Cairo to Luxor in 3 ways: Train, Bus and Flight

After spending a bright sunny day at the Pyramids of Giza, our next destination was Luxor. During our time in Giza, we faced issues with the accommodation. So with a more open mindset, we traveled to Luxor.

Why should you visit Luxor?

Located about 500 km south of Cairo, Luxor is the Ancient Egyptian Capital. During Egypt’s New Kingdom period (1550-1050 B.C), most of the rulers were buried close to this city. Visit the iconic Valley of the Kings to know the history.

Other famous attractions are the Karnak temple, Luxor temple, and Hatshepsut. To know more about this city, read our blog on ‘Everything you need to know about Luxor’ The official currency is Egyptian pounds (EGP) – 1€ ~ 18 EGP and 1 EGP ~ 4.5 Indian Rupee (₹)

How do you reach Luxor from Cairo

The distance between these two cities is about 660 km. As a tourist, there are 3 ways to travel from Cairo to Luxor

• Train
• Bus
• Flight

Cairo ↔ Luxor by train

Train travel is the best means of transport if you want to admire a country’s beauty. Here you have two options: Day or night train. All trains depart from Cairo Ramses station.

Expensive night train

If you google ‘Cairo to Luxor by train’, the luxurious night train pops up. About 95% of the tourists opt for this train because of the private cabin. There is no booking for this train and you have to buy tickets at the counter. Note: Payment accepted only in US Dollars. The ticket costs are around 80 – 100 $. That’s crazy. I felt, ‘Really?, An air ticket is cheaper than this’. I didn’t want to go for this fancy ride. Deeper google search gave me an excellent alternative ‘Day train’

Affordable day train

During the day, there are more than 7 trains departing from Cairo to Luxor. We chose to take the earliest train (Number: 980). The departure was at 8.00 am. It was a first-class ticket and cost ~12€.

Cairo Ramses Station

Uber made our transport easy in Cairo. We reached the train station at 7 am. Regular security checks and baggage scanning takes place at the entrance. The station was quite busy. Our departure was from platform 1, so it was easy to navigate. Once again we cross-verified the same with the authorities at the platform. Small size shops are set up through-out the platform just like in India. We quickly grabbed biscuits and some soft drinks.

The Egyptian railways

Being an Indian, the Egyptian Railways looked similar to Indian Railways. The day trains can be booked online. Visit the official website enr.gov.eg

The website is available in English and Arabic. The server response is slow and one needs immense patience to book a ticket. It took a few days for me to get going. Find out how to book an Egyptian train ticket online in my blog ‘How to book a train in Egypt online‘.

Train journey

It was a 10.5 hour day journey. The seats were nice and comfortable. Ticket collectors checked our tickets multiple times throughout-out the trip. The Police also had a look. But none of them asked any questions. With smiling faces, they said, ‘Welcome to Egypt’

Lunch

The train hosts catering. At about 12.30 pm, a person started taking orders. We ordered a simple meal consisting of cheese, bread, salad, packed juice and cost 50 EGP.

Arrival at Luxor

The train arrived an hour late. Upon arrival, Taxi drivers, Horse riders circled us. Even Though we had to only walk a few hundred meters, there was no choice but to take a taxi for 35 EGP. Terror attacks have hit tourism hard in Egypt over the years. The ratio of Taxis/Horse carriage to arriving tourists is ~20:1. So you can imagine the competition.

Cairo ↔ Luxor by bus

This was one of our bold decisions. I couldn’t actually find tourists taking the overnight bus from Luxor to Cairo. After some research, finally, I found Go-bus.

Use Go-bus in Egypt

It is a recent bus company that operates in all parts of Egypt for an affordable price. They have buses of all types ranging from standard to deluxe. When I booked the tickets online, I felt this was some scam because people had hardly aware of this bus service.

Go-bus office

The departure point was from the Go-bus office near the Luxor main station at 9 pm. We reached half an hour early. The office also had a small waiting room with a Go-bus representative who verified our e-tickets. It was certainly impressive.

Deluxe bus

The theme is yellow and blue and our bus type is Deluxe. It was a decent air-conditioned semi sleeper class. But there were hardly any people. I am sure that still, people aren’t aware of this bus service. The price per ticket was 215 EGP ~ 23€

Overnight travel

Again, it was a 10-hour journey and at midnight there was a pause for 30 min. The entire ride was completely through the desert. Many tourists avoid road travel as there have been reports of attacks. But that’s the past and we never felt insecure.

Arrival at Cairo

Around 8 am, we reached Tahrir Square, one of Cairo’s important junctions. Followed by that, Uber drove us to our hotel.

Cairo ↔ Luxor by flight

Air carriers like Egyptair, Nileair make Luxor accessible from Cairo. The journey is an hour and the price starts at 40€ one way. Try booking your ticket 3 months ahead. Use Skyscanner and compare flight prices. Read our blog on ‘How to book cheap flight tickets using Skyscanner’ for a quick guide.

Luxor airport to the center

Luxor international airport is located 10 km away from the center. There is no Uber in Luxor. So, there is no other option but to find a taxi. Bargain as much as possible and you should reach downtown for about 5 – 10€. Or the best way is to arrange a shuttle through your accommodation.

FAQ

Is Egypt safe? Yes, except for a few areas, it is safe to travel. There are regular checkpoints throughout the city to make tourists feel safe. Is Luxor safe? Yes, we never felt insecure and much more welcoming than Giza. Is there Uber in Luxor? No, not yet. So, either take a taxi or try horse carriages. Make sure to finalize the price before boarding and in which currency you will pay. Time of visit: May 2019

“Some beautiful paths can’t be discovered without getting lost” ― Erol Ozan