All I see in these reviews are people who have never roughed it for a day in their lives. This is Egypt, you shouldn’t expect to be the most amazing train of all time. Old train, yes but I found it quite comfortable and had a great time. The cabin workers were very welcoming, the dinner was good. Breakfast was basic but ok. The room was spacious for a train and the bed was comfortable. Quite a slow train which makes it perfect to watch the Nile go by during sunrise. Overall good experience but if you’re a soft city person maybe take the plane

First, don’t be impatient because you will be late. That’s just how it is. Second, don’t expect everything to work out easily. Egyptian way, you have to fight for what you want. Review on the train: - Overall pretty good experience. The cabins are nice, spacious enough and confortable. The crew is right there to help and answer your every need. - On the bad side, we didn’t have any electric outlets to charge our phones. With all the delay, we thought we would never make it to the B&B the next day. Also, diner is nice but breakfast could be improved. In my opinion the prices are over exaggerated. We have night trains in France and they are twice cheaper!

We will share our experience of Watania sleeping train. 1)We booked 2 times and asked for à refund. 1 month later I still have not received the money back. The train is dirty from the inside and from the outside. Our Window was broken and looked like it got smashed with a hammer by someone. 2)The chairs and the toilet were dirty and didn't have paper at all. Very bad maintenance. Even the locals agreed that the train is not good quality overall for the price we paid and was dirty.

My ride from Cairo to Aswan was alright. Not much to complain about. A little bumpy and noisy but manageable. The ride from Luxor back to Cairo was abysmal. You can see in the attached video that everything was bumping, shaking, and rattling. It was impossible to sleep. Screws and washers were literally undoing themselves from the shaking. Food was okay. Expect delays in both directions. Also be aware that the train attendant will expect and likely ask you for a tip at the end. Unfortunately if you want a sleeper train in Egypt, this is your only option.

We travelled from Cairo to Luxor and were recommended the sleeper train. They charged USD95 per person so you thought the service will be good. This was a absolute nightmare. The compartment were dirty and had cigarette smells. There were not enough light in the coupe and the small hand basin there was no water and the mirror was broken. The toilets were absolute diabolical and filthy. The flush will not work and there is all residue on floor. The food served was cold and no drinks, The caretaker was selling drinks for USD2, luckily we had soft drinks on us. The compartment was cold and not enough heating. The caretaker did not give a damn about anything. Totally disgusting. On our way back we used the chaircar train for USD55 which was better. Do not use this disgusting service at exorbitant prices.

1. No water in our car, so we were unable to clean our hands. 2. Toilets are DIRTY, and with the fact that there was no water in the car was really annoying to go to the toilet. 3. Cabins dirty. 4. Lot of noise. 5. Lot of movement, looks like the train will derail. I don't recommend this to anybody.

After reading up the reviews you know you’re up for some adventurous travel. And it’s true; the train is very old, probably never refurbished and very noisy and shaky. On the positive side; the cabins are clean and the train is not smelly or anything. If you are taking this train, factor in that you will sleep little as the rough ride and sounds will likely wake you up early. Biggest disappointment, which would have made up for a lot, is that unlike promised on the website, there is no bar wagon. This means that you are practically confined to your little cabin and the hallway just in front. This severely limits your opportunities for having a relaxed view of the countryside. Food is similar to airplane food. The staff do make a difference - very polite and friendly.

Dirty cabins with a layer of filth on every surface. I asked for some cleaning spray and a cloth but all they had to offer on the train was toilet paper and water - explains it all. Come prepared. I would suggest bringing your own cleaning products and a cloth, as well as your own food and water.

Tickets are way too expensive for the service (please see photos for the hygiene level) - tourists must pay for the maintenance of the whole railway system if you consider the prices. + BE CAREFUL when booking tickets online: we lost 70 euros (in addition to the extremely expensive tickets) because when you book, the site indicates the payment didn't go through but then it did and if you want to cancel, you have cancellation fees that are extremely expensive. Of course you can never get a refund. We heard in Egypt it's a well known scam.

old train but everything suprisingly working there, meals not so bad. Journey Cairo-Aswan and Aswan-Cairo - much better to stay 13 hours in vertical position than sitting in a seat :-)

Sleeper train cabins: really expensive at $95 each, and really poor condition when we arrived. Filthy, torn seats, dirty windows, but clean sheets for the beds! but some parts of the cabin rattle with vibrations and it sounds like a lotof tin cans in a bag! You get offered help by staff, then get 'hustled' to give tips in £ or $ which gets uncomfortable.

