I took the sleeper train from Cairo to Aswan, and I did it on purpose. Loads of people fly that route, but I genuinely wanted the train: it is slower, it is a fraction of the carbon, and waking up to rural Egypt sliding past the window is exactly the kind of thing I travel for. I only did it one way (I flew from Luxor to the Sinai later), but one night on it was enough to win me over.
The question everyone asks, and the one I worried about myself: can you actually eat on it as a vegan? Short version, sort of, if you book through the right people, and only if you keep your expectations somewhere down near the tracks. Here is exactly how it went, plus everything practical about the cabin, the beds, and yes, the toilets.
Can you get vegan food on the Egypt sleeper train?
I did my homework before the trip, and every source online said the same thing: no vegan option. If you book the train yourself, that is fair enough. There is no vegan meal to select, and no way to opt out of a meal either, which was my actual worry. I did not need feeding. What I did not want was a tray of meat turning up that then goes straight in the bin, because that is just waste piled on top of everything else.
The difference for me was booking through Timeless Tours, the operator I did the whole trip with. When I flagged the sleeper train, fully expecting a no, they said they could sort vegan food on board. I did not believe them. I asked again closer to the date. Still yes, completely unbothered. Even our guide at the station gave us the standard warning: do not expect much, it is a basic train, this is a journey mostly well-off Egyptians take. We said no problem.
About an hour in, the steward, a genuinely lovely and cheerful man, brought dinner. And against the odds it looked vegan: rice, roasted potatoes, a side of chips (yes, potatoes and chips, the carb event of the year), a little pot of pickled vegetables that was actually really good, and some bread rolls in plastic I could not identify, so I left those. I ate the potatoes, the chips and some bread. My partner ate the lot, though he did fish something suspicious out of his rice that neither of us could name.
So I would not fully trust it, and I did not finish mine, but the bones of the meal (rice, potatoes, pickles) were the kind of thing that is meant to be there, and they clearly made a real effort. Breakfast was another story: yogurts, milk, croissants, cake, honey. None of it vegan, so we left it. No drama, because I never travel somewhere like Egypt expecting vegan croissants to appear. I always pack snacks, and I was glad I had. The honest takeaway: you can get a broadly vegan dinner on the sleeper train, but only through a company with the right contacts, and you should still bring backup.
Booking and boarding the train
I went one way, Cairo to Aswan, as part of a group tour with Timeless Tours, which made the whole thing painless. Our guide came to the station with us, got us on the right train, walked us to our cabins, and even messaged 20 minutes before Aswan so we were not scrambling awake. If the idea of doing this solo makes you nervous, that hand-holding is worth a lot.
A few practical notes. Cairo’s sleeper trains now leave from Bashteel Station out in Giza, not the old central station. Ours was delayed about 45 minutes, which I gather is completely normal, and we pulled out around half past eight in the evening. We waited it out in a station cafe: busy, chaotic, and pleasantly free of other tourists. We travelled on a Thursday at the start of the school holidays (Friday is the weekend in Egypt), so it was heaving, and they were running two extra sleeper trains, which might be why ours felt like one of the older sets. For the full how-to-book detail, The Man in Seat 61 is the gold standard, and the current operator is Abela Trains.
The cabin
Let me be honest: it is old. The cabin was a bit grubby around the table and the window, nothing horrifying, but I gave it a wipe with hand sanitiser and a tissue and felt better for it. You start with two seats and a fold-out table, plus a sink in the corner with a lid that doubles as another table (that bit was spotless). There are hooks for clothes and bags, and you get towels, a toothbrush, soap and toothpaste. It is small: our one big suitcase was a faff, and a smaller one would happily slide under the bed. The steward comes in to serve dinner, asks when you want the beds made up, then turns your seats into surprisingly sturdy bunks.
The beds: did I actually sleep?
Yes, and I was shocked. The bottom bunk is comfy. The top one is lumpy, but I engineered a fix with a puffer jacket and got it decent. You get a pillow, a blanket and a ladder up. I had read horror stories about noise and jerking, and either the train was kind or I was exhausted, because I slept well and so did my partner. That alone puts it miles ahead of a night bus.
The toilets: the bit nobody warns you about
The honest part. There are two toilets at the end of each carriage, and on ours the flushes did not work, so by the small hours one of them was, let’s say, not a highlight. The saving grace is that they clean them overnight. I made a strategic dawn visit to beat the crowd and it was clean, if still not somewhere you would want to linger. Go in with low expectations and a pack of tissues and you will be fine.
Is the Egypt sleeper train worth it?
For me, completely. It depends entirely on whether the idea sounds like an adventure or a punishment, and I am firmly in the adventure camp. Every negative above is real, and I would still do it again in a heartbeat. The highlight is exactly what you would hope for: waking up, lifting the blind, and watching rural Egypt roll past, palm trees, little farms, kids waving, and the Nile itself once you get far enough south (get a berth on the river side if you can). It beat another anonymous flight, it beat the night coach some tours use, and it comfortably beat a grim sleeper I once endured in India. Our guide reckons big upgrades are coming, which would supposedly double the ticket price, so if you want the characterful old version, maybe do not wait too long.
Egypt sleeper train FAQ
Can you get vegan food on the sleeper train?
Dinner, broadly yes, but only if you book through an operator who can arrange it. Breakfast, no. Bring snacks either way.
How long does Cairo to Aswan take?
Roughly 13 to 15 hours overnight, leaving mid-evening and arriving the next morning, delays included.
Is it comfortable?
The cabins are old and basic, but the beds are genuinely fine and I slept well. Keep your expectations low on cleanliness and the toilets.
Book it yourself or through a tour?
Booking direct via Abela Trains is cheaper, but going through an operator got me vegan food and a guide who handled everything.
Is it better than flying?
Slower, far lower carbon, and far more memorable. If you have the night to spare, yes.
That is the sleeper train: not luxurious, occasionally grim, and one of my favourite things I did in Egypt. If you are mapping out a trip, it slots neatly between Cairo and a Nile cruise from Aswan, and it sits inside my bigger guide to ethical travel in Egypt. Bring snacks, keep your expectations low, and take the river side.
Full disclosure: I booked the trip with Timeless Tours myself and genuinely rate them. Their link here is an affiliate one, which costs you nothing and helps keep this site running.
