and wasn’t looking good at all but the train was cool and comfortable and he slept most of the 9 hours to Luxor. Last night he still wasn’t well with a low fever, coughing, and extra nose bleeds just for fun.
He’s much better this morning, up and about, drinking lemongrass tea and watching YouTube videos.
Our travel with kids survival kit always includes plastic bags, toilet rolls, wet wipes, hand gel and chewable kids paracetamol for emergencies just like this.
Of course, we always carry water but even juice drinks weren’t tempting him yesterday.
We’re having a quiet day today to let him rest which he seems very happy with. His dad and brother are going down with the same bug too leaving me the last woman standing and general nursemaid.
There’s a pharmacy on the corner and our host can easily help us find a doctor if we need one. The beauty of independent travel is that we can take days off, there’s no tour schedule and no rush.
I remember years ago on a tour of the Nile, if you were sick, you missed out. If it was Valley of The Kings’ day, that’s just tough, your loss. There are pluses and minuses to group holidays, sometimes they work in your favour, sometimes they don’t.
He’s on the mend, he’s a fairly unstoppable little soldier and tomorrow we’ll tackle Karnak or one of the other world-famous attractions of ancient Thebes and its necropolis. We’re loving Egypt so far.
Cairo and Luxor, Enjoy Egypt!
We hope you find our Egypt content useful, we loved visiting Egypt each time and we were quite pleased we managed to get that day train from Cairo to Luxor, it was a good experience and Luxor was very worth visiting. For more on Egypt visit our full Egypt travel guide and blog or maybe you’d like to read about some of the incredible and little-known places to visit in and around Cairo itself. You may be surprised
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What’s the website link to purchase train tickets online? When I search, I get this error “E500099-No trips with this criteria”. Is there a different website you used?
I can’t remember, I’ll ask Chef when he’s here, he found the website and did all the train ticket bookings.
* sorry also how would I do a round trip? Would I have to buy a 2nd ticket?
I don’t know as we didn’t do it that way, we took the bus over to Hurghada and then the bus to Cairo / train to Alexandria. If it’s not in the post I can’t remember sorry, my husband would know but he’s not here to answer. Apologies, hope you figure it out.
Hello, what train type did you use? I’m in the national railroad site but I’m confused on which one to put or what you would suggest? I’m traveling with my family from Cairo to Luxor in about 2 weeks.
Does anyone have any suggestions on getting the Covid test in Cairo for the flight back to the US? Thanks in advance.
I have no clue sorry!
@Manit Motwani,
The best way is to ask at your hotel desk. They will have the doctor come to the hotel and do the test. The price is reasonable compared to getting a taxi etc.
The second is to hire a taxi and go to a specialty clinic they are available in several locations. Again ask at the front desk.
You can inquire about the cost before you make the decision as I have only done both as a single person not as a family. Be SURE you get the correct test though. At the time of this writing it is the PCR test.
The doctor at the hotel only takes cash but the clinic took my credit card. Ask ahead.
The test takes 24 hours but I did not get my results in hand for about 30 hours so make sure you have enough time before your flight.
I am currently on the train now from Cairo to Luxor. The 10 am departure AC1 train is actually not as comfortable as the one that leaves about an hour earlier. I didn’t realize it at the time because they are all listed on the Egyptian Rail website as AC1 but it’s definitely worth the extra 100 EGP to get on a newer train.
This particular train is quite dirty (dusty) and bringing some sanitizer wipes is a good call.
The seats have space but the train is packed. No one is wearing a mask and social distancing is not really a thing that is followed in Egypt I’ve noticed.
I wouldn’t say the ride is uncomfortable but I also would not do this again to save 100 EGP because for this long of a trip the conditions are less than satisfactory.
I booked my ticket online, it was no problem. There is a limit of tickets you are allowed per account but I only needed one. That went smoothly and the exchange online is much better than any atm or exchange I’ve found around Cairo.
Which class were you in? Our photos are of first-class I believe.
Hi Alyson, great blog, do you know what time the night train leaves, and i assume you buy the tickets at the rail station?
Is the price $80 – $100 you quote per person or for a private room on the train?
Thank you for your help/advice
Sid
We were sitting in regular train seats, not a room or cubicle of any sort.
hi Alyson,
Is it possible for you to share the airbnb u booked in Luxor, we are going in March and would love a clean cheap stay!
Ok, I will have a look , hang on… Pretty sure it was this one, or this could be the one on the next floor up. Either way, it was huge and very comfortable for a family. https://www.airbnb.com.au/rooms/9664899
Hey, thank you very much for this blog. You have helped so many people. I just want to ask how did you get the 11. 50usd day train ticket to Luxor? We would like to try that as sleeper train is so expensive. Thanks
Does it not say in the post Jessa? And in the comments also. So many people have done this and there have been conversations back / for on this page. I can’t remember off the top of my head, that’s why we write it down. My husband would know but he’s not here sorry.
