Review of London to Cairo by train

On the train to Egpyt (via Belgium, Germany, Turkey, Syria and Jordan)Guest blog from Dizraeli:

As a rapper, musician and human being with an eco-conscience, the offer of a well-paid gig in Cairo dropped a dilemma in my lap. On one hand, I was over the moon at the chance to visit a fascinating part of the world and perform my theatre show (a hiphop play about oppression and the politics of resistance) to an audience faced daily with the issues it addresses. On the other hand, taking a long haul flight for the sake of a single performance was obviously pure carbon daftness. I wrestled with the dilemma for a time, and finally decided to do the gig, but get there without flying. Billy Macrae offered to come with me as filmmaker, photographer and friend, to turn the whole unreasonable escapade into a documentary film.

It was set to be epic: because ferries no longer ply the water between Egypt and mainland Europe, our route had to be circuitous, all the way to Turkey by train then bus-looping round the Mediterranean through the Middle East. On top of the difficulty of coordinating public transport across 12 countries, we had a tight time-squeeze to contend with: ten days to travel the whole distance. Phew. We packed cameras and a change of pants, and plunged in.

The first four days were Europe with the fast-forward button held down, on a succession of trains barrelling through places where books are set and symphonies composed: Brussels, Vienna and Budapest, Belgrade and Sofia, coming to rest on the fifth day in Istanbul. We had a few hours at the most in each place, so we snatched snapshots where we found them: Brussels was soup and Spaniards; Cologne was falafel and Gothic rain; Munich was beer and a scattering of snow; Vienna was sleet and a shopping centre, and a ride across flat plains to Budapest for lunchtime.

From Budapest to Istanbul was a 32-hour voyage aboard the Balkan Expresi, which was a joy: having hopped from one short journey to the next and spent a sleepless night angled across seats, we now had our very own cabin for two nights and a day. We also had a window to watch the world through; a window we could stick our heads out of and yell at the wind, pulling back just in time as we plunged through mountain tunnels. We saw great brown floodplains, Soviet dereliction and the kind of forests that wolves run through, and all close enough to smell. There were people too, of course: Kohei from Japan in cabin number 3, who was collecting soil samples around Europe; the Latvian couple who claimed they were celebrities and were busking their way to China. We stepped out at Istanbul refreshed and alive with new stories.

The choice not to fly seems counter-intuitive: flight is speed, freedom and escape, soaring above the sticky, litter-strewn muddle of earthbound existence. Why would you choose to travel differently?

For me, the journey across Turkey’s Central Anatolia would be reason enough, even without climate change to consider: green fields roll as far as a horizon of snow-crowned mountains, and the train sways along tracks smooth as anything. I didn’t sleep, but I smiled a lot.

JordanIt took us to Adana, where we spent the night. The next day we began the journey South through the Middle East. From here on, travel would be different. No more trains, this was all buses with some haggled taxis in between. We enjoyed the people and the food unreservedly, though, in spite of the discomfort of travel on seating designed for midgets. To our great surprise, we also found ourselves ahead of schedule, and spent two nights in Petra (the magnificent ruined Nabatean city in the South of Jordan) before boarding the HSC Queen Nefertiti and crossing the water on the to the Egyptian side.

One more bus ride, and we rolled into Cairo, at 4.30am on the 25th of March- bang on time. The two other members of the cast were already there; they’d flown in from London the night before. I asked them how their journey was. “Painless”, they said. “We slept”.

Dizraeli and Billy Macrae are now travelling back from Cairo and plan to back to London, 14th April. Dizraeli will be performing in Palestine, Kosovo and the Czech Republic along the way. To follow their blog, watch videos and see Billy’s photos see: www.unplaned.com.

The route they took... 

How to take the train from London to Cairo by train:

London St Pancras – Brussels: Train. 15^th March.  09.15am – 12.00pm
Brussels – Koln: Train. 15^th March. 14.15pm – 16.35pm
Koln – Munich: Train. 15^th March. 16.53pm – 22.33pm
Munich – Vienna: Train. 15^th March. 23.40pm – 05.45am
Vienna – Budapest: Train. 16^th March. 09.30am – 12.30pm
Budapest – Sofia: Train. 16^th March. 23.05pm – 10.20am
Sofia – Istanbul: Train. 17^th March. 21.30pm - 09.00am
Istanbul – Adana: Train. 18^th March. 23.50pm – 18.40pm
Adana – Antakya: Bus. 20^th March. 10.15am – 14.38pm
Antakya – Aleppo: Taxi. 20^th March. 14.50pm – 17.30pm
Aleppo – Amman: Bus. 21^st March. 18.10pm – 08.40am
Amman  - Petra: bus. 22^nd March. 12.10pm – 16.00pm
Petra – Aqaba: Bus. 24^th March. 10.00am – 11.15am
Aqaba – Nuweiba: Ferry. 24^th March. 15.00pm – 16.00pm
Nuweiba – Cairo: Bus. 24^th March. 21.05pm – 04.25am
Arrive Cairo: 25^th March. 04.25am.

For more information about travelling by train to over 80 destinations in Europe, see greentraveller's detailed Journey Planner: Plan your journey by train.

See also our featured trips in the Middle East, which can be reached by train from London St Pancras International: