Aswan Travel Forum

In the interest of saving money and time, does this seem like a reasonable idea?

My wife and I wanted to join a 2 day nile cruise from Aswan to Luxor that stops in Kom Ombo, Edfu, and Esna, but since we have found nothing benificial I am forced to look into alternative means of transportation to hit each of these port cities.

I found a great Egypt train schedule online
http://www.seat61.com/Egypt.htm#Cairo%20-%20Luxor%20-%20Aswan

According to the schedule (from what I can gather) it is possible for us to do the following itinerary within one day -

Aswan
7:30am Train to Kom Ombo
Tour Kom Ombo
12:50pm Train to Edfu
Tour Edfu
5:25pm Train to Esna
Tour Esna
9:35pm Train to Luxor
Taxi to Hotel
Hotel in Luxor

Is there a more efficent way to do this? In theory we could accomplish everything in one day, albeit we would rather do this over the course of two days. Does anyone know the approx cost of each of these train hops? I'm thinking its around $3US/per person. Can anyone confirm that this is even possible?

I heard rumors that we can just show up at each port city and ask for water transportation to the next city (quite a gamble) - does anyone know anything further regarding this method?

Thank you for the help.

Hey guys,

Actually, I don't know the answers to your questions but I just wanted to let you know that we are in the same boat (or rather train in this case) as you guys are. We are not doing the Nile Cruise and were looking at the train schedule to see if we could do the major sites via train/taxi.

I am following your post here to see what others say but please feel free to send me anything as you solidify your plans. What dates are you going to be in Aswan? We will be in the area during Nov 19 to Nov 24.
thanks, boarder

Hi ,

I will be going to Egypt this end month . Saw your email and find that it is what I am planning to do . Is it effective ? Any advice .

Thanks.

Actually, the much better option is to take a private taxi. The taxi will join the convoy that leaves at 8 every morning and will stop at Kom Ombo and Edfu. Since we were 4 in our group, this worked out really well. It is a door to door option that costs around LE 150-200.

Have a look at this website

http://www.aswan-individual.com/html/culture.html

Mustafa(contact details on the website) might be able to advise or sort something out for you. He is a local Nubian guy who lives on Elephantine island off Aswan and is setting up his business as you see on his website. I met him by accident when travelling independantly in Aswan and spent the afternoon with him showing me around the island and taking me on a boat trip, however I am sure he could advise about ways of doing what you want to do - perhaps by felucca or motorised boat, perhaps combined with other modes of transport. It would be more basic than a cruise of course, but a much more 'authentic experience'.