Sleeper trains vs Flights from Cairo to Aswan

[ck_explorer1000]

I’ve got a trip coming up in January in Egypt which includes a sleeper train from Cairo to Aswan. It will be my partner and I travelling, don’t mind roughing it a bit, but also don’t want to have a bad day when we arrive because of a lack of sleep, so I’m considering paying for a flight upgrade.

I’ve seen mixed reviews, some saying it is noisy and uncomfortable, with others saying it was an experience in itself which they enjoyed. Has anyone taken the train and can give me their take on how they found it personally? And does anyone know if you get a private cabin for 2 people?

Thanks for any input!

[Steff_789]

Following along, also curious to hear from people who have travelled to Egypt and experienced the overnight trains

[travelling.with.isa]

Hi there!
First, I wanted to say that Egypt has been one of my favorite places I have visited to date! Picture a place where you can stop every few hours and there is a temple to view, with so much history, beauty and basically abandoned in the middle of a country with so much heart. This is truly a place everyone should go and visit one day - trust me!

To answer your questions @ck_explorer1000 when I travelled in a multi-day group tour through the country, myself and my friend decided to opt for the sleeper train as we did our research and found the same issues with the bus you did - and our budget was a little more tight than to take the flight.

We were guided by our amazing operator and guide to the train station in Cairo in the evening, and the train station is for sure busy, with tourists and locals alike! After sitting down for some local snacks and a drink, we had to wait a while for the train to come, as our guide mentioned that the train times can be slightly unpredictable. I had a lovely visitor sit with me while we were waiting for the train - picture attached!

When trains were passing by, we noticed that some of them had smashed glass and were getting worried that ours would look the same - but when the train arrived it was really more than we expected in the first place.

As a solo traveller, you will get an entire room to yourself with a bathroom just outside. It is by no means luxurious but for sure better than I had ever guessed. The train is a little old, do not think its a modern train with luxury fittings, but it for sure runs amazing to take you from A-B.

I shared a room with my co-traveller and at first they left the beds as seating so that you could relax and get acquainted. Once dinner was served (which, wow, the food on the train was exceptional!) the host of your train car changes the seats to beds and makes up the bed for you. The night sleep might not have been the best ever, as you hear all the train sounds at night, but it was for sure better than the experience the others in our group had on the night bus!

Breakfast was also served on the train and you could watch the hills and landscapes pass by, with the local people tending to their farms - just watching from the train as live zooms past you.

We ended up in Aswan around 7 am (if I recall correctly) before we were taking to our hotel to freshen up - during the day we had plenty energy to explore the temple of Philea and explore the city so if you are willing to rough it slightly but have an amazing and more down-to-earth- experience, I would choose the train above the flight every day.

PS: Sorry for the long answer, but I hope this was super helpful. I also attached a of the cabin to give you some ideas!

[ck_explorer1000]

Thank you so much @travelling.with.isa for such a detailed breakdown, and photos! It’s so great to hear from someone who has personally taken the train ride, and honestly it has made me excited about taking the train! It sounds way better than just another flight if you know what to expect (and hopefully i will meet some friends at the station too! ). So cool to hear how much you enjoyed travelling in Egypt, I can’t wait to go now!

I did not know you would get your own bathroom on the train, that was another thing I was a bit unsure of as I read online they were shared - so this makes it even better! Although Im sure the trains differ, has anyone else taken a sleeper train and also got their own bathroom?

[AdvantageousAurillac]

Mine was a night train from Aswan to Cairo, it was very uncomfortable and I wish I would have known about the flight option. My cabin was for 4 pax but I had it privately.

[ck_explorer1000]

Thanks for sharing this @AdvantageousAurillac, not great it wasn’t a good fit for you, but nice you got your own cabin! Did you have a private bathroom?

[PoisedJuba]

Hello was interesting to read the question and answers. I am looking at going later this year and watched this Youtube video, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdfjFHo_TCw It shows you the cabin and food and its nicely put together,. Hope it helps you. I am not sure who or where POISEDJUBA came from.

[ck_explorer1000]

To loop back - I ended up taking the sleeper train! But I only did it one way from Cairo to Aswan, and a I flew from Luxor to the Sinai Peninsula afterwards.

We were on a group tour with Timeless Tours, our guide accompanied us to the train station and on the train. He had already pre-warned us multiple times to have very low expectations, and to be aware the toilets might not flush. The train was delayed by about 45 min, which I think is pretty standard, we took off about 8.30pm. We waited in a Cafe - busy train station but felt like you were mainly among the locals.

As it was the start of school holidays and on a Thursday night (with Fridays being the weekend in Egypt), it was busy and they had 2 extra sleeper trains running, so Im not sure how this might have affected the train we got (whether it was an older one for example).

Having the guide made it super easy as he knew where to board the train, showed us to our cabins, messaged us 20 mins before we got to Aswan etc - made it super easy.

The train itself:

Cabin

• Was definitely pretty old, the cabin was a bit dirty dirty on the table, around the windows etc, but nothing too crazy. I wiped it down with some hand sanitiser and tissue!
• Initially it has seats and a pull out table, there is also a sink in the corner which has a lid to double as another table (this was very clean). There were hooks etc to hang clothes and bags. You got towels, toothbrushes, soap and toothpaste.
• Overall quite small, we had a pretty large suitcase, a smaller suitcase would slide under the bed.
• There was a very friendly steward who would come and serve dinner, ask us when we wanted the beds made up, and then came and made the seats into very sturdy bunk beds.

Beds

• The bottom bunk was pretty comfortable, the top bunk was pretty lumpy, but with some adjustments using a puffer jacket I got it pretty comfy. You get a pillow and blanket, there is a ladder to get up there. I slept surprisingly well and didnt notice any terrible noises or jerking on the train like others have reported - I guess I must have been tired! My partner also slept very well!

Food

• The dinner (we had requested vegan food with the operator so not the same experience as others), was rice, chips and fried potatoes, pickled veg and a bread roll. I didn’t really eat much of this as my partner found meat in his but i really wasn’t expecting anything and had plenty of snacks. usually I think you get meat and rice.
• Breakfast was bread, croissant, yogurts, cake, honey (which I didn’t eat)

Toilets

• There were 2 toilets at the end of the carriage, each carriage gets toilets but im not sure how many cabins there are per carriage (by the amount of people disembarking - I would say definitely over 10!)
• The flushes on the toilets did not work, so one of them specifically was pretty gross. But they did clean them overnight, so when I strategically went as soon as I woke up to beat other people to it - they were clean (but not suitable for some uses if you get my drift)

Would I recommend it?

Really depends on what you want and whether the thought of it seems like an adventure or something you want to avoid! Despite what might read like negative points above - I really enjoyed it. The highlight really is waking up in the morning and watching local rural life go by out the window, with great views out over the Nile too. For me it was another experience and much peferable to yet another flight. It was a mini adventure and I genuinely loved it - so yes I do recommend it, especially if you are comparing to a night drive on a coach which some tours do. (And also far surpassed my experience on a cheap sleeper train in India!)

Our guide told us they were planning massive upgrades to the sleeper train, but this would double ticket prices!