Thank you so very much Alyson! This was indeed helpful.
Shivi, were you able to buy the day train to Luxor?
Hi Alyson just came across you blog , fantastic ???? We are planning to go to Cairo in 3 weeks , just booked with Sphinx Guest House based on your blog . . I also set up an account with Egyptian National Railway and was looking for an overnight train but not at the 80-100 Usd rate. Ifound a few options but am unsure if it’s the right one. Special Service OD Train # 2014 is 202.8 Le.. Does this sound correct to you? Also hoping we can catch at Giza station as it’s closer to hotel , when I was checking I chose Cairo , is this right.. Any insight will be appreciated , thanks
Hi Barb. Oh we love that place! It’s not luxury but that view is just the ultimate! We caught the train in Giza, correct, but there are two train stations, Giza station and El Giza station. I’m fairly certain it was Giza, check with Gouda. We went there by taxi, Mohammed dropped us off. We don’t know about the overnight ones sorry.
Can you please share to us the place where you stayed in Cairo and how to contact Ibrahim? It is my 1st time to come across your blog & it is so helpful! Thank you for sharing your experiences to us.
It’s in the post about Visiting the Pyramids Ken. A little guest house at the foot of the Gixa site. The owner, Gouda, organised Ibrahim for us and took care of everything. An absolute gent.
It’s February ‘2019 and my daughter and I are visiting Egypt in May. I would like to know how you found / connected with your driver Ibrahim?
The owner of our guest house in Giza arranged our driver. It’s in the visiting the pyramids post I believe.
I registered online with Egyptian National Railways but I cannot buy day time tickets as every single search gets returned with the message “No trips with this criteria”. I tried everything including different days, times, etc. but it is always the same. I did put that I was from Argentina so perhaps, once identified as a foreigner, it will not let me buy but since it asks you for document number I thought it best not to lie. Any suggestions for buying the tickets
It’s possible they’ve closed the loop hole, which would be very annoying. My husband is going to try to do it on his laptop now and see if it’s still possible.
He’s just done it, no problem. Only fill in the boxes with the red stars, rest can be blank. He didn’t need to enter a passport number.
Thanks!
Hi there . I am having the same problem
the red star is on passport number when you go to set up a account I cant get past it please help me if you can I am looking at going on the 21/04/19 oh I am a ausie
As above, when my husband tried a week or two ago, it still worked fine.
Thanks heaps for getting back to me so quickly yes I worked it out if your dates are more then 2 weeks out it won’t work
Again thank you so much for having this page and helping people
No worries, enjoy your trip.
I just came back from Cairo. I followed Allison’s instructions to buy the tickets on the internet for the day train from Cairo to Luxor and everything went very well. Nobody challenged that we were there.
Thanks for letting us know! Hope you had a great trip.
Alyson,great story and very useful information.
Do you think the trip on a day bus will be safe?
If they allow tourist on there I would have thought so. I think I’ve done this trip years ago with an armed guard.
Hello, good read, thank you for the info. I was wondering, how much would an ordinary airbnb room cost?
They start at maybe under $20 and can go up and up to anything. Huge range, be it a room in somebody’s house, a hotel type room, an appartment, whole house, dorm, house boat, caravan, cave. You can find anything on AirBnb.
My husband and I will be traveling the 2nd week of May 2018 for a wedding and have few days after. If we have about 3 days left can we travel to Luxor and what else before retuning to Cairo. What are our must see sites.
What will be the best way of traveling?
Thanks,
Hi Alyson,
Thanks for a very informative post. This was the most current ‘user info’ I found on the net about the Great mysterious train ticket conundrum -)
We plan to be there early next year. While casually interacting with my tentative host, when I asked if he could organise our tickets (specifically) in day train Cairo – Luxor, he replied that its ‘Illegal’ (though he will try). Do you think any legality involved there if foreigners book day trains ? And, wouldn’t the local agents buy us the day train tickets, at an additional charge ?
Also, did you explore the day bus travel options . The ‘Elite class’ appears reasonable and it would enable us to take in the local landscape through the day as well ?
Thanks.
It’s not illegal Shrei.
Hey Alyson
Great blog & very timely for me. Not much current information around that i can find.
We are currently in Egypt & I have tried to register for the online railway system. I’ve heard it takes a couple of days before you are fully registered & that you need a confirming email from them – was that your experience?
Can you use e-tickets on the train? (as I will not be in a position to print them out)
Appreciate any advice you could provide – thanks
Hi Patrece, we didn’t risk the e-tickets, we printed them in a computer shop on the street. We did have to register with the Egyptian rail service but we did it by phone and it didn’t take 2 days, it was pretty quick.
Hello , I just want to ask. How many hours is the travel time from Luxor to Cairo And Cairo to Sharm?
is it safe to book online for the bus ticket.? Like Go Bus?
