how to get from Aqaba to Cairo after 5 days in Jordan

How easy is it to get a bus from there to Cairo, rather than drive back to Amman and the fly to Cairo.

Easy! It would make no sense to go back to Amman and fly to Cairo!

You have 2 options:

A. Ferry from Akaba to Nuweiba, bus to Cairo.

B. Taxi to Arava border gate, cross into Israel, taxi(or bus?) to Eilat, bus to Taba border gate, cross into Egypt, bus from Taba to Cairo.

Unless you like roughing it a bit - remember the journey
by road might take you a good 18 hours depending upon
connection times, queues, Nuweiba is the epitomy of a
cattle market from the middle ages ! The scenery between
Nuweiba and Cairo isnt very interesting.

I would consider adding another day to Jordan and flying
to Cairo - which is a quick flight 1 hour with one hour check
in and half an hour to get out the other end.

5 days just to see Petra, Wadi Rum and Aqaba is doing Jordan an
injustice there is so much more to see with a well organised itinery.
Check your programme again and think about the extra day instead
of wasting it on the road route to Cairo.

In 6 days you could easily fit in many of the highlights of Jordan such
as Jerash, Madaba, Dead Sea, Karak and then Petra, Wadi Rum it
all depends upon flight time arrivals etc.

I would high recommed taking the ferry.

I agree with Mesha: unless you are really adventurous, I wouldn't recommend the ferry + bus between Aqaba and Cairo. If you don't want to drive back to Amman - which I can understand, I hate that 4 hour trip myself! - there are 2 daily flights from Aqaba to Amman operated by Royal Jordanian. Check ou their website, maybe you find a good connection to Cairo.
http://www.rj.com/default.aspx

Last year there was also a flight between Aqaba and Cairo operated by PAS and tickets for this plane were sold by travel agencies in Aqaba. I don't know if this flight is still on but you can try to contact them:
http://www.pas.com.eg/start_pas.htm
According to their flight plan they also have flights between Aqaba and Sharm el Sheikh and between Sharm and Cairo as well as other cities in Egypt.

If you still prefer taking the ferry from Aqaba to Nuweiba, you will find info about prices and timetables here: http://tinyurl.com/b8g2tm

Good luck!

A big ' THANK YOU' to fellow THORN TREE members who have been so generous with their advice, all of which is helpful in planning our trip to Jordan.
Quite a few travellers, both here and on other travel sites, advise against the ferry crossing because it is so unreliable - this makes us lean towards returning to AMMAN for the 30 minute flight to Cairo. If we do this we can take a the 19.15 flight which gives us time to visit the Dead Sea. Any further advice onwhat we might be missing would be welcome.

Good choice, althouggh the Aqab-Nuweiba ferry is slightly less of a timetabling disaster out of Jordan than going the other way, for some reason. There's also a fast hydrofoil from Aqaba to Taba, though. Check with Bedoiuna Travel's (Dahab) website, as they might be able to arrange for you to be picked up in Petra or Wadi Rum, bused to Aqaba, hydrofoiled over to Taba, and driven on to Dahab by private van for not too much money. From Dahab, you can bus to Cairo in about 9 hours the next day.
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I'd fly, myself.

We like the suggestion from Aseel to take a boat from Aqaba to Taba - there are some reasonably-priced hotels in Taba Heights where a relaxing stay of a couple of days would be welcome before heading by bus to Cairo to begin our 13-day tour. All the Royal Jordanian flights from Aqaba to Cairo go via Amman where there is up to a 3.5 hour delay before the Amman-Cairo leg. Might as well hit the road out of Taba Heights to Cairo as sit around Amman Airport. Our Jordan trip is falling into place thanks to your suggestions and our own research. Once again our thanks!