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Author Topic: Luxor question
doodlebug
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How long of a drive is it from Cairo to Luxor?
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Âutomatic For The People
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Well that all depends! It's about 750 Kilometers of crappy roads so even if you drive non stop you are probably looking at about 12 hours.
Why would you want to drive?

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Âutomatic For The People
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I changed my mind, make that 12-15 hours.
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soozi
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You can get overnight trains at very reasonable prices and they take about 10 hours I think!
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Ayisha
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doodle its a LONG way! many do drive though. overnight train is about 10 hours you can get a day train too or even a flight.

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doodlebug
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I guess I just always drive everywhere so I never thought of a train. Are trains safe?
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soozi
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I used the train to Aswan from Luxor recently - it was an interesting experience but I thoroughly enjoyed it!
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myheartwillgoon
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We took the overnight train, and it makes 2 beds in it. they wake you up at around 5am for breakfast and feed you in your sleeper car and bring you cofee.They arrive early in the morning around 6 or 7 am. We took a laptop computer and watched movies etc. They also fed us dinner that night. It was not expensive as I remember.
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akshar
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It cost $56 USd for the sleeper and there is a great website where you can get all sorts of information. http://www.seat61.com/Egypt.htm

The only reason to go by road is if you wanted to visit sites on the way like Amarna, Beni Hassan, Abu Sir, Abydos

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Jane Akshar UK Co-owner of www.flatsinluxor.co.uk Appartments and Tours in Luxor

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An Exercise in Futility
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quote:
Originally posted by doodlebug:
How long of a drive is it from Cairo to Luxor?

Long and expensive also bear in mind that the driver may have been driving 20 hours or more non-stop depending where they come from - they often go from one long job to the next with almost no breaks. This is common practice, the guys are often on 24 hour call-out - especially those working for the posh hotels - and all the sleep they get is in the car. Scarey city considering the general state of egyptian driving! I kept watching our drivers eyelids in the mirror to see if they were drooping.

I have done it for about 1000LE for 2 of us (one way), a Cairo hotel tried to charge me 3200LE (return) but I managed to get a flight for 670LE!

(Go to the American Express office in the Nile Hilton Hotel to enquire about flights - I've used them a couple of times - you don't have to be staying there to go in there).

Flights for westerners seem to vary in price depending on what day and duration of trip - most I have paid is 1300LE for me and 660LE for my egy friend. If you are travelling with an egyptian, they will pay less but its still incredibly expensive for them, BUT if you are paying for them you can't pay with your credit card, they have to pay cash. Don't know if they have their own credit card whether it will be different.

If you want to go on the sleeping train, be sure to book it in advance - we turned up and couldn't get seats, it was fully booked out about 4 days ahead (it was just before ramadan though so probably the whole of egypt was on the move).

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doodlebug
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How long is the flight? If we could get 660 LE pp that would be about $220 total...for a flight that's wicked cheap! Ten hours is not doable in the time that I'll be there but an hour flight is.
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SayWhatYouSee
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You should be able to get return flights for around 600 LE, pp now. Prices have come down, making the train a less attractive option anyway.
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doodlebug
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Would this be via egyptair or some other airline?
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SayWhatYouSee
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Egypt Air. Prices were around £80, return but they have now come down to around £60, I have been informed.
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Ayisha
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doodle air prices can be expensive from cairo to luxor. Most people with limited time do the train. on my first 'grand tour' we did night train from cairo to luxor, arrived about 8am did all the valley of kings and queens, karnak etc and got the night train back to cairo. 2 nights in a row on a train but it was fun and you see more scenery! that was when i saw a truck full of camels and cactus as big as a bus [Big Grin] wouldnt have missed all that for the world [Big Grin]

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An Exercise in Futility
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quote:
Originally posted by doodlebug:
How long is the flight? If we could get 660 LE pp that would be about $220 total...for a flight that's wicked cheap! Ten hours is not doable in the time that I'll be there but an hour flight is.

Flight time is just under an hour. But don't forget time to get to the airport (less of a problem at the Luxor end), and you need to check in at least an hour in advance. You are looking at around 4 hours in total (depending of course on where you are in Cairo - that includes about an hour travelling time to Cairo airport).

I did have a flight cancelled one time and had to wait 3 hours for the next one so you need to consider that possibility.

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Shareen
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I just flew Luxor to Cairo and back again. Flight time is just under an hour, but you do need to be at the airport an hour before departure. Luxor is fine, its only 20 minutes out of town, but its longer to get to Cairo airport. I paid 625LE for my return flight. However, the flight from Cairo to Luxor was cancelled and we were put on a later flight some 2 hours after we were scheduled. Not a problem for us, but if you are limited and have things arranged it could affect you.
The night train is an easy way to get to Luxor and back again. If you use the sleeper they are comfortable and they feed you (airline style food). And as Ayisha said, it is possible to arrive in Luxor early morning, cram in as many of the sights as you can and leave again in the late evening arriving back in Cairo early the following day. Saves on hotel bills too!

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