I can’t remember Mark sorry.
I am 68 year old and my wife 62 we are going to Egypt for 10 days nov 22 to dec 3 2017 for
I can read little bit Arabic
Is it possible to get cairo to Luxor ticket on from vending machine US credit card
If not can someone will buy ticket for us from hotel if we pay him some tip
We want to buy first class day train
I’m not American sorry, don’t know on the US Credit card and I’m sure your hotel people will try to help you, but they really don’t like foreigners getting the day train, we had to dodge that by getting the ticket ourselves.
Hi we are three single girls visiting Egypt for a week on November. Our itineraries are as of follows:
3 Days 2 Nights at Cairo which we already booked at the same guesthouse you did.
And 3Days 2 nights Felucca ride, half day at Luxor then back to Cairo again. It’ll be a backpack travel so we are flexible. Im a bit hesitant seeing blogs of hassle and haggling although I am also curious how Egypt looks like and how to survive while we are there. We budget ourselves within 35 usd/per day excluding our accomodation, 130 usd 3d 2n felluca, sleeper train on our way to Aswan and 1st class train back to Cairo.
My issue is really safety. I am getting married next year and Im a bit skeptical although we had booked out tickets already. Any advise for us 3 women?
Thank you so much. Your blog has been a great help for us!
Hi Jai,
Stick together, be smart and don’t be intimidated. Walk around like you own the place. Be confident and watch each others’ backs. Dress respectfully. I felt safe wandering alone in certain places, it was absolutely fine. Nobody touched me but I was hissed at a couple of times ( I think this is a compliment!). Be friendly, be nice, but don’t encourage attention. Sometimes you need just a firm “NO”. You’re in safe hands with Gouda at the Sphinx, he’s a gent and will take care of everything for you. He has a daughter, Yasmin, she usually serves breakfast, he’ll warn you about the Sphinx trying to sneak into beautiful ladies’ rooms at night 😉 Luxor is the hassle capital, but it’s not so bad. Watch your bags on the trains , lock them and secure them to something ( have a look at the anti theft bags here https://worldtravelfamily.com/best-anti-theft-bags-for-travel-and-travellers/ I know somebody who had a bag lifted on an Egyptian train, go first class if you can) The felucca…that would be more of a worry for me, but it’s 20 years since I last did that and I was with a group of 20 or so, plus reputable guide and a crew known to his company. Just be smart. I’m going to suggest booking through a company such as Get Your Guide, not because we’re affiliates ( choose to use our links or not) but because you’ll get a fixed price, more security and some comeback, nobody will want to lose their job if Get Your Guide employs tem, tourist dollar is hard come by in Egypt these days. Enjoy!
We’ve just booked our flights to Egypt and your blogs are going to be so helpful.
Like you said there isn’t much up to date information out there.
We are flying to Cairo on the 13th September and that’s as far as we’ve got so far so starting to plan our trip. We are thinking about heading to Dahab and staying there for a few weeks aswell.
We are really looking forward to it though and cannot wait to get there.
Hope you have an incredible experience @Finding. It was fantastic to finally share Egypt with the kids and almost all the Egyptians we met were lovely.
With only a week to go we have finally started doing more research. Always so last minute!!! is great to hear the people are nice. We have registered to the train website so at least that’s one thing done 🙂
You’ll be fine, just bring your best smiles 🙂
Thanks for the great info and important pictures. Which website did you use to buy the daytime train tickets that would depart from Giza?
Hello the site we used was the National Egyptian railways website. You need to register and it will only let you buy 2 tickets per registration. https://enr.gov.eg/ticketing/public/smartSearch.jsf
Can we buy a ticket from the vending machines at Cairo train station for travel to Luxor by day trains in the 1st class?
It depends what credit card you have, we had to use the ticket oice, the machines only accepted local cards.
I can’t believe the price difference on those trains, Alyson! My husband did the boat ride down when he was there, but that train looks awfully great to me. Also, I was reading this post this morning and suddenly it dawned on me that it was perfect timing, because I’m spending the day cooking all sorts of food for our monthly “Passport to Fun” trip to – get this, Egypt! I can’t believe the coincidence! So I now I really feel like we’re tucked in your back pockets today (although I hope we avoid the nasty bug part of it!). I just thought that was too cool, and I went back and edited my post to drive people over to your blog from mine, so I hope you see lots of new traffic! (The post goes live on Tuesday) Anyway, I just loved how that all worked out!
Thanks Lisa! I have so much more to write and so many photos! We’re off to Karnak at 6am so will be taking a siesta between about 10am and 4pm. It’s insanely hot. Should be able to get another one wrapped up. I was just lying in bed thinking how cheap it is here, cheaper than Thailand for sure.
Awesome! I can’t wait to see it all!
Keep strong, Alyson! Sounds like your men need a woman. Enjoy Luxor when all are up again!