See Egypt By Train
Egypt Is Fabulous, And Cairo One Of The Most Charming Cities In The World. Why The Need To Book A Tour?? It's Easy To Travel Around Egypt Separately. Egyptian Railways Are Easily The Most Suitable Way To Travel Between Cairo, Luxor, Aswan, Alexandria, Port Said & Suez. The Prospects From The Train Can Be Charming, Especially Along The Nile Amongst The Fields And Palm Trees On The Cairo-Luxor-Aswan And Cairo-Alexandria Routes. As So Regularly, The Train Trips Give You Perspicacity Into The Country.
Cairo-Luxor-Aswan Confinements
On The Cairo-Luxor-Aswan Route, The Cairo Ticket Office Will Not Sell Foreigners Tickets For The Regular Daytime Trains Due To The Deceived & Easily-Circumvented Upper Egypt Tourist Train Confinements. The Solution Is To Either Buy A Ticket Online Or Use The Self-Service Machines, Or If All Else Fails Simply Get On The Train Without A Ticket And Pay Onboard, See The Segment On Tourist Train Travel Restrictions Which Explains All This. You Can Also Buy Tickets At Alexandria If You Happen To Be There Beforehand, As It's Reported Alexandria Ticket Office Will Happily Sell Tickets For Cairo-Luxor-Aswan Trains When The Cairo Ticket Office Won't.
Self-Service Ticket Machines
These Are (Or Were) The Easiest Way To Buy Tickets When You're At The Station, Faster And Easier Than Using The Staffed Ticket Counters. All Main Stations In Egypt Have Self-Service Ticket Machines With A Touch Screen And An English Language Facility. They Can Sell Train Tickets Complete With A Reservation For All Main Routes & Trains And They Accept Across Credit Cards. They Will Gladly Sell Tickets For The Cairo-Luxor-Aswan Daytime Trains Too, Certainly Though The Staffed Counter Won't.
Buy Train Tickets For Egypt Online
We Can Offer This Solution For You To Save Time And Money And The Hassle, Give It A Try And See How It Goes...
What Tickets Can It Book ?
The System Will Book 1st & 2nd Class Seats On The Main Air-Conditioned Express Trains Between Cairo, Alexandria, Luxor & Aswan. If You Want To Buy Tickets For The Cairo-Luxor-Aswan Sleeper Trains, See The Next Section.
When Does Booking Open ?
Booking Opens 2 Weeks Before Departure. If You Try To Book More Than 2 Weeks Before You Want To Go, It Simply Says There's No Availability, So Just Wait Until Booking Opens.
What Won't It Book ?
It Won't Book Sleeper Trains, Only Daytime Express Trains. It Won't Book 2nd & 3rd Class Non-Air-Con Tickets For Ordinary Slow Trains, Or Tickets To Other Destinations Such As Mersa Matruh Or Port Said Or Smaller Stations Such As Edfu Or Kom Ombo. Or Book Tickets Further Ahead Than About 2 Weeks. It Also Seems To Book Trains From Aswan To Luxor, But Not From Luxor To Aswan.
Can Foreign Tourists Use This System ?
Yes. It Allows You To Select The United Kingdom And Other Overseas Countries From A Drop-Down List When Registering And When Booking A Ticket. After Selecting The United Kingdom It Will Happily Book A Daytime Seat Train From Cairo To Luxor, With No Sign Of Any Problem With The Tourist Restrictions. Result! The Small Print Says It Only Accepts Egyptian Credit Cards, But I Can Confirm It Accepts My Own UK Visa Credit Card, And It Uses The Verified By Visa Additional Security System. So Give It A Go.
Limitations
You Can Only Book A Maximum Of 4 Seats At A Time On Cairo-Luxor-Aswan Trains And 5 Seats On Cairo-Alexandria Trains. If You Want To Buy More Tickets Than This, You'll Have To Book Via A Travel Agency Or At The Station As Below Or Perhaps Create Two Separate Accounts Using A Different Name And Credit Card. There Are A Few Other Limitations, See Their Terms & Conditions.
The Deluxe Sleeper Train Is The Best Way To Travel Between Cairo And Luxor Or Aswan, Saving Time And Traveling In Relative Comfort, And It's Also An Egyptian Experience In Its Own Right.