This train is very old, filthy and half destroyed. The train was honking all night, plus the harsh rails make it not a very pleasant experience. The timetable is at most an approximation of the time of departure, we had 1 hour of delay, but reading other comments it looks like we had some luck. The online booking system is also terrible, we booked as a couple and it assigned us to separate couches. We asked to change our tickets and they mentioned that it was not possible and advised we had to cancel and re -book. We did so and then they charged a cancellation fee of 20% plus the "finance costs" which is absolutely unacceptable. Considering the plane tickets from Cairo and Luxor/Aswan is the same price I wouldn't recommend this train.

Absolute FRAUDE! Bought 2 tickets on their website, they charged my card but never sent the tickets. My account on their site also shows I have "no trips booked". Have been trying to reach them via the contact form on the site, email indicated in their app and 3 phone numbers (central office and tech support) for 10 days with no response at all. They have no social media accounts contrary to what their site shows. So no other way to contact them or to expose what a fraudulent business they are running.

We had a very comfortable experience on the train from Cairo to Aswan. We did not have any issues with booking online (although if it is not allowing you to proceed to payment, keep fiddling with the options and text fields and you will eventually be able to pay). Our train left on time as scheduled from Cairo Ramses Station. The staff are all very friendly and helpful and our room was basic, but pleasant and comfortable. Agree with some previous reviews that the bathroom is a little grim, but not too bad. We both ordered the vegetarian meal which was again basic but quite delicious and breakfast in the morning was also good. Overall I think worth taking the train vs flight if you want a more interesting experience for a comparable price. You spend more time in transit but getting to watch the Egyptian landscape roll past the window all morning is worth it.

This is a really convenient way to travel a long distance with some great views when you wake. We did this 30+ years ago & were excited to do it again. Beds were clean and the washbasin had soap and was clean enough but that’s it ( no towel). As other reviews have said the train itself was filthy. You didn’t want to touch the sides, the curtains were filthy, the lavatories too. Not what you’d expect from a facility for which you pay a premium (as a non Egyptian). Not one star because I hope they update the trains as promised. Btw our train was on time so no complaints there.

The sleeper train is in dire need of updating and cleaning! The check in process is absurd! You do not need a physical ticket—they just looked at a screenshot from when I booked. The police awkwardly corral all the tourists to a small area on the platform. Your online booking screenshot is enough—good, because I never even received an email confirmation or receipt. Honestly, it’s pretty gross. It’s like a trashy 2 star experience. Food was like airplane food, but maybe a step down. Service was good, but the accommodations are quite dirty. The toilets were awful with very limited toilet paper. I booked so I could watch the countryside, but the window was so dirty, I could not enjoy any view. The tracks are in terrible shape, so the ride was very rough. Be prepared if you get motion sickness. Would I do it again? Probably not. For a solo traveler, it’s cheaper to fly by quite a bit.

Nice experience on board of the sleeping train from Cairo to Aswan. boarding time a bit delay, I guess it's normal there for trains not to be on time, so you have to plan your trip carefully.

After reading some of the scathing reviews here I am not gonna lie: I was dreading this trip. But boy, did it proved me wrong. Yes, the train is old and in dire need of a thorough cleanse, but to me it presented a very pleasant way of travelling. The beds are wide and comfortable, the service is lovely, the food not bad at all (some rice, grilled vegetables and a fresh orange is a simple but good meal). Prepare yourself for a bit of a bumpy ride by bringing some earplugs, some bottles of water and a motion sickness pill and you are good to go! And for those people disgruntled that tourists pay 5 times the price: big chance you earn much more than 5 times what local Egyptians do. Enjoy the ride!

The train itself is old. The beds are comfortable, but that doesn't necessarily mean you will get any sleep as the train is very noisy and bouncy. It stops at every station. The food was very basic, but the rolls were stale and dry. The toilets were disgusting by the time the morning came and my partner and I both picked up a stomach bug. The staff were very friendly.

Our outward journey went well, thanks to the nice staff. The flap of the washing facility could not be closed, there were no towels, it was very dirty, a cup holder and holding net were defective but the rest was fine. The food was similar to that on the plane. The stuff man on the way back was disastrous, as was the whole train. Again the door of the washing facility could not be closed, again no towels, both bed lights were defective. Several control knobs were missing, as well as the chains to lock the door. It was impossible to look out of the windows. The carpet is more torn than intact, no curtain is without damage. One pillow was actually no longer a pillow One toilet was completely unusable as everything was torn off and there was no water in the other. There are cracks and even holes in the train outside, the axles don't make any trustworthy sounds. The pullback was even dirtier, really dirty. Finally, as usual, the conductor told us that we would be there in 3 minutes. So we packed our things and left. We are tourist and trust him. But when we noticed that he had thrown us off at El Giza instead of Ramses Station, as written on the ticket, it was already too late and the train left. Great! No one has a problem with it being old but it should be maintained and looked after, especially at such horrendous prices. Both trains give me the impression that they are never maintained, but only milked for money. For that price, you can also fly.

