Getting Around Egypt
The classic Cairo–Luxor leg comes down to two honest options: a roughly 1-hour EgyptAir flight ($60–120) or an overnight sleeper train ($80–150 for a private cabin, which doubles as a free hotel night). Inside cities, skip street taxis and use Uber or Careem — both operate widely and remove the haggling entirely. Don't bother renting a car; Cairo traffic isn't built for tourists behind the wheel.
Getting to Egypt
Cairo International Airport (CAI) is the main gateway and where nearly every international flight lands, roughly 4.5–5 hours from Europe and 4–15 hours from further afield depending on your origin, with round-trip fares typically running $450–1,100. If a Red Sea-only trip is the plan, Hurghada and Sharm El Sheikh both have their own international airports with a long history of direct European charter flights, letting you skip Cairo entirely.
Getting around: the real options
Egypt's classic route — Cairo, then Luxor (and maybe Aswan), then the Red Sea coast — is built around a few short hops, not one long overland slog.
- Trains — the Watania Sleeping Trains run overnight between Cairo and Luxor/Aswan with private cabins (roughly $80–150), a genuinely comfortable way to save a hotel night while covering distance. Regular day trains are cheaper but less predictable on timing — the sleeper is worth the extra cost for a first trip.
- Buses — Go Bus and Super Jet run reliable, air-conditioned coaches between Cairo, Alexandria, Hurghada, and other cities. A solid budget option if you're not in a rush and want to save the flight cost.
- Domestic flights — EgyptAir and Air Cairo connect Cairo, Luxor, Aswan, Hurghada, and Sharm El Sheikh in about an hour each, typically $60–120 one-way. Worth it any time you'd otherwise be looking at a 9–10+ hour drive or want to preserve a full sightseeing day instead of spending it in transit.
- Car rental / driving — not recommended for tourists, and almost nobody does it. Cairo traffic is genuinely chaotic (lane markings are treated as a suggestion), and desert highways between cities have security checkpoints that are easier to navigate with a local driver. Hire a private driver for day trips (Giza/Saqqara from Cairo) instead — it's often similar in cost to piecing together taxis yourself and far less stressful.
Getting around inside cities
Cairo has a genuinely useful 3-line metro — cheap (roughly $0.15–0.30 a ride) and includes women-only cars — though it doesn't reach the Giza pyramids, so you'll still need a car for that specific trip. Both Uber and Careem operate widely in Cairo, Alexandria, Hurghada, and Sharm El Sheikh, and are the easiest way to get around without haggling over fares — always confirm the destination and price if you do end up in an unmetered street taxi instead.
| Route/option | Typical cost | Typical time |
|---|---|---|
| Cairo airport to downtown (Uber/Careem) | $15–25 | 45–60 min (traffic-dependent) |
| Cairo–Luxor overnight sleeper train (private cabin) | $80–150 | 10–12 hrs |
| Cairo Metro single ride | $0.20 | — |
Download Uber and Careem before you land — both work in Cairo and along the Red Sea coast, and having them ready removes the single most common tourist friction point (negotiating a taxi fare in a language you don't speak, in traffic that doesn't stop).
Common transport mistakes
Getting into an unmarked street taxi without agreeing on a price first is the classic Cairo tourist trap — it almost always ends in a fare dispute. The second common mistake is assuming the Cairo Metro covers the pyramids; it doesn't come close to Giza, so budget for an Uber, Careem, or driver for that specific outing regardless of how well you've mastered the metro elsewhere in the city.