By type of trip
Nile Cruises Luxor to Aswan: Routes, Boats and Prices
Classic Egypt Tours: Cairo, Luxor and Aswan Itineraries
Nile Cruise and Red Sea Holidays: Two-Week Egypt Trips
White Desert Tours from Cairo: Oases and Desert Camping
Short Breaks in Egypt: Three and Four Day Cairo Trips
Tailor-made Egypt Tours: Private Trips Built Around You
Route guide · Updated October 2026
Cairo to Aswan is about 850 km by road, so flying is the quickest way. The flight takes roughly an hour and a half in the air, and our tours reach Philae the same day. The overnight sleeper train takes 11 to 14 hours and arrives in Aswan the next morning. Driving the whole way takes close to ten hours without stops. Aswan to Cairo works the same way in reverse. Train times come from the operator's timetable and the road figures from OpenStreetMap, both checked in October 2026.
Cairo to Aswan (south)
Aswan to Cairo (north)| Cairo to Aswan (south) | Aswan to Cairo (north) | |
|---|---|---|
| Flight | Roughly an hour and a half in the air | The same flight time |
| Sleeper train departures | Evening, about 19:20 to 23:10 | From Aswan, 16:20 to 20:20 |
| Sleeper train arrival | Aswan, 08:15 to 12:00 next morning | Giza, about 04:25 to 09:10 next morning |
| Train journey | About 11 to 14 hours | About 11 and a half to 13 hours to Giza |
| By road | About 850 km, close to ten hours without stops | The same road and distance |
| Our tours with the flight included | Five, from US$1,890 per person | Six, from US$2,135 per person |
The short answer
Fly if you want to start sightseeing on the day you travel. Take the sleeper if you want to save a hotel night and can sleep on a moving train. Drive only to stop on the way, and split the drive at Luxor.
Fly if your time is short. The flight saves most of a day, and our tours that fly south go straight on to sightseeing in Aswan. Take the sleeper train if you like the idea of the journey itself. It leaves in the evening, arrives in the morning, and replaces a hotel night. Drive only if you want to stop along the way, and plan it over two days.
Most of our tours pair the two cities with a Nile cruise. Six fly from Cairo to Luxor, sail south to Aswan and fly back to Cairo. Five fly from Cairo to Aswan and sail north to Luxor. The tours are listed further down this page.
The flight from Cairo to Aswan takes roughly an hour and a half in the air. Add the drive to Cairo airport, check-in and the transfer at Aswan, and the trip fills a morning or an afternoon. That still leaves time to see something on the day you land.
On our tours that fly south, you are collected from your Cairo hotel, flown to Aswan and met on arrival. On the 7-day, 10-day and 11-day tours you board the boat the same day. The Unfinished Obelisk and the Temple of Philae follow the same day. On the 13-day and 16-day tours you spend the first night in an Aswan hotel. The granite quarries and Philae come on the day you land.
Domestic flights in Egypt are often retimed. Leave a buffer before any international flight at the end of a trip, and check times again a few days before you fly.
The sleeper operator, Abela Trains, publishes its timetable online. On every date we checked in October 2026, it listed eight trains a night from the Cairo area to Aswan. Going south, they leave between about 19:20 and 23:10. They reach Aswan between 08:15 and 12:00 the next morning. The journey takes about 11 to 14 hours, depending on the train.
Most trains start at a station the timetable calls Upper Egypt, then stop at Giza about half an hour later. One train also stops at a station listed as Cairo. Check which station your ticket names before you set out. One train starts in Alexandria at 19:20 and runs through to Aswan.
Every train to Aswan stops at Luxor, between about 05:15 and 09:00. Some also stop at Esna, Edfu and Kom Ombo. That makes Luxor an easy place to break the trip for a few days. Check fares and cabin classes with the operator at abelatrains.com when you book.
The operator's timetable lists seven trains a night north from Aswan. They leave between 16:20 and 20:20 and pass Luxor between about 19:45 and 23:30. They reach Giza between about 04:25 and 09:10 the next morning. That is about 11 and a half to 13 hours on board. The Alexandria train arrives there at 11:20.
The flight is the usual choice at the end of a cruise. On five of our tours you leave the boat in Aswan after breakfast and fly to Cairo the same day. You are met at Cairo airport and taken to your hotel. Abu Simbel is offered on that morning as a paid extra, which means a very early start. On the 15-day tour you fly a day later, after Kalabsha Temple and lunch in a Nubian village.
The road distance from Cairo to Aswan is about 850 km. That is the OpenStreetMap route from Tahrir Square to central Aswan, checked October 2026. It takes close to ten hours of driving without stops.
A car and driver suits travellers who want to stop on the way. Split the drive at Luxor, about 640 km from Cairo by the same route. Luxor to Aswan is then about 215 km more, with Esna, Edfu and Kom Ombo on the road. Before any long drive in Upper Egypt, read the current advice from the UK FCDO at gov.uk and the US State Department at travel.state.gov (both checked October 2026).
