Abela Train 82 Cairo to Luxor

likely you will not get enough sleep

The idea of catching an overnight sleeper train along the River Nile is a romantic one.

But please don’t start thinking Orient Express, this is no luxury service. Although a perfectly reasonable option for the adventurous independent traveller, we cannot underwrite the safety or reliability of this service and you include it in your trip at your own risk.

That said, it’s actually quite decent. The train is reasonably well presented, the cabins are simple but clean, the meals are basic but edible and there is even a separate lounge car, albeit one where smoking is permitted.

The Abela 82 service operates on the Cairo to Luxor route, departing the main Ramsis Station around 9pm and arriving in Luxor around 8am the next morning.

The train service is operated by a private company, Abela, but runs on the Egyptian National Railways tracks. It is intended for use mainly by foreign visitors and is particularly popular with independent travellers and lower-cost tour groups, since travelling this way is both lower cost than flying and you save a night of accommodation costs.

The cabins themselves are small and simple, but serviceable and with a good-sized window. They include a pair of bunk beds, the lower one being used as a seat during the day, whilst the upper one folds away. A porter comes in around 9pm to put the beds together, with linen sheets and reasonable pillows. There is a small washbasin and mirror in the cabin, but the (usually well-maintained) toilets are shared by all the cabins in the carriage.

You may think that sounds like plenty of time to get a decent night of sleep, but the train rattles and shakes its way through the night, on tracks that sound like they could really do with some maintenance, stopping at stations every hour or so from 4am onwards. It’s probably best to assume you’ll get 3-4 hours at most.

For your evening meal, you can expect a plain aircraft-style dinner, with a continental breakfast in the morning. It might also be worth travelling with a substantial bag of snacks, in case you don’t want to risk the food service on board. Your guide can help you put this together. There is no alcohol provided on board, but you should be fine to consume it in the privacy of your own cabin.

When it comes to security, there should be no issues. The train is mainly used by foreigners and there are usually members of the security services on board. You are unlikely to feel unsafe at any point, other than due to the state of the tracks.

As people who have done a lot of independent travel in our time, we are suckers for this kind of experience. But you do have to come at it with a certain devil-may-care attitude. We are definitely stepping out of the world of reliability and comfort, things can go wrong. To offset these risks, your guide will make sure that you board the train safely and that you are given the correct cabin, whilst a different guide will meet you off the train at the other end.

However, we are unable to underwrite or guarantee this train service. If you choose to include it in your trip, then it will be at your own risk. If, for example, in the relatively unlikely event that the train breaks down along the way and we need to send out a rescue vehicle, you will unfortunately be liable for any additional costs.

So, what are our conclusions? We like this idea. We like that it’s different, we like the fact that it’s cheaper than flying, and we like the fact that it avoids the hassle of the airports. It’s really up to you whether or not you’re up to the uncertainty and the likely lack of sleep. Certainly, we would like to see an extra night included in Luxor for recovery, probably pushing that to four nights.

If you’re not sure, then we can chat about it whilst we work together on your trip.

suitable for more adventurous and forgiving travellers