Scam, tourist trap, maybe the bigger in Egypt. I booked it because it was possible to cancel and get a refund but guess what, the refund never came. Tried to contact the company via their website but I never had an answer. Book a flight as I did, is cheaper and faster than the train. Update: finally I got my refund after contact via website, email support, opening a dispute case with my bank. I don’t know which one worked, but the truth is they don't refund you unless you complain.

The train is very old and dirty. Our cabin window was brown from the dirt and we couldn’t see outside. There was no water in our cabin’s sink and the public toilets were disgusting. The train arrived in Cairo two hours late, and the crew instead of informing us about the delay, was reassuring us that we would arrive in “20 minutes”, even though they knew we had a flight to catch and not enough time. Had we knew we would have stopped at Giza and take a taxi to the airport from there. We were able to enjoy the trip anyway but 84$ is way too much for what you get.

It's Egypt, so the expectations might be low. But it is often not the case. Egyptian transportation and services have improved over the years. The trains have not. The cabin wasn't dirty but not that clean. At least the sheets seemed to be relatively clean. The toilets are as expected in a train, filthy (with water splashed all over). The train is noisy, particularly when other trains pass near by and on every crossing, and there are many, the whistle will wake you up. My kids slept ok all the way, so it might be me. The dinner food was a bit too spicy but edible. Breakfast, well, it's a train. The worst was the bed/seat with a hatch that did not securely hold it in position. So one of our kids got a bit smashed by the bed falling down, luckily it was a minor injury. The train was about 1.5 hours delayed. It seems normal. The service was nice as usual. No complains on that front.

My husband and I actually had a really nice overnight trip from Cairo to Aswan. The cabin is not big but we were still ok. The bed was very comfortable and clean. The dinner was very nice, breakfast can be improved. The staff was very friendly and assisted us promptly. For the negatives, the train is very old and quite dirty. They should definitely give it a good clean. In any case don’t expect much and you’ll be fine.

Absolutely filthy train cabins and terrible food. Really overpriced compared to daytime trains. Perhaps we were unlucky as I have seen videos from travellers with much cleaner cabins but ours were disgusting.

Old sleepingcars with minimal comfort. Broken windows, dirty, dirty, dirty everywhere, no water in the cabin - a very bad experience. (I must vote one star - true vote is minus 4)

I have to agree with a lot of the comments re the train being old, tired and very dirty. I thought at $168 it would have been clean and a bit of a treat, but it wasn't. Our guard was a very nice man (Mamhood), but this is certainly not a treat.

Horrible booking experience. We decided to buy the ticket directly at the ticket office in el Cairo to avoid the issues that other people reported while buying online. Big mistake. The system “stopped working” right after the payment went through. Surprise. The solution was to wait indefinitely and waste our time… if this is already like that before taking the train, I don’t want to imagine the experience of the train itself. Make yourself a favor and take the plane.

Train was terribly late and also took way longer than was told. Very bumpy ride with many stops in the middle of the night. Food was terrible, toilets and small bathroom too.

Absolutely DISMAL. Everything about the train is disgusting, it’s filthy and the food is inedible. The bread was weeks old stale and the yogurt in the morning had gone off a long time ago. The car conductor was kind and friendly but that’s the only thing worth the one star. Foreigners pay an horrendous price; the price for egyptians is 7x too high for what’s provided. Save your money. Take the Go Bus, their prices are reasonable and if you choose the higher class buses, you’ll have a comfortable and safe ride.

We took the sleeper train from Cairo to Luxor in June 2022. I was pretty much a flawless experience – not in line with some of the bad reviews here at all. We arrived at Cairo station, and all the staff are very friendly to help you to the right platform. The train was already there when we got there. We got shown to our carriage and the train departed right on time. The train itself is old, but in our cabin nothing major was broken or missing. There’s plenty of storage space, a sink and a (working) charger outlet. And of course a nice large bunk bed. Also: it was clean. Just as clean as your regular hotel room. Same goes for the shared lavatory. Yes, it’s old but these were also clean. Plenty of toilet paper, soap and toilet seat covers were supplied. The food is the same as airplane food - it’s just fine. The ride can be a bit bumpy but I slept just fine. 1 hour before arrival the host wakes you with breakfast. Our train arrived 1 hour late in Luxor but honestly on a 12 hour trip I feel this is negligible. All in all it was a pleasant experience and I feel it’s a very reasonable alternative to flying.

This is a review specifically about the customer service. We recently purchased a large number of tickets, but two of them did not come through email like the rest did. When I realized the tickets were missing, I emailed the "support@" customer service line. They responded that same evening, an hour later, confirming they would look up their records and get back to me the next day. I was pleasantly surprised to find that they were as good as their word. They resolved the problem that morning and we're all set to go. A shout out to whoever was working the customer service support email line for taking care of the issue promptly and courteously. Thank you!