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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 Hurghada is about 460 km by road, a little over five hours of driving. If your trip is short, fly. You can also hire a car with a driver, or take an intercity bus. Going the other way, from Hurghada to Cairo, five of our tours include the flight in the price. Below you will find each option in both directions, with distances and sources checked in October 2026.
Pick by how much time you have. Fly if your days are counted. The road is about 460 km and takes over five hours at the wheel, so it fills most of a day. Hire a car with a driver if you want to stop on the way, or travel with a lot of luggage. Take the bus if you have a day to spare and are happy to book a seat yourself.
The same choices apply from Hurghada to Cairo. On our tours this leg is a flight, and it is in the price.
Domestic flights link Hurghada and Cairo. Our tours use the Hurghada to Cairo flight. Check EgyptAir and Nile Air for flights in your direction, with times and fares for your dates. Nile Air's booking page, for example, lists both Cairo and Hurghada among its Egyptian airports. Check times again close to the date you book.
Count the whole journey when you compare. You need the run to the airport in Cairo, check-in and security, the flight, and the transfer at the far end. Many hotels sit outside Hurghada town. El Gouna, to the north, is 30 to 45 minutes from Hurghada airport by car. Some resorts south of town sit about 20 km away.
On our tours the flight runs from Hurghada to Cairo and is booked for you. You have a free morning at the coast, then a transfer to Hurghada airport. In Cairo you are met on arrival and taken to your hotel.
By road, Cairo to Hurghada is about 460 km. That is the OpenStreetMap route from central Cairo to central Hurghada, checked October 2026. The driving time is about five hours 15 minutes, and the same in the other direction. In a straight line the two cities are about 400 km apart.
The route has three stages. You leave Cairo on the Ring Road and head east on the Qattamiya to Ain Sokhna road, about 100 km, to the coast. Next comes the Galala road, about 80 km. From Zafarana the coast road runs south past Ras Gharib to Hurghada, about 250 km more. Driving from Cairo, you pass El Gouna about 25 km before Hurghada.
Add Cairo traffic and one stop, and plan on six hours or more. Leave in the morning so you arrive in daylight. The UK FCDO says road accidents in Egypt are common, and advises against driving outside main cities and resorts at night (checked October 2026). A hired car with a professional driver is the sensible way to make this trip by road. Read the US State Department and UK FCDO Egypt pages before you travel.
Go Bus, an Egyptian intercity coach company, lists both Cairo and Hurghada as cities you can book from and to on go-bus.com (checked October 2026). The site loads its trips in the browser, so we could not confirm times, fares or departure points. Check all three when you book.
Check where the bus stops at each end, too. Hurghada's bus station is in Dahar, the old quarter in the north of town. Many resort hotels are well to the south, so budget for a taxi.
The bus suits a long, flexible trip. It is a poor fit for a holiday with fixed dates. You leave when the bus leaves, and you need a transfer at each end. Read the FCDO's Egypt page first. It reports serious bus crashes in recent years, with tourists among those killed.
Five of our tours end at the Red Sea and fly back to Cairo. The Hurghada to Cairo flight is in the price on all five, along with the transfer to Hurghada airport and the meeting in Cairo. The operator's itinerary for each tour lists the flight as included.
The flight day runs the same way on each tour. Breakfast at the hotel, a free morning, then the airport. What follows in Cairo differs. On the 10-day tour you leave for home the next day. On the 8-day and 11-day tours you get a full day for the Royal Mummies, the Citadel and Coptic Cairo. The 13-day tour spends its last full day at the National Museum of Egyptian Civilisation and Khan el-Khalili. The 16-day tour adds a day at Saqqara and Dahshur before that.
Flying back to Cairo also lines you up for your flight home. All five tours end with a transfer to Cairo International.
Our tours reach the coast from Luxor. You fly from Cairo to Luxor or Aswan, see the temples, then drive about 290 km from Luxor to Hurghada. That road transfer is in the price as well. Our Luxor to Hurghada page covers the drive in detail.
This loop avoids doubling back. You see Cairo, the Nile and the Red Sea, and cross the desert by road only once. The flight from Hurghada closes the circle and puts you back in Cairo.
If you only want Cairo and the beach, the direct trip makes sense. Fly or drive as above, and spend a few days in Cairo first with a private guide. Our Cairo tour packages page shows what those days can include.
All prices below are from-prices per person in US$, on the standard plan. International flights and the Egypt visa are extra. Each tour includes the Hurghada to Cairo flight.
Cairo, Luxor and the Red Sea, 8 days, from US$2,040. Four nights in Cairo, one in Luxor and two at Hurghada, with no boat. It suits a first trip that ends with a short break by the sea.
Nile Cruise and Hurghada, 10 days, from US$2,310. Three nights in Cairo, three on a Nile cruise from Aswan to Luxor, and three nights at Hurghada.
Cairo, a Nile Cruise and Hurghada, 11 days, from US$2,560. The same route with a fourth Cairo night. You get a full day in Cairo after the flight back.
Cairo, a Nile Cruise and Hurghada, 13 days, from US$2,945. Five nights in Cairo, one in Aswan, three on the boat and three at the coast. The pace is slower at both ends.
The Grand Tour of Egypt, 16 days, from US$3,910. Two more days of Luxor on land after the cruise, three nights on the Red Sea, then Saqqara and Dahshur back in Cairo.
By road it means over ten hours of driving there and back. The FCDO also advises against driving outside main cities and resorts at night. That leaves little time in Cairo. Fly, or stay at least one night. On our tours you fly back to Cairo and stay.
No. They fly from Cairo to Luxor or Aswan, and reach Hurghada by road from Luxor. The flight they include runs the other way, from Hurghada to Cairo, at the end of the beach days.
Day 6 on the 8-day tour, day 9 on the 10-day and 11-day tours, day 11 on the 13-day tour, and day 13 on the 16-day tour.
Fly to Hurghada, then take a car north for 30 to 45 minutes. By road from Cairo, El Gouna comes about 25 km before Hurghada. You can drive there directly.
Read the current Egypt pages from the US State Department and the UK FCDO before you travel (both checked October 2026). Plan to drive by day, with a professional driver.
Our tours give the coast two or three nights. Two nights is a short rest after the temples. Three nights gives you two full free days, enough to rest and book a snorkelling or diving trip.
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.
8 days · Nile & Red Sea
No boat on this one. Giza and the Grand Egyptian Museum, a night in Luxor for both banks, two nights on the Red Sea, then back to Cairo for the Citadel, Coptic Cairo and the Royal Mummies.
from US$2,040 / 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