The regular cruise fleet works the stretch between Luxor and Aswan, about 215 km by road. Cairo to Aswan sailings run only as occasional charters. The usual plan is to fly south and join a boat at Luxor or Aswan.
Board at Aswan and the boat sails north to Luxor in three nights, with the current. Board at Luxor and it sails south to Aswan in four nights. Both stop at Edfu and Kom Ombo. Our Luxor to Aswan guide compares the two directions in detail.
Five of our tours include the flight from Cairo to Aswan. Prices are per person on the lowest plan. International flights and the Egypt visa are extra on all of them.
Cairo, Aswan and a Nile Cruise, 7 days, from US$1,890. You fly to Aswan on day 3, sail to Luxor and fly back to Cairo on day 6. Nile Cruise and Hurghada, 10 days, from US$2,310. You fly to Aswan on day 3, sail to Luxor, then drive to Hurghada for three nights. The flight back from Hurghada to Cairo is included. Cairo, a Nile Cruise and Hurghada, 11 days, from US$2,560, follows the same route with an extra day in Cairo at the end.
Cairo, a Nile Cruise and Hurghada, 13 days, from US$2,945. You fly to Aswan on day 4, spend a night in an Aswan hotel and board on day 5. The Grand Tour of Egypt, 16 days, from US$3,910, starts the same way and later adds Dendera, Abydos, Saqqara and Dahshur.
Six more tours include the flight the other way, from Aswan to Cairo. Each flies from Cairo to Luxor at the start. They are Cairo, Luxor and a Nile Cruise, 8 days, from US$2,135, and A Nile Cruise and Two Days in Cairo, 9 days, from US$2,385. Then Cairo and a Nile Cruise, 10 days, from US$2,635, and Cairo, Luxor and a Nile Cruise, 12 days, from US$3,160. The longest are Cairo, Luxor, a Nile Cruise and the White Desert, 14 days, from US$3,815, and Cairo, Luxor and a Nile Cruise, 15 days, from US$3,985.
About 680 km, measured between central Cairo and central Aswan. The road is longer, at about 850 km, because it follows the Nile valley.
Yes. Every southbound train to Aswan stops at Luxor in the early morning, so you can end the first leg there. Book Cairo to Luxor and Luxor to Aswan as two journeys. Trains on to Aswan leave Luxor between about 05:15 and 09:00 and take about three hours.
Yes. The operator's timetable lists one train that leaves Alexandria at 19:20 and reaches Aswan at 12:00 the next day. Going north, it leaves Aswan at 19:40 and reaches Alexandria at 11:20. Times checked October 2026.
No. Our Nile Cruise from Aswan to Luxor, 4 days, from US$840 per person, excludes domestic flights. You book your own way to Aswan and home from Luxor. You are met at Aswan airport and dropped at Luxor airport.
Sail north from Aswan if you have less time. The cruise is one night shorter and costs less. Sail south from Luxor if you want four nights on the boat and to finish in the calmer city. Our guide to which direction to sail covers the trade-offs.
Entry rules, opening hours, security advice and exchange rates all move. Check them at the source, not here.
Written and checked by the Nile Trip Guide editorial team · Last reviewed . Entry rules, prices and opening hours change — check anything critical against the official sources linked on this page.
Plan this trip
A real itinerary with real prices, usually within 24 hours. Nothing is booked and nothing is charged until you say yes.
7 days · Classic Egypt
A 7 day Egypt itinerary that takes the river the other way round: Giza and the Grand Egyptian Museum first, then a flight south to Aswan and three nights sailing down to Luxor.
from US$1,890 / per person
10 days · Nile & Red Sea
Egypt in three parts: two days in Cairo, three nights sailing Aswan to Luxor, then three nights on the Red Sea with nothing scheduled. The temples first, the sea afterwards.
from US$2,310 / per person
11 days · Nile & Red Sea
The 10 day Nile-and-Red-Sea route with one more day in Cairo at the end, spent on the Citadel, Coptic Cairo and the Royal Mummies. Two days in Cairo, three nights on the river, three on the sea.
from US$2,560 / per person
13 days · Nile & Red Sea
Thirteen days that give the ancient sites a week and then stop moving: Cairo, a flight to Aswan, three nights sailing down to Luxor, and three nights on the Red Sea at Hurghada before flying back for a last day in Cairo.
from US$2,945 / per person
16 days · Classic Egypt
Sixteen days and very little left out: Cairo, a flight to Aswan, three nights sailing down to Luxor, two more days of Luxor on land, three nights on the Red Sea, then back to Cairo for Saqqara and Dahshur.
from US$3,910 / per person
8 days · Classic Egypt
The route most people take first, at the length it was built for: Giza and the Grand Egyptian Museum, then a flight to Luxor and four nights sailing down to Aswan.
from US$2,135 / per person
