Topic: Alexandria to Cairo by train

Am on Navigator OTS in Oct, we have an overnight in Alexandria and I'm toying with a day trip to Cairo by train. (have been to Egypt before but not Cairo)

Has anyone done this? have heard the service is good and reliable. What about getting to the station from the ship, and from the station to the pyramids?

Welcome to Egyptian Rail Roads

http://www.seat61.com/Egypt.htm#Tour...20restrictions

Thanks in advance

We planned to do this by train Sophie a couple of years ago but I'm glad we didn't in the end. We went by private hire car and reading the reports on the 'luxury trains' I feel we did the right thing.

I posted a long review of this day on the site, and if I can find a copy I will re post it here.

QUOTE:

Am on Navigator OTS in Oct, we have an overnight in Alexandria and I'm toying with a day trip to Cairo by train. (have been to Egypt before but not Cairo)

Has anyone done this? have heard the service is good and reliable. What about getting to the station from the ship, and from the station to the pyramids?

Welcome to Egyptian Rail Roads

Thanks in advance

If there journeys by road and the way they heard people into there buses are anything to go by, I would not want to travel by train in Cairo.

Hi Sophie, I've found it and apologies to those who have read it before:

The Ships Tours from Alexandria to Cairo for the Pyramids are done in convoy by coach with armed guards following on in theirs army trucks. We did the trip by Blue Private Hire Car. We started with the intention of doing taxi to the train station & then turbo train & taxi into Giza. This had been researched & planned prior to leaving the U.K. but on reaching the exit of Alexandria Port we were accosted by a taxi man who spoke good English & given the spiel that a car for the day would be quicker & more convenient than our original plan & we would see & do far more by risking life & limb with him. The ‘taxi’ was a Peugeot 7 seater Estate of an unknown vintage & looked like it had entered a Demolition Derby on the previous day. We negotiated a price which appealed to all concerned, but was still twice the resale value of the ‘taxi’. Off we go into the streets of the town where no traffic rules apply & 5 minutes into ride we hit traffic, literally, as a Yellow & Black Cab had not left enough room for our man to get into the next lane, he ‘booted’ him up the rear to make sufficient space to drive through. The drivers never even looked at each other as we drove past.
Onto the desert toll road for 140 miles to Cairo with 4 lanes each side, but with a squeeze 5 & 6 cars can often be overtaking each other, any speed, any lane. We passed the tour bus convoy with their armed guards following in trucks. After an hour or so we stopped at a service area with typical facilities & the added bonus of waiter service, a small zoo park with deer, llamas, flamingo’s etc. Eventually we reached Cairo where the traffic is even worse & the local ‘centre’ busses had to be seen to be believed. We stopped at the Papyrus Museum & local Bazaar for 30 mins & then onto Memphis (Giza) to the Pyramids. 50 £Egp pp to enter (5 Quid in English) & this is where the taxi came into its own, as we could drive to the top of the hill (about a mile) for photo’s of all 3 pyramids, back into the taxi down to get close up & touchy with the 2 smaller pyramids & then taxi again down to the Sphinx. If you are on a coach this means a lot of walking or camel/horse/donkey riding at your expense & their delight.
By now our bravery is reaching heroic proportions, so we tell our man to take us for a local meal. He took us to a small restaurant in the streets of Giza where the owner spoke good English. We had salad, brown rice, sheesh kebabs, lamb & chicken, cooked on a charcoal grill plus bottled water, cokes & fanta. You would think we had never eaten for a week as we devoured the overladen plates & left nothing.
Back onto the desert toll road, flat out in the taxi, 120 kms an hour in lane 4, Two tuk tuks come the other way side by side, head on to traffic, in lanes 1 & 2 taking a ‘short cut’. Our drivers only comment…….. ‘Crazy People’
On reaching Alexandria we went to a large out of town shopping mall for about 30 mins. & then a final tour of the city before going back to the ship. We were out 10 hours in total. The whole day including all our food & drink, taxi fare, tip came to £35 GBP per person for five of us. The Cruise tour fare (last Christmas) 118 Euro pp.
The Egyptians are a most welcoming race of people & everyone we had contact with, including police, security & shopkeepers all ‘welcomed’ us to their country & none of us felt the slightest bit threatened at any point during the day. It will certainly go down in our memory as one of the highlights of our cruising background. So if your adventurous, streetwise & travel savvy, give it a go, it’s more fun than tour bus, that’s for sure.

Wilba

Great report and loved your description of the ride into Cairo, we did it by tour bus and that was spectacular to say the least. I would recommend going to Cairo to anyone if only to experience the ride in by road, not to be missed however you do it.
I would just point out that when we got to the pyramids, our coach also took us to the various points you mentioned, such the 3 pyramids, 2 pyramids and Sphinx, so no walking, taxi's etc at our expense. (Ours was a Thomson tour)

Wilba
Thanks for your lovely descriptive report! brill

I've not had a prob in Egypt but this time will have a stunning 27yr blond lady in tow (my friend Sam) so maybe I can sell her for the days cab ride? but seriously, as only 2 of us train would be cheaper unless we find others on ship wanting taxi share.

I remember night time taxi rides in Luxor, driving down middle of road to avoid potholes and headlights only going on if oncoming traffic was spotted!

Thanks Delboy,

I must say in all the years of cruising it was one the 'Highlights' for me. I know people worry about 'get back itus', but with common sense, starting back before the tour bus's and allowing plenty of time, it really isn't a big deal.

Our ship didn't sail until midnight, we arrived back in Alex about 7.00pm, spent half an hour around a small local shopping mall, then a quick tour of the city, back onboard for a meal, then hopped ashore to buy some souvenirs off the local quayside traders before sailing.

For Helen (Sophie) I have since read the train is nothing like the websites suggest, holes in the floor where you can actually see the track, toilets to die for, or die of something, catering service the same quality as the toilets. Could be an interesting experience though?

QUOTE:

Thanks Delboy,


For Helen (Sophie) I have since read the train is nothing like the websites suggest, holes in the floor where you can actually see the track, toilets to die for, or die of something, catering service the same quality as the toilets. Could be an interesting experience though?

would add to the fun wouldn't it!

still tempted

QUOTE:

would add to the fun wouldn't it!

still tempted

Go for it Gal

Interesting account of your visit Wilbur and it sounds like a great trip. We took the ship's tour from Equinox and also got dropped off at various points to see the pyramids without much walking. Then we had lunch at a 5 star hotel before going to the Cairo museum - we also did the papyrus factory/sales room. Over £100 each though.

Whichever way you do it Helen, it is a must. If you do go on the train, let us know how you get on.