Egypt sleeper train: Cairo to Luxor
Have you ever imagined yourself exploring Egypt over land by train? Going to sleep in one place with one type of scene and waking up in another, quite different, landscape, is both a thrilling and romantic way to travel.
We have tried sleeper train services on almost every continent and know just how different they can be. From the cleanliness, efficiency, noise and facilities to the service you receive on board - sleeper trains always come with quirks and differences.
We wanted to maximise our time in Egypt which was short and sweet (only one week!) and explore places other than Cairo. Personally I wanted to get south, closer to the “Real Nile” as I would call it, and away from the chaos of Cairo. Luxor was our destination of choice.
We looked into various options and realised that although slow and prone to delays, Egypt boasts a rail network which is vast and operates many services. You can fly from Cairo to Luxor in 1.5 hours but at a higher cost to both your wallet and the environment, and with none of the experience you get whilst on a train.
Booking tickets:
Of course, your go to website for all things rail is The Man in Seat 61! We use his website for everything train-related. It covers almost every country in the world and holds vital information such as timetables, people’s experiences, how to book tickets, and more.
Using this website we were able to select which train we wanted to take – number 86 sleeper leaving Cairo Bashtil station at 19:45 and arriving into Luxor at 06:10. We also found out that you could book tickets in advance online using Bookaway (we tried to use Abela website and app to no avail so had to use Bookaway which charges slightly more but worked well).
We booked a private cabin for 2 which included dinner and breakfast on board. The cabin was spacious and comfortable and even had a small vanity unit and sink inside. It cost us $90 USD per person one way so it was very expensive, but you are paying not only for the travel and experience, but also for a nights’ accommodation and meals.
You will be asked when booking if you are “Egyptian” or “Foreign”. They then place all the tourists in the Foreign cabins which is a shame in my opinion – we do like to mix with locals!
IMPORTANT: Once booked we were sent an email with a “voucher” attached showing the details of the train. It states in bold that this is not the actual ticket and that at least 9 hours before departure you must contact a person (name and number provided) to arrange collection of the tickets. We did this and it worked well. We didn’t actually collect the tickets from him but he sent us a picture of them and that was sufficient to get us on board where the carriage attendant had our ‘hard copy’ tickets.
TOP TIP: When booking your cabin, if you want a private one for two, make sure you select that both guests are FAMILY when prompted. This will ensure you are placed in the same cabin.
Our experience:
We arrived at Bashtil railway station, sometimes called Upper Egypt railway station, at around 6pm. We always arrive early for sleeper trains if they start their journey where we’re getting on, as sometimes they are ready and waiting on the platform around an hour in advance. Arriving at the brand new station was interesting. It is absolutely huge and resembles a mall and/or grand palace from the exterior.
After checking with the guard on the gate that it was the correct station we put our bags through the security scanner and were in. He checked our tickets and took us to the platform we needed – or so we thought, more on that later. Of course he expected a tip for helping us which we handed over.
We popped into the shop in the station to get a few snacks for the train, and grabbed a rather nice flat white coffee from the nice coffee shop. We passed the time on the platform until it was 7.30pm and we were due to depart in 15 minutes. It was odd – usually sleeper trains arrive a fair bit earlier so that people can get on and settled and the staff do their preparations for the journey.
Asking some other people on the platform whether we were in the right place, they said they were also getting the sleeper to Luxor and so we felt reassured. A few minutes later, a huge train rolled onto the platform – at last! We breathed a sigh of relief and got on board.
Once in our cabin we got our bags in the right places and had a poke around. It was quite a nice size. Just then, the carriage attendant came to our cabin and said he wanted to see our tickets again. He asked if we were on the right train. We said yes, the sleeper train to Luxor. He looked at our tickets and exclaimed loudly that we were not on the right train! Ours was going from the platform opposite. I looked at my watch and it was 7.43pm. Our train was due to depart at 7.45pm. We quickly grabbed our luggage and with the help of the carriage attendant we ran as fast as we could with our 18kg each across to the other platform where another, almost identical, train was waiting.
We found our carriage immediately, shouted a thanks to the staff member who was himself running back to the other train so he wouldn’t miss it and be out of a job, caught our breath and explained to the carriage attendant what had happened. He checked our tickets, was awfully kind, and helped us to our new, identical cabin, just as the train departed.
Note to anyone travelling by rail in Egypt: Triple, no, quadruple check that you are on the right platform before you board the train. There is no signage, no information points, and no schedules on nice electronic boards like in Europe. It seems even when you ask station staff, you can’t always be sure they’ve got it right.
Once on board the correct train, we allowed ourselves to relax and unpack the essentials. Once done, we stowed our bags as neatly as possible. The cabin felt quite roomy and was private for two people with beds set up as bunk beds. On departing Cairo the bottom bunk was set up as two seats and a table which was great. There was even a small vanity unit and sink in the compartment for us to use - very handy for brushing teeth/washing hands etc!
The carriage attendant was so helpful, he showed us the toilets at the end of the carriage, how to operate the lights in our cabin and brought us our dinner almost straight away. It was a tray of grilled meat, rice, bread rolls and some pudding-type thing as well as a yummy fig biscuit. Drinks were available to purchase from him at any time too. We tucked in and enjoyed our dinner en route. At Giza station, many more tourists got on and joined our carriage.
It took us a while to get used to the noise of the train; it was so loud it hurt our ears to begin with. But after half an hour or so we adjusted and it didn’t bother us again. We had a great evening, playing cards and chess, reading and relaxing.
We didn’t see a restaurant/bar car on the train and we’re not sure if there was one – the attendant didn’t mention it if there was. The carriage attendant came to change the bottom bunk into a bed for us when we asked, and it only took two minutes. Bedding was provided and consisted of a comfy pillow, sheets and duvet and the attendant made up the beds for us.
Once tucked up in bed we drifted off fairly quickly. I slept well – better than I had done in noisy Cairo – but Tom struggled as the carriage did get quite warm. I woke up once in the night from a jolting stop at a station and went to the toilet which was kept clean and well stocked with toilet paper all night (a rarity in Egypt).
The train itself wasn’t that new and could’ve done with some repairs and upgrades. The cabin was lovely and clean, and everything worked well, but for an example the windows in the corridor of the carriage were damaged and broken in places. This gave the train a tired look of disrepair but didn’t impact on our journey.
We woke early, around 5am, and at 5.15am the attendant knocked on the door with our breakfast trays. We asked him to convert the bottom bunk back into chairs so we could enjoy it which he did quickly for us. Breakfast consisted of lots of bread-based things which Tom couldn’t enjoy but there was also hard boiled eggs and some fruit. The attendant brought us a coffee which was included too.
Whilst packing up our stuff we realised the sun was rising and the most incredible scene was unfolding from the windows. We were getting closer to Luxor and could see beautiful colours that the sun was painting in the sky reflected in the Nile as well as in buildings close to the tracks. About 10 minutes from Luxor, we saw what looked like dots in the sky and realised there were hundreds of hot air balloons filling the sky. A sight that was incredible to see and one we’ll never forget.
Our attendant helped us get off at Luxor (the train went on to Aswan where most tourists were heading) and we got out of the station easily and smoothly. Of course there was the regular ‘hassle’ you get when arriving at a place in Egypt, but nothing out of the ordinary.
All in all we’d recommend the sleeper train from Cairo to Luxor. We got a fairly good night’s sleep on board, enjoyed the experience, had fun, and got great service. Train travel in Egypt is certainly interesting, but this sleeper train service was well run. Until next time, Egyptian railways!